Tag: Believe

He is our true peace

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”

“the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”

“Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

John 16:33    I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Psalms 29:11    May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!

Psalms 72:7     In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more!

Psalms 85:10     Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.

Romans 5:1    Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ

Ephesians 2:14     For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility  by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,  and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.  And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.

2 Thessalonians 3:16     Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.

Philippians 4:7    And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Psalms 27:1    The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalms 56:3     When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

Psalms 56:11     in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?

Psalms 91:5    You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,

Psalms 112:7    He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.

Isaiah 12:2     “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

Isaiah 41:10     fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Jeremiah 1:8    Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.”

When things are going well we understand peace, or at least we think we do.  But true peace from and through God is understood when in the times of trials and trouble we find peace that passes all understanding.  Being afraid, having concern, and worry are natural responses and common to all man in times of uncertainty.  I heard a person speak once that said: “you can not stop initial thoughts from coming to your mind but certainly what you do with them you can”.  We have our Heavenly Father walking with us.  He has given us great promises of peace even though we are under attack from situations that seem to surround us.  At times it appears we are alone in this but in fact we have our great defender, who is all powerful, all knowing, ever present at all times.  Peace is found in trusting in, relying on, and clinging to God.  Our hope and faith is built on the Creator of all there is.  We seek and find peace when it is all laid at His feet and we are carried through in His ever loving arms.  We do not know when life will throw us trials and troubles.  Keep your eyes, heart and mind on the only one who can and will protect, lead, and give you place of refuge.

I go prepare a place

“Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

John 14:1  “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.  And you know the way to where I am going.”

John 14:18     “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.  In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.  Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

Matthew 25:32-34    Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

2 Corinthians 5:6     So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,  for we walk by faith, not by sight.  Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

1 John 3:2    Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

Revelation 22:3     No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.  They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.  And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

We will see Him.  He will be our light. We will be with Him forever.  We will be like Him.  We are His children.   We are blessed and have a kingdom to look forward to.  God loves us. He will not leave us.  He will come to us.  He will prepare a place for us. He will take us to Himself.  Our home will be with Him.  Faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen.  We walk by faith and have courage because of this faith. Our faith is built on Jesus Christ and through Him these promises are ours.  Through these promises we have reason to live and can face whatever troubles come our way.  We have peace that passes worldly understanding because He lives and is coming again to take us to Himself.  Will He find us waiting and looking forward to His return?  Set your mind on humbly serving, honoring, following, and obeying Him until we see Him again and live with Him forever and ever.

Food for living

“And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!”

“And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?”

“And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?”

“And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.”

John 13:36  Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.”

John 14:4   And you know the way to where I am going.”  Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

John 16:17     So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?”

John 20:25     So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”  Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”  Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Hebrews 5:11     About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.  For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,

Having a store house of food and starving to death doesn’t make much sense.   All a person would have to do is go to the store house and eat to live.  How long can the body go without food?  Having the food in our possession does us no good if we do not use it for sustaining our life.  We can tell ourselves that we are fine not eating but slowly we are dying.  God’s word is food for our soul that gives us hope, faith, love, purpose, strength, courage, and peace.  God has given us this store house of spiritual food to know Him, to grow in this understanding, and to have a light to our path this side of eternity.  Read His word, meditate on it, and obey His leading for your life.

Strength of His might

“Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.”

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.”

John 11:38  Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.  Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead  four days.”  Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”  So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.  I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”  When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”  The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

2 Chronicles 20:20    And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.”

Romans 4:20  No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,  fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.  That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,  who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

2 Corinthians 4:6    For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Some things are hard for us to understand when concerning the power and might of God.  A small child would say God can do anything, but as we grow older and become established in life we seem to lose this child like faith.  God has not changed.  He can do all things.  Our thoughts change, life happens and we sometimes limit what God can do.  There are examples of faith that I love to think about.  In Daniel; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us[c] from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Their faith statement “God can and is able – but even if He doesn’t”  Leaves room for God’s sovereign plan and purpose.  The same was true the night Jesus was betrayed when He said – “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”  Our faith is not a magic wand we shake out actions of God at our command. I don’t know why some faith prayers God answers and others He does not.  Leaving it in His loving hands takes faith.  Leaning not onto our own understanding takes faith.  Trusting the outcome is in His plan and purpose takes faith.  Our Creator has plans and purposes beyond out ability to know and we do well to trust in, rely on, and cling to His promises of love, grace, and mercy.

How long will you Limp

“And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.”

“how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,”

John 10:24  So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me,  but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Acts 2:22     “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—

2 Corinthians 4:3     And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.  In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

John 12:37     Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,  so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”  Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,  “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”

In the scriptures today we see those who have set their heart and mind not to believe no matter what, those who go between whatever is popular at the time, and those who believe and are fully committed.  Do you wonder what keeps people grouped like this?  What is it that blinds the non-believers to Christ? What is it that keeps the wafflers from committing to fully?  What is it that keeps the believers committed?  Are the non-believers that way because of pride and condition of a hardened heart/closed mind?  Are the wafflers that way because they want to have what seems like the best of both worlds or are they afraid of what others might think?  Are the believers that way because God opened their heart and mind and drew them to Himself?  Hardened hearts and minds, waffling are always possible even to those who believe.  If we are complacent and neglect His word and lose desire to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey we can harden and we can waffle.  Paul said we should guard ourselves.  We need to take every thought captive.  We cannot prevent the first thought that comes to mind but we can certainly get a proper thought put into place.  Paul said to put on the full amour of God.  There is so much more to being a follower than salvation.  It would seem like this – we want a warm bed to sleep in but want nothing to do with the household or maintaining the house.  Our walk to to be so much more than believing and salvation.  We are to reflect the light of Christ, proclaim the good news, be able to give reason for why we believe, able to encourage, able to disciple, able to correct,  and have a daily walk that is filled with joy, peace, hope, kindness, gentleness, and love.  Spend time in His word and grow in knowledge and understanding of Him.  Hear His whispers of guidance and humbly obey Him.

Belief is just the beginning

“And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.”

John 7:31  Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

John 4:39    Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.”

John 2:23     Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.

John 8:30    As he was saying these things, many believed in him.  So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,  and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 12:42     Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue;

John 3:2     This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

John 9:16     Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.

John 10:41    And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.”  And many believed in him there.

Matthew 11:3    and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see:  the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.  And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

It is one thing to believe but there is so much more than belief.  Believing that Jesus was the Anointed One from God is the beginning.  Trusting in, relying on, and clinging to His redemptive work on the cross for the forgiveness of your sin is when belief turns into faith and a live changing path that has eternal rewards.  At the point and time He sends the Holy Spirit to indwell and lead you on this walk to eternity.  This heart, mind, and soul deep conversion takes place creating a new person with a single purpose – to honor and glorify our heavenly Father.  Let the roots of this conversion continue to grow deep into your life.  Choose and commit to humbly serving, honoring, following and obeying Him.  Start each day with this commitment.  For those that do, He will be their rock, fortress, help in time of trouble, power, strength, hope, and ever present in their lives to lead them into eternity.  For those who do not believe, trust in, rely on, and cling to Him there is a promise of eternity in hell where there is no future hope, only total separation, destruction, pain, and suffering forever.

Bread of Life

“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,”

John 6:60  When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”  But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this?  Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.  But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)  And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”  After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.  So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”

Matthew 11:6    And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Hebrews 5:11    About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing

2 Peter 3:16     as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

Jesus had just told them that He was the bread of life and to eat of this would give them life. For this many walked away.  I wonder if we are like this when we choose to stay away from His word.  If God’s word is not permeating our life what is feeding our spiritual soul?  Apart from His word, nothing. We will waste away, drift away, and lack that which gives us joy, hope, faith, love, kindness, strength, power, grace and mercy.  These are seeds that need spiritual watering from His word. If we don’t see His word essential for living, what does that say about our belief.  His word will continue to grow us.  Fruit of the spirit will be produced and we will be a light shining for Him to use for His glory and honor.

They believed His words

“Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant.”

“with minds set on earthly things.”

John 6:26  Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.  Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”  Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Psalms 106:12   Then they believed his words; they sang his praise.  But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.  But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness, and put God to the test in the desert;

Ezekiel 33:31     And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain.

Romans 16:18    For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites,

Philippians 2:21    For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 6:5    and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

James 4:3   You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.  You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

How many times do we act this same way? “Then they believed his words; they sang his praise.  But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel”  Where we do not wait for His leading.  Where our ears are not listening for His guidance.  Where our heart is set on me, myself, and I.  When the people asked Jesus what works must we do to be doing the work of God, He said believe in whom He sent.  But there is more to “believing” than a thought process in our brain. This belief changes us, or should. Scripture today speaks of many who believed but their belief was not heart and soul deep.  God said to love Him with all of our heart, soul and mind. Give God all your heart, soul and mind.  Spend time in His word.  Learn of Him and how to serve Him.  Love Him more than things of this world.  Learn to give.  Learn to love, learn to serve, learn to make disciples, learn to give, learn to hope, learn to grow faith, learn for His wisdom.  Spend time in His word. Through believing these actions become evidenced; humble service, God honoring, following faithfully, obeying completely, listening fully, waiting patiently, giving generously, praising and thanking continually.

Love of God within you

John 5:37  And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen,  and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.  You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,  yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.  I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you.  I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

In the presence of the Son of God and they could not see that it was Him.  Jesus spoke to them about their hardened hearts, deaf ears, and blind eyes when referring to their unbelief.  I wonder how much of the time we walk around in this same state.  Oblivious to the hand of God, His promises of joy, love, grace, power, strength and hope.  Stay in His word, desire His presence and keep your heart, eyes, and ears open for His leading in your life.

Yet shall we Live

“Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.”

“who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

John 5:28  Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

John 6:39     And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.  For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

John 11:25     Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,

Job 19:25     For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.  And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God,

1 Corinthians 15:22     For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:42    So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.  It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.  Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.  But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.  The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.  As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.  I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.  Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.  For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.  When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

1 Thessalonians 4:14     For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.  For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:14     For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.  For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

Be encouraged in our destiny –  Raised from the dead and forever alive with Christ!!!!!!!!!!