Do you believe God?
Do you believe God?
One of the greatest crises in God's Church today is the lack of faith. And in the context of this end time age, Jesus Christ asks a prophetic question over in Luke 18:8, He says: “Will the Son of Man find faith on the earth when He returns?” What “faith” is Jesus talking about here?
We are all familiar with the classic definition of “faith,” “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). Or, in other words, faith is simply confidence and assurance in God. It is the absolute certainty that something will happen according to our unshakable belief, based on God's promise, or knowledge of His will. Faith is assurance that what God has promised in His word; He will perform. According to the Apostle James, our faith must also be active. We must be a “doer,” not just a “hearer” of God's Word. If our faith is not active and vibrant, then it is useless and “dead” in the words of James. Jesus Christ must be living in us. So I ask the question, do you have confidence and assurance in God - in His promises - in His will to be done in your life? Do you believe God?
We all want our prayers answered. No one wants to believe that their prayers are just bouncing off the ceiling. Answered prayer, whether for healing, or any other trial we may be going through, requires three things: faith, obedience and patience. Our faith must be based on the sure word of the Bible. Again, as James shows us, we must be “doers,” and in the context of prayers being answered, there are basically four things we must do: First, we simply must ask. We must ask God for what we need. Second, we must ask according to God's will, not our own. Third, we must search the scriptures daily to prove from God's Word that which we believe, or are putting our faith in. Fourth and perhaps the most fundamental and essential of all; we must believe God.
Hebrews 6:1-2 lists the six foundational doctrines of the Church. One of them is what the King James calls “faith toward God.” Virtually all other modern translations substitute the word “in” for “toward.” Here is how the New International Version renders these verses: “Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgement” (Heb. 6:1-2 NIV).
The book of Hebrews has a lot to say about faith. Why can we place our faith in God with out reservation? Because He cannot lie (Heb. 6:18)! God can not and will not break a promise, or lie to us. The Apostle Paul emphasizes that point again to Titus: “It is impossible for God to lie” (Titus 1:2). Again, in Hebrews 6, God gives the ultimate token of His sincerity, honesty and intent: His oath to perform what He has promised. J. B. Phillips Modern English Translation makes this very clear: “It is our earnest wish that every one of you should show a similar keenness in fully grasping the hope that is within you until the end. We do not want any of you to grow slack, but to follow the example of those who through sheer patient faith came to possess the promises. When God made His promise to Abraham, He swore by Himself, for there was not one greater by whom He could swear, and He said `Surely blessing I will bless you and multiplying I will multiply you.' And then Abraham, after patient endurance, found the promise true. Among men it is customary to swear by something greater than themselves. And if a statement is confirmed by an oath, that is the end of all quibbling. So in this matter, God wishing to show beyond doubt that His plan was unchangeable, confirmed it with an oath. So that by two utterly immutable things, the word of God and the oath of God, who cannot lie, we who are refugees from this dying world might have a source of strength and might grasp the hope that he holds out to us” (Heb. 6:11-18 Phillips).
Again, the main point that I want to impress on you is the statement in vs. 18, that “it is impossible for God to lie.” That is an important part of our faith: simply believing God - that He will not lie to us. He will do what He says He will do. If we truly believe that and understand it, we will have incorporated into our life, that foundational doctrine given earlier in Heb.6:1: “faith toward God,” or just believing what God says in His word. Believing God is foundational to having faith. Because, if we really believe God and realize that He doesn't lie, about anything, ever; that His every word is true - then it should have a great impact on the way we live our daily life!
Let's look at an example of Jesus Christ's faith: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery (or something to be grasped for), to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philip.2:5-8). Jesus Christ gave up eternal life to become a human being, in order to die as our Savior. What if He had even a twinge of doubt in trusting God? Or, maybe a bit of friction or animosity between Him and the Father? He was taking quite a chance. But Christ knew the Father wasn't lying to Him. He knew that even if He died as a human with no way to resurrect Himself back to the eternal glory He once had; He could trust the Father to keep His word. Jesus knew the Father loved Him and had promised to resurrect Him to that immortal life He once had with the Father. Jesus Christ believed God. Everything was on the line and if you think about it, it is for us as well.
As humans, we have thoughts of distrust, disappointment, envy, jealousy - but not so with God and His Son, Jesus Christ. God cannot lie and God cannot sin. One of the proofs we have of this, is the fact that the Creator of us all, gave up His immortal life - even staking any possible resurrection from death, on the unshakable faith He had in another member of the God family to carry through on His promise. That same God has promised us eternal life through Jesus Christ. How much do we believe God - that He is our Provider, Protector, our Healer and our Savior?
It's very easy for us to say that we believe God and that He doesn't lie, but sometimes our physical
“AND JESUS ANSWERING SAITH UNTO THEM, HAVE FAITH IN GOD.” (Mark 11:22)