BELIEVE GOD

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

“As CHRISTIANS we believe IN God but do we BELIEVE GOD?” – Pastor Mark Atherton

Chew on that little nugget for a second.

Atherton has a point.

For many of us we are quick to note our belief "in GOD". 

Maybe there is a cross around our necks, a Bible on the coffee table, a membership card from our local congregation stuffed in the back of the wallet.  We believe in creation and the cross.  We rarely miss a Sunday and have a plan for daily prayer.  We do a Bible study, teach a class, or maybe even mentor someone.  We send checks to foreign missions to drill wells and have our World Vision child prominently displayed on the fridge.

Yes there is no question we believe IN GOD.

But that isn’t the question today.

I am not asking you if you believe IN GOD.  I am reiterating Mark’s penetrating question of do you BELIEVE GOD?

Do you BELIEVE GOD when financial pressures mount and He says, “I will supply every need.” – (Philippians 4)

Do you BELIEVE GOD when life has you frustrated and so punch drunk that you can’t focus and He says, “wait on Him and He will lift you on the wings of eagles”? – (Isaiah 40)

Do you BELIEVE GOD when things are crumbling around you and seemingly nothing good can be gleaned and He says that it is still “all good”? (Romans 8)

Do you BELIEVE GOD when you are feeling insecure and alone and He says, “I will never leave or forsake”? (Hebrews 13)

I could go on.

I had a woman in my office yesterday who was dealing with too much month and not enough money.  Work hours had been cut, water was going to be next and she was exhausted.  And like many that come to my office I heard the ubiquitous, “I am coming back to church this Sunday and what time is FREEDOM on Monday?” often hoping that will encourage me to dip into the ministry coffers a little deeper.

But it was something she said that reminded me of what Pastor Atherton had shared just the night before.  She said, “I believe IN GOD and I know I haven’t been to church in a while, I just don’t know how to APPLY GOD to my situations.”

Interesting huh?  That was the DOOR I needed.

GOD for her had lost HIS RELEVANCE and that was because she had stepped away from HER RELATIONSHIP; she had stopped BELIEVING GOD.

So when I reminded her of what GOD wanted to do for her and with her yesterday; things like orchestrate her path, stride ahead of her, and embolden her to face the challenges of life, her countenance changed.  When I reminded her that in spite of her being “out of gas” and weakened GOD’s grace more than sufficient, she stopped crying.

By the time she had left she was less concerned with what time service started and how much was in our benevolence envelope and more ready than ever to apply some “Proverbs 3” (trusting GOD) to her situation. 

She realized that SHE NEEDED TO “BELIEVE GOD”.  She realized the GOD WAS INVESTED in her mess and as her HIGH PRIEST AND INTERCESSOR wanted her to APPROACH HIM for the MERCY and HELP she needed.(Hebrews 4).  She realized that she could BELIEVE GOD to intersect her with like-minded BELIEVERS and that hope and help were no longer a mystery.

So I close today with a riff on my opening question. 

Given what you have going on in your world today is it time for you to BELIEVE GOD too?

 

I love you all…

Freedom Church