Search

believing

Blindly Believing is Easier Than the Hard Work of Finding the Truth

by

Rejection Is a Driving Force in Why We Follow the Crowd

We naturally desire being accepted…being included in the group of cool people. This need starts at an early age.

You’re probably aware of the game spin the bottle. In one version, whoever the bottle points at must either kiss the spinner or pay them a quarter. One man said that he got so many quarters that he paid his first year of college with quarters.

Now that’s some major rejection. This humorous story may make us laugh, but…

There’s nothing funny about rejection.

Most of us are familiar with the Palm Sunday story of Jesus riding the donkey into Jerusalem. The people gave Him a king’s welcome. They spread coats and palm branches on the road in front of Him. As told in Luke 19:28-44, His followers were shouting “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

We know that in a few short days after Jesus is received as a king, he is killed like a criminal. Talk about rejection.

There were two groups of people observing Jesus’ arrival. The majority of both groups were wrong in their perception of what this arrival meant. Both thought Jesus was going to come in and overthrow the government.

The Pharisees were scared that this would be the end to their power. The others thought this would give them the power. All of them wanted to be part of the “cool crowd”.

Because their focus was on being in the “cool crowd”, they missed the truth.

Too often this desire to fit in, blinds us to the truth.

Being alone is scary. It’s easier to believe what we’re told than to be alone and ask the hard questions. There’s strength in numbers. We feel much safer in a group, even if that group believes the wrong things.

This was never more evident than when the Nazi German regime was able to carry out over eleven million institutional killings between 1933 and 1945. In Andy Andrews book, How Do You Kill 11 Million People? Why the Truth Matters More Than You Think, he shows us how deadly it can be to believe a lie.

Seeking and discerning the truth is of critical importance. Believing lies is the most dangerous thing you can do. Be a careful student of the past, seeking accurate, factual accounts of events that illuminate our choices.

We must become informed, passionate people or suffer the consequences of our own ignorance and apathy. We can no longer measure a group’s worth by what we hear or want to be true. Instead,

We must use an unchanging Biblical standard of the pure, unvarnished truth. 

This truth affects both the world we live in now and the one beyond.

The Untapped Power of the Mind is the One Thing That Keeps Most of Us Stuck

by

But the Mind Can’t Do It Alone…it Requires Action as Well

Why is it that we doubt what we know? There are countless examples of the power of the human mind, yet we think… “this power only works for other people, doesn’t apply to me”.

Not only is this lack of belief directed at ourselves, ultimately it shows our lack of trust in God.

In Mark 10:46-52, there’s an example of the power of belief and acting on that belief.

The blind Bartimaeus is sitting along the road begging for money as Jesus goes by, he begins shouting. The people told him to be quiet. He shouted for Jesus to help him even more.

Jesus told him to come to Him.

He got up and went to Jesus.

Jesus asked him what he wanted. He said, “I want to see again.”

Jesus said, “Go. You are healed because you believed.”

This is the power of believing and acting on those beliefs.

Too often people find themselves in a bad situation like Bartimaeus and give in and give up. They feel angry, hurt, defeated or afraid and just stay there. It’s okay to have these feelings…just not to stay there. We can fight the pain, or we can accept it, learn from it and move forward like Antoinette Bosco.

During her eventful life, Antoinette “Toni” Bosco had plenty of reasons to feel abandoned by God. A mentally ill mother, heavy responsibilities early in life, a disastrous arranged marriage, the death of three of her seven children – the list is a painful one. But, instead of turning her back on God, she decided to embrace Him even more.

She attributed much of her ability to cope in these difficult life situations to her Italian father who came to America as a young man. He taught her, “To be good to people, to help people, never be cruel and never be angry.”

There was a point of suffering when she just wanted to pull the covers up over her head and hide from the world. She was telling herself; I just can’t get up anymore. Then she heard another voice…

If you think you can’t or you think you can…you’re right.

“I would not have gotten through my life without my faith. I do believe that the Lord Jesus is with me all the time.”

Bosco has learned that you never know what’s going to come next in life, but no matter what, it is essential to keep the faith.

“I know every day my prayer is “Be with me and let me know that You are with me,’” she said. “So far that has sustained me.”

Use the power of your mind, given to you by your Creator and start moving forward to fulfill your life.

Fear is Easier to Deal with When You’re Not Alone

by

We’re All Afraid of Something…What is it That You’re Afraid of?

Fear and anxiety are a part of life. It comes in a variety of places and levels for each of us.

A lady who was afraid of flying was on a plane. This fear was amplified when the plane was delayed a few times before takeoff. While in the air, the cabin lights began to flicker. The lady asked the flight attendant if she could please do something to fix the lights. The attendant went and turned them off. The person across the aisle leaned over and said, “Whatever you do…don’t say anything about the engines.” 😊

I don’t know, but I doubt that turning off the lights did much to help the lady’s fear.

In John 20:19-31 we see how Jesus’ disciples were afraid and hiding from the Romans. Their world had just been turned upside down with Jesus being killed.

Jesus’ followers, except Thomas, were meeting behind locked doors when Jesus shows up. This helps to subside their fear…for a little while. The group kept telling Thomas how Jesus had shown up.

He wasn’t going to believe until he saw for himself.

Then a week later, the followers were meeting again. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus showed Thomas the proof of the holes in His hands and side. Jesus told Thomas, “You believe because you have seen…blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.

Believing without seeing is hard.

Whether it’s flying in a plane, spiders, roller coasters, not having enough money, being stranded in the middle of the ocean, snakes, letting people down, there is something we’re afraid of. For some this fear can be debilitating. For others it’s more of a nuisance. Regardless the fear is real.

A class of seminary students were shown a picture drawn by a boy that was sick and dying. The boy had not been talking since he went to the hospital.

The picture was fairly typical of pictures drawn by children. It was a picture of the boy’s family. It had a house, dad, mom and his siblings standing in the front yard. The part that was different was him standing by himself off to the side facing a tank that was about to run over him.

The class was given copies of the drawings and asked to make changes to the picture that might help the boy cope. There were several changes that were shown to the boy. The one that got the boy to open up and talk was the one that had a picture of a person simply standing beside him in front of the tank.

We all need someone to stand beside us when we’re facing tanks.

Jesus will stand beside us when we’re facing tanks…if we will just ask Him.

I Say That I Believe…But Do I Really?

by

It’s Easy to Say, But Hard to Do

What does it mean to believe? The words believe, trust, and faith are thrown around a lot. They’re used in all forms of motivational situations. You may have seen the Geico commercial in which Pinocchio is portrayed as a bad motivational speaker. (use a picture from the commercial)

In the commercial Pinocchio’s nose begins to grow when he tells people that they have potential. This commercial shows us the real problem with believing…we don’t. It presumes that Pinocchio is lying when he tells people that they have potential. The lie is in what Pinocchio is telling himself. He doesn’t believe that he or anyone has potential.

Every one of us has potential!

The words, believe, trust, and faith are often used synonymously but have subtle differences. Faith is a noun only. Trust is both a noun and verb. Believe is only a verb. We know from English class that a noun is a person, place or thing. A verb is used to describe an action.

We use these words as nouns. As a treasure that is out there for us to find. The problem is that two of the three are verbs, and we should be taking action. This means that we need to do something.

If I believe that I’m doing what God wants me to do…why doesn’t it appear to be working?

A few days ago, as part of my morning Scripture reading, I read Mark 11:20-24. In this message Peter asks Jesus about a fig tree that the day before Jesus said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And now, “it is dry and dead.” Jesus replied to Peter, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, fall into the sea.’ And if you have no doubts in your mind and believe that what you say will happen, God will do it for you. So, I tell you to believe that you have received the things you ask for in prayer, and God will give them to you.”

As I contemplated this Scripture as it related to my question, I realized a few things.

When the scripture says, “…say to this mountain, ‘Go fall into the sea.’ And if you have no doubts…it will happen”. That sounds great, but really, do I think the mountain is going to just move. Think of the chaos that would ensue if we all did this. I would move the mountain over there and somebody else would move it somewhere else. Maybe my believing is about doing. I could move the mountain with a bucket, by developing a machine, by designing a system, or by employing a team. The scripture isn’t about magic, it’s about believing that I can do it.

“God will do it for you.” I don’t doubt for a minute that if He chooses to move a mountain from here to there in one big piece He can. But more likely, His way of doing it for me is through ideas, plans, methods, help, etc. We are made in His image…we’re not Him.

As I pointed out earlier, believe is a verb. This means that if I believe, then I will need to do something. I can’t just say that I believe and wait for the miracles. I need to do my part. My belief needs to be accompanied by action.

I can say I believe, but if I don’t act then I don’t really believe.

My problem is that I’m looking forward to the mountain being moved and getting distracted by the enormity of it. I need to trust that God will show me what each next step is. Pastor Lee shared about Bill Irwin, (use picture from this link) a blind man that in 1990 hiked the Appalachian Trail alone. God didn’t magically take Bill from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mt. Katahdin in north central Maine. Instead Bill walked 2,168 miles over nine months without maps or GPS or assistance one step at a time.

Bill believed and with God’s help, moved his mountain. It’s up to us to believe and move ours.

There Are Miracles Waiting at The Edge of Our Faith

by

 

 

 

 

That Faith Only Needs to Be as Big as a Mustard Seed

 

We really don’t believe in miracles, we say that we do, but not really. Our faith is almost nonexistent. We sell ourselves and God short. It’s no wonder that we live lives of mediocrity.


Even the apostles, who had witnessed Jesus perform miracles doubted. He told them, “If your faith were the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Dig yourself up and plant yourself in the sea.,” and it would obey you.” Luke 17:5-6 I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a mustard seed, but they’re tiny.


Faith requires action.


Imagine yourself at a circus watching all the amazing trapeze artists and high wire acts. After the tight rope walker goes across the high wire the ring master asks the crowd if they would like to see him ride a bicycle across. Everyone applauds and says yes. Next the ring master asks if they would like to see him go across with someone riding on his shoulders. The applause and screams are louder than before. Then the ringmaster asks…who will volunteer to be that person? The crowd instantly is quiet. Oh, ye of little faith.


We’ve been put here for a purpose. To live out that purpose to its fullest requires faith and action.


Faith starts with forgiveness.


Anger stops the flow of miracles. Forgiveness releases them. We think holding back forgiveness is punishment to those who have wronged us…it isn’t, forgiveness benefits the forgiver as much as the forgiven. It clears the blockage and opens a clear path for miracles to flow through.


Faith is all about believing.


We only need to believe a mustard seed amount for miracles to happen. It’s sad how many people don’t even have this much faith. God will never expect us to do more than we can. The problem is that we don’t believe. There are examples of amazing things all around us if we will just look. The more we believe in God and ourselves the bigger the miracles will be.


Faith concludes with serving.


Serving is the result of putting our faith into action. Our specific purpose is to serve God and others using our gifts and talents. Serving others is not demeaning, it is the fulfillment of our purpose. Small acts of service ripple through out time and space ending in huge miracles.


We are made in God’s image but live in a fallen world. It is hard to see through the haze of the fallen world to the miracles that happen. In the story of the mulberry tree above, it says, if you have faith, it will obey you…it doesn’t say anything about seeing it.


We witness miracles every day that were started by someone else’s faith and action.