In Believing part 4
Faith without works is dead, but faith is what makes everything work. In believing, we experience what God has for us. What God has given to us. Look at Matthew 9:28-29, "And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you." And look at this: Their faith... was in Jesus. "Do you believe I can do this?" Yes, we do. And then He did it. If you ask in His name... He'll do it. Because He WANTS to do it. In fact, at this point--on this side of the cross--He's already done it. All of the promises in Christ are yea and amen. Because they've already been fulfilled. He's already given us everything. Because He's already given us Himself. Jesus took away the sin (unbelief) of the world by giving us something (someONE, Himself, love) to believe in! And in believing in Him... in believing in love... we "get," or experience, what we believe in. Here's the deal: There's the report of the world and there's the Word (which is Jesus, which is love) of the Lord. And while you CAN'T just "believe" any old thing and "expect" it to happen... your choice is to believe one or the other. You can't serve two masters, but you do serve one. The cool thing is that you get to choose which one to serve. You get to choose what to believe. I always say, "You don't have to believe everything you think." Some stuff you can just let it fly right out of your brain. Just let it go. Lay aside the weight and the sin (unbelief) that so easily besets you. Let the truth (that has already set you free and made you free) set you free and make you free! But what I'm trying to say today--or what I was planning to try to say today--is that we don't have to move mountains with our faith. We simply have to believe in the One who already did. Jesus brought the mountains low and the valleys high. So all we have to do--ALL we have to do--is hook our faith up to Him. Hook our faith up to love. Choose to believe the truth, the ultimate truth of the universe that says "God is love and He loves you," and let that love fill us to overflowing so that it comes out of us naturally. In believing in love... we are equipped and empowered to love. In believing in the One who loves us, we are able to love Him back by loving each other. According to your faith be it unto you. What you believe--either the lie of the world or the truth of God--is what manifests in your life. Faith is what makes everything work. What's inside, or what you believe is inside, is what comes out. It has to. Because its too big to stay inside. If its hurt... its too big to stay inside. If its love... its to big to stay inside. Hurt people hurt people. But loved people love people. Listen, we put our faith in things all the time. When you sit in a chair you put your faith in it that its going to hold you up. So make sure that, in believing, you put your faith in the right thing. Love. The right One. Jesus.