Ok, let's see what I can manage to make sense of out of what's whizzing around in my brain at the moment...
So I'm doing a Bible study by Beth Moore on 'Believing God'. One of the things she focuses on right away is that believing God isn't a once off thing: it's a 'present active participle' - its continuously believing. This is faith - to continuously believe. It's a lifestyle of believing because God is.
Throughout the study, we look at 5 areas of faith: believing God is who He says He is, that He can do what He says He can do, that I am who He says I am, that I can do all things through Christ, and that the Word is alive and active in me. Woah! Take a bit of time, and just think about what those simple statements really mean... How often do we say we believe in God, but do we actually believe God in all those areas - believe what He says? After all, He is truth - He doesn't know how to lie!
When I think about it this way, it's no surprise to me that the church is thought of as hypocritical and why there are so many sleeping 'Christians' out there - because we've made the mistake that we just need to believe God exists, and not believe Him in His entirety and all that He says at truth. It's a bit of a mind job!
So we're only in the second week of teaching, but 3 weeks into the study - we take 2 weeks to do one week of teaching. Yes, that's how intense it is. This week is focused on the first principle: believing God is who He says He is. As I've had that going around in my subconscious, I've realised how much everything is affected by this. What you believe about God is the most important thing about you, because it changes everything. Not who you say He is, but who you actually believe Him to be deep inside, because you'll show this by how you live. I think that if we actually saw God in His entirety and perfection, this world would be such a different place! Imagine your average church worship service - a couple of people singing with their hands raises, but many people standing still in God's presence. If we actually were in the throne room of God and saw Him.... I don't think we'd be standing! I have no idea what we'd be doing, but I highly doubt it would be that.
Another thing I've found interesting is fear: we are afraid when we have misplaced our faith. Fear counteracts faith. So often we're scared of what will happen with our future and of letting go of stuff and trusting God - if you really look at why, we basically don't trust God. We don't believe God can handle it. Why? Because we don't believe that God is who He says He is.
That's just one example, but almost any issue or doubt or anything comes down to this. We don't really believe that God is who He says He is. It's absurd, because God doesn't lie. So why wouldn't He be who He says He is? I think we have a complex of always needing to be right, so when there is a conflict in what we believe and what is, we think that what is must be wrong, instead of examining ourselves. We need to challenge our faith - to figure out why we believe what we believe. After all, faith unchallenged is hardly faith at all, because faith is meant to grow, and how can it grow unless it is challenged and correctly rooted?
How similar is your view of God (what you really believe deep inside that is shown by how you live, not just what you say you believe) to who He says that He is in His Word?
God clearly says who He is throughout Scripture and in what He does around us every day. Creation declares His majesty and greatness - if we don't praise Him, the rocks will cry out. If you manage to believe that He created this world - that He spoke all of this into being out of nothing - then anything else really isn't all that hard for Him to do either. Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that He was created for us - to do our bidding, to bless us and to take care of our loved ones; but we were made by and for Him - to do His bidding, to bless Him and to take care of His loved ones.
Messing with your mind a bit? I know my mind is in a bit of turmoil, as I examine my beliefs, why I believe them, where that idea came from, and whether it is Biblical - whether God is actually like that, or if I have been trying to make my own god - an image of god that fits what I think he should be like. Basically an idol. How hectic is that?? So maybe worshiping a god that we create or manipulate into how we think he should be or act is actually worshiping an idol who isn't God at all. Woah!
Some of these thoughts are things I'm still grappling with, so take it to God and ask Him to explain the truth to you. He says so many times in His Word that He will do this:
"Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come." Jeremiah 33:3
"Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you." Matt 7:7
"If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me" Jeremiah 29:13
Many of those verses deal with seeking and finding God, but God is Himself Truth (John 14:6 "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life").
My prayer is that you wouldn't be comfortable to just go with how things are, but that you'd challenge yourself and allow God to point out areas of unbelief in your life or where you have skewed perceptions of God. Take courage and allow God to align your view of who He is to the truth of who He says He is. God, please take the junk out of our eyes and hearts and minds, so that we can see You clearly. I want to see You as You are, with nothing of my own ideas. I want to believe the Truth and to believe You to the fullest extent that I can. I believe, God, help my unbelief.
"I am the LORD and there is no other. I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner. I would not have told My people to seek Me if I could not be found. I, the LORD, speak only what is true and declare only what is right" (Isaiah 45:19)
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