Faith Part 5 – Believing GOD
What is the difference between believing in GOD and believing GOD? There are so many answers to that question, but I think the key to this is found in the book of James:
“You believe that there is on GOD. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder.” James 2:19
How could you not believe in GOD in some way? Just looking up at the sky at night or staring out into the ocean…It has to be clear, at least on an intellectual level, that GOD exists. Even to the most serious atheist, there has to be a thought in his/her mind that there was a creator of all that we see even if they would never really confess that out loud. On some level, all of us who have even a shred of common sense believe in GOD. And that passage in James tell us that even the demons believe and shudder.
But believing GOD is a completely different thing. Believing GOD changes our lives because believing GOD means that we read what He says in His Word and are convinced that it is true. Believing GOD means that we know Him to be a personal, loving, all-powerful creator GOD because He tells us He is. Believing GOD means that we know GOD to be what His Word says He is and that even when it doesn’t seem like it in our minds, He is a good GOD that is our Father. We believe that He is powerful enough to communicate with us in exactly the way He wants to communicate, and He chose the Bible.
The bottom line is that believing in GOD can mean absolutely nothing to us in our everyday living, but believing GOD changes everything!
So I have to ask myself everyday, is today a day that I believe GOD – His promises, His love, His Word? Or is today a day that I just believe in GOD and have the same belief in GOD that even the demons have. Is my life different because I believe who GOD says He is, because I believe in His Word? If the answer to that is “no,” something is wrong. If I could live my life exactly the same without Him, then do I truly believe Him? When I read the Word of GOD, I see a GOD who changes everything. The GOD of the Bible is not a quiet, status quo, don’t rock the boat type of GOD. The GOD of the Bible challenges His followers to be completely different because they believe Him…
I am so far away from this type of faith that I can’t even explain what it looks like or feels like. But I do know I want it. I do know I want to believe my GOD for everything. I want to be able to live every second of my life believing in the promises of GOD’s Word! I want people to look at my life and know that I have a Savior who changed me. I want to share the love of Christ with people not as a man who believes that there is a god somewhere in the world, but as a man who believes in the GOD of the universe!
Please join me in praying this prayer…”GOD, help me to believe You. Help me to study Your Word every day. Help me to be on my knees everyday. And help me to be changed by the power of Your Word and the power of Your Holy Spirit.”