The Power of Belief

“If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The father and I are One” John 10:25-30. In this verse Jesus makes it plain what it means to believe: listen to his voice and follow him. There’s such a great reward to be a follower of Jesus. We not only receive eternal life, but while we are here on this earth we get the opportunity to live as he did and love others unconditionally while walking in unity. Jesus said his sheep know and listen to his voice, so this is evident that we must be in close relationship with the Lord, while being led by the Holy Spirit. When we believe in God and apply what the scriptures instruct us to do, we become powerful. The Bible literally say that God’s power is made perfect in our weakness and God has not given us a Spirit of fear but of power, love and self-control, and this is why belief is so important; it’s the very essence that drives our lives. Whatever a person believes will be their determined outcome. When we decide to believe the scriptures about Christ, we receive eternal life, that is a life that is ever-lasting, meaning it is never going to end.We are going to spend the rest of our days with the God that created this universe and as the Bible states in Romans 10:9, all it takes is us confessing with our mouths and believing in our hearts that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave for our sins and we will be saved. Wow, true salvation! What makes salvation so amazing is after we receive it through believing which is faith, we have the opportunity to grow and become more like Jesus, and this is where the real fun kicks in. We have this grand opening to become mature disciples. Paul explains in 1 Corinthians that we are God’s temple and his Spirit dwells in us, and this is something we cannot take lightly. Think about this, God’s Spirit dwells in us, leading and guiding us to the places and things he has called us to. Not only is the Holy Spirit leading us, but he’s also counseling and developing us to be more like Jesus. The profound depth of wisdom, knowledge and understanding that is administered to us is a gift that only comes from God’s Spirit and his Spirit uncovers revelation by his power. The Bible says, “that no one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit, and we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.” The truth is this, whatever we know of God, we can only know because the Holy Spirit has revealed it to us, and that is the gift, it’s something that can’t come from within ourselves, it can only be given to us by the Spirit of God. This is why belief is so important because if we don’t believe we can’t receive God’s Holy Spirit and we miss the amazing opportunity to be led and counseled by God himself through his amazing Spirit. If we don’t believe we miss receiving the greatest gift sent by Jesus, the Savior himself.

Furthermore, belief is extremely vital because in order to fulfill God’s plan and purpose we have to accept what God says about us. In Ephesians 2:10, God says we are his masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. The definition of masterpiece is a work done with extraordinary skill; something that is often its creator’s greatest achievement. Hallelujah! We are God’s greatest achievement and he has taken his time creating each and every one of us extraordinarily. When God created each of us in our mother’s womb, he made no mistakes, for we are his masterpiece and he knows the plans for all of us and his plan is to prosper us and give us a hope and a future, but we can only receive the hope and future if we believe. It’s so powerful. Believing what Jesus spoke in the scriptures gives us the ability to believe God above all else. The Bible commands us to trust God from the bottom of our heart and listen to his voice in everything we do, everywhere we go because he is the one that will keep us on track. In Christ we are a new creation, that simply means we are brand-new on the inside because the Holy Spirit gives us new life while living in union with Jesus Christ. The Bible makes it clear what God thinks about us, and his thoughts are good and pleasing. In 1 Peter 2:9, it declares that we are a Chosen People, a Royal Priest, a Holy Nation, God’s very own possession, and as a result of that, we have the privilege to show others the goodness of God, for he has called us out of the darkness into his wonderful light. We have to believe what God says about us, because when we agree with God’s word we embark on an amazing and challenging journey that is God’s will for us. God has a different course of direction for each person on this earth and that is the beauty of life. It’s simply to be in the will of God and to accomplish his purpose for you on earth, so one day when you meet him, he’ll say, well done.

What I have learned is that belief is the substance of faith. The experiences I’ve encountered in my life have tested my faith drastically, but I always turned to the word of God and that has constantly restored my faith and kept me strong. Friends, the Bible is powerful, and it is filled with nothing but the truth. It is literally the instructions to living this life. I am nothing apart from God and his word. Every day, I have the chance to grow and become more like Jesus. Each day I’m given a choice to make right or wrong decisions and live a life that is honorable to God. There are moments when I fall short, but I’ve learned not to plant myself in those moments, but like I stated earlier, God shows his strength through my weakness and refines me each experience at a time. My focus daily is growing in God’s love, power, and goodness. Being more like Jesus has taken a lot of pruning but the more my desires grow for him the more he shapes and builds me. My hope is that we continue to fight the good fight of faith and grow in love for one another and remember that the enemy is trying to steal our belief, so keep God’s word planted in your heart and constantly speak it over your life because that is what will keep you strong.