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What do you mean by the word believe in the bible?
The word believe mentioned many times throughout our English Bible translations. In the Gospel of John, it appears more than 90 times while in the Book of Acts, it appears about 40 times. But what exactly does the word believe mean?
In the New Testament, the Greek word pisteuo (believe) means to “be convinced of something” or to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to , a person or thing), for example credit, by implication, to entrust (especially one’s spiritual well-being to Christ):—to believe, commit (or trust), by putting in your trust with him . It further means “trust.”
So, to believe in the biblical sense of the word is to trust in Christ alone, as the only way to obtain eternal life with God. It is called trust and It’s one thing to believe in the existence God, but it’s another thing, when one trusts in the God that he believes exists. As born again believers we have never seen heaven, nor do we know what heaven looks like, but since Christ, whom we have never seen, has promised us that we will one day be there, we believe that he is able to make that happen, therefore we trust him to make it happen.
All faith is not is not futuristic, or as some would mockingly dub it as “pie in the sky,” referring to the Christian faith as if it is only about heaven after one dies, but even in the here and now we can see the glory of God as we believe. Jesus said this to Martha, the sister of Lazarus who had died. They all thought that if Jesus had been there he could have saved him from dying, but now he was dead and it’s too late for Jesus to do anything. All they could do now is wait for their “pie in the sky” in the sweet by and by.
John 11:21-24 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
But Jesus wanted them to know and believe that all faith is not just for some time to come but for here and now too. We can see the glory of God today as we walk by faith, and that should really encourage us that we shoud believe that our resurrection at his coming is sure and secure.
John 11:40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? As I reminisce over the years of my life I can see the glory of God in big ways, but even more so in small subtle ways in which he has guided me, covered me, protected me, saved me, and blessed me in ways that otherwise would not have happened without my trusting in him. And you-know-what what? I betcha that you can too.
4 Different Types Of Believers.
In our understanding, today is misleading, to some of us we think believing is all about hope or even speculation. There are three sets of people when it comes to believing. The first set of people are people who will only believe facts and nothing else, and this is the set of people Jesus met in John 4:48, “Jesus told him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.”
Do you believe in love? Well you can’t see love. Or would you deny the existence of wind? Of course not but you can’t see it? Our senses including our sight are a good way to determine truth but they are not 100%, maybe 85% at best. Truth can be determined in many ways and sight is just one pretty good way to determine truth.
I see its effects. I can’t see electricity but the light comes on when I flip the switch. I can’t see the wind but I can watch the leaves blow around. I can’t see love but I enjoy the comfort of loved ones. I can’t see Jesus but I experience His work in my heart and life.
Then there is another who are confused as to whether they believe or not, these are people like the lady who met Jesus at the well, notice what she says in John 4:29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
Yet there is another set of people who believe the words and not the facts, as we can see in John 4:41. “Many more believed because of his word.”
Lastly, there is another set of people who believe but for their belief to be strengthened they need confirmation of some sort, John 4:42, “And they told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.” These people can be called the ‘doubting Thomas’es’ as we see in the scriptures in the Book of John 20:29, “ Jesus said to Thomas, “You believe because you’ve seen me. Blessed are those who haven’t seen me but believe.”
I know it’s very easy to believe God when everything is going your way, and there is no sickness on sight or any form of misfortune but wait until you are sick, or a misfortune has befallen you. Then the devil whispers to your ear, “…Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9). Take away what makes these people believe and many of these people will curse God.
Brethren you don’t need that great faith to believe anything if your pockets are lined with Gold and silver but wait until you are told that “we still have to go and dig the gold and silver and on top of that we still don’t know the exact location of this gold and silver.”
For most of us, our faith temperature drops to zero and we need a lot of warming to come back others have lost hope, and hence their faith died. Most of us believe after we see the Gold in our pockets or the miracle (John 20:29). Then there is another class of people who will believe but will never lift a finger to do anything to realize that miracle (James 2:26).
Most of us have stopped believing that things will ever change at all because we have prayed, fasted, given special offerings, prophet special offerings, visited this church, and even used special anointed materials but nothing has changed instead things have moved from worse to worst.
Do you know why most of these people used to believe?
It’s because they were seeing something happening, and this doesn’t require any amount of faith because, if you do this a certain thing , that will happen for instance if I pray this prayer a certain prayer 7 times and apply a certain ‘holy’ oil then you will get certain results that doesn’t require any amount of faith. You don’t need Abram’s faith to do that.
Do you know why most of us stopped believing?
It’s because of the lack of a sign, either we used to get before or we were promised but it never came to pass. So, when we remember the time and resources, we lost pursuing this miracle it hurts us the most and hence it makes it difficult to start all over again (Mark 5:26). But we should have the heart to start all over again no matter what happened in the past and this time we will get what we have been looking for just like this woman was healed after many years (Mark 5:27).
I know most of you might be finding it very difficult to pull yourselves up and keep going because there is nothing to suggest that. All you are see is negatives in your bank accounts and a pill of debts for that matter. I am not saying we ignore the reality in front of us but what I am saying is that let’s confront it together after all the bible says in Matthew 18:19 it says, “Again, I tell you truly that if two of you on the earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.”.
Remember “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible,” (Matthew 19:26). So simply because nothing has worked or is working it doesn’t mean that God is doing nothing it just means maybe we are operating in different plains remember God’s ways are not our own (Isaiah 55:8-9) and God is inviting me to join Him to start seeing what he His doing as we can see in Isaiah 1:18 where God says come and let us reason together…
Let me tell you the truth if we invite God into everything we do, God will connect us with our destiny helpers and even provide the necessary resources to get us moving. Look at the case of Elijah when he need food during that great famine God arranged for a widow to feed him (Luke 4:26), there is a certain person or blessing which is only custom-made for you.
Yes, it might have taken a little bit longer than expected to receive that miracle but remember God was arranging this or that event and coordinating how you will meet your destiny helpers, so don’t give up. Let God do his thing. Just imagine a pregnant woman wanted her baby so bad and after 3 months, she decided that she is going to go to the doctor and give birth so that she can have a birthday for her child.
If you met this woman going to the doctor, what would you tell her? Would you encourage her to go and see the doctor or you would tell her to be alit patient it’s just a matter of time and you can’t force the hand of time. Everything happens at the appointed time (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Remember if she insisted, she wouldn’t have a normal baby but a stillborn and that is why people visit the witches and even bribe their way to get what they want, and because it wasn’t the correct time, or it wasn’t made to be done that way, we end up suffering.
Do you remember in the Book of 1 Samuel 13:8-13, the story of King Saul who due to mounting pressure from his subjects, sacrificed instead of waiting for the Samuel to come and do it and how he lost his Kingdom as a result. Most of us are where we are now because we did what we were not supposed to.
Did you know that some problems or delays are there to grow us and even prepare us for greater things to come? A woman would never have a baby the normal way without labor pains. I know that most of us feel like we have suffered a lot compared to our friends but always remember the bigger the miracle the bigger the preparation required and hence the bigger the challenges to realize it.
For instance, an elephant is pregnant for slightly more than 2 years and gives birth to only one calf. But a dog can choose to get pregnant 12 times (while the elephant is pregnant) because it takes only 2 months for it to give birth. But just look at the size of what they deliver and that will tell you it was worth the wait.
In the same manner some of our miracles are custom made and they require some time to get them ready, so don’t hurry them.
According to 2 Chronicles 15:7, the Bible says, “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” The reason God reminds us not to give up is because he knew in a period of silence when nothing seems to be happening and also trying moments it’s easy to give up. If God was to show us what He is doing in silence it won’t require any amount of faith. Let’s not put our God to the test, by telling him that if he did this, or that then you would believe, remember by doing this you are doubting your God.
I would recommend you listen to this video so as to increase your knowledge on this subject matter:
MTM Sunday – Believing God When You’re Not Seeing Now (mtmchurch.org)
Pastor Nathaniel
