Simply Believe

[O2BLikeU]

I thank God for Facebook, mostly because it keeps me in touch with some favorite teachers of the Word. For example, this one, from Mike Mills, here in Colorado who used to be youth pastor at my church, but has moved on to pastoring a church 50 miles away

Mike writes:
This morning I was reading through the book of Hebrews when I was struck again by the amazing simplicity of God’s desire for us and our biggest area of failure.

Here is what I read, it if from Hebrews 3:7-12


7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you will hear His voice,

8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness,

9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years.

10 Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’

11 So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’"

12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;



What is God’s desire for us? I believe that it is simply to believe. Unfortunately, most people today will say that they “believe in God,” but that is not what I am talking about. I am talking about believing God. God does not desire that we simply acknowledge that He exists, but rather that we live like we not only believe that He exists, but that we believe what He has said. If you believe something, truly believe it, then that belief will be evident in the way you live. If you believe that it is cold out, you will put on a jacket. If you believe that it is going to be hot, you will put on sunscreen. Of course, it is possible to believe both of those things and still ignore the consequences…but you end up shivering, or sunburned. Too many of us live like that. We believe in God. In fact, we believe God…we believe His Word is true…yet we purposely choose to go our own way and risk the consequences. The problem is that we have no idea what the consequences truly are. It is like ignoring sunscreen. A little sunburn is no big deal; sure it is uncomfortable for a little while, but it goes away. Then 35 years later you get skin cancer. That is how sin works. The short term consequences don’t always seem to be that big of a deal, sometime there doesn’t even seem to be any consequences. Don’t be fooled. Sin always has consequences. Always.

Today believe God with active belief. Live like you believe Him…not as a show, not out of obligation, but because you love Him and you know that He loves you and His way is ALWAYS best.

 

[HappySoul]

Some people can't just "simply believe"

Real faith is easier said than achieved.

 

[Davy]

Simply believe???

Personally, I shy away from this term "Simply believe" because it is vague and imprecise, and thus can be misleading. Just believing in God, is not enough, the Israelites had a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day at the center of their camp. (Exodus 13:21, 22) They believed God was there and watching them, but that did not move them to obey Him. Clearly, as the Bible itself states, LOVE for God, which means obeying all His commandments is what moves people, which in turn becomes a demonstration of faith. (James 2:17, 18; 1 John 5:3)

If you tell a non Christian, all they need to do is just "Simply believe" I have found, they think as long as they believe there is a God that exists, then they are saved. This might seam like splitting hairs, but people who do not understand the Bible and do not know God, can easily be mislead by vague terms, which can ultimately harm their spiritual growth.

 

[rojoloco]

We are called to be slaves to God. Not just servants; SLAVES. We are not our own. Whether we show it or not, the truth of it all is that we ARE slaves. That is not relative. It is absolute truth. We were bought with a price. We have a Master. We are God's own possession.

One will never truly know how to serve God if they don't even really understand their identity in Christ. Even James said that faith without works is dead. It is not that we are saved by our works or that our works sustain our salvation. It isn't even that our works come from us as believers. However, those words are evidence of saving faith found within us and an active God working through us.