Do You REALLY Believe?

I went on a late night drive last night. (I do that when I have something weighing on my soul.) And as I was driving, the gravity of something that I had read began to resonate with me. Basically, it’s this: your soul (mind, will, and emotions) is in alignment with whatever you believe. That is, you do not behave differently from what you believe.

Here’s an example: At night, you watch the news for tomorrow’s weather report. The weatherman predicts a clear forecast with sunny skies and 95 degree heat. So, you plan accordingly. You intend to wear shorts, go on an early morning picnic to escape the heat and enjoy the clear weather. You know of the perfect tree to provide shade for your picnic. You will not take an umbrella or plan to spend anytime indoors. You don’t worry about your hair. You think about getting your car washed. You believe it will be a nice day.

This is how we behave when we believe. Our actions line up with what we truly believe.

Now, if you have a Bible, you have your own access to the Word of God. God’s Word is Truth. So, if we (yes, we) profess to believe what is written, then we will do according to that which we read. This is why God expects obedience; our actions, our daily walk is evidence that we believe Him.

“For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.” Psalm 78:32.  So why do we still sin? Why do we still do wrong to ourselves and to others? Because we don’t believe God. People commit suicide because deep down they don’t believe in the Love of God. We commit fornication because we don’t believe what God says about fornication, that it’s a sin against our own body (1 Corinthians 6:18). We’d rather learn the hard way. We commit adultery because we believe we are getting our needs met one way or another; we don’t believe that we are, in fact, destroying our own souls (refer to Proverbs 6:32). We don’t close the door on a bad situation when God tells us to because we don’t believe that we really hear Him. We don’t believe the Bible when it says to discipline our children when they are young (refer to Proverbs 13:24), but we believe it later when they grow up heathens due their lack of discipline. We don’t believe that we need to be prepared for what we want, until the right time presents itself and we aren’t ready (refer to Matthew 25:1-10). We don’t believe that we can succeed in business, so we don’t do the things that will make us successful.

So, I urge you: Take a cold, hard look at your life. Your life and what you habitually do is evidence of what you have believed about yourself and God up to this very point. Whatever it is that you want, you’re going to have to believe God for it. You are going to have to believe that it is part of the abundant life that you (yes, you) are supposed to have. If you want that dream house, that hot car, that special mate, well-behaved children, a booming business, a great job, peace, quiet, fantastic health—if you want abundance, you are going to have to believe Jesus when He said, “…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10.

When your tomorrow still looks like today, it will be obvious what you believe. When your tomorrow begins to look like your future, you will know that your beliefs are changing for the better. Align your actions with the commandments of God and watch the goodness that happens in your life. His goodness will make a believer out of you.