ONLY BELIEVE

“As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, ‘Do not be afraid; only believe.” Mark 5:36

The unrenewed mind is always waging war against unbelief. That is how we find ourselves confessing faith in the Word but denying it in action. The truth is we cannot figure out God with our natural mind. We should stop trying to believe God; faith is natural, spontaneous. When you see the work of God around you, when you look at what God has done in your life, spontaneously you believe because of who He is. To truly believe, your mind needs to be renewed by God’s Word.

What are you facing today? Are you battling fear, doubt, anger, depression, temptation? We have no other refuge than this command of Jesus, ‘Only believe’. Some human plan, or your mind – what you are seeing around you, the situation, the environment may come between you and God’s Word but rest upon what God says: “If you can believe, all things are possible.” (Mark 9:23).

The question is: Whom do we believe? If I believe you, it is different from believing in God. He is not a man; God is Spirit. With the heart, we believe that Jesus is our righteousness. Faith is not a creation of the senses, reason or intellect but of the human spirit. In your heart, you believe.

If you can believe, worry and anxiety vanish. Whenever we truly believe, our hearts will be at rest. If our hearts are uneasy and restless, if we are afraid of this and that, it shows that we have not yet believed.

So, day by day, let God’s Word renew your mind and His Spirit renew your strength, because we have no other refuge than this command of Jesus, “Only believe!”

GOD FIRST

18 April 2024

“Let’s take a lesson from David who was ready to be humiliated in his own eyes, so that God could be honoured. Ask yourself: Where does honouring God appear in your list of priorities? Do you thank Him for all that He has done in your life, all the way long? While men look at the outside, God looks at the motives of the heart. Instead of worrying about the opinion of others concerning you, let the motive of your heart each day be to honour God before yourself.”

THE SACRIFICE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

6 April 2024

“There is no time to do what is right. We must set our heart to obey the Word of God, all the time. God’s kind of lifestyle calls us to do what is right in the sight of God at all times, even though it is contrary to what we naturally want to do. Choosing to do what is right is a great test to the flesh.

What is the sacrifice of righteousness? Choosing to do God’s will rather than our own. When our flesh says hate, God says love. It takes sacrificial love to love your enemy and to pray for them. These are the weapons of righteousness. This is the sacrifice that Jesus looks at and rewards. Even though that might not be a grand, or outward sacrifice, it is what Jesus values.”

LIFE ANEW

1 April 2024

“When we talk of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are talking of the rare opportunity He has given to all believers to experience a new beginning – a situation in which every dead area of our lives receives life anew.

We are dead to our past and alive to our future. Sin’s power over us is broken and we now put on Christ’s new life: we live in Him, move in Him and have our being in Him. Herein lies the significance of resurrection.”