What we know about God greatly affects what we believe about Him. I was asked in a bible study to write down how I view God. As I was writing down my thoughts on His love and grace and forgiveness and lordship I was also challenged by 'do I believe that too?'
How do you know what you believe? Look at what you do.
We know that God is in control. He is sovereign. When we are faced with a situation in our lives - financial stress, illness/health problems, relationship challenges - what do we do? How do we respond?
We know that God freely loves us. Do we then receive that love or do we try and earn it? Do we still see ourselves as not good enough, always failing and falling short or as sinners who've been saved by His marvelous grace and sacrifice and live free?
Romans 4:3 says "What does scripture day? Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness."
It wasn't Abraham's knowledge about God at 99 that led him to circumsize himself and all the men in his family and servants. It wasn't his knowledge about God that led him up a mountainside with his only son, the one God had promised him, to sacrifice him. It was his belief that God meant what He said.
It wasn't Paul's knowledge of God that led him all over preaching the good news of Christ, enduring beatings, prison, ship wrecks, angry crowds and government and the threat of death. It was his belief in Christ. In fact his knowledge led him to persecute and kill believers before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. His belief led him to love all and write half of the New Testament.
Knowledge is something we gain through our 5 senses.
Belief is gained in our spirits, through faith.
In Genesis, God presented Adam in the Garden of Eden with the tree of life (living, alive, life sustaining, live prosperously, live forever, be quickened, revive from sickness). This is how it was meant to be. Getting our source of life from Him alone.
And He warned Adam about the tree of the knowledge (what we gain through our senses) of good (pleasant, excellent, beautiful, lovely, delightful, joyful, fruitful, precious) and evil (bad, inferior quality, wicked, evil, mishchevious, malignant, noxious, injurious, hurtful, unpleasant).
Understand that not everything we know about God is bad. The bible says we can know good.
But also, not everything we know about God is true. It can be inferior, hurtful and unpleasant.
All our knowledge, however, can affect what we believe about God. Therefore we cannot rely on our knowledge alone.
For example: if we've prayed for/about a situation. It doesn't get answered. We may conclude - based on our knowledge- that God doesn't hear or doesn't care. Conversely, if He does answer how we prayed then God must always answer what we pray or always respond a certain way.
The problem with knowledge is that it forms opinions, assumptions and judgment. And knowledge is what is usually shared.
Belief takes our knowledge and holds it up to the Word of God to see if it is True because His Word is Truth regardless of what we see, hear, smell, taste or feel.
So. What do you know and what do you believe?
Do you know, or believe, that God is trustworthy?
Do you know, or believe, that God is All-powerful?
Do you know, or believe, that He command us to love Him and love others?
Do you know, or believe, that you are loved?
Do you know, or believe, that you are forgiven?
Do you know, or believe, that you are free?
Do you know, or believe, that God's Word is Truth, alive and active?
Do you know, or believe, that God can do mighty things through us when we submit our lives, our time, our finances, our gifts and talents unto Him?
Reflect on your life and see what you believe.
Mark 9:23,24 says "And Jesus said to him, "If You can! All things are possible to him who believes {not knows}!" Immediately the boy's father cried out and began saying, "I do believe; help my unbelief {faithlessness, uncertainty, distrust}!"
And Jesus healed.
We can come to Him with our unbelief and ask for help. He will heal.
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