Belief and Faith

Do you believe there is a God? Do you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God? How does your belief play out in your daily life? Do you know that simply believing isn’t enough? Belief must be put into action in the form of faith. Our faith in Christ sets us free.

We see people in this world caught up in the slavery of worldly desires. They want all the shiny new things. They chase all the glam and glitz advertised in various media, whether on television or in social media. They allow their lives to be governed by what they are subjecting themselves to on a daily basis. Their willingness to live trapped brings to mind an analogy I want to share.

If you look back to the cold war, there were two world powers that generally controlled what happened around the world. By that I mean, the U.S. and the Soviet Union had the world divided into two factions and each controlled their allies to some degree or another. The U.S. was the land of opportunity, where people could chase their dreams and many would realize them. The Soviet Union was completely controlled by the government. The people were employed by the government in one way or another. They were assigned to government housing. This was not just the military or the government bureaucrats, but the average person who worked in a factory or a store.

The people of the Soviet Union heard about the U.S. They heard about the freedom the Americans had to choose their own jobs, to choose where they lived, to buy their own home, to send their children to college, and many other opportunities. However, they largely believed these were lies, propaganda. Sure, they believed there was a U.S., but they believed the grand statements made about the freedom Americans had weren’t true. Why do I know this? I’ve visited a country that was formerly controlled by the Soviet Union on multiple occasions and spent significant time talking with those people.

How does this relate to God versus Satan? Satan also tells us lies. He wants us to wallow in our self-pity, selfishness, hate, anger, frustration, and indifference toward others. Does he believe in God? Absolutely! James 2:19 tells us that Satan and his demons believe and shudder. They are afraid of God and don’t want us to build our faith.

Jesus came to set us free from the trappings of Satan and our sin. He came to give us a life of abundance (John 10:10). When we decide to stop following Satan’s lies, we begin a new life of freedom. We experience something far better than we can imagine. Our selfishness, hate, anger, anxiety, and fear leave us. We are set free!

I pray we all decide to leave behind Satan’s lies and live the life of freedom that Jesus provides. I pray we all graduate from belief to faith. May each one of you decide today to commit to Jesus and begin that walk of faith, growing in it each day. God is there. He will provide. Jesus will set you free.

John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Resolutions

How is your new exercise program going? Are you staying with your healthier
diet? Are you accepting your responsibilities? Have you committed to improving
your prayer life? How is your daily Bible reading coming along?

We all make resolutions or commitments to change at different times of the
year, but we see them more prevalent at the beginning of a new year. We look at
the calendar turning over as an opportunity to start anew and we should. Yet we
also should look at each day as a new gift to keep our commitments, an
opportunity given to us by God. Commitments, promises, resolutions are all good
for us. They are most often tied to goals, which give us motivation to keep
them. But why do we set goals?

I believe we set goals, most often, to become a better us. We want to
improve our lives. We have a desire to become what God intended us to be. Yet,
we also see people set goals to be what they see in someone else. That may or
may not be healthy. If the person you look to as a role model is a godly
person, it’s a healthy goal to set. Yet if that person is not a godly person
and simply has some level of fame or a top position at your workplace, that
likely is not a healthy goal. You see, God made each one of us be a specific
person to fulfill a specific purpose of His. Perhaps we should first seek His
purpose for our lives, then set our goals.

I pray that each one of us will resolve to know God, to know Jesus, better
this coming year. I pray each of us will have the discipline to continue to
seek that goal each day of the year. May God bless you in your endeavor to know
Him better. He has promised and will deliver.

1 Corinthians 2:2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

2020

As we enter a new year, we all look to new beginnings. Many will make resolutions with good intentions, yet won’t follow through for more than a few days or weeks. I have decided this first day of 2020 is a good day to launch my new website and blog. My hope is it will bring joy, peace, comfort, and a sense of well-being to those who follow me. The journey may get a bit ragged along the way and we all may grow weary, but I have no doubts that God will be right there in the midst of it all.

As we all go into 2020, let’s all commit to becoming closer to God. It is by being in a close relationship with Him that we will ride out the storms with a calm inside that is beyond understanding. It is in Him that we will experience joy beyond description. It is being in His love and accepting His grace that we define success as joy, peace, and love. May we all experience great success in this new year!