Believing

Read Time:  10 minutes

Our lives are molded by what we believe. Have you ever known someone that truly believed they were unworthy? They are always down on themselves for this problem, that mistake, life is not fair and they cannot do anything right. Conversely have you known successful people that have a great outlook on life, they are confident, trust God, optimistic and things seem to go right for them. What we see that has the greatest effect on their lives is what they believe. People of all abilities have been able to prosper. People with great abilities have faltered. So, if what I believe in my heart effects my life I need to mold my heart to to receive what I want.

There are two viewpoints you can adopt here. You can rely on the five senses and what the world has to say about you and believe in what you can do naturally or look at God's Word and lift your understanding to a spiritual level. Since the standard of the world is often impossible to measure up to (you must be this skinny, this good looking, this smart, this aggressive etc.) I prefer to look at the Word, for God looks at the heart of man. 

Jehoshaphat also looked at God and didn't rely on his five senses. In the previous teaching God told Jehoshaphat that the battle was God's so Jehoshaphat believed him and sent singers out in front of the armies. The people believed also because they had been taught the Word of God. They confessed the promise of God and saw it come to pass. The armies that had come up against Judah ended up destroying each other.

What we confess and believe becomes critical. Here is the first step:

Romans 10
:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, 
    and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, 
    thou shalt be saved.
:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; 
    and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

On the other hand, if you confess with your mouth the negatives of the world and believe in your heart that you are unworthy, inadequate, not smart enough, etc. you will receive those consequences. I prefer the consequences of salvation.

We unleash the power of God when confess His Word and believe. If God told you to move a mountain you could do it. Not that He is going to do it (it would be a special situation for sure) but Jesus Christ says that to illustrate a point.

Mark 11:
20 And in the morning, 
        as they passed by, 
    they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
:21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, 
        Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
:22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, 
        Have faith [pistis-believing] in God.
:23   For verily I say unto you, 
        That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, 
            Be thou removed, 
            and be thou cast into the sea; 
        and shall not doubt in his heart, 
            but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; 
        he shall have whatsoever he saith.
:24   Therefore I say unto you, 
            What things soever ye desire, 
                when ye pray, 
            believe that ye receive them, 
            and ye shall have them.

As we put the Word of God in our heads and our hearts we become more attuned to God's will. These people in the Bible that did miracles and received revelation did more than just go to church on Sunday. God was a daily part of their lives. It all comes down to this: What God said is true or it is a lie. There is no riding the fence. You are either standing up and believing that you are a son of God with all power or you are as any other natural man in the world relying on his own inadequate abilities. You are either believing that God has given His gift of Holy Spirit that we may operate all nine manifestations and walk in this life as super conquerors or not. The Word says:

Romans 8
:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

You either believe that God has sent his Son to heal us and that by his stripes we were healed or you give place to the devil and recognize and glorify the sickness that he is responsible for and, by the way, has no right to impose on us. The Word says:

I Peter 2
:24 Who his own self [Jesus Christ] bare our sins in his own body on the tree, 
    that we, 
        being dead to sins, 
    should live unto righteousness: 
    by whose stripes ye were healed.

Colossians 1
:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, 
        which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, 
    and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

We have been delivered, we have been healed, we can remind God of this! There are numerous examples of this in His Word. Jehoshaphat came to God in front of the congregation and prayed speaking the promises of God:

II Chronicles 20
:5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, 
    in the house of the LORD, 
    before the new court,
:6 And said, 
        O LORD God of our fathers, 
        art not thou God in heaven? 
        and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? 
        and in thine hand is there not power and might, 
            so that none is able to withstand thee?
:7     Art not thou our God, 
            who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, 
            and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?
:8         And they dwelt therein,
            and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,
:9             If, when evil cometh upon us, 
                    as the sword, 
                    judgment, 
                    or pestilence, 
                    or famine, 
                we stand before this house, 
                and in thy presence, 
                    (for thy name is in this house,) 
                and cry unto thee in our affliction, 
                then thou wilt hear and help.
:10   And now, behold, the children of Ammon 
        and Moab 
        and mount Seir, 
            whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, 
            when they came out of the land of Egypt, 
            but they turned from them, 
            and destroyed them not;
:11   Behold, I say, how they reward us, 
        to come to cast us out of thy possession, 
            which thou hast given us to inherit.
:12   O our God, wilt thou not judge them? 
            for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; 
            neither know we what to do: 
        but our eyes are upon thee.

We must speak the promises of God also. When your employer or customers give you a check you must present it to the bank in order to get reimbursed. God has given us promises that are far better than checks (there is no chance that they will bounce) 

We must know who we are and confess it -- a son of God with all power.

We must know what is available and confess it -- an abundant life.

We must not let ourselves be talked out of it.

I Thessalonians 2
:13  For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, 
        because, when ye received the word of God 
            which ye heard of us, 
        ye received it not as the word of men, 
            but as it is in truth, the word of God, 
                which effectually worketh also in you that believe

Hebrews 11
:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: 
        for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, 
        and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him

Come to God daily, seek him, know His promises, claim them and walk out victorious.