DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE GOD? (PART 4)
TEXT:
"Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?" (John chapter 11 verse 40, King James Version)
There are those who say, "seeing is believing". On the contrary, the Scriptures strongly affirm that "believing is seeing". While we categorize the former as Thomas' kind of faith, the latter is generally known as Bible based faith, the Abraham kind of faith; the kind of faith by which the elders obtained a good report (Hebrews chapter 11 verse 2 and 39).
Mary and Martha could not understand why the Lord Jesus delayed going to Bethany when they'd requested Him to be there to heal Lazarus, their sick brother. Both of them had said to Him, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” (John chapter 11 verses 21 and 32). They couldn't understand why the Lord would delay His going there to rescue the situation; but then only to show up when it had become too late, Lazarus having been dead four days. Do you seek to understand the Lord's dealing with you? Don't, because the Bible says that His ways are past finding out (Romans chapter 11 verse 33).
Yet, in all of those circumstances, Martha believed in the Lord Jesus' ability to get things done, no matter what! In John chapter 11 verse 22, she expressed her faith in Christ saying,
"But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee." In other words, she believed that the situation they were in was not beyond Jesus. Now, how did she come to acquire such faith in Jesus? By her association with Him, of course. She had gotten acquainted with Jesus' mentality that the Father heard Him always and would grant every of His requests (see John chapter 11 verses 41 and 42). This was her ground for believing in Him.
We know that the Gospel doesn't save unconditionally. Belief is a condition! The Bible says that the Gospel is the "power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" (Romans chapter 1 verse 16) As soon as you believe God's Word, He delights to let you see what you believe Him for, since "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1)
Faith brings the unseen things into being and makes the unfelt things real to the senses. Jesus said to Martha: "Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?" (John chapter 11 verse 40). She believed and truly, she saw God's glory. I challenge you to dare to believe in God and you will equally see His glory, in Jesus name.
God is pleased when you believe His Word. Jesus said that all things are possible to him that believes (Mark chapter 9 verse 23). He's pleased when you base your faith on His promise. This is the kind of faith by which the people of God obtained a good report from Him, and I'm certain that you too will, in Jesus name.
PRAYER:
Father, I believe and because I do, I see Your glory in my life, in Jesus name.