When Mookie turned 3, all he wanted for his birthday was the Rescue Hero Robot. I let his brother help me wrap it, so he knew what the package looked like. Right before Mookie opened it, Alex leaned over and told him, “That’s not just yours. That’s to share.” (Alex also wanted the Rescue Hero Robot.)
Well after that, he walked around his birthday party pointing to the robot and telling everyone, “That’s not mine robot.” Over and over and over he would say, “Hey, that’s not mine robot!” Why? Because he believed what his brother said, even though we kept telling him it was, in fact, his robot.
What we believe directly impacts our actions…it controls what we do and what we say.
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. (2 Peter 1:3-4)
The New Testament is full to overflowing of things that He has already given (past tense) to us…peace, joy, life, healing, provision, deliverance, hope, refreshing, strength, love and so on….these are already ours. Jesus provided them for us when he died on the cross and was raised from the dead.
But so many of us are like Mookie. We don’t believe these things are ours, so we don’t walk in them. We believe the situation that tells us that hope is lost. We believe the symptoms that say healing is not ours. We believe our checkbook that says we’ll never have enough. We believe those emotions that say peace is nowhere to be found.
One sure-fire way to check up on what we truly believe is to check up on what we are saying and doing. Do we say we believe in healing but talk more about the sickness than the healing? Do we say we believe He provides but hold onto the tithe instead of giving it “just in case we need it?”
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. (Romans 10:17)
Faith – or believing what God said – comes by hearing and hearing His Word. We had to tell Mookie over and over for days that the robot was his before he actually believed it and started playing with it. The truth always was that the robot was Mookie’s. BUT – it wasn’t until he believed that truth that he started to act on it.
Our actions always follow what we believe the most. God’s promises – His Word – His truths – are His potential for our lives. But it’s not until we believe it and act on it that we will start to see it come to pass in our lives.
There are some truths I’ve been ironing on in my thought-life….truths I know are for me to walk in, but I’m just not quite seeing them manifest fully yet….
And these signs will accompany those who believe…they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. (Mark 16:18)
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. (Ephesians 3:16)
“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.” (John 14:12)
I want to lay hands on the sick and see them recover. I want to be strengthened by his glorious and unlimited resources in me. Think about that for a minute….what would it be like having His glorious and unlimited resources in you to strengthen you. (Note to self – He is already in us with His glorious and unlimited resources…we just need to be AWARE of it.) I want to do those greater works.
What promises do you see in the Word that you don’t see in your life yet, like the ones I listed above? Don’t get discouraged and let go of them. Press in to them deeper until they saturate every part of your mind and spirit. His promises are all yes and amen. We need to think on them, quote them, and meditate on them until we act on them and they become part of who we are – part of our every day life.
“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” (Mark 9:23)
What do you believe?