I Believe…

Recently, we have been talking about how we need to get our minds right. How we need to allow the Holy Spirit to renovate our minds and help us to demolish strongholds so we can move away from old patterns of life and into the life God has for us. A life where we can discern the good, pleasing and perfect will of our Father. It really does matter what we spend our time thinking about. It matters what we choose to focus on in our thoughts. It also matters what we believe.

Over the next few weeks we are going to be looking at why what we believe matters. We are going to start with the subject of storms. Not storms as a result of the weather, but life storms that come to shake us and test us. Storms sometimes help reveal to you what you truly believe. You can shout, “God is good all the time, and all the time God is good” in church on Sunday. But what are you going to say when that unexpected thing happens on Tuesday? You lose your job, your house burns down, a loved one dies, you get a bad diagnosis, a dear friend unfriends you on Facebook, is God still good?

Storms are a sure way to test what you truly believe. So, if storms come to test what we believe, how do we know what we believe? I know that if I hear something and I leave it alone or do not act on it, then I must not believe it. It’s like someone comes and tells you that there are people giving away free iPads and MacBooks at the shops. If you believe it, you will get in your car or catch an Uber – do what you can to get there to get your fee iPad or MacBook. If you don’t believe it, you just say, “Oh that’s cool,” and you proceed to watch Netflix and move on with life. See, when we believe something, we act on it. When we don’t or we think it doesn’t affect our lives, we simply leave it alone.

Jesus put it this way “So everyone who hears my teaching and applies it to his life can be compared to a wise man who built his house on an unshakeable foundation. When the rains fell and the flood came, with fierce winds beating upon his house, it stood firm because of its strong foundation,” Matthew 7:24-25.

When we hear the Word of God, we know what we believe by what we choose to act on. Whatever we do not act on, we don’t believe. Faith needs action. James 2:17 said it this way, “faith without works is dead”.

When we take the Word of God and not only mentally agree with it but truly believe it, we will act on it and apply it to our lives. It is only when we do this that we will be able to withstand the storms of life. No matter how much rain falls or how fiercely the wind blows, or how deep the floods are against us, if we have the Word of God deeply anchored in our hearts, that Word is our firm and strong foundation. The Word of God is Jesus, according to John 1. So not only must we lay hold of the Word of God, we must let the Word lay hold of us and allow Him to transform us as we apply the Word to our lives. When we do this, no storm, wind, rain or flood is strong enough to shake us. We have an unshakeable foundation in Him.

When the storm comes, it matters what you believe and what you have been acting on. It matters what you believe. Do not let the storm make you withdraw from doing the things that God has asked you to do. We all go through stuff. Life comes with its own challenges for all of us. But we must never let the storm dictate to us what we can or cannot do. We speak to the storm and we tell it, “The Lord is on my side, I’ve made it through some crazy storms before and I am still here. Long after you are gone storm, I will still be here because greater is He who is in me than He who is in the world!”

We need to put the word of God into action and do what it says. God calls us more than conquerors through Christ who loves us. If you truly believe what the word of God says about you, you will stare the storm down with gritted teeth and declare that, “I’ve made it through other storms, I will make it through this storm too!” You may do it trembling or crying but you better know that Jesus is with you in the storm and He will help you get to the other side.

Don’t wait for the storm to hit before you get the Word of God in you and put it into action. Get the Word of God in you now and act on it so when the storm comes, your foundation will be strong because Jesus also said, “But everyone who hears my teaching and does not apply it to his life can be compared to a foolish man who built his house on sand.  When it rained and rained and the flood came, with wind and waves beating upon his house, it collapsed and was swept away,” Matthew 7:26-27.

Let us be like the people in Matthew 7:24-25 who hear the Word and apply it to their lives.

Love and blessings

Melissa Tsingano.