Monday, July 17, 2023

You can trust His work

Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.  John 14:11

Many times, when people hear about the love of God and His plan to rescue them through salvation in the blood of Jesus, it is hard for them to believe it.  Maybe they have never been to church or around people who truly know how to love others.  Some people feel like God is far away and doesn’t really care what happens to them?  There are even those who do not even believe in God let alone that He made a way to save them.

Let’s face it, if you are looking at the condition of the world around you as evidence that there is a God who cares, it can be very hard to see through the problems.  From cyber and drug crimes to thefts and shootings, somedays it can feel scary even to leave your house.  But God is there to get you through, and He will always keep you as you trust Him for your life.  The key is:  You have to believe in Him, and you have to believe what He promised in His Word.

In today’s reading, even the disciples were struggling with believing all that Jesus said, and they were right there with Him each day.  They saw the signs and miracles that He did every time someone came to Him for help.  When Jesus started telling them that because they had seen Him, they had also seen His Father in heaven, the disciples could not get it.  Jesus patiently explained to them that He was in His Father and His Father was in Him, and that was how they were able to see God.  Then Jesus said, if you cannot believe my words, just believe the works that you have seen me do.  That in itself is enough proof that my Father and Me are one.  He was doing the works that God the Father was putting into His heart to do and helping the people that God the Father brought to Him each day.

We can be inspired by what Jesus said back then by watching Him work in our lives each day.  As you spend time talking with Him and trusting Him to get you through the hard times, you will begin to accumulate a list of times that Jesus shows up in your life and helps you out of trouble.  Write them down.  Take the time to make notes of the prayers He has answered and then when you are in your next crisis, go back and read how He showed up for you the last time you asked for His help.  If you cannot believe what He says, believe what He does.  Start today to thank Him for all He has brought you through and all He is leading you into for tomorrow.

Today I want to encourage you to believe in the eternal love of God for you.  Believe that He not only desires to rescue you from whatever trouble you are in, but He has also made a way for you to get through it.  Believe the promises He made to all people in His word and believe that He has great signs and wonders ready to pour out on your life the next time you bring a concern to Him.  If you cannot believe the written words that He gave and promised you for your life, take a look instead at the works He has done to bring you through life so far.  Then go ahead and trust Him to continue to do those works and make good out of every trial you face.

Today’s scripture reading: John 14:7-11

7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”

9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 

10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 

11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.