Of course, everyone should believe that Jesus Christ came into the world and surrendered his own sinless life (on the cross) to atone for sin. But I mean, What should we believe about what God may yet be wanting to do in the near future, in this present world? Believing is not meant to be only backward looking. As a matter of fact, the Bible's definition of "faith" strongly implies that our believing must be forward looking: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not [yet] seen" (Heb. 11:1).
Many, if not in fact most, Christians I have known seem to have little interest in Bible prophecy -- because, 'It's too confusing and hard to understand,' I've often heard them say. Fine. Let's not even talk about Bible prophecy. Let's just suppose that no one is at all capable to rightly understand Bible prophecy; it's an eternal enigma.
Let's talk instead about what God is like. Can we do that? Coincidentally (not), the graphic I selected, above, asks that very question: "What is God like?"
As it happens, the answer to that question (What is God like?) provides us the most important clues we need in order to answer the former question (What should we believe?).
If we know -- really know -- what God is like; then, doesn't it seem reasonable that we should at least be able to draw some meaningful inferences from an intimate knowledge of God's nature and character? For example, because I know my wife as well as I do, I can make some amazingly accurate predictions about what she is likely to do in the future -- based upon what I've learned about her in the past. Shouldn't we similarly be able to figure out what we should believe about what God is likely to do in the coming days, based upon what we can learn about God, by means of his Self-revelation in his Word? This line of reasoning almost sounds trite. But I assure you, it's not.
If we don't know what we ought to believe (about any certain thing), it follows that we cannot then actually believe that which we neither know nor understand.
The Bible says that, "Without faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb. 11:6). There is no faith where there is no believing. And there is no believing where there is no certainty about what to believe. In that case, there may be hoping; but that is not the same as believing.
Therefore, it is imperative (if God will be pleased with us) that we must know what we should be believing for. Without faith, even our prayers are in vain. Besides, how can we pray intelligently -- if we don't even know what we should be asking God for? And do not suppose it is OK to pray for whatever may come to your mind. No. For, that kind of praying does not involve faith. The Scripture saith:
"And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." (1John 5:14-15)We must KNOW that our prayers are in accordance with God's will. The key to answered prayer, then, is to know what is God's will. And the key to knowing God's will, is, to understand God's nature, his character, his promises; in short, we must know God in and by his Word.
I say, again: "What should we believe?" What ought we to be praying and believing God for, concerning our own future and the future of this present world?
If you cannot sincerely reply: "I am believing God for heaven-sent Revival"; it could be because you might not know as much as you should about what God is like....
We must figure out just what it is we should believe about the future. I believe God is willing and wanting to move in saving power: first, to sanctify, heal and empower the Body of Christ; and, then, thru his Body so cleansed and empowered, manifest the truth of Christ to this generation. I believe it. I do believe it.
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