Last week in FAM Chat, one of the FAM Fellowship members observed that many people believe in God, but not that many really believe God. Wow! What a simple, but very profound statement! And as soon as she said that, I knew it would be the topic for this post, because just as believing in God is essential for our salvation; believing what God says is just as essential for standing on the power and promise of His Word for the restoration of our marriages and families. And the sad truth is that she is so right; many people believe IN God; they know who He is and that He exists, but they don’t really believe He can or will do exactly what His Word says. And how sad that is, because believing that God can and will do what His Word says is exactly what faith is, and as Hebrews 11:6 tells us, And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. And then Hebrews 10:38 even says But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.”

All through the Bible, Abraham is held up as an example of faith for us to follow, and Genesis 15:5-6 reveals how God credited him with righteousness just because he believed God’s promise; He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. And there are many verses throughout the New Testament that make that same point about Abraham’s faith. And the following verses are just a few that make it pretty clear how important it is to BELIEVE God and that He WILL DO exactly what He says He will do:

Matthew 9:27-30
As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you”; and their sight was restored. …

Luke 1:45
Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”

Matthew 8:13
Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.

Mark 5:36
Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

Mark 9:23
“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”

Luke 8:50
Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”

John 20:29
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

John 8:31
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.

1 Thessalonians 2:13
And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.

Galatians 3:22
But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

John 11:40
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”

Romans 4:17
As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.

Galatians 3:6
Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

And we know that there is a difference between believing God and believing in God, because believing in God is more about salvation, as the following verses indicate:

John 9:38
Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

John 11:25-27
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”

1 John 5:3-5
This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

Acts 16:31
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

John 1:12
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

But as stated above in Hebrews 10:38, God is NOT pleased when we shrink back from living by faith, and the following verses make it very clear why it’s so important to REALLY BELIEVE GOD as we stand in faith and obedience on the power and promise of His Word for the restoration of our marriages:

Jude 1:5
Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.

Psalm 78:21-22
When the LORD heard them, he was very angry; his fire broke out against Jacob, and his wrath rose against Israel, for they did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance.

1 John 5:10
Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.

John 10:25-26
Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.

So if we really believe IN God, we should BELIEVE God. And when we REALLY believe God and put our faith and confidence in His Word and His power and faithfulness to bring it ALL to pass, it’s not possible to explain the depression, doubt and discouragement many people standing for marriage restoration continue to experience. Let’s face it; we either believe God or we don’t. And if we don’t, we need to get serious about figuring out why that is and what we have to do to better understand just who God is and that we CAN trust His Word and that He WILL bring it all to pass. And we can be absolutely certain that God will humble us if that’s what it takes to make us recognize that we HAVE to rely on the power and promise of His Word, just as we see in Deuteronomy 8:3, which says He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. And that’s what Jesus told the devil in Matthew 4:4; demonstrating how important it is to use the Word of God when standing against the fiery darts Satan uses when he comes to steal, kill and destroy us and our marriages and families. And that’s further illustrated in Psalm 119:105, which says Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

So the bottom line is that we have to decide whether or not we believe the awesome promises we have from God in Isaiah 55:10-11, which says As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. and Isaiah 46:10-11, which says I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do. And once we believe God, all we have to know is that HE HATES DIVORCE (Malachi 2:16 AMP) and that when we are married, God who was a witness, will uphold the covenant made of our marriage vows (Malachi 2:14 NLT), of which HE says So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” (Matthew 19:6) So WHEN we truly BELIEVE the power and promise of God’s Word, we will have the grace and strength needed to withstand all that the world and Satan will bring against us to steal, kill and destroy the only outcome that glorifies the Lord, which is the full and complete restoration of our marriages and families! So just BELIEVE and be blessed and encouraged!

Posted Friday, November 2nd, 2007 at 8:50 pm in Seeds Of Faith.