Believing God: Verses on Belief in John #3

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John 4:48
So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.”

In John there were 7 signs:

Changing water into wine at Cana in John 2:1-11 - "the first of the signs"
Healing the royal official's son in Capernaum in John 4:46-54
Healing the paralytic at Bethesda in John 5:1-15
Feeding the 5000 in John 6:5-14
Jesus walking on water in John 6:16-24
Healing the man blind from birth in John 9:1-7
The raising of Lazarus in John 11:1-45

People won't believe, if their heart is set against it. So let us soften our heart before God so we will be able to believe. We speak what is on our heart. Listen to what you are saying. Do you speak belief or unbelief?

John 5:24
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

Hearing the word of God brings belief. (Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”) and Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.”

 John 5:38
“You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent.

To believe is to accept what Jesus says. When we accept what Jesus says, we are then abiding in Jesus. This abiding allows us to get our prayers answered. John 15:7 If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. We can't accept what Jesus says and disregard what He says at the same time.

When we have God's word abiding in us, we will speak these words. Joshua 1:8 says that we are to have God's word in our mouth. Instead of questing God's word, think on it and speak it into your life.

 John 5:44
“How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?

To believe Jesus is to be focused on Jesus and not yourself. When we receive glory we are focused on our wants. Jesus is the source and all we are able to do comes from Him. Speak of Jesus and His faithfulness. Deflect the praise others would give you by speaking of  Jesus.

 John 5:46
“For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.

The Pharisees thought they believed Moses. But they really were not believing in what Moses wrote but were instead using his writings as a way to maintain their power.

 John 5:47
“But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

In the end it is either all or nothing. We can't accept part of the Bible and reject other parts. For they all come from the same source.

 John 6:29
Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”

It takes work to believe at times. Sometimes we have to overcome our pattern of thought. This is done by meditation on Scripture and as we renew our mind in the Bible our mind is changed from stinking thinking to life giving belief. Romans 12:1,2 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

We renew our mind in the Scriptures. What we believe we speak.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 is another passage that we can use to fight for belief. Reject doubt and decide to believe what God has said. Philippians 4:6-9 is another passage that will move us from fear to belief. Verse 8 shows we control our thoughts and speech.

This war in our mind is managed by speaking what we believe. If we don't speak it we don't believe it. 2 Corinthians 4:13 “But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, 'I believed, therefor I spoke,' we also believe, therefore we also speak.”

Go to the next lesson.

Believe God: Verses on Belief in John #2

John 3:18
“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

What we decide to do with our life brings results. If we decide to follow Jesus we have life. If we neglect Jesus, or decide against Him we remain in judgement. It is the belief that moves us from the judgement and the domain of darkness to God's light. Colossians 1:13

John 3:36
“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Belief and obedience are contrasted. Belief is not just an idea. To believe means we will act as well. To not believe with obedience results in our staying in the judgement that the world is under. We move into God's realm, His kingdom, when we obey.

 John 4:21
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.

Jesus is saying that His statement is true. We should accept what Jesus says as the truth.

 John 4:42
and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Testimony will bring a person to Jesus. As they learn from Him their belief will be solidified into a stronger belief.

 John 4:48
So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.”

In John there were 7 signs:

Changing water into wine at Cana in John 2:1-11 - "the first of the signs"
Healing the royal official's son in Capernaum in John 4:46-54
Healing the paralytic at Bethesda in John 5:1-15
Feeding the 5000 in John 6:5-14
Jesus walking on water in John 6:16-24
Healing the man blind from birth in John 9:1-7
The raising of Lazarus in John 11:1-45

People won't believe, if their heart is set against it. So let us soften our heart before God so we will be able to believe. We speak what is on our heart. Listen to what you are saying. Do you speak belief or unbelief?


Next post in this series.

Believe God: Verses on Belief in John

 John 1:7
He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.

Testimony builds belief. Jesus' life was a testimony of the light of God, the truth of the gospel and the hope of salvation.

 John 1:12
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,

We receive Jesus by turning our life over to Him. (John 3:16; Romans 10:9,10). We then have the right to be children of God. We choose to live for Christ Jesus. It is belief in Jesus that changes us from being of this world and instead being accepted into God's family.

 John1:50
Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

Nathaniel believed, because Jesus saw him. There will be many things from the Scriptures and that happen in our life that will solidify our belief in Jesus.

 John 3:12
“If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

Nicodemus came to Jesus to inquire about His ministry. Jesus turned the conversation to belief, salvation and new birth. Nicodemus questioned what Jesus was saying and this questioning was an act of unbelief. We can't believe if we question what Jesus says. Belief accepts what Jesus said and is saying to us. Don't reject what the Scriptures say, instead ask for insight into the meaning.

John 3:15
so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

Belief brings eternal life. As we believe we come to know Jesus. (John 17:3) Belief is not only an idea, but is also an experience.

John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

It is God's love that made a way for us to have eternal life. Without Jesus dying for us, we would not have access to God or His eternal life.

Verses quoted from NASB.

Next in this series.

2 Corinthians Highlights

2 Corinthians 1:20

“For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.”

How many promises of God are there? 1000's
2 Peter 1:3,4 We are granted everything pertaining to life and godliness. It is through the true knowledge of Him that we gain access to these promises to be real in our life. It is as we live to the manner we are called to give God glory and excellence.

In Him. What does it mean to be in Him? In Jesus. 2 Cor 5:17 Being in Jesus is being a new person in Christ. When we receive Jesus as our savior we have become in Christ. When we set our minds on Christ and the things He desires for us and take them off our flesh and the things we want, we allow the promises to become active in our life. With this situation the promises become yes. The promises are real but only work when we believe them.

Amen can be said when we believe. Amen is used as an ending to a statement. But it is much more than that. It is saying that what we have said is going to happen. Amen is a confession of faith that what we have asked will happen. Let us believe the promises with an emphatic amen! Let us not quit our belief but remain in belief and stand by what we first believed.

It is through Christ we can state with belief that we believe. We can't believe in ourselves. But we are not of the old. We are of the new. We are a new person, a born again person with God within us. It is through Christ that we state our belief. It is through Christ that we believe. We have Christ and because we have Christ we can believe. As we renew our mind in the word, belief springs up and faith is released. This is why it is important to meditate in Scripture during the day. As we let the word soak within us our old way of thinking is replaced by a new and living way of belief in God's promises.

To the glory of God. This is the purpose of the new creation. To glorify God. Test yourself to see if you are in the faith. 2 Cor 13:5 Are we believing to glorify God? Or are we believing to better ourselves? Is our purpose to glorify God? If it is, all the promises are active. If it is not the promises are hindered because of wrong motives. James 4:3

God will work through us to do great things as we live to glorify God. How do we shift from being focused on ourselves and be focused on Christ? Set as your purpose to serve God and rely on Him to take care of you. If you take care of His business, He will take care of your business. Matt. 6:33 Trust and believe.

2 Corinthians Highlights

God of mercies and comfort. God comforts us in our afflictions so we can comfort others that experience what we have experienced. The verse starts out with blessed be … God. This shows the proper attitude in Christian service. No matter what we are going through we are to bless God. 2 Cor 1:3,4

Then Paul makes the statement God is the Father of all comfort. Does that mean that Paul has already been comforted or is Paul stating this in anticipation of the comfort to come? We should take it both ways. If we are not comforted we are to expect that comfort to come from God. If we are comforted we are to thank God for the comfort. 2 Cor 1:3,4

Who comforts us. The comfort comes on a continual basis. How? Not looking at ourselves but to Jesus.  Having Jesus and the Scriptures we have comfort. John 16:33; Ps 23

8 Sources of Comfort (mostly from Dake notes Ps 119:52)
> God Isa 51:3; 2 Cor 1:3
> The Holy Spirit Acts 9:31
This is described as the Holy Spirit prays through us and for us in Romans 8:26,27
> The Scriptures Rom 15:4; 1 Thes. 4:18
> Preaching or prophesying 1 Cor 14:3,31
> Love Phil 2:1
> God's rod and staff Ps 23:4
> Others 1 Chron 7:22; 19:2; 1 Thes 5:11
> Remember God's past works. Ps 119:52
I find comfort in remembering how God has brought me and leads me in life.

Sowing and Reaping

We always will have victory in life or death, so keep serving.
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58 NASB

Share good things with the one who teaches you, and you will be rewarded.
Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. Galatians 6:9 NASB

God will cause what you have lost to be restored.
“Thus says the LORD, "Restrain your voice from weeping And your eyes from tears; For your work will be rewarded," declares the LORD, "And they will return from the land of the enemy.” Jeremiah 31:16 NASB

Don't weep for what you have lost, but do weep for people that are lost.
“Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.
6 He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,
Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. “ Psalm 126:5,6 NASB

Spread out your investments and the increase will find you.
Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it after many days.
2 Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth. Eccl 11:1 NASB

God has good things for us that accompany salvation.
“For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end,” Hebrews 6:10,11 NASB

There is a reward for sowing righteousness.
“The wicked earns deceptive wages,
But he who sows righteousness gets a true reward.” Proverbs 11:18 NASB

Lend but don't borrow. Help the poor in all they need.
“ You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings.” Deuteronomy 15:10

Proverbs 19:17
Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.

Isaiah 32:20
how blessed you will be, sowing your seed by every stream, and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.

Modern Idols

Modern Idols are:

When you have an overriding desire for something that pushes God to the side for more than a short period of time.

When you have some free time. Where do you turn? Do you turn to God or to the passion that consumes you.

It could be that busyness is an idol. For there is not time for God.

Can religion be an idol? Can we be too busy with the things of the church that we have no time for God?

Would you be willing to give up the passion you have?

Money, power, sex, food, sports, body building, comfort, drugs and alcohol, shopping, internet, TV, movies, marriage, family, work. These things all could be summed up with the term of: personal peace and affluence.

So the response is: are we to be glum and miserable?

Jesus offered us life with abundance. John 10:10 so no, we are not to choose misery over personal peace and affluence. Jesus is not pleased with us unless we are living in faith. Hebrews 11:6 So instead of living for personal peace and affluence we should live by faith in the direction God has given us. Habakkuk 2:4; Ephesians 2:10