We have all heard and lived the phrase, “seeing is believing.” We want to see with our own eyes before accepting something to be real and true as others have said before we believe, right? Seeing before believing is a process of looking at something carefully, picking it up, turning it over in our hands, feeling the texture and strength of it, listening to hear sounds, all while investigating it for authenticity. We want evidence before we believe that something is real. We demand to see it for ourselves. We are human. We are curious. We have been fooled before. We are not easily convinced.
God knows this about us and gives us Jesus—all the evidence needed to verify Truth.
“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” –Jesus
John 20, The Message
To Believe
19-20 Later on that day, the disciples had gathered together, but, fearful of the Jews, had locked all the doors in the house. Jesus entered, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.” Then he showed them his hands and side.
20-21 The disciples, seeing the Master with their own eyes, were awestruck. Jesus repeated his greeting: “Peace to you. Just as the Father sent me, I send you.”
22-23 Then he took a deep breath and breathed into them. “Receive the Holy Spirit,” he said. “If you forgive someone’s sins, they’re gone for good. If you don’t forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?”
24-25 But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We saw the Master.”
But he said, “Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won’t believe it.”
26 Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.”
27 Then he focused his attention on Thomas. “Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don’t be unbelieving. Believe.”
28 Thomas said, “My Master! My God!”
29 Jesus said, “So, you believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.”
30-31 Jesus provided far more God-revealing signs than are written down in this book. These are written down so you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in the act of believing, have real and eternal life in the way he personally revealed it.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
“Blessed are those who believe without seeing.” Jesus was talking about us!
We must evaluate our belief often with these “test questions” to stay healthy, eyes fixed, minds alert, hearts filled with the One we say we believe:
“Do I really believe that what Jesus did for me and still does through me really real?” Why ask? Because what we truly believe will be revealed in our behaviors. “What flows from the heart” is revealed as we live our lives. What we fill our minds with is soon revealed in our actions toward others. What we feed our souls reflects our priorities of life.
Believe God sent His Son to save us and give us eternal life.
Repent in Jesus Name and be cleansed.
Worship God alone with all that is in us.
Love like God who first loved us.
In this “act of believing;” this“believing without seeing,” is a daily life responsive to His will with eagerness to obey His Holy Spirit’s guidance and leading. We become active and alive in our new life with Jesus, throwing out the old life with destructive habits like yesterday’s trash. His Light of Love reflects His glory in us—so others will believe. And the bonus? Real and eternal Life!
Caution. This act of believing is not a “act” as we think of playacting; but a decision to give all of ourselves, heart, mind, and soul to God. He gave His Son for us. We belong to Him who believe Jesus and what He did for us to save us. In this act of believing we begin each day with focused attention on God who solidifies our believing without seeing and matures our faith as we embrace His guidance. Here’s how:
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” Romans 12:1-2, MSG
Don’t stop believing in God who is real. To avoid the lies of the enemy of God we must prayerfully ask Him, in Jesus Name, to help us recognize and examine what is true. Ask for wisdom and He will give us all we need.
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” 1 John 4:1-3, NIV
And Love as if our lives depended on it! Don’t fake it. (Read Romans 12) People notice when the true love of our real God is in us and is demonstrated through us to others. We are different than the world when we love like Jesus loves us. This is vital and mandatory in our “act of believing.”
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”1 John 4:7-12, NIV
This is believing without seeing. “Blessed are those who believe without seeing.”
We are all like Thomas from time to time when life brings uncertainty coupled with fear of the unknown. But when believers pray, God, help my unbelief, He answers with the blessed assurance that is stored deep within us when we ask in Jesus Name. He was there all the time, we just needed to recognize Him—and believe. When we do, we see Him for who He really is—
“My Master! My God!”
Lord,
Thank you for teaching us that we are blessed by you in so many ways. First you loved us. Then You blessed us with your Son who redeemed us of all our sin. You continue to bless us with a love that knows no limitations. You bless us with Life to the full with adventures that grow and mature us in your character. You bless us by pouring out your peace and assurance as we walk with courage through the storms of life. Like the wind, we don’t have to see You to know You are right here with us. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
In Jesus Name, Amen
Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus) 