You Actually Believe This Stuff?
A few years ago I was invited to speak at a women’s conference hosted by a church in a retirement community. The first thing I noticed was the average age of the attendees was quite a bit older than the typical women’s conferences I’d been a part of before. And I loved it. I was one of the youngest there and every face reminded me of my grandmother. But another interesting thing about my time with these ladies was the fact that they had recently become “non-denominational” in their words — and they were excited about that.
My assignment was to speak on righteousness and who we are in Christ, which happens to be my favorite subject. I get very excited when I share how God set me free from guilt and condemnation and helped me to see myself the way He’s always seen me (and you). After two or three sessions, a lady came up to me and caught me off-guard when she said, “You know what makes you so good…?” (Pause with me and think, how do you answer that? —especially when you’re not trying to toot your own horn.)
I laughed it off and said, “I don’t know.” To which she responded, “Because you believe this stuff!”
“Of course I do!” I said. She went on to explain she had been raised in church her entire life, and sat under many denominational (and now non-denominational) pastors and preachers who taught the Word of God, but she didn’t always think they believed it themselves.
How sad is that?
It reminds me of the time Jesus went into the temple and taught. The Bible says, “And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Mark 1:22). A scribe was someone who had the task of writing scripture over and over (basically making copies of it for others). And as you can imagine, if that’s your job, then you’re going to “know” the scriptures. The people in the temple however, saw something different in Jesus. He taught with authority because He wasn’t mindlessly quoting scripture. He knew it to be truth and it was obvious to everyone He “believed this stuff.”
And here’s the irony: God can’t confirm the Word you and I don’t believe.
After Jesus ascended to heaven, the disciples “went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through accompanying signs” (Mark 16:20). Another translation says God “validated the Message with indisputable evidence” (MSG). In other words, the disciples excitedly preached the Word and God proved it.
But the reason I said there’s an irony here is because if the devil can get us to doubt God’s Word, how can God prove His Word? The woman I spoke with at the conference didn’t realize she had become kind of mindless to the scriptures until she was motivated by someone who believed it!
In the front of all my Bibles, I have this written: The Bible says it. I believe it. That settles it.
I chose a long time ago to believe God’s Word, even if I don’t understand it. There’s a difference. God told us to ask for wisdom when we don’t understand. He is not bothered by that at all. What is a problem is when we’ve chosen not to believe something just because we don’t understand it. BUT, when you and I set our heart to believe God’s Word, it’s amazing how much revelation will open up to us!
If you continue reading about Jesus in the temple, it says there was a man there with an evil spirit who was agitated by Jesus’ preaching (Mark 1:23-24). I find it funny that this evil spirit was never agitated by the scribes reading the scriptures. But when someone spoke with belief, the demons didn’t like it. And this is why the devil goes to great lengths to get people to doubt God’s Word. He knows that as soon as they “believe this stuff,” power and authority are going to shake his world!
So I’m challenging you today to believe God’s Word! When you do, the power WILL show up!
This article was written by Daphne Delay who is an author, speaker, and podcaster with a passion to help this generation discover who they are in Christ. She is the author of Facing the Mirror, Facing the Enemy, and Facing God. Daphne also blogs nuggets of spiritual growth and encouragement regularly at daphnedelay.com
