KNOW WHAT YOU BELIEVE

The Bible is a collection of (66) sixty-six books inspired by God. Comprised of both the Old and New Testaments. God’s Holy Word gives us a glimpse into the mind of God, the state of man, his origins and history and the Way of God’s plan of SALVATION through Jesus Christ. It contains His authentic inspired Word to Light our path and nourish us spiritually. To encourage, support , comfort, abet and cheer us on as well as convict us of any wrongdoing! Or should I say sin which is anything that separates us from God! No one wants to talk about sin these days! Know what you believe!

The Bible is our life’s manual. It is the history of Jesus Christ and candidly gives us an account of His story! It contains God’s will for our lives!Genesis tells us that from the very beginning Jesus Christ IS! Jesus Christ IS the Living Word who spoke everything into existence. This is what the Word tells us about Jesus: “He is the Image of The invisible God, the Firstborn over ALL creation. For by Him ALL things were created that are in heaven and that are on the Earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. ALL things were created through Him and for HIM! And He is before ALL things and in Him ALL things consist. And He is the HEAD of the body, the CHURCH, who is the BEGINNING, the firstborn from the dead, that in ALL things HE may have the PREEMINENCE!” Colossians 1

Preeminence means Jesus Christ is Superior and ranks Higher than anyone or anything. He truly is Outstanding! He outshines anyone or anything else! He being the Head is the beginning of His Church! Jesus is the origin of His Church! The Word of God is God’s declaration of His TRUTH! Although there are many speculative scientific theories and hypothesis’ it has never been proven to be otherwise! “In the beginning GOD!” Jesus spoke the heavens and the earth into existence! “Then God said, “Let US make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, let them have dominion over…” Genesis 1

When we were created we were given the ability to think; meaning mental intellect, ability to understand, express emotion and will. With this came free choice. When Adam was created from the dust he was sinless. Eve was taken from Adam’s side she too was created sinless. Eve set sin in motion and Adam cosigned! They fell into sin. Roman 3 says; “ For All have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God…” Their quality and standard of life was significantly altered because of this choice! They disobeyed and sinned; separated from God, therefore sin entered into the world. The Bible is clear on this. Know what you believe!

Every since the beginning mankind has continued to sin. We have inherited a proclivity towards sin. Because of this inner inclination towards sin mankind has continually grew further and further away from life as God intended. Mankind continued to disobey our forefathers, Abraham and Gods’ prophets, priests and Kings. “Therefore, just as though one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned…” Romans 1 This is why we need a Savior ; To save us from the power of sin reigning in our lives! Know what you believe!

God sent His Son Jesus Christ to us, wrapped in sinless flesh to overcome sin in the flesh for us! He was born of a virgin, Mary. He lived a sinless life! He was misunderstood and mistreated, crucified, died and was buried. But, He arose with ALL POWER! He sacrificed his life for us all! So we could be restored and now have a proper relationship with Him! “And the WORD became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His GLORY as the only Begotten of the Father, Full of Grace and TRUTH…” John 1. The Word of God is so precious! God does not want any of us to be ignorant! Nor does He want us to be deceived or manipulated into believing something that is not true! The TRUTH really does set you Free! The Spirit of the Lord, His precious Holy Spirit is given as The Comforter, our internal Counselor and Teacher upon the profession of our Faith and belief in Jesus Christ! As His child you must nurture your belief by developing and ongoing relationship with the Lord through His Word! It is important to Know what you believe!

God wants us to have a healthy balanced faith. Jesus taught a balance. We are to share the Word. It is not necessary to force it upon anyone. As Christians we are continually growing. We never get to a place when we have arrived. I was taught that “We are forever becoming.” In the eyes of God we are all children. "God has no grandchildren!" Therefore there is always room for improvement. God has given us His Holy Spirit, with this comes responsibility! As we grow in the grace and knowledge of His Word there should be a change. Anger, fear, anxiety, doubt, stress, love, hate, grief...... are all emotions one feels from time to time. We are blessed! Blessed means deep joy and contentment in God! We can still have His unspeakable Joy when our focus is on Him! As we grow spiritually the Fruit of His Spirit develops within us and we are better to exercise self control .

God loves you and wants you to know HIS Word!

“ That we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind and doctrine , by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking the TRUTH in LOVE, may grow up in ALL things into HIM who is the Head- Christ-from whom the whole body, joined and knitted together by what every joint supplies according to the effective working by which every part does its share…” Ephesians 5

God does not want us to be legalistic or rigid. You will discover that there are people in the Bible who are not very different from you or I. Every since Jesus resurrection and ascension we have been given the gift of having His indwelling presence within us. Praise God! You will also find in His Word that God is sovereign over all of us as well as His creation! There is liberty in knowing Jesus! But we must never use that liberty for maliciousness. This is why it is important to develop an intimate ongoing personal relationship with Jesus Christ through His Word. Jesus died so we could have a life full of Joy. This is possible when we keep Him as the center of our lives!!! This way you can be, “like a tree that is planted by the rivers of water bringing forth its fruit in season...” Psalms 1 As you get to know the Lord your Trust deepens. In His Word is a wealth of wisdom and spiritually nutritious “Food for Thought!” It is important to Know what you believe!