BELIEVE: What does it mean to believe?
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 1: Believe in God!”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
“Just believe!”
The advice of a raving fan of an underdog team… “Just believe!”
When facing a challenging illness or difficult surgery… “Just believe!”
Questions asked about God or other teachings of the Bible… “Just believe!”
This phrase gets thrown around in our culture today in many different settings. I would say that the common factor in all of these situations is a level of “unknown” or a situation that is “out of our control.”
As we begin a series, it would be good to define what we mean by “believe” so that when we use it, we have a common understanding of the term.
To believe means three things:
- To KNOW the true God.
The Apostle Paul was in Athens and wandered through the many temples of many gods. Ironically he found an inscription at one that said, “To the unknown god.” Those in Athens worshipped many “gods” they knew, but also wanted to make sure they had recognition there may be someone they missed.
Acts 17:23 For as I was walking around and carefully observing your objects of worship, I even found an altar on which had been inscribed, ‘To an unknown god.’ Now what you worship as unknown—this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
Paul recognized that one can not believe in one they have not heard of, “How can they believe in the one they have not heard?” (Romans 10:14)
To believe in the true God, we must know the true God.
Second, to believe means
- To ACCEPT the Bible as the Word of God.
The Bible is the place where God has revealed all of who he is and what he has done for us to know him and believe in him. Therefore, the Spirit of God must work an acceptance in our heart that the Bible is the Word of God. It is difficult to believe in the true God when I don’t accept his Word as true.
“Faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)
Jesus prayed for his disciples, 17 “Sanctify them by the truth. Your word is truth.” What sets apart the Christian faith from all others is acknowledging the Bible IS the Word of God and as the Word of God is truth for all of faith and life.
Third, to believe means
- To TRUST God and all his promises.
Trust is challenging. It is putting your safety and security in the hands of someone else. I remember the story of Blondin, a tight-rope walker who asked if people believed he could walk across a tight-rope strung across Niagara Falls with a chair on his back and someone seated in that chair. The crowd yelled, “We believe!” To which Blondin invited, “Which of you would like to sit in the chair?” The crowd was silent.
Trusting is sitting in the chair on the back of our Savior relying on him for everything in life and eternity. As the Psalmist said, “But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, ‘You are my God” (Psalm 31:17).
“Just Believe” can be an empty phrase we use in uncertain times. When God invites us to “just believe” it is his gracious invitation to KNOW him, ACCEPT his Words, and TRUST his promises.
Just believe!
Apply: Which of these three areas perhaps is the greatest challenge to your faith? Ask the Lord to strengthen areas where you are weak.
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for allowing me to know you, accept your word, and trust your promises. Grow my faith in you throughout this series! AMEN.
Getting Rid of Counterfeit Gods…Part 5
Devotions this week based on the Message: “Counterfeit Gods: Getting Rid of Counterfeit Gods”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Tim Keller entitled, Counterfeit Gods.
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
I like to try to do my own repairs on my vehicle.
For the most part this goes OK. However, there are few times where I really struggle to get a part off. It is rusted, frozen, or I just cannot get any leverage. I can struggle sometimes for hours to get the part off. I scrape my arms, bump my head, and have to get a few band aids.
No joke, when I get to this point I have often remembered to ask God to help. A simple prayer of “I give up God” followed by, “Will you help me?” ironically has worked pretty well. The bolt I was struggling to loose, frees up on the next try. The electric connector I could not get off, slides right off. The part I could not get out of the way, comes right out.
Thank you God.
In life, we can struggle with many things on our own. We expend emotional energy, physical energy and hours of time trying to gain what we think we want, need, or should have. The path is filled with scrapes, bruises, headaches and more.
When we stop and think, we probably are expending all this energy struggling after counterfeit gods, trying to make something fit, hoping it will fill a void, or seeking meaning and significance somewhere other than God.
How has this worked for you? It has not for me.
When will you give up struggling/contending with the wrong things, the wrong people, the wrong objectives and surrender and say, “I give up God.” “Will you help me?”
Here’s the truth: Counterfeit gods end when I seek blessing from God!
The irony is we contend in life for the powerful, the influential, the material things to fill voids of love, value and acceptance. The Apostle Paul reminds us, “This isn’t where God chose to bring blessing. Rather he chose the weak, the shameful, and the lowly things to bring joy, hope and love to our hearts.
1 Corinthians 1:26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.
When we give up the struggle of doing life on our own, we can experience the blessing God loves to give!
Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
The irony in all of this, is we work so hard to get what we think is so important from counterfeit gods and yet all along our Savior is inviting us to give up that struggle and give our focus, attention, trust to him. He will end the struggle and fill our voids with everything true and everything we need. Here’s the summary truth of this sere
When I have Christ, I have everything I need.
When I have everything I need in Christ,
I have no more need for counterfeit gods.
PRAYER: Lord, as you have exposed counterfeit gods in my heart, remove them by the power of your Spirit and fill them with every good blessing you love to give. AMEN.
NOTE to all email devotion readers who also watch our Sunday worship live online…
We are changing our schedule as of THIS Sunday to ONE service at 10am. Look forward to “seeing” you there!
Getting Rid of Counterfeit Gods…Part 4
Devotions this week based on the Message: “Counterfeit Gods: Getting Rid of Counterfeit Gods”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Tim Keller entitled, Counterfeit Gods.
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
Sometimes we need help knowing where to look.
Has your child ever asked, “Have you seen my shoes?” “Have you seen my jersey?” “Have you seen my Chromebook?”
To which you as a parent respond, “Have you looked in the bin by the door?” “Is it in your hamper?” Or “Is it next to the chair you were sitting in last night?”
Parents make brownie points with their kids when their “all knowing parent sense” is able to help their child locate something they are missing.
What if we would ask God a similar question, “God, have you seen counterfeit gods in my life?”
What do you think God would say?
His words might start with the phrase, “Have you looked…”
And then followed by these four areas to look and discover if counterfeit gods lurk near by.
- Look at your imagination
- Look at the way you spend your money.
- Look at the times you felt disappointed with God
- Look at your uncontrolled emotions.
Any one of these places to look can yield one or more counterfeit gods. The connection between them all is that they all fill a void in life.
Imagination? What are you trying to escape from?
Money? What void does having wealth fill for you?
Disappointed in God? What expectation of God did you create that is not filled?
Emotions? What lurks in the iceberg of your heart that is an unresolved hurt that flares in uncontrolled emotion?
Each one of these voids must be removed and then replaced with Christ.
How does this happen? Set your hearts and minds on things above…on Jesus.
- Colossians 3:1-5 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
- 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
The voids that our imagination, our money, our lashing out at God, and our emotions fill are only going to be vacated and refilled by a counterfeit god unless those counterfeit gods are removed and replaced with Christ. And only when Christ fills those voids can we be confident to get rid of that was filling them and replace it with the heart, mind and truth of Christ.
Apply: Work through the four areas to look for counterfeit gods. Take one every other day for a week or so. What does God reveal to you?
Prayer: Lord expose my heart to your truth so that I never have another need for a counterfeit god. AMEN.
Getting Rid of Counterfeit Gods…Part 3
Devotions this week based on the Message: “Counterfeit Gods: Getting Rid of Counterfeit Gods”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Tim Keller entitled, Counterfeit Gods.
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
Remove and replace.
This is key to getting rid of counterfeit gods.
Let me give you an example from our back yard. We had a tree that the canopy did not survive our Texas freeze in February of 2021. One afternoon a couple of months ago, I removed the dead branches and left the stump to have leverage to pull it out when it wasn’t so hot out. But, since I didn’t fully replace the tree, the roots still had life and started sending up saplings from the base. Pretty soon I had multiple little trees trying to make their presence fill the void from that which was removed.
Idols in our hearts not only have to be removed, but also replaced. If they are just removed, as we looked at yesterday, they will leave a void that soon another idol will fill if we are not intentional about filling those voids with the truth of God.
So what does that look like. Not to over simplify, but let me suggest two things that have worked for me.
First, remove idols through repentance.
When we understand that our heart has been set on something other than god, when we are made aware that a good thing has become an ultimate thing in our life, we must acknowledge it and repent of it. Repentance is having a change of mind toward that thing, to realize once again that even it if is a good thing, it must not be an ultimate thing. Here is God’s promise to us:
1 John 1:9, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
When the Spirit leads us to repent and remove the counterfeit god, what fills the void?
Replace the void the counterfeit god left with the truth of the Spirit!
Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
We must fill our hearts and minds with the truths and promises of God. However, it is not an “overnight” thing. It is an ongoing and intentional practice of the Christian to allow God’s truth to replace the deceptions of Satan. Tim Keller in his book, Counterfeit Gods, puts it this way:
“This takes what are called “the spiritual disciplines,” such as private prayer, corporate worship, and meditation. The disciplines take cognitive knowledge and make it a life-shaping reality in our hearts and imaginations. Spiritual disciplines are basically forms of worship, and it is worship that is the final way to replace the idols of your heart. You cannot get relief simply by figuring out your idols intellectually. You have to actually get the peace that Jesus gives, and that only comes as you worship. Analysis can help you discover truths, but then you need to “pray them in” to your heart. That takes time. “ Keller p 175.
Let every void a counterfeit god creates on its way out be filled with the truth of God’s Spirit on the way in.
Apply: What discipline could you add to your daily/weekly routine that would give time for “private prayer, corporate worship, and meditation” to all God’s Spirit to work truth deep into your mind and heart?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for giving your Spirit to lead me to confess the counterfeit gods and fill my heart with your truth. AMEN.
Getting Rid of Counterfeit Gods…Part 2
Devotions this week based on the Message: “Counterfeit Gods: Getting Rid of Counterfeit Gods”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Tim Keller entitled, Counterfeit Gods.
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
“Nature abhors a vacuum.”
Any absence of a regular or expected person or thing will soon be filled by someone or something similar. Based on Aristotle’s observation that no true vacuums exist in nature (on Earth) because the difference in pressure results in an immediate force that acts to correct the equilibrium.*
This principle is true of our soul as well. Our inner being longs to have acceptance, love, value, and purpose. The question is where will we seek to fill these needs.
The counterfeit gods are those things in life that fill these needs and voids but are not the real thing. But there is another problem. Even when we recognize that a good thing has become an ultimate thing and get rid of it, it must not just be removed, but it must be intentionally replaced. Just removing a counterfeit god is only part of the solution. The void which the counterfeit god leaves MUST be filled by the true God.
One example of this is Jacob, the grandson of Abraham. Jacob had a history of seeking acceptance and blessing. He was the second born of twins (his brother was Esau). He tricked Esau out of the birth right. He later deceived his father Isaac to give him the blessing that Isaac was going to give to Esau. Ironically his name means “heel grabber” or “deceiver.” He lived up to his name.
But what was he looking for?
The void he was filling was a need for acceptance and blessing. He sought it from his dad, and had to trick him to get it. He sought it from his brother, but deceived to get the birth rite. With his uncle Laban he sought it in his relationship with Rachael, but was deceived by Lot.
He was contending with mankind to find love, acceptance and blessing.
Until he was making his way, after 20 years, back to meet his brother Esau. After getting his family and flocks ready, Jacob went to sleep by himself. Here’s what happened:
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”
29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.
From this encounter, God gave him two things to remind him that he doesn’t have to contend for love, acceptance and blessing from mankind. First God changed his name from Jacob (heel grabbing deceiver) to Israel (One who wrestles with God). Every time his name was spoken would remind him of wrestling with God. And second, every time he took a step with a limp he was reminded of his wrestling match.
God did bless him that night because he wanted Jacob to fill every void with him.
God was molding Jacob, whose struggle continued, to walk with him and have every need filled by him.
Your name may not change and your hip remain in place, but as you identify counterfeit gods in your life, may you always fill them with the truth God gives!
Apply: What is one counterfeit god in your life. What truth or promise about God fills that void?
Prayer: Lord, open my heart to expose and remove all that is counterfeit and replace it with all that is real. AMEN.
* https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/nature+abhors+a+vacuum