Romans 5:8(NLT) tells us, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” Our Heavenly Father sent His only begotten Son to earth on a mission. It was a mission of unconditional, matchless, and unfailing love. Jesus Christ came to earth to offer up his life not just for those that seem to do everything right or those who might consider themselves very religious. Jesus came to the earth to make a more than abundant life available to everyone, without exception. God loves us all, and He wants everyone to come to Him and to be saved through the accomplishment of Jesus Christ. But the truth is that everyone will not love God. They will deny themselves the salvation that He offers us through His Son, Jesus Christ. They refuse to have faith in God through Jesus Christ.
1Corinthians 14:33(NKJV) tells us, “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” During the Biblical days of the early church, there was sometimes a lot of confusion when folks gathered to learn about God. Rather than having holy reverence for the honor of fellowshipping with Him and with one another, there were at times disagreements, unruly conversations and speaking, and a lack of attentiveness to learn about God’s Word; this was out of order. 1Corinthians 14:33 lets us know that confusion is not of God. Our Heavenly Father is about order, and there is harmony and peace to everything He does. The importance of understanding this aspect of God’s nature should never be underestimated.
Our Heavenly Father is faithful to His Word, and He will never violate it. He tells us in Hebrews 11:6 that without faith, it is impossible to please Him. We must believe that He exists and that He is a Rewarder to those who seek Him diligently. He rewards our faith in Him, and most individuals never take the time to learn about Jesus Christ and increase their faith in God. Instead, when people are unhappy and dissatisfied with their lives, and bad things happen in the world, many of them are very quick to toss out their beliefs in God’s goodness. Since all power is in His hands, they expect Him to intervene in all the world’s problems and fix everything on the double. There are indeed horrific events occurring all over the globe, atrocities so inhumane that they take our breath away. Many people have a hard time reconciling these despicable evils with the truthful reality that God is good all the time. They deny the reality that humans start wars, refuse to obey God’s Word, and treat each other horribly.
They will ask, “Why doesn’t God help?”, but they will not look at themselves and ask, “Is there anything I can do to help?” 1Corinthians 10:26(NLT) tells us, “the earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it.” God owns everything there is, including you and me, but He has given humans the earth to steward. The truth is that we have initiated wars, hatred, crime, greed, and had an insatiable hunger for power ever since God has placed the earth under our care. For the most part, we’ve not treated the earth as the gift it is, and we’ve not treated each other with the love of Christ. Most of us have done exactly the opposite. So, the world is a mirror of our desperate need for a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
One would have thought that the pandemic would cause a massive return to reverence towards God and decency towards one another, but instead, we’re more divided than ever. This shows us that confusion is authored by the devil, and 2Corinthians 4:4 tells us that he uses it to blind people’s minds, so they won’t believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God doesn’t cause the terrible things we see. 1John 1:5(NLT) declares, “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darknessat all.” There’s absolutely no trace of darkness in our Heavenly Father. He is a God that delights in order, and He blesses all that are obedient to it.
Psalm 91:1(NLT) says, “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Heavenly Father is letting us know that when we live in Him, we will find His rest and peace for our lives. When we live outside of Him, we will find the exact opposite. Living outside of God is operating outside His love. It’s when our actions, conversations, thoughts, and behaviors are not in line with what He says in His Word. Instead of following what God says, we are doing whatever we want. We think we know best and that there will not be consequences for disobeying God’s Word. Well, we do not know best, and there are severe consequences for not following God’s Word.
Throughout the Old and New Testament, Heavenly Father has lovingly begged us to follow His Word because they are words of life, and He always knows best. He has given us His Word to follow because His Word is the truth. It is our bread for life! In Matthew 4, when Jesus Christ was taken to the wilderness by the Holy Spirit and tempted there by the devil, he withstood this temptation by telling the devil, “It is written…” Jesus Christ didn’t talk about his own opinions. He spoke the Word of God to the devil because there is no greater power in the earth than the Word of God.
Contrary to what many of us have been taught, the biggest problem believers face is not the devil. The biggest problem facing believers is underestimating the power of God’s Word and not believing it as they should. Romans 10:17 tells us, “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” We need faith to do everything, from the smallest to the greatest detail. Faith comes from hearing God’s Word. When we trust and believe it, we open up a channel for God to bless us. We can’t look at the world and allow it to dictate what we believe. We must take authority over our lives through God’s Word and trust that His Will goes forward no matter what. No matter what happens around us, God will keep us safe and bless us when we are obedient to His Will and Word. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“The Biggest Problem Facing Believers”, written by JMack, 4theChristianMan.com© 2022. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.