Believing in Him

We want to continue in the theme of belief from our Easter Sunday post; for the next steps are critical in relating to the Christ we just celebrated as our risen Lord.

We go further with this thought: 

“Believing in him is not the same as believing things about him such as that He was born of a virgin and raised Lazarus from the dead.  Instead, it is a matter of giving our hearts to him, of come hell or high water putting our money on him, the way a child believes in a mother or a father, the way a mother or a father believes in a child.”

~Frederick Beuchner

Sunday we talked about believing in the resurrection and the bursting forth from the tomb.  Those are facts about Christ that we choose to believe. 

Mr. Beuchner is asking us if we believe in Him.  Was he some mystical man that pulled off a few miracles including his own bursting forth, or is He the real deal?

Is Christ the Son of God/Son of Man all merged into one?  Is He the promised messiah, the Redeemer of the world?  Is He the Savior of the world?

Your answers to these questions become the heart of the matter after all.

I invite you to click here:

44 Prophecies of Christ That Have Been Fulfilled

It really does come down to belief.

Do you?

P Michael Biggs

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

Easter Is about Belief

The gist of the Easter story is this: 

On Friday, Christ was laid in a tomb.

On Sunday morning He burst from the tomb in what is called the Resurrection.

I can’t see any middle ground here.  It is a simple matter of believe it or not.

Here is a case for the belief side in this fantastic story.

Our main character is Jesus Christ, the promised Son of God.  Only one other person in history has risen from the dead prior to our story, and that was a man named Lazarus and Christ himself was the one who made that happen.

How did He pull off this amazing feat?  It defies all odds.  The only obvious answer is that it was a supernatural event.  He suspended the natural laws on earth for one brief moment in time and performed the miraculous. 

He became more powerful than death.

He arose from the grave just like he promised.

Have you ever considered all that came forth on that Easter Sunday?

     The Risen Lord

              Hope

               Redemption

                Forgiveness

                 Hope for eternal life

                  Grace

And perhaps best of all - Assurance of our own resurrection

On Friday the world went dark.  God turned the lights back on when Easter Sunday dawned.

Do you believe in the thunderous power of God almighty to perform such a feat as this?

If you do, then you believe in Resurrection Power as revealed in the scriptures.

When Sunday happened …

  ~Doors were flung off their hinges

  ~Graves opened

  ~Promises were upheld

  ~Stones rolled away

The supernatural intersected with the natural and the supernatural won.

Do you believe in the supernatural?

Then you believe in Easter!

HE IS RISEN!

HE IS RISEN INDEED!

P Michael Biggs

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

A Story about Trust

She looked again just to make sure.  It was the same as before.  There was just enough, just enough for one last small loaf of bread.  The rainy season was gone, and now there was nothing but hot sun, blistering winds stripped the landscape and filtered into every crevice and corner of her humble shack. 

And the measure of oil – well, was meager.  Maybe enough for one more loaf to go with her flower.  He son came in just then, and he headed straight for the fireplace, hoping against hope that there might be something to eat.  Disappointed again.

The mother watched her son, sighed deeply and finally gathered her small sack and headed out to the village. 

As she walked along her eyes were on the ground, for she was in search of a few sticks to use to make one last fire.  And after that, what?  The end.  It would be over soon for her and her son.

They would starve.

As she walked along a strange man called out to her.  She did not recognize him, and her nature was to be wary of strangers, yet somehow she felt no fear, only intrigue.  She moved closer and he repeated his request.

“Would you please bring me a bit of water in a jar, for I am parched?”  She turned to leave.  Surely she could do this, for he did indeed seem more desperate than she. 

As she turned to go, he continued speaking, “and could you bring me a piece of bread, please?”

She was astounded.  How dare he ask for bread, today of all days?  Didn't he know these were desperate times?  Didn't he know the crops were failing with this drought?  Didn't he know everybody in town was scrounging for any scrape of food they could find?  Why, the very nerve of him.  Who did he think he was?

That is what she thought, but she responded with, “Sir, I’m sorry.  I’m just now looking for a few sticks to make a fire.  You see, I only have a handful of flour and barely a thimbleful of oil.  Just today I am going home to make a loaf of bread for my son and me and then we shall die.”

He spoke again.  “Please go home and make me one small portion of bread, and then go and make one for you and your son.”  He continued.  “Have no fear. The God whom I serve says this, ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not go dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.” 

She was astonished.  She wasn't sure she had heard correctly.  But she obeyed. 

She went home and made the loaf just as this stranger had said.  All the while thinking to herself, “What are we gonna do?  What are we gonna do?”

The bread finished baking and she took it to the strange man. 

All the way back home the hunger pains increased.  The smell of that loaf was driving her crazy with hunger.  And now she faced her son, no oil, no flour and no hope. 

She started laughing.  What was it he had said?  “‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not go dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.” 

“Oh, that’s a good one” she said out loud.  And continued chuckling to herself.

She rounded the last bend in the road and headed up hill to her home and her son. 

As she entered, she swatted at a few flies, and had to nudge a small lizard that had scampered in through the window. 

Just out of curiosity she removed the lid from the oil jar.  Just an hour ago she had turned it up and poured every drop it held into the mixing bowl. 

She could not believe her eyes.  There in the bottom was what appeared to be as much oil as she had before.  But how?

She reached for the flour.  It didn’t feel empty as it had before.  It felt heavy.  She looked inside.  Her eyes were playing tricks on her.  There was flour in the bottom.  What is going on?

She again replayed that old man’s words in the village. 

‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not go dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.” 

And for as long as the drought continued, every day she looked, there was oil in the jar and flour in the cupboards.

The faithfulness of God is again on display.

The word is trust. 

This story is based on a Biblical account in 
I Kings 17:8-16.  It is a word of hope and encouragement at God’s ability to meet our needs. 

It is an anchor on which to place your trust.

P Michael Biggs

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A Word about Worry

If worry has ever plagued you, then I have a word for you about that.

Are you ready?  Here it is.

DON’T!

Don’t worry, that is.  And I get this from a pretty reliable source. 

Christ himself said it.  Read this.

Do Not Worry

²⁵ “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?²⁶ Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

²⁸ “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹ and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

³¹ “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is  its own trouble.

NKJV © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Matthew 6:25-34

These verses hit me squarely between the eyes.  Perhaps you too.  I have a need.  God, in His timing meets that need. 

A day later, perhaps a week later, I face another crisis.  I am back in Fretville.  I am visiting Worry World.  Again I pray.  Again I seek God.  Again He delivers. 

Time and again God comes along and reminds me of who He is and what he is capable of doing. 

And so I trust again. 

This I do know – and I back it up with this scriptural text.

“Once I was young, now I am old.  Through all of my life I have never seen the God-fearing left behind nor in lack of daily needs.”

(Psalm 37:25 Paraphrase by PMB)

I can add a hearty “amen” to this verse.  Hard times have come, yet the steady hand of God has been in great evidence in my life.

A quick story:

Once, when my funds were desperately low, I had my back against the wall and didn't know from where the next sack of groceries would come.  I was selling insurance in Texas at the time. 

Every Friday my manager and I met to go over the previous week’s sales successes. We finally met at 4PM that day and I started into my normal litany of sales calls.

Jimmy stopped me and said, “Aw, we can do that another time.”

He put his hands behind his head, leaned back in his chair and said, “I don’t know quite how to handle something like this.”

He paused, and continued.  “Some friends of yours know that you have been having a tough time and they hope this will help.”  He then reached into his shirt pocket and took out a white envelope and handed it across the desk. 

Inside I found $3,000 in cash.  I was in tears.  I could not believe my eyes. 

Jimmy continued.  “This is a gift.  You do not have to pay it back.”

I was speechless. 

          I was amazed. 

                    I was grateful.

When you ask me if God can meet your needs, I heartily respond, “Absolutely!  He can indeed.”

Note in the scripture above that Christ makes reference to sparrows and flowers.  He asks an important question.

“If I can take care of those creations, don’t you think I can take care of you as well?”

And the answer comes – Yes I do believe … help my unbelief.

God is with you giving you peace in the middle of your storms.

God is able to meet your needs in amazing and even miraculous ways.

Allow your faith to be strengthened in the God who supplies all needs.

P Michael Biggs

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time