Believe In Him

 

[For Sunday, January 30th, 2022, we enjoyed our traditional 5th Sunday service at Pilgrim Reformed Church when we sang our favorite hymns.  But before the singing, we held the following short devotional - "Believe In Him".  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Today is the 5th Sunday of the month, when traditionally we enjoy a sing-along service of our favorite hymns.  And today is no exception.  But first I’d like to share a little scripture with you, scripture about belief, about believing in something that may seem unbelievable.  

Please listen and follow along as I read from the Apostle John’s Gospel account, chapter 10 verses 22 through 42, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible...

22 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. 24 Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”

31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”

33 The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”

34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” ’? 35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” 39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.

40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. 41 Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.” 42 And many believed in Him there.

--John 10:22-42 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, we are here to worship You.  May the words and songs from our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.  Amen.

We’ve all heard of or read about things that are just hard to believe, haven’t we?  Things that just seem unbelievable.  Robert Ripley built a franchise based on the unbelievable.  Maybe you’ve visited one of his “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” exhibits.  Sometimes our brains can be tricked by our senses into believing something may be true, and sometimes what we’re sensing is just too far-fetched to be believable.

Many of the Jews in Jesus’ day were in that position.  They saw the signs and works He performed, yet they simply could not believe He was the Son of God, sent as their Messiah, our Savior.  And many today still cannot believe, Jews and Gentiles.  Even after all that has been written by eyewitnesses about what He did, they still cannot believe in Him, or accept Him as Lord.

There is one group who may truly believe that Jesus is just who He said He is, but it’s the Gospel message they can’t believe.  Have you ever been talking to someone about Jesus and they end up saying they just can’t believe in Him?  And the reason they give for this disbelief is something to the effect, “I can’t believe anyone could ever love me that much.”

Well, as we who do believe know, Jesus is not just anyone.  God loves us so much that He sent His only Son into the world that we might be saved from eternal damnation just by believing in Him.  And Jesus loves us so much that He came, knowing full well how it would all play out, and He allowed Himself to be sacrificed, so His blood could wash us clean of our sin.  Yes, Jesus loves us.  Of that we can rest assured.

One last point on belief…  When the risen Jesus appeared before the disciples, still in the flesh, His hands and side scarred from the execution, Thomas had trouble believing that this was truly Jesus again.  When he finally did believe, “Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”  (John 20:29 (NKJV))

We may not have seen Jesus with our eyes, we may not have witnessed His many miracles, but we believe.  We believe because we know He loves us.  We believe because we have felt His hand on our lives.  We believe because He has healed us, maybe not in body but in spirit.  We believe, and so we are saved.

Believe in Him, and live again.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for sending Your Son to save us.  Thank You for shining Your light into the darkness of this world, the darkness of our sin.  Please, Father, help us make our belief effective by obeying Your word and by doing as Jesus commands us.  Help us put our belief in action in our service to others.  And give us the strength and courage to share Your word with everyone we meet.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.