Believe in God — Believe also in Me
In John 14:1, the Lord was speaking words of comfort to His disciples and said: “You believe in God, believe also in Me.”This was given to encourage believers to have faith in God and in Christ, especially when we are facing times that would otherwise cause our heart to be troubled.
We have been considering how God brought Abraham’s descendants into the land He had promised Abram back when he was in Ur of the Chaldeans in Mesopotamia. God’s promise and the dream that was planted in Abram’s heart and spirit brought him to leave everything he knew and look for a city whose Builder and Maker was God. At the age of seventy-five, he departed from Haran after God told him, “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.” He was walking in obedience to the faith and hope that he had in God’s promise. God promised to make him a great nation, bless and make his name great and bless all the families of the earth through him, (Genesis 11:31-12:4). The vision and promise of God was great and the extent of that blessing would impact the whole world. In Romans 4:17, we are told that in the presence of God, Abraham believed the promise and expected God to fulfill it. He took God at His word, and as a result, the promises of God were fulfilled and he became the father of many nations. God’s declaration over him came to pass: “Your descendants will be so many that they will be impossible to count!” The promise of God was given them when Abraham was seventy-five and they did not have a child. You should know that Abraham and Sarah had extreme tests of their faith and hope in God.
Romans 4:17 TPT He is our example and father, for in God’s presence he believed that God can raise the dead and call into being things that don’t even exist yet.
Romans 4:18 NIV84 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
It was against all odds, when everything looked hopeless Abraham believed the promise and expected God to fulfill it. He took God at His word and his hope in God remained strong. Biblical hope is different from the hope people in the world have. Most people have a hope that is an optimistic state of mind based on an expectation or desire. Biblical hope is the joyful expectation of God doing good. It is the joyful and confident expectation of the fulfillment of God’s promises. Biblical hope looks to the Author of hope and foundation for everything hoped for. Hope rests on the ability of God to keep His promises.
When everything looked hopeless, Abraham believed God.
He was nearly 100 years old and Sarah was 90 when the Lord made the promise that within a year they would have a son. Throughout those twenty-five years since God made the first promise, Abraham never wavered in faith.
Romans 4:20-21 NKJV He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
As God said, within the year Isaac was born. You remember a few years later God tested Abraham to see if his faith was still strong.
Genesis 22:2 NIV84 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
It may surprise you to know that most biblical scholars estimate that Isaac was between 16 and 25 years old when they made the journey to Mount Moriah. By that time, Abraham loved his son Isaac deeply. His hope for the fulfillment of God’s promise was solidly in his son Isaac. Throughout the test, Abraham never stopped believing that God had the power to fulfill His promises. He told Isaac, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering.” When they arrived at the place which God appointed, Abraham built an altar, placed the wood in order, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, upon the wood, (Genesis 22:8-9). In hope, Abraham took the knife in his hand to slay his son. He believed that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead. It wasn’t until Abraham was ready to slay his son that the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said: “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God…”, (Genesis 22:12). It was only after he heard the voice from heaven that he looked and behind him a ram was caught in a thicket by the horns. Abraham called the name of that place, “Jehovah-Jireh, ‘the LORD Will Provide.’
When he held onto hope when everything looked hopeless and placed his trust in God, the blessings and promises were extended and renewed.
Genesis 22:17-18 NKJV Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
Hope holds on to the promise of God and believes that God will do exactly what He said.
When Abraham’s descendants first saw the land God had promised, most of them lost faith that God was able to give them the land.
The problems and circumstances that were before them caused the majority of them to lose faith and hope in God’s promise. Joshua and Caleb had hope when everything looked hopeless. They had a joyful expectation that God was able to do exactly what He promised to do.
You have to develop a hope in God and in Jesus Christ that believes what God has promised through Him.
Do you remember what Jesus said He came into this world to do? In Luke 4:18, Jesus quoted the prophecy that was given in Isaiah 61. The promise of God had been made hundreds of years earlier, but Jesus the Christ was on the scene and was declaring that this is why He came.
Luke 4:18-19 NKJV “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Since Jesus was sent to be the Savior for the world, you should believe big for your unsaved family, friends and neighbors. He came to release captives and anyone who is captive to sin, addictions, or spiritual strongholds can be released. He came to bring liberty — this is the release and remission that comes from being set free. He came to heal the sick — He can recover your sight, heal your broken heart, and mend whatever is wounded, bruised and afflicted. He came to make a way for you to inherit a better land. Heaven is real and with joyful anticipation we look forward to going into and possessing that land. He came to cause you to share in the message of His Jubilee.
Regardless of how hopeless things appear, hope in God.
John 14:1 TPT Jesus said: “Don’t worry or surrender to your fear. For you’ve believed in God, now trust and believe in Me also.”
Look at those words “believe and trust.” Has God implanted a dream, vision or promise in your heart and mind. You may not have yet received what God has promised, but keep on believing and trusting in the LORD. He is still Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord who provides. It is time to renew that dream, vision or promise. Maybe God has told you that He is going to save your family, keep on believing. Tell them that God is going to do something great in their life. Maybe God has given you a promise of something great happening in your life. Keep on believing and don’t let fear and worry rob you of the blessings. Maybe God has told you that you are going to be healed. You should know that He is Jehovah-Rapha the LORD your healer. You can trust God and believe in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “You believe in God; believe also in Me.”
