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Only Believe from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

All Christians face the danger of becoming desensitized to the beautiful truths in Scripture. When you have been around the church a while, His word can become too familiar to us. It begins to lose the magic, wonder, and hope that it once brought when we hear it. We refer to passages by pet phrases like the "Roman Road" without even bothering to think about it. Familiarity breeds contempt.

We should keep an open mind when reading Scripture and allow God to give us a fresh perspective. None of us know it all, and he who believes he does not yet know what he should (1 Corinthians 8:2). The simple fact is, you can memorize His word and not believe what it means. When you do this, you will be powerless, weak, and nothing will happen in your life. You may still be breathing, but you are spiritually dead. God rewards our faith, and He shuns unbelief.

A man named Jairus once came to Jesus, fell at His feet, and begged Him to come and heal his daughter. She was very sick. While they were on the way to his house, someone brought them the news that she had died.

(Mark 5:35–36 NKJV) While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house who said, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?" As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid; only believe."

Don't be afraid, only believe. How many times do we do the exact opposite of those words? We are afraid, and we don't believe Him. They continued onto the house where the girl lay dead, and the mourners were already gathering together. Jesus put them out and said, "the girl is only sleeping." And they began laughing at Him.

When the mockers were gone, Jesus took the little girl by the hand and said, "Talitha, cumi." Meaning, "Little lamb, arise." "Talitha" is an affectionate word that means "lamb" or "youth" while "Cumi" means "rise up." The little girl woke up and saw the face of Jesus.

What a beautiful story, but do we see what happened? Jesus did nothing until the laughing, mocking, unbelievers were gone. Naturally, we would like to do miracles to make people believe. But Jesus did miracles for those who believed. We must continue to believe Him even when those around us laugh, mock, and think we are fools.

God rewards our faith, and He never condemns His children for trying. Consider Peter when he got out of the boat and walked on water with Jesus.

(Matthew 14:28–31 NASB) Peter said to Him, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

Remember what Jesus told Jairus? "Don't be afraid, only believe." Peter did the exact opposite, he became afraid, and he didn't believe. You want to see God do something in your life? Then you are going to start with believing He will. Jesus said this very clearly:

(Mark 11:22–24 NKJV) So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

Most of our prayers are of hope, but not of faith. It's ok, we have to start with something. Perhaps during the journey, our faith will grow into something that can move a mountain. The Apostle Paul could literally see faith growing in people.

(Acts 14:8–10 NKJV) And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother's womb, who had never walked. This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, "Stand up straight on your feet!" And he leaped and walked.

There are many others whose faith brought healing. Here are just a few:

The blind man near Jericho, who was sitting by the roadside when Jesus passed by:

(Luke 18:42–43 NKJV) Then Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well." And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God.

The woman with the issue of blood who touched the hem of His garment:

(Mark 5:34 NKJV) And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction."

A man with leprosy:

(Luke 17:19 NKJV) And He said to him, "Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well."

The paralytic whose four friends let him down through the roof of a house was apparently healed by "their" faith:

(Mark 2:5 NKJV) When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."

Without faith, it is impossible to please the Lord:

(Hebrews 11:6 NASB) And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Unbelief has robbed the church of its power. The Lord does not do miracles to make us believe. He rewards our belief with miracles. Signs follow those who believe. The enemy always sows doubt as He did with Eve, "did God really say..." (Genesis 3:1). And we are all too eager to believe His lies. It is time for the serpent to take a hike. It is time to put aside fear and doubt. It is time to believe.

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I will believe that what I pray will come to pass. Please make Your word so real to me that it overcomes the fear and doubt in my life. Though people laugh and mock, I choose You. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!

Note: It's Christmas week! We just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your friendship, your participation, your support throughout the year. It is our honor to know so many who are filled with the love of Jesus. May you all have a blessed, peaceful, joyous and very merry Christmas!