Daily Devotional June 2 - Believest Thou This?

 "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?" John 11:25-26

There is no news better than this news. This is the good news. This is the gospel.

The point I want to make has to do with the last statement, "believest thou this?" In a way it doesn't matter what Jesus did or didn't do, who He is or isn't, where or when He lived, or whether or not He performed miracles, if you don't believe it.

That's the power of the gospel. In the belief of the truth of who Christ is and what He did is the power of eternal life. It's that simple. All the blessings, gifts and promises of God are given to those who simply believe this simple truth.

If you are thinking, what if I don't believe and why should I believe; what difference could it make if I believe a 'story' or not? Then the second part of the process has not taken place in your life. It is the confirmation of the living Holy Spirit. When you read the words in scripture, they are true and they are living and they contain within them the answers and the power that mankind seeks, but reading the words does not take faith. If you apply faith to the reading of the words you then have the opportunity for the words that already have power to be released into your life by having them activated by the Holy Spirit.

When you recognize the gospel as the truth from God that it was intended to be, the Holy Spirit confirms in your soul that it is true. The Holy Spirit denies no one access to God. But the Holy Spirit only confirms the truth of the gospel by invitation. When you believe a truth the Holy Spirit confirms in your spirit its validity. Each truth, truth upon truth, as you read the scripture is confirmed as you apply your faith to believe it. That's right. You could come to believe the whole Bible if when you read the Bible you were to apply faith to the reading. The Holy Spirit confirms in your soul each truth, thus you are empowered to use each truth that has been activated by the Holy Spirit.

You may have been a Christian for twenty or more years and not had this kind of "read the word, have it confirmed and wield the power of it" experience. Just because you haven't had it doesn't mean it does not exist. God is willing to wait for those in each generation to break through whatever is holding them back and does not hold that against them.

It's different for each of us. For some you might need to break away from a stale or dry spiritual experience, one that is not meeting your personal spiritual growth. For others you might need a little less excitement and more down to earth Bible study. But for all of us, you should break away from whatever is keeping you from believing, because believing each truth of the scripture unlocks each truth's power. God wants you to have that power and the only thing keeping you from it is believing in it. That's why Jesus says, "believest thou this?."