Believe

We Just got done with the Christmas season, and one thing that I look forward to every year is watching Christmas movies. There is my favorites like It's a Wonderful Life and The Christmas Carol.

Then there is the Christmas specials that feature Santa Claus. They seam to come out with a new one every year and the plot goes something like this: someone doesn't believe in Santa and the fate of Christmas is some how Jeopardized because of it, then at the end Santa is manifested, and everyone believes, and Christmas is saved.

These aren't my favorite movies, but one thing that really Grabs my attention is the emphasis on believing. In our society we are all looking for something to believe in, We all want to trust but everything seams so untrustworthy.

Well, I would like to tell you there is some one who is trust worthy. There is something that we can believe in. Unfortunately, many people Look at Him the same way that they look at Santa Claus.

When we are young we are told stories from the bible, and at first we sort of believe them then we get older either in high school or college and we start hearing conflicting views. We start hearing that God doesn't exist and we look around we see suffering, and want. We have desires in ourselves we cannot fulfill according to Gods law. Then we make our decision.

For many of you that decision is to reject what you have been told. You have grown up in the church and followed that scenario, you may have even excepted Jesus as your savior. Then life got tough and you started doubting everything you have been taught. For others you have never heard the Wonderful story of the redemption of man.

Whether you have grown up in the Church, or never taken one step toward a church. If there is Sin and guilt in your life. You have believed a lie? I know that because I hold in my hand the truth called the Word of God. And the Bible says you can be free. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”it says in John 8:32.

Many of you want to believe, you want to think that you can be free from the law, from the urges that you have to do wrong things, and from the guilt that you have after doing those things. You want it so badly. But you have been living in Bondage so long that you think that is the only way.

I can't read your mind, I don't know your back ground. I would guess that you have had your fair share of hardship and suffering. You may have grown up with out a father in the poorest section of town or maybe life has for the most part gone well for you. Then there comes the deep waters of suffering and you don't know how to handle it.

I want you to know that I have had a little bit of suffering in my life as well. When I was ten years old shortly after giving my life to Jesus and getting Baptized, my appendix burst, and I didn't go to the doctor for five days thinking it was just the flue, by the time my mom brought me to the doctor, I was within 24 hours of death. That same year my baby brother who was only 3 months old died suddenly. When I was in high school I spent 3 years wearing a back brace. I broke my femur bone when I was 19 and spent that spring and summer in bed. I tell you these things because I want you to know that I know “Life is Hard”. But I also know that the hardest things are not the physical suffering.

The hardest things in life are the fractured relationships that we have. The hurts that are hardest to accept are the ones inflicted by others. The times when our friends forsake us, the times when we are abused by the ones we love, the times when we are rejected by the ones we love. These are the the things that really hurt, deep down inside.

Even though I went through all that physical suffering. The hardest thing I ever went through was when I was told by a young lady that I was pursuing, with all my heart, that she didn't have any feelings for me--Rejection hurts. If I have ever been tempted to turn away from God, it was when I had to leave that relationship.

Then there is the inner struggles that plague us even as Christians. Sin that so easily besets us. I have had my share of these as well. Lust, greed, anger, selfishness, laziness to name a few. Sometimes I am so disgusted with myself and I wonder how a just God could love me. How could I ever be accepted , by a holy, perfect God.

So we bring all of our human emotions and our human intellect and then we take advice from other human intellects. No wonder we start to believe the lie. We reject God because he hasn't really done anything for us, then we try to fill the spiritual void in our lives with things, we get busy and pay no attention to the inner longings. We reject everything that is good and embrace the things that make us feel good.

But my question for you today is, Are you willing to take all the baggage that you have and give it to Jesus? Are you willing to come with an open mind and search the scripture? Are you willing to take an honest look at what could be the Truth?

Of course you can choose not to believe it if you want to, but the Truth is available for everyone to grasp. And you will be without excuse if you reject it. Don't take my word for it Search the scripture, with sincerity and with a heart to receive it. “Taste and see that the lord is good.” (psalm 34:8) “Buy the truth, and sell it not;”(Proverbs 23:23)

When we look at the truth we find that we are all sinners according to Romans 3:23. We also find that the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23) But we also find that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9

Jesus was often asked about the Kingdom of heaven and on one such occasion he explained it this way: “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” (Matthew 13:45-46)

So make your decision. What are you going to live for? For the things of this world seeking what makes you feel good today. Or are seeking that pearl of great price? Are you willing to give everything up for truth?