What has God told me? What do I believe?
Recently I reread this magnificent statement made by the apostle Paul.
Acts 27:18-25 (They were in great danger of shipwreck.)
And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship;
And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship.
And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.
But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.
And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship.
For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.
And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship.
And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.
But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.
And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship.
For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.
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I thought about what Paul said. I thought about that which God has said to me.
Do I believe what God has said?
I started thinking of specific things God has said to see what I believe.
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* I believe Jesus will return and the dead who have believe in Christ will be raised from the dead.
I Thessalonians 4:13-17 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep (dead), that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (precede) them which are asleep (dead).
For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (precede) them which are asleep (dead).
For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
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* I believe all wisdom is from God. And I believe God will give us wisdom when we ask HIM for wisdom.
James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
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* I believe it is important to forget those things that are behind and to refuse to focus on "if only" ... all that matters is going forward in the things of God.
Philippians 3:13-15 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded:
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded:
Recently a man was at my house resetting my sound equipment. He had to put components on shelves and he said, "If only you had bought one more shelf when you bought this cabinet."
I replied: "I can't go back."
He was somewhat stunned. And said, "Of course not." (I could tell he was sorry he drifted into thinking "if only.")
It is foolish to think on the past. The thought might come but we do not have to allow ourselves to dwell on that thought of the past. We must go forward in God, trying to do that which is in line with what God shows us.
A few days ago, I knocked a crystal candy dish off a table and broke the bottom of the dish. It was a very pretty item and I liked it. My cousin gave it to me one Christmas.
I started to keep the top part, the lid, which was not broken.
But then, I didn't want it to remind me of the accident where I broke it. Neither do I want to hold onto memories of my cousin nor any other person in the past, except as it pertains to godly acts done by that person.
So I threw the unbroken lid into the trash.
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* I believe God, by the Holy Spirit that is in me, guides me into all truth, reminds me of everything HE has told me, teaches me all things, and shows me things to come as I need to know this.
John 14:26 (Jesus said) But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, HE shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
John 16:13 Howbeit when HE, the Spirit of truth, is come, HE will guide you into all truth: for HE shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever HE shall hear, that shall HE speak: and HE will shew you things to come.
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I Corinthians 2:9-13 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
One day, I was sitting at an intersection waiting on signal light. A truck loaded with firewood came up beside me. I glanced at the wood and thought, "Oh, I wish I had a wood burning fireplace." (I have gas logs and do not like them,)
Immediately, the thought came, "You can have wood." (I knew that thought was Holy Spirit showing me what I could do.)
I had never before thought of removing the gas logs and using wood. Of course I could! I started that project the next day with a trip to The Fireplace Store.
I believe God, by HIS Spirit, shows us things we can do without harming ourselves or suffering loss needlessly.
Another example: I had a TV that had serious tuning problems and vertical dark areas appeared on the screen. I often tried to tune the TV. As I was tuning the TV one day, the thought came into my mind, "You do not have to put up with this."
I stopped and considered that thought and realized, "That's right."
I had money from my Social Security in my bank account and could replace that defective TV immediately without any problem, still having money left over.
I had never before considered replacing the defective TV. I just tried to tune it and was troubled by it.
God does not want us to be unnecessarily troubled.
God does not want us to be unnecessarily troubled.
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* As we go though this life, we have many troubles, but I believe God shows us what we can do in the midst of the problem to help us to lessen the trouble, or to remove the problem, or to endure better.
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I believe many other things God has told me. The above are just a few of the things I was reminded of by the Holy Spirit as I thought on that which I believe and live by.
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Acts 27 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.
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What do you really believe? Not what are you trying to believe, but what do you really believe?
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