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At the FCA staff meeting, Paris gave the following statement:

"Maybe being like Jesus is not doing as Jesus did, but believing as Jesus believed."

Wait. What?  It's a profound statement.  It's been wrecking me!  I find myself pondering the implications, and trying to figure out what it means.  

What did Jesus believe?

What does the word believe really mean anyways?

I'd love to dialogue about this and grow.  What are your thoughts?  

 

2 Comments

Paris Shewey almost 4 years ago

What an honor to be quoted here! I just want to share one thought on this, as this is a very clear example of a belief Jesus had during His earthly ministry -

"Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” (John 11:40-44 ESV)

Jesus believed that the Father heard Him... ALWAYS. What would our lives look like if we actually believed that the Father always hears us? And in case we needed more truth and motivation to believe this -

"And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him." (1 John 5: 14, 15 ESV)

One thing Jesus believed is that the Father always heard Him. John goes on to equate that if the Father hears us in whatever we ask, we KNOW that we have what we have asked for... This is a big deal.

Ben Moore almost 4 years ago

Yes, Paris!

Dictionary.com defines belief as "to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so"

Jesus certainly didn't need proof. He knew.

I think Jesus believed in 2 more things:
a. Jesus believed that He is the Son of God. He had absolute confidence in that--and it didn't need to be proved to him. This allowed his identity to determine his behavior, and not his behavior determining his identity. Matthew 3 @ Jesus Baptism, Jesus hears, "This is my Son with whom I am well pleased." Then he immediately goes to the wilderness and his temptation in Matthew 4. Satan says, "If you are the Son of God..." Satan asks Jesus to do something to prove it. Jesus in essence says, "no, no proof is needed for me to know that"

b) I think Jesus also believed in his disciples. He had confidence in them to carry the message of the kingdom of heaven, his resurrection, and his coming again to the world. Think of when Peter is told he will deny Jesus. Jesus goes on to say, "When you return..." It's not an "if" statement. Jesus also demonstrates this when he sends them out.

Wow. My life can be different knowing that!

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