Believe First, See Later
ICS Daily Devotions
John 20:29 (NKJV) Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
It is easy for us to revert to “seeing before believing” and want physical evidence to substantiate what we believe. Many of us are like Thomas who would only believe something when we can experience it physically because we have all been trained that way, but Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”. This captures the essence of what faith is, and how we should operate in our walk of faith.
We should not be moved by what we feel, hear, or see but stand firm on what we believe. God will grant believers His grace unconditionally, but while the devil cannot stop His grace, he can stop us from accessing it by attacking our thought life and trying to get us to doubt and eventually stop believing. As soon as we start to doubt, we have already been defeated and stopped from accessing God’s grace. He will cause us to revert to believing what we are seeing, reading, and hearing instead of focusing on God’s promises and His Word because faith comes from hearing the Word of God.
Luke 7:7, 9 (NKJV) Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed…..When Jesus heard these things, He marvelled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”
Jesus also talked about the importance of trusting and having faith in His Word of promise in Luke 7:7-9. Jesus marvelled at the Centurion’s faith and told us “great faith” is to believe in His Word. The Centurion believed that if he, being an officer, had power in His word to command his soldiers to carry out an order, Jesus being the Son of God would have the authority to make things happen based on His spoken Word. The Centurion understood the power of Jesus’ Word and had faith in the Word. This is the kind of faith that God is looking for—believing that if He has spoken, it is done.
Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith must be established on God’s promise and a personal Word from Him because our faith will waver if we act without a Word of promise from God or assurance from the Holy Spirit. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Therefore, what gives substance to our faith is the Word that God has spoken to us personally.
Sermon Series: Faith Is Anchored in God’s Word
