Saturday, August 28, 2010

I Believe In God

by Tim Howard

Everyone believes a multitude of things, but some beliefs like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy are pure fantasy. While some believe in the fake, fraudulent and false, others believe in things that are real, genuine and true. I believe in miracles. I believe that our future has not yet been written; that we can make a difference in our world and I believe in God.

Your conviction about God is one of the most important beliefs because your true identity is only unveiled as you discover the truth about God. Since He created us in His image, we pursue a hopeless search for significance if we exclude Him from our quest.

The phrase “I Believe In God,” however, is one of the most meaningless statements a person can make today. Although public opinion polls tell us that 92% of Americans believe in God, the God of the Bible is not who they have in mind.

The Bible distinguishes between many ‘gods’ and the God of all gods. When you read the Bible you encounter a myriad of people who will not embrace and have no desire for the true God found in scripture. Time and again they are found to be in search of other gods. Why? Why won’t we embrace our creator and accept the truth about Him?

Maybe it’s because we want a god who will do what we want, when we want it and how we want it. Possibly we want a god who will tolerate our sin, ignore our behavior and allow no consequences. Could it be that we desire a god who will protect us from all the bad and provide us with only the good? When the true God doesn’t fulfill these desires we are off to find something that will.

When you make God into what you want him to be, you create an idol and serve another ‘god.’ You break the 2nd and 3rd commandments and do yourself harm. Psalms 96:5 says: …”all the gods of the peoples are idols but the Lord made the heavens.

Today’s generation often believes in a god of his or her own making. They have combined fragments of Christianity, Buddhism, New Age and any number of notions derived from personal experience and have come up with a god that bears little resemblance to the God of the Bible. Even many modern churchgoers derive their understanding of God as much from popular culture as from the Scriptures.

Here’s a major problem! No other god can rescue, deliver, heal, help or save you. Only Jesus who is the revelation of God to mankind can do these things. When we serve, worship, seek after or make some ‘god’ our first priority, things break down. The true God came and revealed Himself through Jesus in order to preach the good news to the poor, heal the heartbroken, free people who are captive to addictions, find those who are lost and help those who are hurting. He and He alone is able to save.

We don’t live in a god-less nation. We live in a god filled nation! Many gods rule our land so be cautious when someone says “I Believe In God”. It may not mean what you think! I can’t speak for anyone else but as for my house, and me we believe in the God who is revealed in the Bible. Why don’t you check out one of the many church families in Kings County this weekend and hear the truth about God.

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