The Proof of Faith

 March 5, 2024

Tuesday

After the euphoria of coming to know Christ, the common reaction is to question if it is all real. You just want the Lord to do a miracle right in front of you one more time. That will do until the euphoria of that miracle wears off.

On the other hand, many people believe (and some of them might be Christians) that we base our faith on things that we have no evidence for. They do not expect any miracles. They just think they are supposed to believe. They are unable to defend their faith because they have no evidence.

Our faith is full of evidence. Those who walk with the Lord daily will see His manifest presence. They will see prayers answered. They will see the most unlikely of persons to give their hearts to Jesus. They will hear Him as He leads them daily. They will have revelations as the Holy Spirit reads God's word to them.

That doesn't that followers will be protected from all evil. They won't. They will go through extremely difficult times. They will pray and not have their prayers answered as they would like. They will see loved ones die. They might even suffer physically themselves. They will sometimes know the silence of God.

When this happens believers must go back to what they were sure of before the bad times. They, we, must go back to the evidence that we have seen. We recount the answered prayers. We recount the times when miracles happened before us. We recount the times we heard the voice of our Lord.

I have many of those experiences that I continue to praise God for. I praise Him when I am not in such a bad place so that I will remember to praise Him when I am. Otherwise, the tendency is to wonder if it is all real.

When John the Baptist was imprisoned, he sent his disciples to ask if Jesus was really the Messiah. Remember, this is the one who was so filled with the Holy Spirit that he leaped in his mother's womb in the presence of the unborn Christ. This is the one who declared that Jesus was the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This is the one who said it should be Jesus baptizing him rather than he baptizing Jesus.

Yet, in the silence of God, John wondered. Jesus did not rebuke John's disciples. Jesus showed no disdain for John's asking. Jesus just gave him proof.

Matthew 11:2–6 (NASB 2020) ² Now while in prison, John heard about the works of Christ, and he sent word by his disciples, ³ and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or are we to look for someone else?” ⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: ⁵ those who are blind receive sight and those who limp walk, those with leprosy are cleansed and those who are deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. ⁶ And blessed is any person who does not take offense at Me.”

Jesus gives you proof too. Tell someone today.