Living 4 Him

“If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Mark 9:23
A crowd gathers waiting for Jesus to come off the mountain top. 

A father in the crowd, desperate to help his son who suffered from convulsions, waits in hope of his son’s healing. 

When Jesus arrives he tells the father that if he believes, all things will be possible to him. 

And the father honestly replies by saying “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.” 

This man’s response gets our attention because we so easily relate to it.  We believe, but the daily pressures of life on earth often separate what we believe in our hearts from what we conceive in our minds.

“Lord, I believe that you are with me, but help me when I get scared.”

“Lord, I believe you will provide for me, but help me when my finances are so thin.”

“Lord, I believe you love me, but help me when I don’t love myself.” 

Corrie Ten Boom writes: “Some people trust the Lord for eternal salvation but not for the cares of everyday life.” God saved your life and he cares immensely about helping you through every detail of it.  Believing has the power to lift us above the worries of the world, but what can we do when worries cast a shadow on our daily lives?  

Our minds are trainable, guided by habits we instill.  If we expose our minds to what we believe in meaningful, repeated ways, our beliefs become a default setting to our thoughts and actions.   

Visualize.  Athletes and musicians both achieve great success by envisioning in their minds what they want their bodies to accomplish. Hitting baseballs, catching footballs, bowing violins or fingering piano concertos become much easier when the mind concentrates on actually seeing the desired act happening before performing it. 

Visualizing helps us remember God’s reality in our lives.  God gave us Jesus as a visual representative of who he is.  We also know that God is light.  These positive, life-giving models, when lodged in our minds, can support our beliefs. 

We know that God loves us.  Imagine Jesus’ gentle face glowing with joy all because of you!  See strong, steady arms surrounding you with grace.

We know that God is always with us.  Imagine Jesus sitting or standing wherever you may be. Picture the radiance of God’s presence on this earth.

We know that God is very willing to help us and carry our burdens.  Imagine lifting every burden you carry into the waiting arms of Jesus.  Cast light  upon the dark shadows of all that weighs you down. 

Vocalize.  Words, whether spoken or registered as thoughts, provide a significant means of changing our minds.  Positive affirmations repeated over time soak into our mental pathways, reaching the core of what we believe.  Placing the words “I believe” in front of empowering scriptures allows God’s word to take the helm.

I believe God will never fail me or forsake me. (Hebrew 13:5)

I believe God loves me with an everlasting love. (Jeremiah 31:3)

I believe God will give me everything I need. (Psalm 23:1)

Corrie Ten Boom also says: “Feed your faith–that starves your doubt to death.” Let visualizing God’s greatness and vocalizing his promises become the feast that leads your heart to connect to your mind and truly believe. 

Reaching in (allowing God’s word to work in your soul):  Find favorite Bible scriptures that form the core of your beliefs about God.  Read them frequently and visualize God’s role in each one. 

Reaching out (taking God’s word into the world):  When troubles or discontent come your way, be armed with the words “I believe” and say what you believe about the situation.