Faith is defined as, “complete trust in someone or something”. In reference to God faith is the confidence in what we hope for and the assurance that Jesus Christ is working, even though we cannot see it and in most cases cannot prove it. In today’s world people are constantly trying to “prove” or “disprove” God. People of all persuasions are arguing over proof of the existence of God and Jesus Christ. We all get caught up in it, yet the Bible and Jesus explicitly tell us to just have faith and believe. I pretty much decided years ago to have complete trust and confidence in Jesus. As the blind man, that was healed by Jesus, said when asked how Jesus restored his vision, “all I know was that I was blind and now I can see”. That is exactly how it is with my faith. I can’t really explain it. All I know is I was blind to Jesus and now I can see that he is the Way, The Truth and the Life.

John 14:6 -…… Jesus answered, “I am The Way and The Truth and The Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

I don’t think people like themselves much these days. They are trying to find love and acceptance in all the wrong places. They reach out for love and acceptance thru drugs, bad relationships and the new phrase “just look at me now”. I recently heard a wonderful song by Rachael Lampa and Toby Mac that addresses this dilemma. The song ‘Perfectly Loved” starts out with the line, “who says you are not beautiful”. It goes on with references to not belonging, never finding love, little lies, etc. Basically just not being enough. We hear this all the time today in hundreds of different ways. The answer is Jesus—-and his perfect love. The love of God is perfect. We have always been perfectly loved. Even when we “don’t see it or feel it. We are not a problem or a mistake. We don’t need fixing or solving in the arms of God’s Grace.” We need to believe that every single moment we are perfectly loved by God our creator through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Do something nice to yourself today. Listen to the song “Perfectly Loved”.

Jesus Christ is the most important, inspiring and interesting man who has ever lived. Following are two Bible passages that give us insight on who he is…..

John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word (Jesus) was with God and the Word (Jesus) was God.

John 1:14 – The Word (Jesus) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

So as the Bible tells us, this Jesus that many of us claim to be exactly who he says he is and others that do not believe in, left us with an amazing book (The Bible) about his birth, life and death while he was on this earth. He shook mankind to his very core when he was living 2,000 years ago and shakes us to our core even today. He is the way and the truth and can make our lives far better and as writer Dallas Willard says, anyone can utilize this. Some will not accept Jesus,, some will not want to change for Jesus, and some will think they can’t afford to change for Jesus . But the promise of Salvation and an extraordinary life are just waiting to be had.

I’m onboard……How about you?

How did we get to this point that it is almost taboo to talk about or even say the name of Jesus outside the Church. We are told that we can’t or should not talk about Jesus at our schools, our workplace or even public places in general. If a person on the street corner or large gathering of people is holding a sign proclaiming John 3:16 most people think he is a “religious nut”. I have been there and seen it. Many, many people do not believe Jesus ever existed. They think He is a fantasy or a myth. They want proof! So we run around writing books proving Jesus is God. Funny thing is…..this is Not what Jesus wants. He doesn’t want someone building a “case for Jesus”. He wants us to take a chance on Him. He does not want us to lean on our own understanding. He wants us to be like the blind man who proclaimed, after Jesus healed him, “all I know was I was blind and now I can see”. He wants us to take a leap of faith. He wants us to turn caution to the wind and just believe. If we are waiting for definite 100 percent proof that Jesus and the Bible are 100 percent true then we will not be saved by his amazing grace. Take a chance on the most amazing and inspirational person of all time…..Jesus.

Proverbs 3:5 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding….

The word “Amazing” does not do Jesus justice. In fact, no word in the English language does justice to Jesus. The Bible says, “Jesus is greater than our hearts and He knows everything……1John 3:20. Jesus has chosen to accept what we deem unacceptable. The parts of us that cause us shame do not shame Jesus. Christian writer James Bryan Smith write, “Here is the Good News: Even if we feel condemned by our own hearts, God is greater than our hearts.” Amazing Grace! I believe this 100% Everyday I feel I am not enough, I feel like I’m not living up to Jesus’s standards. I feel lacking. I measure myself up against others. I am not good enough. Basically I pick on myself. I have never liked being “picked on” by others, but then I “pick on” myself. At times I feel deep shame and condemn myself. Then I remind myself that Jesus does not. So if Jesus accepts me then this should lead to self-acceptance. Easy to say, but hard to do. I need to be reminded every day that Jesus accepts me with the promise that I will never be unacceptable to him. Thus I need to do the same for myself.

PRAYER: Jesus, if my heart condemns me, please remind me that I am accepted by you.

We all need to believe in ourselves and our dreams. We cannot let others define us. We need to stop thinking we are not good enough. We need to stop obsessing about our faults. We need to get up every morning and praise God for the day He has given us. God does not make mistakes. He is perfect and wants us to believe that someday we will be in His Kingdom and be happy, fulfilled and at peace. Nothing in this world can compare to heaven with King Jesus. For now, believe in yourself. Believe that you have purpose and meaning in your life and live believing the Jesus loves you unconditionally with a Grace that defies all understanding. God Bless You.

Mark 9:23 – ” If you can?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes”.

Most inspirational pre-game speeches by coaches to their players, if not all, are aimed at getting the players to believe in themselves. I think this is the same problem for all of us. We don’t truly believe in ourselves. We doubt our abilities to get it done. We are not 100% all in. Jesus says the same for those that have faith in him. Remember the “faith of a mustard seed speech”. We do doubt and Jesus knows this. He doesn’t condemn us for our doubting (ask Thomas). Rather he continues to love us unconditionally. Thank you Jesus. Because of Jesus (not me) I am a better person everyday. All of who I am I owe to Jesus.. I believe that Jesus is the Way and Truth, even when I fail in my actions. Jesus is my Lord and Savior. My identity is in Jesus. Amen

Matthew 17:20-21 – “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move: and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Christian writer Frederick Buechner asks the question, “Do you believe in God or do you believe God”? He further says, “believing in God is an intellectual position. It need have no more effect on your life than believing in Freud’s method of interpreting dreams”. Believing God is believing John 3:16…..believing God is believing John 14:6……its believing that the Holy Bible is the Truth from beginning to end and much, much more. In regard to my faith, I choose to believe God.

John 11:27 – Yes Lord I believe that You are the Christ, The Son of God who has come into the world.

In the Bible the verse from John 14:6 tells us that Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. So what does this verse mean to us in the big picture of life. To me Jesus is saying that His way of doing things is a far better way to live our life than the world’s way. Je is the creator thus who knows better than Him….Simple!! Jesus is the Truth. In our world today of so many lies about just about everything, Jesus steps forward and says His word is the Truth. Its the standard…..PERIOD. Jesus is also the Life. We all seek to have a better life. A good life. A life full of purpose and meaning. Jesus is saying to look to Him for answers. Listen to His words. There is no other way. I believe Him. I believe this verse is the standard for our lives. We need to listen.

John 14:6 – Jesus said, “I am the Way and Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

A favorite song of mine is “Thank you Lord by Chris Tomlin, Thomas Rhett, and Florida Georgia Line.” Its a upbeat simple song about things to be thankful for. The following lyrics express thankfulness in these words……

The small things….

Blessings on Blessings on Blessings…

for my mamma, for my friends…

for your love that never ends…

for my babies, for my girl…

for the hard times…

for lighting my way in the dark times…

for pulling me in, forgiving again…

for keeping me humble…

for picking me up when I stumble…

and although I change You stay the same…

AND I DON’T SAY THANK YOU ENOUGH…

John 14:6 – I am the Way, the Truth and the Life…..