You are accepted.

Today's reading: "And this is the commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment." 1 John 3:23 

God accepts us and loves us just the way we are, but He wants to believe in Him. I know this to be true in my life. He desires change, and that will happen as I begin to trust Him more through obedience and discovery of who Jesus is in my life, as I read the Bible.


Belief is a tricky thing. For most people it is not an easy task to believe. For many it is easier to not believe something than to really believe the truth. In my walk in Christ, I have discovered there are two types of people. There are those who believe Jesus is the Son of God, and there are those who do not. In layman's terms we call that denial.

Belief and unbelief are two things constantly warring against one another in this world, and how you believe is important. And, more importantly, how you believe is the foundation of what you believe. Have you heard the story about the the man who built his house in the sand? What happened to it? And the man who built his house upon a rock? What happened to his home?(See Luke 6:45-49 for more on this passage).

Also, I want to mention that people will believe what they want to believe. I have observed that when people recognize the truth in their life, they don't always like what they see and they change the rules about how they believe. If something makes us uncomfortable about what we believe, we often will change what we believe to be true to suite our lifestyles. There is definitely a danger in doing something like this and Jesus called the Pharisees on this matter in Matthew 5: 17-22. My pastor talked about something like this yesterday in church, and I think this is something important to remember.

For those of us who have received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we know the Truth. We know Jesus is the Truth because He has told us so. The following verse is important to remember: "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God." 1 John 5:13  

I often wonder if it is sufficient to just know the truth? Here, I mean knowledge, and I am often proved wrong. We must believe the truth, and we must believe in who Jesus is, otherwise why believe? Our belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior of our life is crucial because He is the foundation for the home He builds within our hearts, it is the hope for our salvation. I have other thoughts regarding these matters and will hopefully revisit them again sometime soon. But, I will end here for now.

My prayer today is: Jesus, please search my heart and examine it closely. Show me where I need to change and to grow. Help me to walk with an undivided heart, a heart that believes the truth and promises of the Bible. Guide me through Your Word today, and pray for those who do not believe that they might be open to believing in You. In Your name. Amen.