You know when you are listening or reading a chunk of scripture and one verse just pops out at you, and you hear a still small voice in you heart telling you that this is the verse for you today. Well, this was one of those verses.
The morning, before I was to take THE MOST IMPORTANT test of my life, I was listening to a daily Bible App on my phone. Jesus was about to heal a blind man and He asks him a simple question. "Do you believe I am able to do this?" I had studied my butt off for the past three months for 5-6 hours a day, but yet I still didn't feel confidant. I also knew that, in myself, I could not do this. I was scared to death of failure! I could pray and plead as much as I wanted, but that didn't seem to mute the lies that the enemy was spewing my way.
Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief!!
So I decided to do a word study. What does the word "believe" mean?
The word believe comes from the Greek word πιστεύω (pisteuō). It means:
1) to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in
a) of the thing believed
1) to credit, have confidence
b) in a moral or religious reference
1) used in the NT of the conviction and trust to which a man is impelled by a certain inner and higher prerogative and law of soul
2) to trust in Jesus or God as able to aid either in obtaining or in doing something: saving faith
3) mere acknowledgment of some fact or event: intellectual faith
2) to entrust a thing to one, i.e. his fidelity
a) to be intrusted with a thing
The root word of pisteuō is πίστις (pistis), which means:
1) conviction of the truth of anything, belief;
in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God
and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervor born of faith and joined with it
a) relating to God
1)
the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all
things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ
b) relating to Christ
1)
a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah,
through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God
c) the religious beliefs of Christians
d) belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence) whether in God or in Christ, springing from faith in the same
2) fidelity, faithfulness
a) the character of one who can be relied on
But it doesn't end there! The root word of pistis is πείθω (peithō) which means:
1) persuade
a) to persuade, i.e. to induce one by words to believe
b) to make friends of, to win one's favor, gain one's good will, or to seek to win one, strive to please one
c) to tranquillize
d) to persuade unto i.e. move or induce one to persuasion to do something
2) be persuaded
a) to be persuaded, to suffer one's self to be persuaded; to be induced to believe: to have faith: in a thing
1) to believe
2) to be persuaded of a thing concerning a person
b) to listen to, obey, yield to, comply with
3) to trust, have confidence, be confident
Woah! That just blows my mind!
It brings a picture to my mind of when I was little and, holding my daddy's hand, I knew that he would never let any harm come to me. I wasn't worried about where or what to do next because he would lead me. And so too, my God will take me by the hand and lead me. I need only believe that He is who He says He is. I only need to let go and Let God.
Our walk with Jesus is a day by day, continual adventure. Sometimes is a moment by moment, even second by second adventure. But it's an adventure nonetheless. Being a Christian doesn't mean that life is easy, not by a long shot, but be can live our lives believing that we are safe in His arms no matter where life takes us.
Matthew 9:28 And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."
All resources came from the Blue Letter Bible
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