I’m a Believer

OK, for those of you who only remember this song from “Shrek”, I’m going to enlighten you. The original song of “I’m a Believer” was written by Neil Diamond and recorded by, here it comes, The Monkees! See? There really is a link to the photo of the adorable monkeys and the title of today’s blog. Well, not to the monkeys themselves, but to the song.

When I say I’m a believer, what am I really telling you? In this instance, I am speaking of being a “believer” as someone who has accepted Christ, the Son of God, as their Savior. Those who have asked the Holy Spirit to guide them in making the changes in their lives that bring them closer in relationship with God. Those who honestly and truly, as Psalm 119:10 – 16 says, meditate on God’s laws and fix their eyes on His ways.

“With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes!
With my lips I declare
all the rules of your mouth.
In the way of your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.”

Anyone can be a believer. We can believe in astrology, or Mother Earth. We can believe in other gods who have no life. We can believe in our current lifestyle. We can believe in anything. But if we say we are a believer in Jesus Christ and His resurrection, there is a certain expectation for the way we live and how we represent Him.

Keep in mind, this blog is my heart notes on paper, or rather, digital asset, so bear with me as I think out loud. God’s Word is true. It has never failed. It has never given false witness. So…if we, as believers, believe that God’s Word is true, and we promise to keep His Word at the forefront of how we live, then how can we pick and choose what we want to live by? I have a deep hurt in my spirit on what we as believers are often encouraged to believe. Here are just a few examples.

• “I believe all addiction is due to generational tendencies and uncontrollable disease.” But God’s Word says in Ephesians 5:18, “…do not be drunk with wine (drugs, sex, alcohol, pornography), for that is debauchery (indulgence), but be filled with the Spirit.” Up until the brain cells are damaged to the point that addiction becomes a disease, we have a choice to become believers in Christ and be filled with the Helper, the Holy Spirit, that Jesus promised us. No, it is not an easy task to overcome the tendencies that are in all our sinful nature, but we have the Power to overcome.
• “I believe that abortion should be up to the woman.” But God’s Word says in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” If God can say to Jeremiah that He knew him before he was born, doesn’t that tell us that we are alive with Him and He chooses each birth? No child is an accident and regardless of the circumstances (rape, teen pregnancy, mother’s health), as believers, shouldn’t we be able to trust God for the child that He created? Yes, this is an evil world where bad things happen. Life can get inconvenient, life can get scary, life can be filled with hatred. But God is our Father and He loves us unconditionally. He is our protector and the Creator of all life. We must believe that He is God. Remember, we see what is here on earth (pain, suffering, inconvenience), but God has a plan beyond what we can see. Just ask Gianna Jessen and many other abortion survivors.
• “I have the right to choose a homosexual lifestyle and you have to support that.” But God’s Word says in Romans 1:21 – 22; 26 – 28, “…although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened…Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature (man and woman) rather then the Creator…For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations (husband and wife, male and female as proclaimed by God) for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.” We live in a world where sin was introduced shortly after God created it. Over the years disease has taken its toil. I am not a doctor. I cannot diagnose the gene structure, nor do I want to. But the media, even our American government in some cases, has pushed this agenda so hard that we are now thinking it is “cool” to raise our children without sexual orientation and let them choose. Now that you see this on paper, doesn’t it strike you as a little abnormal according to what believers should hide in their hearts?

This does not in any way address all the precepts of God that we should live by as believers, but it does cover the top three that some believers are stating as “normal.” I don’t hate anyone because their beliefs are different from mine. But I do not want my beliefs, my lifestyle, or my money, forced into supporting either of these agendas.

Can you say this, with conviction? I’m a believer. I believe God is the Creator of the universe. I believe God’s Word is God breathed from Genesis to Revelation. I will not run from the gospel of Jesus Christ just because it is not popular. I will continually live Psalm 119.

“With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes!
With my lips I declare
all the rules of your mouth.
In the way of your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.

I stand on God’s Word. I AM a believer.