Knowledge + Conviction + Trust = FAITH.
The moment you accept Jesus as the Lord over your life, you are redeemed. As the redeemed, we experience a lifelong journey of being transformed into His image. As redeemed women, we grow in the grace of Christ, and He calls us to extend grace to others.
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Redeemed
“Have faith in what God has accomplished for you”
Did you know that before you even give one thought to believing in Jesus, God is calling you to Himself?
He calls us by name. God knows who you are, what you are, and where you are. And when God calls you, the call is so very personal, you recognize He is speaking to you.
God is calling you back into relationship with Him.
Many people “believe” a lot about Jesus, but their version of believing is more like an acknowledgment of facts. The Greek definition of believe in John 1:12, and the Bible’s intended use, means there is more to believing than just agreeing.
Here in North Carolina, at the top of Grandfather Mountain, there is a bridge called the Mile High Swinging Bridge. And everything makes that bridge swing. A little breeze. A big wind. Dorky teenagers fast-walking beside you.
We believed the bridge was safe and sturdy, but that is not the kind of believing the Bible speaks of regarding Jesus. The Greek word for believe requires more. In the Bible, to believe in Jesus means to entrust your life to His truth. At the bridge, it meant stepping out, onto the thing I believed would hold me. And praise God, it did.
To believe in Jesus requires: knowledge + conviction + trust. All of these things together = FAITH.
Some days having faith in God feels a whole lot like stepping out onto that bridge. There wasn’t one thing pretty about the way I walked across the Mile High Swinging Bridge that day. I had tears in my eyes. I was clutching the steel side rails for dear life.
And some days, there is nothing pretty about our faith either. In much the same way, to embrace this God will require us to believe. To have faith.
Exactly what is God asking you to believe? He is asking you to believe that in Jesus you can be saved from the penalty of your sin.
Exactly how do we tell God we believe? The only requirement for believing is faith.
The only way to do this wrong is to pretend. Or say words you don’t yet believe. Or just go along with a crowd. Or pray a prayer you don’t mean. The only way not to believe “correctly” is to not believe.
Today, do you believe what Christ has accomplished for you?
Accompanying bible verse
NIV version
John 1:12
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
Romans 10:9-13
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,
13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Hebrews 11:1
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
1 John 5:1
1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.
Redeemed: A 5-day devotional– Day 3
