Good day
In the previous message I asked the question, "if God is present, and if all of these things are still possible today, then why aren't some people experiencing Him as they should?" In today's message I'll be covering the 2nd half of the answer to this question, and that is to believe that God is willing.
Matthew 8:1-3, When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
In the above passage we see someone mention the words, "Lord, if You are willing". This reminds me of some people today where they believe that God is able, that He still has authority and power, and that He's still present today ... but they're not sure if He's willing to do it for them.
One of the ways we can know whether someone is willing is by taking a look at whether they said they'll do something or not, and if they did, can we trust their word. So if we used the example of salvation where God promises us eternal life if we place our faith in Jesus Christ for our forgiveness of sins and righteousness, here we have a promise where God said He'll do something, so we know He's willing, but can we trust Him to keep His word?
Let's take a look at the below verses:
Hebrews 11:3 - By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
Psalm 33:6, 9 - By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.
Psalm 119:89 - Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.
Matthew 24:35 - Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
Isaiah 40:8 - The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.
Psalm 89:34 - My covenant I will not break, Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.
Hebrews 6:16-19 - Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.
Numbers 23:19 - God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Jeremiah 1:12 - Then said the Lord to me, You have seen well, for I am alert and active, watching over My word to perform it.
Isaiah 55:10-11 - For as the rain and snow come down from the heavens, and return not there again, but water the earth and make it bring forth and sprout, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
Proverbs 30:5 - Every word of God is tried and purified; He is a shield to those who trust and take refuge in Him.
This is one of the ways in which God settles this matter. These verses talk about the authority of His words; how committed He is to His word and how much weight/importance He places on His word. This indicates that when God said He'll do something, He definitely intends on doing so!
Another way we know whether someone is willing or not is based on how much we believe they actually care about us. Even though someone may have given us their word, we would more easily accept and believe a promise someone makes because we believe that they genuinely care about us, and based on that, trust in the fact that they would come through and deliver on what was promised.
For example, If there were two people placed in front of you; and let’s say the one loved you and the other hated you, and you asked both of them, “could one of you please get me a glass of water?” … And they both reply saying, “Yes, I’ll get it for you” ... Which one do you think is actually going to get you the water? (My guess would be that you'd say the one that loves you)
Now notice from this example that you have a “word”/promise from both of them (they both said yes) – and you also know they’re both capable of performing that promise - But what made the difference is that your belief was based, not only on the fact that they made you a promise, not only on the ability of the individual, but also on the condition of the individual's heart towards you. In other words, you had faith - not just in the person’s word – not just in the person’s ability to perform that word – but faith in that person’s love towards you!
Same with our relationship with God. When we come to know God's love towards us we’ll more easily accept and believe that He is willing to perform His word/promises that He’s given us.
(Please see below scriptures about God's love for you)
Deuteronomy 7:9, Psalm 36:5, Psalm 36:7, Psalm 37:28, Psalm 48:9, Psalm 52:8, Psalm 86:15, Psalm 103:2-5, Psalm 136:26, Jeremiah 29:11, Jeremiah 31:3, Zephaniah 3:17, Lamentations 3:22-23, Isaiah 54:10, John 3:16, John 15:13, John 15:9, Romans 5:8, Romans 8:35-39, Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 2:4-5, Ephesians 5:2, Titus 3:4-5, 1 John 3:1, 1 John 4:9-12, 1 John 4:16,19.
So on the basis of His word, we know that we can trust God and that He is willing - but our confidence, hope, trust and expectation doesn't only need to be based on the fact that we can trust His word, it's also based on the fact that we trust in His love towards us.
In the next message we'll be taking a further look at trusting in God's love.
Amen.