A Wonderful Faith Principle

²⁵ These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.
²⁶ At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:
²⁷ For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.  -John 16:25-27 (KJV)


Something I love about this passage in the Bible is the faith principle it demonstrates.  God calls us to seek Him, for we will find Him.  No one can do this for us.  Each one of us must seek the Lord for Him or herself.  We can pray for people, and we should, and God will honor such prayers, but anyone who ever came to faith in Jesus Christ did so by his or her own free will.  The Lord will not force you to follow Him and be His disciple.  Choose not to receive Him and walk away, then that is your choice.  God will keep drawing, keep convicting, but He will let you walk away if that is what you want.  Countless people reject Christ, but they cannot say exactly why.  Consider these common excuses:

-I do not have enough faith.  This is not an excuse.  If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains (Matthew 17:20).

-I do not understand the Bible.  People have been using this as an excuse for a long time.  My question always is, “Have you taken the time to open your heart to the Lord and let Him open His Word to your mind?”  When we do this, God’s Word comes alive for us, and we begin to comprehend it in ways we would not have thought possible.  

-You cannot prove God exists.  This is where faith comes in.  God’s Word says in II Corinthians 5:7 that we walk by faith, not by sight.  The skeptic says you cannot prove the existence of God, but I say you cannot disprove Him either.  In fact, for those who receive Christ and open their hearts to the enlightening power of the Holy Spirit, God proves He is real, and He continues to do so.  The evidence of God is all around us and the evidence is overwhelming.  

Remember the words of our Lord that God loves you.  Recall Jesus said in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  God knows when we are hurting, and He knows when we are down.  Jesus came to lift us out of the pit of sin and despair and to set our feet on solid ground.  You are special to the Lord, and He loves you with a genuine and pure love.

God bless you today.