27th Mar 26 | 16:08
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03 Acts 09 32-43 THE MINISTRY OF PETER 22 Acts 09 42-43 To believe
📖 Acts 09:32-43
22 – Wed19Jun2024 – *To believe* - _Acts 09:32-43_ – THE MINISTRY OF PETER – _Matthew 18:03_
_Acts 9:42-43 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and *many believed on the Lord*. (43) So it was that he stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner._
We come back to ‘belief’ again and again. We see here that because Dorcas was raised to life, many, throughout Joppa, believed in Jesus.
Let us explore the understanding of ‘belief’.
*To be convinced is what we equate to belief.* We live in a sarcastic, cynical and sceptical world. We are bombarded with information. All the evidence that inundates us, demands that we be convinced about a certain perspective or position. Then fresh material pours in and we are forced to reset our perspectives. We therefore resign ourselves to doubt everything that we see or hear.
Amidst all this overflow of facts and evidence, when the truth of the Gospel is presented, and we come to a place of being convinced, we think we have believed. *We consider our move from cynicism to conviction as a great shift.* We even pat ourselves on the back that I now believe in Christ.
Conviction is not belief. What is belief?
Belief is to remain in God, in His habitat. We live and move and have our being in Him. _Jeremiah 17:5 Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, *Whose heart departs from the LORD*._
*A person who does not have God as his habitat is cursed.* All things are held together in Christ. _Colossians 1:16-18 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. (17) And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. (18) And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence._
All things are secured in Christ. By his own strength, no man shall prevail. _I Samuel 2:8-9 He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. "For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, And He has set the world upon them. (9) *He will guard the feet of His saints*, But the wicked shall be silent in darkness. "*For by strength no man shall prevail*._
Man must function in God. This is what man wilfully forgets. _II Peter 3:5-7 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, (6) by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. (7) But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
*Are you living, moving and functioning out of God?* If this is not a reality for you, then there is no belief in Jesus. You are only convinced but you do not believe.
Therefore, to believe in Jesus, a person must repent of what he or she has trusted thus far in life, and seek God’s forgiveness. *“I trusted the world, career, money, and a comfortable lifestyle. I made all of these my habitat. I now repent, turn around and come into God as my habitat.”*
How does a person move from the habitat of the world to the habitat of God?
We come to the place of becoming *willing to do His will*. _John 7:17 *If anyone wills to do His will*, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority._
The Lord expects willingness from us to do His will.* This was what God expected of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. They rebelled and chose to do their own will. By doing our will, we come into the captivity of the devil. When we come to faith in Jesus, we are set free, to once again start afresh, to fulfil His will.
The enablement is from the Holy Spirit if we have the willingness. _Romans 8:4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit._
If we are willing then the Lord enables us to live by His will. *Willingness is from us; enablement is from the Lord.* This is what the Law of Moses was not able to do. _Romans 8:3 For *what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son* in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,_
Now, in Christ Jesus, we are made whole. _Jude 1:24-25 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And *to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy*, (25) To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen._
All of this may sound confusing, but this is what little children exhibit. They live in the habitat of their parents. They believe. _Matthew 18:3 and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven._