Mark 9:24 KJV “And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”
When asked a question, my youngest has taken to responding with, “I believe” or “I believe not,” prior to giving her answer. This puzzled me. I finally had to ask, Where did the “believe/believe not” originate? (Especially after I caught myself saying “I believe” quite a bit.) Well, it came from one of her YouTube videos, go figure!
Then I had a thought, what do I really know about what I believe and believe not? What do I believe and believe not? Are the lines always so clear? Can we always so clearly state: I believe ________. I do not believe ________. For my daughter, she answers my every question with what she believes or believes not… Why as adults, it is not quite this simple? The older we become, when we are more sure of ourselves (smile), more sure of our faith, more sure of who we are – we waver to say what we believe, what we believe not. Is it really so challenging?
I have no problem confessing my love for God. Nor my belief that Jesus lived, died, and resurrected. I have no problem expressing my belief that He is coming back again. I have no problem expressing my thoughts regarding God’s love, His forgiveness – because I am a living testimony and a beneficiary of His grace, love and forgiveness.
But, I have had to ask myself… If I believe that heaven is real and hell is hot, why haven’t I told my friends, family, neighbors – everyone I meet about this truth that I know? Do I believe not? Is it my fear that they will believe not me? Who said it was about me?! It’s not. Foolish pride.
“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” ~Mother Theresa
There is a quote that I read on Facebook or Pinterest somewhere, that says something to the effect that we often encounter people that are fighting larger battles than we. This struck me. On a scale of terrible to perfect, I’d rate my life as, not too shabby (take that to mean whatever you want it to mean). I thought of a former coworker – who was rather cranky, while I was rather depressed. (This anecdote is from several years ago, hope you don’t mind! It’s completely relevant.) In any case, here I was lamenting my ex leaving me (again), then our divorce. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to anyone, even himself, this coworker was battling cancer. Thanksgiving 2016, he was rushed to the hospital in pain, and was not released for months. After months of treatment, he returned to work, a completely different person. Pain – physical and/or emotional, even when we don’t know we are in pain causes us to behave and react outside of our norm.
What we may believe about someone, despite what our observations may tell us, can be absolutely false. I am sure we have all been victims of this unfortunate situation at least once in our lives. So, to answer my earlier question: If I believe heaven is real and hell is hot, why haven’t I told my friends, family, neighbors – everyone I meet about this truth I know? Sometimes I think it’s the false belief that “they already know” or “they don’t want to know” or “someone else will tell them.” Should I really dare to play such a dangerous game? There are times when I just need someone to reach out to me… Others, I believe, are not much different.
Believe or Believe not, we are all quite the same. Learning to live this life, learning to love one another as Christ teaches, learning to love ourselves. I believe we cannot do it on our own. I believe we need each other. Choose to believe me or believe not, at some point in our journeys, we all need someone – at some point, we all need God.
*Original Photo*
Thanks for your like of my post, “What? Who’s There? ” You are very kind.
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Jessy your little girl is adorable. I have nominated you for ” The versatile blogger award”. You are not forced or obliged to accept it. It’s my love that I feel you deserve it. Stay connected and stay blessed.
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Aw thank you! I do accept it🙂 in fact not sure I ever posted the last award you nominated me for, oops! I greatly appreciate this, what an honor!
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You deserve it. I am so glad to hear from you. I was worried about you! How you dong now?
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Better, still not fully recovered. I’m going back to the doctor today.
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Let me know how does that go. I feel vey ill today. Super dizzy!
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Oh no! Please rest. I will check in with you later today. Something is going around.
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Hhahha Jessy, I don’t even know the name of the rest anymore… That’s life. Thank you though
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Very true! You do have a very busy life. Try to take it easy today. Drink plenty of fluids. I’m worried with the dizziness.
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I am drinking… or try to . Yup, I am worried to because while I was driving, I was feeling, I am going to pass out. Just keep me in your prayer please.
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I have been praying for you. How are you doing?
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I am just hanging in today. Thank you Jessy, means a lot to me.
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Glad to see you back! would come back to read your post as you know I don’t leave the comment without reading the whole thing. Just came here to check on your health. So happy to see you back. Wonder you got my previous comments or not, I was worried about you my friend.
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Thank you for commenting! I am still recovering, so my posts are a little slow, and I am slower to keep up with everyone. Back to the doctor tomorrow. I am working backwards, so I will find your previous comments and catch up on your blog😊
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Don’t worry, you come first. Take care of yourself first. Blogging and your blogger friends still gonna be there for you. I am so happy to see you back though.
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Thank you! I am ready to be fully back, haha!
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Very good question Jessie. If we truly believe there is a heaven and a very tormenting hot Hell…..why do we not share this belief verbally?? All your answers that may come to our minds like…they may not want to hear because they have heard this belief before..does come to mind and is exactly what the, enemy, Satan wants us to feel. I, too, have asked myself the exact same question. If I sincerely believe there is a Hell ….why do I not share this belief to my neighbors more? How can I be so content in just striving to get my own soul and my children’s souls from this eternal Hell? I came to the conclusion that I need more love for mankind. The type of love God has. So I seek Gods heart and His love to truly reign in me for others. So much so that I do not think twice about bringing up Jesus and Salvation up every opportunity I get and am led to. Because Jesus Loves them as He does me and does not desire for anyone to perish. We are His instrument to pray and verbally tell them…whether we feel they already heard or not. Of course, we go and speak as the Spirit leads. But in my case I concluded that I did not love mankind (my neighbor) as I should….so My prayer today to God is to literally help me to love others as I should that I am moved to share with them my beliefs whenever given opportunity.
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Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It is also my prayer to love my neighbor and to be witness. Very insightful comment. I appreciate it.
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