"BELIEVE THAT HE EXISTS!"

Hebrews 11:1-7                              (ESV)
"1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
2 For by it the people of old received their commendation.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of GOD, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
4 By faith Abel offered to GOD a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, GOD commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because GOD had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased GOD.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please HIM, for whoever would draw near to GOD must "BELIEVE THAT HE EXISTS" and that HE REWARDS THOSE WHO SEEK HIM.
7 By faith Noah, being warned by GOD concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith."



To me, the Holy Bible has always been authoritative and true, regardless of the conjecture and spin "this world" attempts to spin around it.  Even when I was five years old in Sunday School learning the history of the Bible, I accepted that just because the Bible said it, that made it true!  Maybe that's because I have seen GOD work in my life so much, and from a very young age, I knew HE had to exist, for there was no better explanation for my existence?  And HIS Word is an extension of HIS embodiment, proof that HE does exist!

To see GOD, even in the things we perceive as "bad", has never been a strength of mine.  Beginning when I was four years old, my mom and dad divorced and my mom was awarded custody of me and two sisters.  My dad loved us so much, he promptly moved to Canada for the next 20 years to avoid paying child support!  The BITTERNESS of growing up without a father was something that affected me well into my adulthood.  When I was 36 years old my younger sister, who I love dearly, was diagnosed with stomach cancer in late October.  She passed away two months later.  And, of course, when I was 46 years old I experienced a rather severe brain hemorrhage that hospitalized me for 52 days!  Seeing GOD at work in just these dark times makes me KNOW that HE exists and has a Plan for our lives!

All of the events of my lifetime have contributed to me "BELIEVING THAT HE EXISTS" and has a Plan for my life, for your life, and for "this world"!  From time to time I have to be reminded that HE IS IN CONTROL and HIS Plan is more important than my ideas of how I think things should work!  While HE does give us guidance and direction in our lives, we are COMMANDED in Hebrews 11:6 "Without FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE HIM"!!!  We cannot fake our way to trusting in GOD and HIS timetable.

While I do "BELIEVE THAT HE EXISTS" and is "working all things for my good", I constantly have to remind myself that my ways are NOT HIS ways!  Somethings I can't currently understand how or why, I have to "BELIEVE THAT HE EXISTS" and HE has a Plan!

Looking back over my life, I can see HIS Hand in my life, especially when things were toughest!  PHYSICALLY, the most amazing accomplishment of my lifetime SO FAR, (outside of being married to the most perfect woman in the world FOR ME, and the two sons that marriage produced) has to be the recovery from the brain hemorrhage in July 2007.   Although I was there the entire time, I was not in control of even my breathing, as I was placed into a drug induced coma for 17 days, with no recollection of anything that transpired during this time.  The most amazing things were happening and I had no part in making them happen!!!

Exodus 14:14 says "The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent."  Being put into a coma took all ability to assist in my recovery from me.  GOD has manifested to me that HE can work MIRACLES, if we "BELIEVE THAT HE EXISTS" and trust in HIM!!