BECOME BELIEF



Statistics show that the majority of lottery winners end up broke again. Why does it happen? One reason is that many people, in spite of their improved circumstances, never learn to change their expectations about what is possible for them. In The Message version of the Bible of Matthew 9:29, Jesus' word to two blind men was expressed in a unique way. When the men came to him asking to receive their sight, he asked, "Do you really believe I can do this?" They said, "Yes, Master!" He touched their eyes and said, "Become what you believe." That's another way of expressing the NIV of the phrase, "According to your faith it will be done to you."

This is happening right now to you. You are all becoming what you believe. If you believe that God is for you, if you believe that he is working out the details in your life — even the difficult situations in your life — for your good and for his glory, you will experience this in your daily life. If you believe that God is at work in you, changing you, making you holy, and conforming you into the image of Christ — you will experience this in your life. If you believe that God is waiting to pour out his blessings upon you, that he is eager to fill your life with good things — you will experience this in your life. On the other hand, if you believe that life is just a cruel joke and you're not going anywhere that matters and nothing good ever happens to you anyway,  you will experience this in your daily life. You will become what you believe. According to your faith, it will be done to you.

The truth of the matter is you can only go as far in life as your faith is strong enough to take you. Before you get that financial windfall, before that special person enters your life, before that job opportunity comes along, you need to develop a deep and abiding faith in the goodness of God. You need to develop a faith in his ability to take care of you, his ability to change you, his ability to see you through. Your circumstances will not change you. It is your faith in God that will change you — you will become what you believe — and it is your faith in God that will change your circumstances.

Some time back, The New York Times published a report about a study done by a group of doctors in Texas. The study focused on patients who required knee surgery. Two groups of patients received different kinds of medical treatment;  a third of the group received a "pretend" surgery in which no procedure was actually done. Two years later, patients who underwent the pretend surgery reported the same amount of relief from pain and swelling as those who had received actual treatments. Why? Because their brains were conditioned to expect improvement, they experienced improvement.

Now, if this can occur on such a natural level, imagine how much more it can occur on a spiritual level, when you have placed your faith in an all-powerful and all-loving God. God wants to bless you. He wants to demonstrate his goodness and mercy and power where you are most vulnerable. According to your faith it will be done to you. That means that you can go as far in life as your faith is strong enough to take you. You become what you believe. So decide now to put your faith in God especially in the areas of your greatest needs and let him work his power in you.

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