I Won't Believe It Unless...
That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”
Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
“My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”
John 20:19-29 NLT
http://bible.com/116/jhn.20.19-29.nlt
Sometimes great news is hard to take seriously. I guess that's why we have the old saying, "It's too good to be true." It can be hard to wrap our heads around something grand and amazing. I wonder why. Maybe for some of us, it's because we're just not used to good things coming our way. We've gotten used to disappointment. Cloudy days are more common than sunny ones, so we stop looking for the sun after awhile. We don't believe for good things to happen, or at least not to us.
I don't know if that was the case with Thomas, the disciple, when he heard the news about the Lord's appearance. It might have been. After that dreaded day on Calvary, his heart might have stopped hoping, stopped looking up. All was lost. So the sound of such good news that the Lord was alive probably sounded more like a fairy tale than real life. And he wasn't willing to get his hopes up and be carried along by such wishful thinking, only to be let down again. So he says, "I won't believe it unless..." Believing had to be on his terms. It had to be his way, or no way.
There's probably a little bit of Thomas in all of us. We make conditions when it comes to faith. Rather than just taking God at his Word, we echo Thomas' statement and fill in the blank with our own conditions: "I won't believe it unless..."
Think about your own faith today. Are there things God has said to you, whether from His Word or a personal message spoken to your heart from the Holy Spirit, that you are putting conditions on before you will believe Him? Is your response to Him, "I won't believe it unless..."
If it is, than let me remind you what a good Friend you have in Jesus. Good friends don't lie to you. Good friends don't lead you on, only to let you down at the end. Good friends love you and won't be cruel to you. Good friends just don't do those things. So as you are learning to believe and trust, remember who it is who is saying these things. We can trust His Promises because we know His character is holy and good.
And listen! God really does have amazing things for you. It's not too good to be true. Believe it!
One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”
Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
“My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”
John 20:19-29 NLT
http://bible.com/116/jhn.20.19-29.nlt
Sometimes great news is hard to take seriously. I guess that's why we have the old saying, "It's too good to be true." It can be hard to wrap our heads around something grand and amazing. I wonder why. Maybe for some of us, it's because we're just not used to good things coming our way. We've gotten used to disappointment. Cloudy days are more common than sunny ones, so we stop looking for the sun after awhile. We don't believe for good things to happen, or at least not to us.
I don't know if that was the case with Thomas, the disciple, when he heard the news about the Lord's appearance. It might have been. After that dreaded day on Calvary, his heart might have stopped hoping, stopped looking up. All was lost. So the sound of such good news that the Lord was alive probably sounded more like a fairy tale than real life. And he wasn't willing to get his hopes up and be carried along by such wishful thinking, only to be let down again. So he says, "I won't believe it unless..." Believing had to be on his terms. It had to be his way, or no way.
There's probably a little bit of Thomas in all of us. We make conditions when it comes to faith. Rather than just taking God at his Word, we echo Thomas' statement and fill in the blank with our own conditions: "I won't believe it unless..."
Think about your own faith today. Are there things God has said to you, whether from His Word or a personal message spoken to your heart from the Holy Spirit, that you are putting conditions on before you will believe Him? Is your response to Him, "I won't believe it unless..."
If it is, than let me remind you what a good Friend you have in Jesus. Good friends don't lie to you. Good friends don't lead you on, only to let you down at the end. Good friends love you and won't be cruel to you. Good friends just don't do those things. So as you are learning to believe and trust, remember who it is who is saying these things. We can trust His Promises because we know His character is holy and good.
And listen! God really does have amazing things for you. It's not too good to be true. Believe it!
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