believe: to accept as true, genuine, or real (v).

"to believe God is to look at what God has said and to let that define reality for you." -- tim keller.

this has been my constant prayer, but what does this really look like, how does this define my life? here's some practical things i've been learning, thanks to mr. keller:

1. believing God means to not go on feelings or appearances. it is going on something despite our weakness and despite our feelings and perceptions; ultimately a death to self-trust. look at abraham: "he did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of sarah's womb" (romans 4:19). i mean, his body was completely hopeless. abraham heard what God said and simply believed him. sometimes it is so easy to make things more than they are--to hear what God is saying but to question it, to doubt it, to let other factors get in the way. but when He has spoken He has spoken.

2. when you are truly believing God, you will focus on facts about Him. how often do we just sit and think about God, to really consider his power? do we really know what his power entails? all through isaiah, we are shown of his might. he holds the waters in the hollow of his hand and encloses the dust of the earth in a measure. he weighs the mountains in a scale; the earth's inhabitants are like grasshoppers. there is no limit to his power--our lives should reflect this. "faith is not the absence of thinking, but rather is a profound insistence on acting out of measured reflection, instead of just reacting to circumstances."

3. trust the bare word of God. even when there is nothing else to go on, we need to take God at his word--and we need to know his word. if we reason on the basis of what we know about God, it's easier to deal with things and easier to overcome any struggles of weakness. we are called to act on God's promises and word even when it is hard--faith is living as if these promises are true. it's doing things because they please the Lord, because we believe him even when circumstances are saying otherwise.

faith looks at God--not itself--and holds on to the faithfulness of God.

i need to be knowing who God is more and more so that i can be believing him more and more. i desire to live in this reality because i know it is the best for me; he has made these promises to me and they are true, every moment of my life.