believe.....

Lately it's all I can do.

Sounds oversimplified doesn't it?

Sounds a lot like "faith"...and there we go... everything gets a little more complex.

That's when I start to twitch.

The problem is not whether or not I believe....

I do.

Believe.

So does every single human on the planet.

Believing is as easy as breathing.

It's not whether or not I believe.

It's what I believe.

Each of us has a believing tree. It grows in the garden of our life.

Our believing tree is strong and hardy.
It gets fed daily and is tended to with great care.

Our beliefs are strong.
Our beliefs are mighty.
Our beliefs can kill.

The believing tree has a central trunk that separates into two main branches.
The main support of the tree is labeled GOD...the secondary branch is labeled ME.

Everything else grows out from these two branches.

Today, with technology expanding so rapidly and communication from around the word at your fingertips...we are bombarded with millions of voices telling you what they believe.

They will also tell you what they don't believe..which is really another sort of inverted believing anyways.

Again..there is no question of believing.
If you live....you believe.

How's that working for you?

I've said it all my life.

We spend an inordinate amount of time telling ourselves, others and even God what we believe. We spread it around like manure on a field and watch over it to see what grows out of the mess. Is that a weed or wheat growing there...can't tell yet..wait a while....
Shit...it's a weed.
Well who knew?
Let's try again.
Have you ever seen the maniacs digging dandelions out of their yard..muttering dreadful incantations...and bellowing colorful metaphors the next day as a new one breaks through the verdant green paradise of their perfectly manicured lawn?

Sigh.

What are we doing?
What am I doing?

More to the point..what is God doing?

For any of you who have teenagers...don't you just love the stage where every response is prefaced with the words..."I know...mom....or I know dad"
You haven't even completed a statement...you open your mouth and they already KNOW.
The crazy thing is..they really, truly, honestly, believe they KNOW.
Go figure.
Tilt.

I admit...I get very sarcastic and inquire all the time of my sons...
" Is this the day you know everything and I know nothing...cause I didn't get the memo."

Who do we think God is..that we tell him...and it is so?

Now...we must believe something.
Fundamentally all belief originates around God..and ourselves.
Since he has the best seat..the best view...I am betting on what HE believes being the real deal.
He has the most bang for the bucks.

A question I ask myself regularly is..not so much what I believe..but what I want to believe.

I don't want a lawn full of dandelions.
I don't want a garden full of weeds.
I don't want a field full of thistles and thorn bushes.

I don't want to be wrong.
I don't want to be sick.
I don't want to die sick and wrong.

And I sure don't want to believe I am right..when I am wrong.
That's just stupid.

I want to live.
I want to believe the truth....about everything.

The truth..walked the planet in the flesh.
The truth was mocked.
The truth was tempted, hungry, lonely,misunderstood,misrepresented, threatened, ridiculed..the truth was lied about, put on trial and put to death.

The truth lives.

Believe it.

It will bend to no man or evil force.
It does not conform.
The truth transforms.
The truth impacts....it is not impacted.

I believe.

I don't have words to SAY..all that I believe..it's more like a free-falling continuous believing.
Where the wind of truth adjusts me as I fall into believing...and it is a perpetual fall until I draw my last breath. I will not make a temple out of my beliefs. I don't want to go back to being a teenager.

And there is joy.

This is where the peace passes understanding.

Understanding is subjective.
Real peace passes it.

The tree in the garden....is not one of knowledge..or understanding...that brings death.
The tree in the garden is Life.....

Love believes ALL things (1Corinthians 13)

Do you believe in love?

Take the leap..free fall...

believe.