May 29 - Believe the Evidence

May 29 – Believe the Evidence

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:8-14)

If you aren’t going to believe what you hear with your ears, believe what you see with your eyes and experience in your life.  Then do the same in your life!

We’ve been trained to not trust what we hear.  Politicians offer glorious platforms as they make their way across the campaign map and the moment they reach office, the platforms are set aside and the real agendas come out.  We don’t trust them any longer because the words they speak don’t line up with the actions they perform.

Kids test their parents all the time.  Rules are set down, boundaries are pushed and the rules get set aside because it is too difficult to fight with the kids all the time.

It’s a constant struggle to make your actions the same as your words.

Jesus knew that the words He spoke were sometimes too far over His listeners’ heads, but He knew that His actions would make sense to them over and over. 

The same thing happens for us.  What we do will always speak louder than what we say.  If we say we are a Christian and then gossip or promote our own self-interests, or do any number of things that we know are wrong – the message of Christ gets lost in the morass of our lives.

Jesus calls us to do the things that He did.  Now, wouldn’t that change the world!