I Believe God!
“Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me.” (Acts 27:25 NKJV)
How Does God Speak?
God speaks through the Bible. Paul says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16 NKJV).” Where do we find the Scriptures? Without being too academic, I believe the Bible is Scripture. Some might say that there are Scriptural writings that are not included in the Bible; but, if there are, they must agree with the prophetic and doctrinal teachings that we find in this collection of 66 books. These books were written by about 40 different authors (all divinely inspired) over a period of about 1500 years. Most of the authors did not live at the same time and they did not know each other. But they all wrote with one theme. In the Old Testament, the Messiah is coming, in the New Testament He came, and in the Book of the Revelation (and in other parts of the Scriptures) He is coming again. Over and over again we read that “God said” or we read the”Lord said” and either He did or He didn’t. I believe He did.
Validity Checks
Prophecies connected with the Lord’s first coming are validity checks on the inspiration of Scripture. Psalm 22, which speaks vividly of the crucifixion was written about 1000 years before it happened. As I understand it, crucifixion was not being used as a means of execution when this was written, yet we read, “For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet (Psalm 22:16 NKJV).” Another prophetic Scripture written about 500 years before its fulfillment is found in Daniel 9. Daniel writes, “And after the sixty-two weeks (plus the seven weeks mentioned earlier) Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself (Daniel 9:26 NKJV).” A man by the name of Robert Anderson wrote a book called, “The Coming Prince” and showed that this prophecy was fulfilled to the day in Luke 19. The Lord said as He approached Jerusalem on that last week of His life, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes (Luke 19:42 NKJV).” The KJV is more clear and emphatic, “f thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes (Luke 19:42 KJV).” The exact day of the Lord’s triumphal entry had been predicted at least 500 years before it happened. In addition, Isaiah 53 was written about 700 years before the death of the Lord and yet it clearly speaks of the sacrifice of the Lord and the reason for his death. We read, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:5-6 NKJV).”
I could also point out that in Matthew there are 15 references to Old Testament prophecies being “fulfilled.” All of those prophecies were written 400 or more years before they were fulfilled when the Lord came the first time. The odds of those prophecies all coming true without missing a beat would be like buying one lottery ticket and winning and doing that 15 consecutive times without buying a loser. The person that could do that would probably be in court defending himself from presumed fraud because nobody but a person who actually knew the future could pull that off.
Other Ways God Speaks
God also speaks through creation. It takes a lot of faith in something other than the God I trust to believe that there was no designer creating the universe. We know our cars, our houses, our computers all have designers, creators and builders. They don’t just happen. Subsequent models may “evolve” but even then it is because of new designs. To think that something was created over eons of time without a designer out of nothing sort of boggles my mind.
God also speaks through our consciences. I have left this to last because it doesn’t seem to me that our society demonstrates submission to the moral character that God has instilled in each one of us. Paul says in Romans 1, “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) (Romans 2:14-15 NKJV).”
So What Does God Say?
He says, “Believe Me!” That doesn’t mean “believe about Me”, it means “Trust Me!.” I personally find it hard to trust anyone today. But I trust the Lord when He says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life (John 5:24 NKJV).”
I believe God when He says, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18 NKJV)
Trust (or belief). It is so simple that it is hard. But I personally believe God that it will be just as it was told me.
Bruce Collins
Meditation for the week of July 27, 2025
If you would like further conversation about the issues in these meditations, contact me at collinsbd@yahoo.com and I will try to accommodate you with a virtual Bible Study.