48

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Believe, Believe, Believe!   #48
by Joseph Prescia

The scriptures have been shared with so many people and yet so often the same response is repeated on the part of the listener. They acknowledge what has been said but the response is just passive. They hear the Word of God, agree only up to a certain level, but not far enough to literally act upon it. Some believers have labeled this as “Mental Assent”(1). Many current day politicians and preachers are good at referencing the Bible but are not able to literally act upon the revealed Word of God. Why? Because of Mental Assent.

Mental Assent might say “Yes I agree with you that the scriptures are truth, but I can not quite get the results for my life.” Or it might say “I know the Word of God is the best standard for me but when I pray I don’t get answers.” You see, Mental Assent goes through the motions of religion but never quite gets to the level of literally acting upon the written Word of God. Mental Assent is supported by fear or ignorance of what the scriptures really say or both. Both fear and ignorance keep a man or a woman from being their best for God. Fear keeps a person in Mental Assent mode, staying passive and never able to reach the active level of confidence in God.

Genuine believing literally acts upon the Word of God.
Genuine believing says “If God said it then it’s true and I believe it.”
Genuine believing knows God personally and is aware of His presence throughout the day.
Genuine believing obeys God first and foremost so that believing is not a challenge but a simple task to carry out in addition to serving God.
Genuine believing says “I love God with my whole heart, soul, mind and strength” and means every word of it.
Genuine believing seeks the kingdom of God and His righteousness so that all the worldly needs of food, clothing and shelter naturally follow in abundance.
Genuine believing studies the pureness of the Word of God frequently so that religion does not trick them with false hopes.
Genuine believing eradicates fear.

The Bible says that God is no respecter of persons. So He will do for you what you know He has done for others. Trickery, lying, deceit and disappointments are characteristics of the world. If the news (the world) is all we read then no wonder our fellowship with God is so weak and based only upon Mental Assent. This is as far as religion can go. But on the other hand if you were to put away all reading materiel for several months and soak your mind with nothing but the pure Words of God, the words of Truth, the words of power, the words of wholeness, your thoughts would change, your heart would change and finally a true, vital relationship with God would naturally flow. And you would begin to see the huge difference between Mental Assent and genuine believing!

(1) See The Two Kinds of Faith by E. W. Kenyon

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