Faith vs Unbelief: All the Information You’ll Need

If only someone could bottle this product! What if you could change it all?  What if you could start your life all over from a clean slate, and what if you could travel your new life’s journey as a genius?  What if there was a secret formula you could take, and you could buy without money? Sound fantastical? If you have yet to be BORN-AGAIN—born a real, second time, this time of the Spirit of God—consider this your official notice that there is such an elixir!  It is as promised, and all those amazing promises can all start today.  In just a moment, I will invite you to follow a simple prompt to enter a brand-new and magnificent world. 

John 3:3:

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

BORN-AGAIN means exactly as it is named: born a second time.  At this point, a 180° shift will take place in your life.  Everything changes.  II Corinthians 5:17:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

It’s true.  At the place called BORN-AGAIN, you enter into a new birth, you get a new Father, and a new name is recorded in God’s book of birth certificates, the Lamb’s Book of Life.  Everything changes.  You receive a new heart, new mind, new ears to hear, and new eyes to see what’s really going down.  You’ll get new brothers and sisters, new loves and hates, a new vision and glorious purpose, new entertainment, a new diet, and new life’s disciplines.  Angels of the Lord are directed to encamp about you, and you are sealed by God by His Holy Ghost.  This all happens in an instant, and imagine!  You will start this brand-new life a genius! As you yield your new person to the Words of God, you will become one with Him.  You will apply His perfect, inerrant Words of instruction to your life, making perfect decisions that will yield perfect fruit every time.  You will be a genius!  It’s true!  At this point, everything changes.  It is also true that you’re coming into this new life with some fixed baggage you can’t simply walk away from, but be advised that even the biggest fixed baggage will begin to change. 

This may be your last opportunity to change it all.  Today, all your sins will be washed away and its shame erased.  Today, all of Satan’s bondages will be broken, the bigger, the better.  Today, you will drink of God’s eternal life formula.  John 4:10-14:

10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Here comes that simple prompt.  Are you ready to drink the living water?  Click onto “Further with Jesus”  for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, John 1:12:

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

GOD SAID, Romans 8:37-39:

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

GOD SAID, Philippians 4:8:

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

MAN SAID: It’s true! I don’t know where I came from, why I’m here, or where I’m going, but follow me anyway!  That makes sense, doesn’t it?!

Now THE RECORD: Welcome to GodSaidManSaid feature 1041 that will once again certify the full, supernatural inerrancy of God’s Holy Word, found in the majority-text, Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.  All of these amazing, faith-building features are archived here in text and streaming audio.  They stand here, available 24/7, completely free of charge, for your edification and as a platform from which to convince the gainsayer.  Every Thursday eve, God willing, they grow by one. 

Thank you for coming.  May God’s face shine upon you with Light and Truth.

It’s important for the blood-bought to keep in mind that we were once where they are.  We once thought their same, foolish thoughts, and lived their same, empty lives.  But one day—one glorious, marvelous day—we saw the Light, and WOW!  Did everything change! We understand their vacuous thoughts and their blind grappling for answers.  We participated in their deadly deeds and were harnessed by the same fears and bondages.  I am reminded of Isaiah 59:10:

We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noon day as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.

But something happened.  Yes, we saw the Light.  Matthew 4:16:

The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

We can’t succeed in anything without faith.  The mold was set from the beginning, and the standard of faith cannot be broken without incurring serious, even deadly, damages. Adam and Eve lived in Paradise by faith. Our first grandfather and grandmother didn’t see God speak the earth and its universe into existence. They didn’t witness the creation of the water, the plants and trees, the fish and the fowl, or any other living creature. They understood that God had created these things by faith.  Adam and Eve were immortal and lived in Paradise; every day was a beautiful, postcard sky.  But, not long after creation, Eve, in an act of unbelief and disobedience, opened the door for the law of sin and death to reign.  All the world’s woes are a product of unbelief and disobedience—ALL of them! 

Even God functions in faith.  One would ask “faith in who or what?”  The answer is faith in Himself.  When Moses asked God for His name, you see this exchange in Exodus 3:13-14:

13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

I AM THAT I AM! God has faith in Himself and His own abilities.  Job 23:13 speaks of God:

But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

What happens when faith in oneself is lost, for instance?  Hopelessness sets in. 

The headline of the January 30, 2021 issue of Science News reads, “It’s Time to Define Despair and Its Risks.”  The subhead reads, “Scientists trace the roots of despair-related deaths.”  The following paragraphs are from that feature:

Late in 2015, a foreboding but catchy phrase from a scientific paper blew across the cultural landscape with unexpected force.

The expression “deaths of despair” was coined by Princeton University economist Anne Case and Angus Deaton—Case’s colleague, husband, and a Nobel laureate in economics—after they had dug into U.S. death statistics. 

From 1999 to 2013, mortality [death] had risen sharply among middle-aged, non-Hispanic white people, especially those without a college degree, Case and Deaton reported in 2015 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  In contrast, during the 1900s, people’s lifespans had generally lengthened from roughly 50 years to nearly 80. 

The shift occurred largely because white, working-class people ages 45 to 54 were drinking themselves to death with alcohol, accidentally overdosing on opioids and other drugs, and intentionally killing themselves, often by shooting or hanging.

But despair has no clear scientific or medical definition.  Psychiatric disorders plausibly related to a sense of despair, such as major depression and anxiety disorders, have been studied for decades.  Despair—deriving from a Latin term meaning “down from hope”—might be just another way to describe these conditions. [End of quotes]

The answers are in the Word of God.  When God’s Words are mixed with baby faith, miracles of spirit, mind, and body result.  Hebrews 11:1 defines faith:

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

When faith is broken, hope is dashed; thus, hopelessness sets in with all its deadly traits and bondages.

An example of the power of faith and how it becomes “the substance of things hope for” and the “evidence of things not seen” is discovered in the greatest of all hopes man can know: The Blessed Hope, which is eternal, glorious life in Christ Jesus. Revelation 21:1-5:

1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

The Bible declares that the New Jerusalem—1,500 miles cubical—will be transported down to a new heaven and a new earth.  This living city, whose streets are made of gold, has 12 gates, with each gate made of one, continuous pearl.  The faithful—those full of faith—can touch the pearly gates from here.  Faith gives substance to our hope and when we mix the Word of God with faith, it is all the evidence you’ll ever need.  This evidence swallows the fear of death in one, single gulp.  Man, this is big business, Saints! 

Let’s return to the Science News feature for a few more sentences:

Inspired by Case and Deaton’s findings, William Copeland’s team [from the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine in Burlington] reexamined the North Carolina data [from a study of young people in Appalachia, an area ravaged by opioid overdoses and other “deaths of despair”] from a new perspective, identifying seven indicators of despair. 

Two of the indicators—feeling hopeless and having low self-esteem—are among the symptoms of persistent depressive disorder, a psychiatric condition consisting of a depressed mood that lasts for at least two years in adults.  Another indicator—feeling unloved—is a symptom of major depression, a mental disorder that includes bouts of overwhelming sadness and social isolation lasting at least two weeks.  A fourth indicator—frequent worrying—contributes to what mental health clinicians call generalized anxiety disorder. The remaining three indicators—loneliness, helplessness, and feeling sorry for oneself—are not symptoms of any psychiatric disorder.  [End of quote]

The solution to the list of problems is so childlike simple.  The solution is childlike faith in Christ Jesus, and His name, as stated in Revelation 19:13, is The Word of God.  Watch the night-and-day differences. I will list the seven despair indicators mentioned above, plus an eighth for good measure, on the left and a short God-solution on the right:

The World / Despair Indicator	The Kingdom of Faith
Hopelessness	Matthew 19:26: But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
Low self-esteem	Revelation 1:6: And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Depressed mood	I Thessalonians 5:18: In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Feeling unloved	John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Frequent worrying	Philippians 4:6-7: 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Loneliness	John 7:38-39: 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Helplessness	Romans 8:37-39: 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Feeling sorry for oneself	John 1:12: But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: I am a son or daughter of God, full of promise and power.

There are hundreds of like verses in the Word of God that address the above issues.  If you mix the Word of God with childlike faith, everything changes now. 

Just like it was in the beginning, when faith is replaced with unbelief, everything goes bad—really bad.  Consider the following from the GodSaidManSaid feature, “Inversely Proportional: Staggering Proof!”

But what happens when church attendance goes south?  The amazing truth is the results are inversely proportional.  When church attendance drops, point-by-point, the deadly fruit of disobeying God’s commandment rises incrementally—all of which is the inescapable proof that God IS. 

When church attendance decreases, a myriad of deadly plagues infiltrate the ranks of the unwashed.  It is inversely proportional.  Consider the charts that follow:  

 

 

 

 

 

These charts could go on page after page, but the point is obvious: Rejecting God’s commandments churns out its deadly fruit at an ever-increasing and alarming rate—even inversely proportional to the decline in church attendance.   

It truly is a global field study and the results clearly report that regular attendance at God’s house is directly hooked to health, mental wellbeing, and prosperity. 

The contrast between the camps of the unbelievers and of the faithful is 180° bizarre.  Galatians 5:19-24:

19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

24 And they that are Christ''s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Do you see the two camps? 

True riches begin with faith in Christ Jesus, and that faith grows and flourishes in the hearts of the children of God.  For those who reject faith, darkness deepens. 

When one rejects God’s directives, a deadly downward spiral begins.  The only way to change that trajectory is to be converted.  If you still haven’t made your move for Jesus Christ, you are in a deadly downward spiral.  Turn it around before it’s too late.  Click onto “Further with Jesus.” 

Proof-positive is found in the results of one decision.  There are two doors before me: Life or Death.  Do I choose faith and eternal Paradise, or unbelief and eternal, cognizant damnation in the Lake of Fire?  You wouldn’t think it would be such a tough decision, but Satan’s blind spell of darkness upon the children of Adam puts up a formidable fight.  But thank God, Jesus Christ turns on the Light to all who call upon His name.

GOD SAID, John 1:12:

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

GOD SAID, Romans 8:37-39:

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

GOD SAID, Philippians 4:8:

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

MAN SAID: It’s true! I don’t know where I came from, why I’m here, or where I’m going, but follow me anyway!  That makes sense, doesn’t it?!

Now you have THE RECORD.

 

 

References:

Authorized King James Version

Bower, B., “It’s Time to Define Despair and Its Risks,” Science News, January 30, 2021

GodSaidManSaid, “Inversely Proportional: Staggering Proof!”

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