{"id":2851,"date":"2012-07-16T11:09:50","date_gmt":"2012-07-16T15:09:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=2851"},"modified":"2012-07-16T11:09:50","modified_gmt":"2012-07-16T15:09:50","slug":"the-bible-is-true-even-if-i-dont-believe-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/07\/the-bible-is-true-even-if-i-dont-believe-it.html","title":{"rendered":"The Bible is true, even if I don’t believe it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can you imagine that I would \"\"<\/a>believe that I could fly to the moon by flapping my arms?\u00a0 What if I really, really believed?\u00a0 Would that make it true?<\/p>\n

I had an interesting conversation about the Bible the other day with a young lady. \u00a0She laughed at me and said, “You don’t understand. \u00a0I don’t believe the Bible is true.” \u00a0For her the conversation had ended. \u00a0This silly little lady believed that because she did not believe the Bible, then it was not true. \u00a0Whether we believe the Bible or even understand it, the Bible is true and our opinion has absolutely no effect of it’s truthfulness.<\/p>\n

My believing that God\u2019s word is true doesn\u2019t make it true.\u00a0 BUT I believe it is truthful because it is true.<\/p>\n

Jeremiah 36\u00a0<\/strong>tells the interesting story of the interaction between Jeremiah and King Jehoiakim. \u00a0While this interplay happened more than 400 years before Christ was born, it has interesting implications in our lives today.<\/p>\n

Jeremiah had written a book filled with sermons and prophesies. \u00a0It was a crisis time for the nation of Judea and God, through Jeremiah, was foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem and the nation. \u00a0The book had reached the highest station in the land, King Jehoiakim’s private chambers. \u00a0King Jehoiakim decided to not believe that God\u2019s word is true. \u00a0To prove his point, he burned the book. \u00a0As he read the book, he cut one page at a time and threw it into the fire.<\/p>\n

God wasn’t disturbed even a speck. \u00a0He said, \u201cFine; but I am going to punish you, Jehoiakim, anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Often we think we can play games with God. \u00a0We think we can distract him from what He plans for our lives. \u00a0We think we can get God interested in other people. \u00a0At times,\u00a0we act as if we misunderstand what God is saying to us. \u00a0Or we do as Jehoiakim did, we try to ignore God.<\/p>\n

Sadly, Jehoiakim learned that he could not ignore God. \u00a0God word is true. \u00a0Therefore, we, also, cannot ignore what God says.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Some years ago, a man did some things that were really harmful to me and my family. \u00a0God plainly spoke to me that I must forgive him. \u00a0I thought that I could ignore what God told me to do. \u00a0The person really did bad things to me. \u00a0I thought I could hold resentment; and it would protect me from being hurt again. \u00a0I was angry and I could not understand why I had to forgive the person. \u00a0For a time, I felt that maybe I had not heard from the Lord.<\/p>\n

However, I can\u2019t ignore what God says even if I don\u2019t believe it. \u00a0I had to forgive the person.<\/p>\n

It is vital to understand that God\u2018s word is true; and if we don\u2018t believe it, we only get into trouble. \u00a0Not believing does not change God\u2018s word or his purpose and plan for our lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Can you imagine that I would believe that I could fly to the moon by flapping my arms?\u00a0 What if I really, really believed?\u00a0 Would that make it true? I had an interesting conversation about the Bible the other day with a young lady. \u00a0She laughed at me and said, “You don’t understand. \u00a0I don’t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,3,40,186,49,16,8,398],"tags":[690,21,688,7,699,715,701,427,426,744,6,700],"class_list":["post-2851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-sermons","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faith","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-jehoiakim","tag-jeremiah","tag-sermon","tag-simple-scriptural-truths","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Bible is true, even if I don't believe it - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/07\/the-bible-is-true-even-if-i-dont-believe-it.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Bible is true, even if I don't believe it - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Can you imagine that I would believe that I could fly to the moon by flapping my arms?\u00a0 What if I really, really believed?\u00a0 Would that make it true? 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