I was talking to God

the righteous shall live by faith

by Jack C. Corcoran

I was lying on the bed and I was thinking: yes Lord, it’s easy for the Apostles to have believed. After all, they walked with you; talked with you; ate with you; and watched you pray to the Father.

They watched you die and then; AND THEN, they watched you walk among them; they talked with you after your resurrection; they had a fish breakfast with you on the shore after you arose from the dead; they walked along the road with you after you arose from the dead.

So, of course, it was easy peasy for them to believe.

If any of them had denied talking to you after you died; they would have been lying; if any of them had denied having a meal on the shore with you after you had died, they would have been lying; and if any of them had denied watching you rise up into the clouds, they would have been lying.

It was easy for them, but what about us?

I never ate a meal with you, I never sat down and prayed with you; I never walked along the road with you; so how am I supposed to believe the way they did?

Yes, I actually had that conversation with our heavenly Father as I lay on my bed this afternoon. And He immediately answered me with the words from John 20:29: “And Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”

Yes, it’s all about faith. That’s how we believe; by faith; Jesus says faith as small as a mustard seed.

Have you ever sat in a court room during a criminal case? I spent a lot of years in law enforcement so I naturally spent a lot of time in court. If two or three people stood up in front of the judge and testified that they saw the man pull the gun, point the gun at the other man and shoot him; would you believe it?

Of course you would; you know you would. It came straight from the mouths of three witnesses. Why wouldn’t you believe it? Well, we have at least 12 men and as possibly as many as 400 witnesses who saw Jesus after he had been crucified and died and was buried. We have 4 men who wrote the gospels and tell the story of his death and resurrection; and his ascension into the clouds.

And then, of course, there’s Peter. During Jesus’ trial, good old Peter denied even knowing him, but look at him 50 days later. He tells the crowd in Acts 2:32, “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.”

And just a few days later, we see Peter talking to the Jewish leaders, the Sanhedrin, when they were forbidden to speak of this Jesus. Peter said, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

And again remember the words of Jesus to Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Read the 11^th chapter of Hebrews. No less than nineteen times the writer of Hebrews uses the phrase “by faith” – by faith, Moses; by faith Abraham; by faith Noah; and on and on through the chapter. It is by faith that we believe.

And faith comes by hearing the word of God says another writer. In order to hear the word of God, you need to read the bible; every day as it says in Acts 17:11.

Oh Lord, fill us with the urgency to read Your holy Words. Amen