Save Yourself! The Plain Truth

Believing In God vs. Believing God Exists Lots of people think believing God “exists” is the same as believing “in” God. It’s hard to understand that there is a distinct difference until you believe “in” God and then the difference is very, very clear. Believing that God exists basically means you believe there is an entity of some kind out there, usually referred to as God, that can do things we can’t do. This is what is referred to as the “higher being” concept. Higher beings are anyone we believe is superior to us in skill. When you define God as a “higher being” you are putting God in the category of being just “better” than we are. People who are smarter than us, play soccer better us, or who make more money than us, would also be considered “higher beings” using that logic. God is much more than a higher being. God created us. He designed and built us. He didn’t just improve on an existing model; he built us from the ground up. And, God created everything else in the universe around us. Sure, humans have invented lots of stuff but no one can build a solar system like God! No one can even do justice on canvas or in sculpture to the night sky or to the ocean because God is the originator and master artist of the natural world. Spend just 10 minutes a day watching the sky change and you’ll be blown away by how complex it is. It can’t be duplicated. The rule of thumb is that if you can duplicate it exactly, it is man-made. If you can’t, give God the credit. Most ancient cultures had many different gods that took care of everything from fertility to crops to weather. Each god was responsible for his own area. The gods of Greek and Roman mythology are the best known examples of this “higher being” concept. Each god was better at something early man couldn’t do for himself. These gods were also given human traits. They lost their tempers, were jealous, fought one another, married each other, and in general, used the earth as their playground. The problem with these gods was that they weren’t divine beings as much as “explanations” used to explain the unexplainable. For example, Zeus was the god of thunder. It’s easy to imagine some uneducated caveman preferring to believe that thunder and lighting was the result of some god being angry rather than the result of electrical currents displacing air molecules resulting in sound amplification–thunder. This just proves God doesn’t exist, you might be thinking. No, what it proves is that God “designed” our world to function in such a way that we could eventually understand it. He designed (created) us to be able to fathom and have “dominion over” his other creations (animals, weather, space, etc.). We know God exists because there are still things that we just cannot explain. Things that can only be explained by divine creation. Most scientists will tell you they believe in God because there is no earthly explanation for some things. For example, how can a child grow inside a woman so seamlessly when you consider the complexity of the science involved to do it? A single fertilized egg has all the elements it needs to grow into a human being with absolutely no outside help needed. That alone should convince you there’s a supreme creator in the universe. Most people who just believe God “exists” think that God is only there for the big things, like miracles, but really has no place in the world today. They think that after God created the earth and everything around us his role in our lives was pretty much over. They act like God is some kind of real estate developer who built our world then moved on to build another world somewhere else. God is still here. Believing “in” God takes a little more faith (hard work). It’s hard to believe in something you can’t see, touch, smell or hear. But as your faith grows, you’ll be able to “feel” God working in your life. By the way, “faithfully” going to church (showing up every Sunday) is not considered the same as faith. Faith can be found in people who don’t attend church but believe completely and absolutely in the power of God working in their lives. It’s easy to believe in God when everything is going well, but what about when it’s not? People sometimes have trouble with the idea that God allows bad things to happen to us, especially if he loves us as much as he claims. Well, just like any parent, our Father (God) sometimes has to let us live out the consequences of our own choices and stupidity! If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll admit there’s been times when you “knew” you shouldn’t do something but did it anyway. God gave us free choice, hoping we’d choose wisely. We don’t always. A couple of bad choices may not have immediate consequences from God. But continue to do things you know are wrong and you’re asking for it. God will bring you back in line in whatever way he thinks he can get your attention (jail, bankruptcy, etc.). Trust me when I tell you that if you make God angry enough, he can punish in ways no one else can. We’ll talk a little more about this in a later chapter. But for now, start listening to that little voice in your head that tells you what is right. That quiet voice is God’s voice. The big loud obnoxious voice egging you on to do bad things is Satan’s voice. The devil’s voice is always louder than God’s voice. This probably doesn’t make sense to you. Remember the bully who taunted other kids with “what are you chicken?” when they wanted them to do something that would get them in trouble. The bully’s voice was loud and persistent. The child being bullied usually caved in and did it to shut the bully up. If they were lucky someone else would tell them, “Don’t do it, he’s just a jerk.” Do you remember which voice was the loudest? That’s right the bully–the bad guy. God is the voice of reason. God will never tell you to lie, steal, cheat on your spouse or ignore someone who is in trouble. Train yourself to listen to the quiet voice of God and to tell the bully (Satan) to take a hike.