Believe

"25... His grace gave them more than enough! He gave them all they desired, and they ate to their fill. Yet in spite of all this, they kept right on sinning. Even when they saw God’s marvels, they refused to believe God could care for them. When he cared for them they ignored him, but when he began to kill them, ending their lives in a moment, they came running back to God, pleading for mercy. But their repentance lasted only as long as they were in danger; they lied through their teeth to the true God of the Covenant. So quickly they wandered away from his promises, following God with their words and not their hearts! Their worship was only flattery."

Psalms 78:25‭, ‬29‭, ‬32‭, ‬34‭, ‬36‭-‬37 TPT

"Again and again they limited God, preventing him from blessing them. Continually they turned back from him and provoked the Holy One of Israel!"

Psalms 78:41 TPT

I want to have all that I desire. How about you? Prayers, dreams you'd like fulfilled- what is the key?

To believe.

Notice they needed to believe in the wilderness, not in the Promised Land. If you can't believe in the wilderness you won't be able to slay the giants in the Promised Land (those prayers and dreams we want to see manifest).

To believe is so "simple" despite the wars raged against it. The only tzitzit we need to touch is verse 41. "preventing him from blessing them." The blessing has already been given to us- poured out. Then, due to simply not believing, we don't get it. How tragic!

How do we believe? How do we really believe (ya' know- that mountain moving faith)?

That's simple too: read the Bible. "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Romans 10:17 NKJV

Martin Luther I would say is THE prime example of what happens to a person when they can simply just read the Bible. To the Catholic Church he said:

"I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen."

His 95 Theses nailed to the door of the Catholic Church on October 31, 1517, can be summarized in five solas. They are translated as:

By Grace Alone.

Through Faith Alone.

In Christ Jesus Alone.

According to Scripture Alone.

For the Glory of God Alone.

*Please reference Psalm 49:6-10 regarding purgatory or penance. Also, Matthew 23:9- there is only one Father. And Martin Luther's signature verse, Romans 1:17 "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

Did you know Martin Luther King Jr.'s father's name was actually Michael. He changed it to Martin after studying the life of Martin Luther. Now Martin Luther's name lives on through King Jr.'s. Both men challenged the norm, risking their lives, because they read the Bible.