How To Know What And Who To Believe

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How do you decide what and who to believe? What helps you determine whether or not the information you’ve received is trustworthy?

Those are questions we all need to answer.

Look at our current culture. What people believe seems to be determined by who they believe. Who they choose as their sources of information greatly influences their ideas, opinions, and beliefs.

I understand people’s concerns about the future of artificial intelligence and its dependence upon the data it’s been fed. Yet, I can’t help but think that human intelligence is influenced similarly.

If we want to know what and who to believe we must carefully discern who and what we absorb.

Before Jesus left the Festival of Booths, He proclaimed to the crowd…

“Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from His heart.’” (When He said “living water,” He was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in Him.)

John 7:37–39a

And…

When the crowds heard Him say this, some of them declared, “Surely this man is the Prophet we’ve been expecting.” Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others said, “But He can’t be!

So the crowd was divided about Him. Some even wanted Him arrested, but no one laid a hand on Him.

John 7:40–41a, 43–44

Some believed and others didn’t, it all depended on who they had listened to.

That’s why I’m glad John included the following detail…

Then Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier, spoke up. “Is it legal to convict a man before he is given a hearing?” he asked.

They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Search the Scriptures and see for yourself—no prophet ever comes from Galilee!”

John 7:50–52

Nicodemus had listened to Jesus. He wasn’t satisfied with people’s ideas, opinions, and beliefs. He went to the source for answers because he wanted to know the TRUTH.

The Pharisees had read the Scripture but assumed that because of Jesus’ accent, He had been born in Galilee. They may have learned the truth of His birth in Bethlehem if they had asked Him.

You and I need the Living Water that Jesus offers. We need the Holy Spirit if we want to KNOW what and who to believe as we listen to faith leaders. We have to study Scripture prayerfully because the Spirit always points to Jesus—the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Jesus promised…

I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me.

John 15:26

Let’s pray…

A Prayer for the Spirit’s Help
to Know What and Who to Believe

Father, please forgive me! I’m prone to listening to the loudest voices without SEEKing Your will and when I do seek Your Word, I often fail to approach it humbly and prayerfully. Self-sufficiency and pride are always tempting me.

But You are amazing in all You say and do. You graciously gave us Your Word and Spirit so we might KNOW You. Your Word tells us the truth and Your Spirit brings it to Life within us.

I can’t perceive the truth about life without Your help. Thank you for telling me about the blessing of quietly spending time with Jesus, like Nicodemus. I can’t know Him personally if I only hear about Him from others and never sit with Him myself.

Jesus said that when we KNOW Him we KNOW You (John 14:10) the Triune God—Father, Son, and Spirit.

So, when I want to KNOW what to believe, I must run to You because You are the faithful and lasting source of truth and wisdom.

By Your grace and the power of Your Spirit, I thank and praise You. You are the One I need to believe. You are so gracious to give me the blessing of faith. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Where do you go to know the truth about life? How do you decide what and who to believe?

Rev. John Walvoord wrote…

“The Bible is God’s declaratory revelation to man containing the great truths about God, about man, about history, about salvation, and about prophecy that God wanted us to know. The Bible could be trusted just as much as if God had taken the pen and written the words Himself.”

And A. W. Tozer wrote…

“The Bible is a supernatural book and can be understood only by supernatural aid.”

The next time you question what or who to believe, run to Jesus. He is the source of Living Water and when we go to Him through the Word and prayer He promises to guide us to the truth through His Spirit.†

By God’s grace, may we always turn to the source of truth when we want to know what and who to believe.

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