Be a Believer

John 20:24-31 | November 15 - 21, 2023

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Thomas was with Jesus when He told the disciples, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.” (Mark 10:32-34)

Yet after Jesus’s resurrection, when the other disciples told Thomas, “We have seen the Lord!”—that He had risen, just as He said He would—Thomas doubted, saying, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” When Jesus finally visited Thomas, and he was able to see and touch Jesus’s wounds, Thomas cried, “My Lord and my God!” To which Jesus replied…

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed.”

It is the Believer—who by grace shares in the death and resurrection of Christ—that boldly proclaims, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

Jesus tells us, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Be a Believer. Believe in Him and watch as the Lord uses you mightily for His kingdom and glory.

Lord,
You are the Author and Finisher of our faith. Help us to walk
boldly in the assurance of Your word.
~ AMEN

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