I Believe

I just finished watching "The Passion of the Christ" for what was probably the 1st time in 7 years, and it shook me to the core.  Oh the love of Jesus to endure the Cross, and the love of the Father to give of His only Son....it's unfathomable...it challenges normal everyday thought...it penetrates psyche and ego and rocks you to the very bone. God's thoughts are unlike ours and His ways are higher; they are not our ways.

As the movie came to an end and I lay on my bed in the dark with the glow of the tv and the soundtrack filling the room, I closed my eyes and these words came to mind...words I had not recited in years and years since my days as a girl in Catholic church.  But they floated back to me as I lay there in prayer having just witnessed the height and the depth of God's love  for me and for all mankind.

These words....

I believe in one God,

the Father, the Almighty.

maker of heaven and earth,

of all that is seen and unseen.

I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,

eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God,

Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made,

of one being with the Father.

Through Him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven:

by the power of the Holy Spirit He was born of the virgin Mary, and was made man.

For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

He suffered death and was buried.

On the third day He rose again in accordance with the scriptures;

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
 and His kingdom will have no end.

Now, although the church I worship in is no longer a Catholic one and I'm not much for a service that has planned and recited prayers, I sit here and realize, but what if the heart is full and ripe and the lips are eager to release what's in the heart?  Aren't the first words that come, I believe?  Believing is where it begins, how you endure in the middle, and where you triumphantly end on this side of eternity, all with a confession of faith, all with a fervent I believe!

Sitting here in the dark weeping for all that my Savior has done for me, for you, all manner of words could have come pouring out to attempt to match the gratitude, the love sewn deep in my heart.  But, these words, recited without a connection between heart and lips as a young girl, were the very words the Holy Spirit placed on my heart as a woman desperate to say thank you to her Savior.

  And they begin with, I believe.


If you're reading this today and you don't know how much God loves you, this I want you to know...
It doesn't matter what you've done, who you've been with, what's happened to you, or where you are right now, He loves you.  His love never changes.  Nothing you can do can separate you from the love of God. He loves you so much that He made a way for your sins, all the wrong choices you've made, to be forgiven.  He gave an offering for your body and mind to be healed.  He made a plan for you to have and enjoy your life.  All of it and much more was given for you by God through His Son Jesus.  He died for you on a cross to take the punishment for your sins and the sicknesses in your body.  He rose again to eternal life 3 days later so that you can have abundant life here on earth and eternal life in heaven after.  The only thing you need to do to receive all of that is to believe.  Believe in Jesus and what He did for you and ask Him to come into your life. 


Your first step into freedom, it all begins with I believe. 

Is this your first visit to Freedom Friday? 

We're embracing freedom each Friday here in 2012.
Click here for a list of the other posts in the series.