John 20:29-31:
29 Jesus said to him, Because you have seen Me, Thomas, do you now believe (trust, have faith)? Blessed and happy and to be envied are those who have never seen Me and yet have believed and adhered to and trusted and relied on Me. 30 There are also many other signs and miracles which Jesus performed in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written (recorded) in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ (the Anointed One), the Son of God, and that through believing and cleaving to and trusting and relying upon Him you may have life through (in) His name [through Who He is].
Jesus said that those who have believed on Him without having seen Him with their own physical eyes are BLESSED! This is the Greek word "makarios", which means: supremely blessed, fortunate, well off, joyful. The multitudes who saw the signs, wonders and miracles that occurred throughout the ministry of Jesus on earth were excited by the things that they heard and saw, but that alone did NOT bring them to a point of faith to be healed and delivered. Do you remember how many times Jesus stated: "Your faith has made you whole"? It takes faith to receive anything that God has prepared for us. In fact, without faith, we can NEVER be pleasing to Him (Hebrews 11:6)! So where do we get that faith? Romans 10:17 we know tells us this:
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
So, THAT is what John 20:31 is telling us! The things written in the Word of God are written so that we may believe in order to receive! Receive Him AND receive everything that He has blessed us with! THIS is how we may develop faith that is pleasing to Him and gets answers to prayer! Meditate on the Word and fully expect the results that are promised in Joshua 1:8, all the while understanding that OUR Covenant is an even better one (Hebrews 8:6)! AMEN! Here is Hillsong United again with "Say The Word":
Shalom in Him!
