"Do You Believe?"

This past week I watched the movie called, Do You Believe?  I took notes during the movie because several things stood out to me.  Here are some quotes I took from the movie:
"The cross is blood-stained, painful.  It loves and forgives and demands.  But what does it demand?  We profess it to this dark world.  And if you believe, then the question is what are you going to do about it?"
-Malachi, played by Delroy Lindo

I, myself, have been struggling with this question.  I accepted Christ into my heart when I was a young girl, so I do believe in God.  My problem lately is that I'm having trouble Believing God.  This is a segue into the book I"m reading titled Believing God by Beth Moore.  How can I be the witness that God wants me to be when I'm struggling with my own belief system? What am I going to do about it?  I'm believing God.  He will put the people into my path that I can share Him with, and He will give me the words I need that they especially need to hear.
"True biblical belief requires action, so if you truly believe that Christ died so that we may live, it should not only bring you to your knees, but also bring you to your feet.  The cross is a gift that was paid for with blood.  But that's blood that my sins and your sins require as the price of our ransom.  My sins that separated me from God died with Christ on the cross."
-Pastor Matt, played by Ted McGinley

My brother and I were discussing something similar to this quote the other night.  We agreed that if we had to get into Heaven on our own merits, we couldn't do it.  God's grace is amazing because we don't have to be judged for our sins when the day comes.  I was pardoned, and forgiven the day I asked Jesus into my heart.  He is still with me in my struggles, too.
"And His Spirit in us gives us all believers the power over the temptations of this world.  The cross of Jesus Christ promises to love you, forgive you, and give you a new life right now.  We all, as captives, are free from the bondage of this flesh....And because we are all sinful.  It is a death we all deserve.  The cross offers us a way out, the only way out.  You come to the cross by way of repentance.  It means to change the way you live, to turn away from your sins."
-Pastor Matt 

I know I will never be the same again.
"You are not blind.  You are not lost.  You got voices pulling you in all different directions, but there's only one voice that matters.  You listen for that, you follow it, and you will be just fine."
-G-ma to Percy (aka Pretty Boy), played by Linda Hines and Shwayze

I, too, sometimes feel like I'm being pulled in several different directions.  As long as God is the one leading me, I will be just fine, too.  I just loved the conclusion to the movie:
 "I'm not sure any of us ever get to see the whole picture, the God's eye view, so to speak.  It's like we're little children, sitting on the floor, gazing up at the back side of a tapestry that's being woven.  To our eyes, it sometimes looks ugly.  The colors are a jumble and none of it makes much sense.  But one day, we'll no longer be sitting on the floor.  We'll come around to the other side, and the genius of God's handiwork will become clear.  At the center of it all, we'll see the cross.  But in that immense tapestry, we'll also see the single unique thread, the only one of its kind and color, that our own life has added to the piece, the one thread without which the whole thing would somehow be incomplete.  Personally, I can't wait to see His masterpiece."
-Pastor Matt

I can't wait to see what it looks like, either. 

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