A CHRISTIAN AND A BELIEVER

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James 1:5-8 
If any of you lacks wisdom [to guide him through a decision or circumstance], he is to ask of [our benevolent] God, who gives to everyone generously and without rebuke or blame, and it will be given to him.
6 But he must ask [for wisdom] in faith, without doubting [God’s willingness to help], for the one who doubts is like a billowing surge of the sea that is blown about and tossed by the wind.
7 For such a person ought not to think or expect that he will receive anything [at all] from the Lord,
8 being a double-minded man, unstable and restless in all his ways [in everything he thinks, feels, or decides].
Dear people of God, a Believer is a Christian but a Christian may not necessarily be a Believer.
Please look again at today’s lead Bible text to see if you can fathom what I have just stated. A Christian has repented of sin, accepted Jesus as Lord and is living sincerely in accordance with Christ’s commands in the Holy Bible.
Not all who profess Christianity will make heaven. For instance, a Christian who does not pay tithes is under God’s curse (Malachi 3:9) and is therefore defiled. The Bible says nothing defiled shall enter heaven – Revelation 21:27.
A second example – the Bible says men who wear clothing pertaining to women and women who wear clothing pertaining to men have committed an abomination against God – Deuteronomy 22:5.
Today, we find women who profess Christianity, who wear trousers and as their justification tell you men wear skirts in Scotland. They also say there are women’s trousers. Some others say men in the Bible days wore gowns. In essence, all they are saying is that God was not sure of what He was saying when He gave the command!
The question is, what in today’s world are clothes that pertain to men and what are clothes that pertain to women? Remember, dear friend, the Word of God is forever settled in heaven (Psalm 119:89) and is the same yesterday, today and forever – Hebrews 13:8.
A third example – the Bible says Jesus has given Christians authority over all powers of the enemy – satan, demons and their human agents and nothing shall by any means hurt us – Luke 10:19.
Rather than believe to exercise this authority in faith by declaring it verbally and overcoming demonic influences, most Christians cry to God to help them to do what God has already given them authority to do.
A fourth example – Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour has taken all our sicknesses and diseases when He shed His precious blood for our sins on the Cross of Calvary – Isaiah 53:4-5.
Most Christians fail to understand this fact to exercise their faith to claim divine healing upon their lives by rebuking the evil spirits behind sicknesses and so satan uses them as mince meat to torment them with sicknesses and diseases!
They then pray to God begging for healing, which God has already given according to His Word!!!
These are four examples of how a Christian may not be a believer and in the first two instances, the person is risking going to HELL for eternity unless he or she repents to do what God has commanded.
In the third and fourth examples, the person will not receive answer to the prayer because God’s Word in today’s lead Bible text says one must believe to receive from the Lord.
A Believer on the other hand, accepts all of God’s Word in the Holy Bible without question or doubt and CONSISTENTLY practises it by faith, meditation and verbal assent/declaration.
The Believer therefore will enter heaven because he or she lives in COMPLETE obedience to God’s commands. The Believer will also overcome all powers of the enemy because he or she knows the authority Christ has given to the Church and exercises it always by faith and verbal declaration.
The Believer is also victorious and obtains all promises of God because the Bible says in 2 Peter 1:3, “For His divine power has bestowed on us [absolutely] everything necessary for [a dynamic spiritual] life and godliness, through true and personal knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence”
Personal knowledge of God comes when you diligently study and meditate on His Word in the Holy Bible daily.
Dear friend, our Lord Jesus Christ has given us all things. Always spend the bulk of your time in prayer worshiping, praising and acknowledging Him for His love and goodness, and not complaining as most are wont to do.
If you must ask Jesus to give you anything, remember He has already given it to you as stated in 2 Peter 1:3 and so by faith remind Him of His Word and thank Him for giving it to you, believe you already have it and it is yours.
Jesus will do it because He cannot violate His Word. He is God and He is the Way, the Truth and the Life – John 14:6.
I will now end by asking you, dear friend, are you a Believer Christian or just a Christian?
May the good Lord bless you as you heed His Word today, act on it and share with others in Jesus’ Most Powerful Name, Amen.


Gabriel Ama.

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