Are You Fully Persuaded?

Are you fully persuaded that God is good, able and mighty? Are you fully persuaded that He hears you and answers when you pray? Are you fully persuaded that He loves you unconditionally? Are you fully persuaded that God is Who He says that He is, and that His Word is true? Being fully persuaded means that you believe all that God says, all that He is, all He has done. “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him Who He sent” (John 6:29). Your responsibility isn’t to strive more or work harder to make God move. Your responsibility is to believe in Jesus!

Jesus is the exact likeness of the unseen God (Colossians 1:15). We know that Jesus is able and mighty. In Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen; He is responsible for everything (Colossians 1:16). He existed before all things and He is responsible for holding all things together; He is upholding, maintaining, guiding and propelling the universe by the word of His power (Colossians 1:17; Amplified Hebrews 1:3). God shows us that Jesus, through Him, is mighty and able from the creation of the world, to being raised from the dead, and watching over His Word to perform it! Through Jesus, God performed miracles and deeds of power (John 14:10)

Being fully persuaded allows us to rest once you have gone to Him in prayer. You pray according to His will, which is according to His Word, and confidently place your trust in Him; He has answered you! “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it” (John 14:13,14). “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14,15). Being fully persuaded means not judging things naturally, but judging by God’s Word and your belief that He has heard your prayer and granted your petition.

Jesus shows us the life of the fully persuaded. Jesus shows us that understanding the unconditional love of the Father for Him meant that when circumstances were difficult, He still believed in the Father’s love and power. Jesus was unable to heal many people in His hometown, but He didn’t question the Father’s love or His power through Him (Mark 6:5,6); Jesus continued to heal the sick in other towns. When Jesus knew that the people wanted to kill Him by throwing Him off a cliff, He still believed in the Father’s love and power through Him; Jesus kept on with His mission in the Father’s strength and ability (Luke 4:29). Jesus suffered at the hands of men and was crucified, but He didn’t doubt the Father’s love or power; Jesus kept to the plan knowing and trusting, with a glorious end by the resurrection (Luke 22:41-44; Luke 23:33,34,46; Luke 24:6,7)! Jesus was fully persuaded about the Father’s love for Him, and His ability through Him. Because Jesus was fully persuaded, we know the Father through Him; we know His love, power and ability, and Jesus fulfilled a magnificent plan for our redemption!

God’s love for us is meant to be experienced, but first we know it by His Word. God loved us so much that He gave His only Son: Jesus lived, suffered and died for us; He was rejected and despised for us; He was wounded for us (John 3:16; Isaiah 53:3-5). We were the joy set before Jesus that sent Him to the cross (Hebrews 12:2). In love God chose us to be His very own children through Jesus (Ephesian 1:4,5). What earthly king would share his inheritance as God has shared with us (Galatians 4:7; Romans 8:17)? We are meant to know and experience the width, length, depth and height of His love (Ephesians 3:18,19)! Are you fully persuaded that God loves you, so that this truth impacts your life, forms the foundation of your trust and informs you thinking?

How would you act or think if you were fully persuaded? You know that you are fully persuaded when you go from grumbling and complaining to praise, even in the absence of experiencing things contrary to God’s Word, because you believe the Word of God. Remember Hebrews 11:1 confirms that “faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see”. You celebrate God’s promises like Joshua and Caleb. They saw the land promised by God, the land He gave them, and praised the Lord for His gift despite seeing giants in that land. They knew the land belonged to them because God said. If you are fully persuaded you can celebrate giving praise and glory to God like Abraham. Even though his body was aging, he knew God’s promise that he would have a son was true, so he rejoiced at the promise. Abraham’s attitude was, God said it; therefore, it was so! Abraham was fully persuaded so “he gave praise and glory to God” (Romans 4:20).

How do we become fully persuaded? Paul preached to King Agrippa about Jesus. The king heard the words, but in response to hearing them he said, “Paul, you almost persuade me to be a Christian” (Acts 26:28)! He had a choice to make, and he chose not to believe. You might say, that he hardened his heart toward Jesus and was rebellious (Hebrews 3:15,16). King Agrippa did not allow the Word to benefit him; he had no confidence in it (Hebrews 4:2). Hearing God’s Word and believing His Word are essential. As the psalmist said, God’s Word, His presence, we must seek as our vital necessity (Psalm 27:8). 2 Peter 1:3 states it is by knowledge of Him, that is intimacy with the Lord, that we may be able to experience everything which is already given to us for life and godliness; we hear the Word, mix it with faith, and believe what God says (Hebrews 4:2). That is when we experience His benefits, because we are fully persuaded!