You are my Rock and onto You I cling

Truly my soul finds rest in God;
   my salvation comes from him.

Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
   he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

Psalm 62:1-2

One year ago I left for a four month mission trip to Asia and Atlanta. One year ago I thought I understood who God was. One year ago I started to be awakened.

Today, I truly know who God is. Today, I understand grace. Today, I understand love. Today, I understand believing. Today, I’ve experienced condemnation and judgment. And today, I turn to my God and hold fast to my Rock for my salvation comes from Him. 

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:10

I am strong. I am firm. I am steadfast.

 

When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever. Proverbs 10:25

I am filled with the Spirit of my Savior. I stand firm forever through all storms and trials.

You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. Matthew 10:22

I will stand firm to the end. Even when I am being criticized and made to feel like a leper, I will hold fast to my God. Even when I am shunned and feel the hurt of a razor blade to my heart, I will stand firm in my Savior. Even when I am accused of being a wolf in sheep's clothing, I will be strong because I am no longer confused. I am no longer lost. I no longer live in the dark. I am in the light with God and no amount of words thrown at me by man will dent my belief in the truth! 

The waves of the world may be crashing around me, BUT nothing will tear my hands off of my rock because I cling to Him!

 

…we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. 1 Corinthians 15:58

…let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12:1-2

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

Believing: what it truly means

What does believing mean?

Recently I’ve heard it said that Christianity isn’t all about believing, but also Christianity is all about believing. What a conundrum this statement is when said from the stage and the confusion that it causes is unfathomable. When a friend and I started to question this statement I went to the only place that holds the truth…the Word. What I found is a beautiful truth that I feel all should know and understand so I’m going to let the Scripture speak for itself. 

All the prophets testify about him [Jesus] that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. Acts 10:43

Through him [Jesus] everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the Law of Moses. Acts 13:39

He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household. Acts 16:30-31

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 1 John 5:1

Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 1 John 5:5

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. Romans 3:22

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9

This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe. 1 Timothy 4:9-10

Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:6

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:16

Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Mark 9:23

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. John 3:16-18

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. John 3:36

(Jesus) Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. John 5:24

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” John 6:29

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:35

For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I [Jesus] will raise them up at the last day. John 6:40

(Jesus) Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. John 6:47

Whoever believes in me [Jesus], as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. John 7:38-39

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:31

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— John 1:12

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. Romans 1:16

Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. Romans 10:4

After you read the truths of the Scripture what do you think? Is it all about believing or is it more? My mind is made up…I, Ashley Magiera, believe that Christ Jesus came to this Earth, was crucified for the nations sins, and was raised again by the power of our Father. I am washed white as snow by the blood of my Lord Jesus. 

I am a believer!