How am I believing?

As many of you know, I have been on a journey to more intimately and completely know and understand my Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says that those who seek Him will find Him, and so far He has been faithful to this. Each time I sit down and spend time with Him, He shows me something else that I didn't know or realize before. Today was no different.

Again, I was continuing in the book of John. Today I got through the end of Chapter 2. Well, Chapter 2 starts out with Jesus turning water into wine, and then goes into the story of Jesus overturning merchants' tables at the temple, then declaring that He will raise up again after His temple is destroyed. So that Chapter is kind of packed with stuff. And the stories were stories I was familiar with, and could easily envision, etc, so they grabbed my attention. Well, because I was paying attention to what I already knew, I almost missed what He was trying to really show me. At the end of Chapter 2, I had kind of come to the end of the meatier stories, and so I skimmed through the last few verses & started to close my Bible. Uh-uh...back up. Read verse 23 again.

• v 23: But when He was in Jerusalem during the Passover Feast, many believed in His name [identified themselves with His party] after seeing His signs (wonders, miracles) which He was doing.
• v 24: But Jesus [for His part] did not trust Himself to them, because He knew all [men];
• v 25: ...He could read men's hearts.

Sorry, not the most exciting verses I've ever read. 'Look again.'

Many believed (identified themselves with His party). Oh, that's way different than what usually is in brackets after the word 'believe.' In the Amplified, after believe, you often see 'adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Him'...not 'identified themselves with His party.' These people believed in Him to some degree, but they mostly were just jumping on the band-wagon - following the crowd.' This belief is not difficult - it's easy to go with the flow and follow popular opinion. This belief was incomplete, imperfect. And because of it, Jesus did not trust Himself to them. He did not open up to them. They did not get to know Him the way His disciples did. The disciples belief adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Him (John 2: 11 - ...and His disciples believed in Him [adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Him]). Even in a crowd, Jesus could discern their hearts - verse 25 tells us He could read men's hearts. And while these bystanders were welcome in His presence, He did not show Himself truly to them because He knew their hearts.

When He looks at my heart, I hope He will find a heart that is adhering to Him, relying on Him, and trusting in Him completely. Because, He showed me today, this is the condition my heart must be in before He will trust Himself to me...before He opens up and let's me get to really know Him.