“THE MATRIX”
or…WHAT ARE WE TO BELIEVE?

The semi-new film MATRIX with Keanu Reeves (okay, so they couldn't afford an ACTOR!) was actually pretty good. It proposed that the world we live in was not real at all but just a virtual world that a bunch of computers are fooling us into believing. At one point in the film you see a huge room full of every human being alive, every one in a bubble hooked up with a bunch of hoses and tubes to a long vertical tube or ventricle. It was here that everyone actually exists, we just are fed images through a tube to our brain that tells us we are in another world.

Here's the catch. Some people found out the truth- that the world we know isn't real. They escaped their bubble and enter the virtual world to fight the bad guys, breaking all rules of the virtual world because . . . hey they can because they know the truth. They can dodge bullets and control their surroundings because they know that it's not real! They can also use their cell phones to call someone outside the virtual world and ask them for guidance when it is hard for them to see what is really going on. Yet the whole world believed day to day life went on as usual.

The question is…what do you believe? Are we fooled by the world’s “virtual” way of doing things, or are we trusting in God and His Word. Can we see through the sham of the world’s system, how we have all been blinded at one time or another, or is God’s Word alive in us? Belief is a very powerful thing. Imagine if everything around you was not what it seemed to be. Imagine if we believed God and took Him at His Word, believed everything He says about us! THE MATRIX’S POWER IS NOTHING COMPARED TO THIS!

Let’s look at a movie clip that will probably be familiar to all of you, about belief…(Show Empire Strikes Back clip)

Now let’s look at what the Word says about believing: (Read Mark 11:22-24)

Believing is more than just “blind faith”, it’s knowing that you know that you know! Forever settled in your heart…(EX: If I were to want to pick my nose right now, I wouldn’t have to work up something to believe that my hand were going up there to dig around…I just know it will happen, don’t even think twice about it!) Everything we are in our walk with God is through believing…our salvation (Romans 10:9), our healing

(See Mark 11), our deliverance…everything!

There comes a time when we all question what we believe, good or bad. Why do you believe as you do? Because someone told you so? Because your parents do? Because I said it was true? Or, is what you believe about God something you have explored and settled forever. Until you do that, you won’t believe anything completely. You can’t trust what I say, but you can trust the Word of God! Don’t take anyone’s word on it; settle it in your heart!

When Keanu Reeves finally figured out that he was unstoppable, WHEN HE FINALLY BELIEVED IT, the result was miraculous (yawning why fighting the guys). When we settle in our hearts the truth of God’s Word and believe it totally, nothing can stop or harm us either!

We as Christians know the truth. That is . . . that all this junk (status, money, power, jobs, C.D. collections, etc.) doesn't matter! Because we know the truth, we don't have to worry about things that come at us- pressures, stress, and even actual harm. Jesus said in Luke 12:4-5:

"I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.
[5] But I will show you whom you should fear:
Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell.
Yes, I tell you, fear him. “

You see . . . as Christians, we can dodge "so-called" bullets, because we know they can't really hurt us - at least not in an eternal way. We also can ask for guidance at any time we don't understand what is going on around us. We can pray or read God's word, and He will guide us through any worldly situation. The only important thing is that which is eternal. There are only two things in this world, that which is temporary and that which is eternal. Our mind should be on the eternal.

Christ Jesus told us story and story again about "being ready" for his return. Not looking at the sky, or predicting dates by reading the newspaper and analyzing maps, but being "ready" for his return. In other words, if someone came up to you and said "if Jesus was coming back tonight at 6:00 p.m. what would you do?" Your answer should only be . . . "Exactly what I'm doing now!" Are you doing what you should be doing while your "master is away?"

Be ready . . . and don't worry about anything else!