Growing up one of my favorite teams was the New York Mets. I remember the Miracle Mets, 1969 version; Seaver, Koosman, Agee, Kranepool, Harrelson, Jones, Ryan, and McGraw to name a few. To a boy of nine they were bigger than life. What stuck with me most was the line Tug McGraw coined, “Ya Gotta Believe”. Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I have had the pleasure of participating in some special racing events, one being the “Shane Race for Fun” charity event. It’s all in the name of Fun for Safety. The Shane Hammond Believe Foundation has been established as a 501c(3) to assist drivers with safety education & equipment options for all divisions. This is an opportunity to race against the best and the worst whether it’s your pit crew, racing buddy, fans, friends or family. Race for FUN! WHEN: March 30, 2019 WHERE: X1 BOSTON 290 Wood Road, Braintree, MA 02184. It is a tremendous event for a great cause. Go to www.shanehammondfoundation.org/ to register. In the name of the foundation we find encouragement, Believe.

To believe you have to have faith. Faith in something you cannot see, something you cannot touch, but you know it when you have it. Faith is trusting in what you know in your heart to be true. Like sending your car in, full tilt and knowing it will stick. I am reminded of the definition of faith that we find in Hebrews.

Hebrews 11:1, Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

As a driver gets into their car, turns the motor over and sends it into turn one, that’s faith for a driver. Some drivers go over the car with a fine tooth comb to eliminate any doubt they may have that the car is ready to run. I remember watching a driver check every bolt and nut. I thought that was a tedious thing to go through so I asked him why. He indicated that he takes full responsibility for the car being ready. He didn’t want anyone on the crew to feel responsible if something broke or wasn’t secure. As the driver he would bear the weight of making sure the car was ready to race. He put his faith in himself.

That works on a smaller scale but life is larger than that. We put our faith in others every day. Think about the next intersection you approach. There is another car approaching. We have to trust that their car is in good shape. We hope their brakes work. The fact today is we hope they are paying attention. I have been in that situation where I had to take evasive action because another driver didn’t yield at a rotary. As a result I now have a dash cam to use when I am traveling. We place our life in the hands of others countless times every day; just think gas station sushi, the ultimate of faith on the road.

Three words that are connected together and form the basis for everything we have in Christ are trust, faith and belief. When we trust Christ with our lives and we put our faith in Him, that process is called belief. “Ya Gotta Believe.”

Romans 10:8a-10,NLT, And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

Trust, Faith and Belief in Christ will change the direction of your life. I have been writing on the subject for several weeks now; how when we come face to face with the living God we don’t leave the same way we came. Why? Ya Gotta Believe.

Think about the Woman at the well and her response to the realization she was in the presence of our Lord and Savior. She understood He was offering her grace, forgiveness for her sin and eternal security, a personal relationship with our Lord. She ran to the very people she was trying to avoid and proclaimed, come meet the man that knows me better than I know myself.

John 4:39, NLT, Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” 

When we truly see God we see what He can do in our lives. We see that He knows us. We see the life He wants to provide for us. When we place our trust and faith in Him we are changed, we become a new creation; we are born again. Not a physical birth, but a spiritual birth. The Holy Spirit enters our heart. The Holy Spirit guides us, helps us decide what is right, shows us the right way to go and many other things we need to know.

One of the benefits of belief is forgiveness, when we place our belief in Christ and confess our sins, we are forgiven. Jesus sacrificed His life on the cross to make our forgiveness possible. Listen to how John puts it;

John 3:16-17, “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, did you see that in there? God explains very simply that it is a matter of belief. Will we put our trust and faith in Him? I guess the question that comes to mind is; who else would we put our trust and faith in? The answer is ourselves.

We think we know all the answers and can make decisions that will guide and direct our lives. We can but they will not lead us to the most abundant life. They will eventually lead us down a path of discontent and possible destruction. Jesus said, I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.

I would encourage you this week to believe. Put your faith and trust in God. Ask him to come into your life, forgive your sin and guide your life. He will honor that request and you will be changed, you will be saved, you will be born again. Ya Gotta Believe!

Until next time, remember God loves you and Jesus is Lord over Auto Racing! God Bless. Remember, that your prayerful support helps us continue this ministry. Thank You.