John 14:6-11
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 If you know Me, you will also know My Father. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”

9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time without your knowing Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on My own. The Father who lives in Me does His works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.”

You can almost hear the incredulous tone in Jesus’ voice as he addresses Philip: “Have I been among you all this time without your knowing Me, Philip?” Even though Philip is one of the disciples and has been literally walking with Jesus this whole time, he has momentarily forgotten exactly Who Jesus is. Jesus then says that if they can’t believe that He is the Father just because He says He is, then they should believe because of the miracles (the “works”) themselves.

Established Christians can often get into a similar kind of rut about our beliefs–in the throes of new belief, we eagerly suck up everything there is to know about Christianity like a sponge. Over time, however, some of those truths can evaporate away from our daily lives, leaving us with a limited, more worldly understanding of Christianity again. We can end up unsure if we believe Jesus is the only way to heaven, or we end up saying Satan isn’t a real being, or that even the Holy Spirit is a myth. Even if we once believed in these truths, our secular lives, our mindsets, and our society can make us drift away from the things that sound maybe a bit too unbelievable.

In reminding Philip of His divine identity, Jesus is also encouraging him to be revived in his faith. Most Christians go through an annual Revival at church each year for this same purpose–to reconnect to our Christian beliefs, to reaffirm what we know to be the truth (and the way and the life, according to Jesus). Just like adding more wood to a fire that has burnt down to embers, during Revival (or at any other time during the year) we add more memories and more experiences of God’s grace and power to rekindle what we first believed. Reaffirming Christian truths, such as Jesus’ divinity and the need for salvation, also help. But above all, we have to keep our minds and hearts open to the miracles around us, the works which only God can do.