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» Christian Message Boards   » Bible Studies   » Favorite Devotions   » FAITH AND DOUBT (By: RBC Ministries)

   
Author Topic: FAITH AND DOUBT (By: RBC Ministries)
HisGrace
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quote:
Originally posted by GODSmessenger:
May GOD richly bless you, all those you love & care about, & His Ministry through you as He empowers you with a High Calling in these Final Days of the age. I pray He blesses you with a Special Miracle Gift of His Love for your loving, selfless service to Him, & for being an instrument of His Blessing to me & everyone who reads what He leads you to contribute from His Word.

Thank-you GODSmessenger. I humbly accept this as an encouraging word from God.
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GODSmessenger
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Thank you & may GOD BLESS YOU RICHLY, HisGrace, for providing some even more great Scriptures to help our LORD teach & strengthen us in His Word. You are absolutely right -- if we submit ourselves solely to the Holy Spirit's Instruction (& not rely on our own flawed carnal understanding to interpret the passages), GOD'S Word is a Living Force that speaks to us about what we're facing in our lives & even about what we can expect in the True Spiritual Journey (not the superficial facsimile that is so prevalent now & taking center stage under the guise of "Christianity". This facsimile bears no resemblance to our LORD or His Truth ... it has merely laid claim to His Name). These are very perilous times in which we live, & GOD is raising up His people for His Last Great Work in the Final Harvest before mercifully bringing man's horrendous rule to an end. This means some of us will be discovering that He is speaking to us even more compellingly through His Word as He prepares to pour out His Spirit upon us to be the instruments of His Warning to the rest of the lost world.

I thank you again for taking the time not only to read the posts He guides me to share, but (more importantly) for contributing the Wisdom He has shown to you. He will reveal different aspects of His Truth to us as individuals (some of us will be more receptive & attuned than others), & how amazing it would be if we truly came together as a Spiritual Community in the Body Of Christ & pooled what He has taught each of us! His greatest Revelations/Lessons are like a giant jigsaw puzzle -- many pieces are needed to fit together to see & comprehend the glory of the full picture He has given to us. We are the pieces that He wants to fit together for the complete relaying of His Message.

May GOD richly bless you, all those you love & care about, & His Ministry through you as He empowers you with a High Calling in these Final Days of the age. I pray He blesses you with a Special Miracle Gift of His Love for your loving, selfless service to Him, & for being an instrument of His Blessing to me & everyone who reads what He leads you to contribute from His Word.

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Yours In Our LORD'S Service:

GOD'S Messenger
Make A Difference Ministries

Posts: 19 | From: California | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
HisGrace
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That certainly is a great way of putting it - "a cycle of faith and doubt." When God plants a seed that he wishes to be fulfilled in our lives, he will also give us scriptures on which to stand. The roadblocks will come and we will have our own little "tsunamis", but every once in awhile he will get us well grounded again and centred back to his covenant promise.

Hebrews 6 speaks about God's covenant to Abraham. "I will certainly bless you richly, and I will multiply your descendants into countless millions." When God makes a covenant promise, it is binding, no matter how long it takes.

Hebrews 6:16
"When people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it.
And without any question that oath is binding. God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind.
So God has given us both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can take new courage for we can hold on to his promise with confidence."

If we cling to promises like this, nothing will ultimately destroy our faith.

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GODSmessenger
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Personal Note: These articles have always been uplifting to me when I come across them, so I share them with as many people as possible. Many of our LORD'S children have been in the desert of affliction for several years now & 2005 seems to be a BREAKTHROUGH year for many of us (from what I've been seeing in the internet ministry our LORD conducts through me). So, praising Him continually, I pray I can be His instrument in uplifting others so we all stay close to Him instead of giving up to despair. Change IS coming.

THE CYCLE OF FAITH AND DOUBT

All areas of life have their cycles. A vocation, a marriage, and a relationship to Jesus generally begin with a honeymoon period, then enter a time during which the realities of life gradually replace the early building stage. This often leads into a time marked by varying degrees of disillusionment and discontent.

It is at this point that crucial decisions must be made. At work, one can quit, continue as a disgruntled worker, or see the problems through. In marriage, one can escape by divorce, continue in a lackluster relationship, or set about to mend the marriage. In the Christian life, one can drop out, continue as an unhappy and defeated believer, or determine to work through the difficulties. Going the full cycle often brings on a new level of satisfaction in the workplace, lifts honeymoon love to the level of mature mutually-enriching love, and transforms the euphoric faith with which we began into confident trust. Even then, struggles will continue.
As long as we are imperfect people living in this fallen world, we will confront doubts. But Jesus promised, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (Jn. 8:12). Because of our human frailty, we will sometimes step off His path into the darkness. But if we follow the hymnwriter’s admonition to trust and obey, we will soon be back on His path. The light of Christ, not the darkness, will be our home.

FAITH/DOUBT AMBIVALENCE (WHY CHRISTIANS DOUBT)
By: RBC Ministries By: RBC Ministries
After trying to help scores of doubting Christians, I have concluded that the most frequent source of spiritual distress is what I would call a faith-doubt ambivalence. It’s not the kind of doubt that lacks any inclination to believe.

In Susan’s case, for example, it was a matter of swinging from periods of confidence to times of despair. She was an elderly widow who had been an exemplary homemaker and active church member. She asked me to pray for her during one of her times of despair. She said she had never admitted her problem to anyone, not even to her late husband.

George had a different kind of ambivalence. He had committed himself to Christ in his youth and had been a model of Christian conduct, but now in his late fifties he confided to me that all along he had felt like the father who said, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mk. 9:24). He believes what the Bible says about sin, Jesus Christ, and salvation—so much so that deep down he desires to please the Lord. He has made private and family devotions an important part of his life. He is a faithful and active church member. Yet time after time an assortment of doubts troubles him. Certain disappointments make him doubt the value of prayer. The seemingly untimely death of a close friend for whom he had offered many prayers made him doubt God’s goodness. A sensitive man, he can’t let himself think about the millions of malnourished and abused people all over the world without entertaining fleeting doubts about God’s existence. He has shared his doubts with only a few people. The last thing he would want to do is shake the faith of others. These recurring doubts make life difficult for him.

People like Susan and George must recognize that their doubting is neither a sin nor an indication that they are not true believers. As long as we live with brains that are subject to chemical imbalances, we are going to have emotional ups and downs that affect us spiritually. If anything, bouts with doubt and fear give strong evidence of spiritual reality.

People struggling with doubt must also take to heart the assurance of 1 Corinthians 10:13. God will not allow them to be tested to the breaking point but will provide them adequate grace for every trial that may come into their lives.

If we take this biblical assurance to heart, we will not live in continual fear of what tomorrow may bring—even death. It is said that when someone asked D. L. Moody, who at the time was in robust health, if he had dying grace, the evangelist replied, “No, but I’m not dying yet.” When his time of departure came, however, he obviously received that dying grace. Those who were with him in the moments before he died reported that he was fully at peace, and that at the moment of his departure he spoke triumphantly of “earth receding” and “heaven beckoning.”

Here are four practical pointers to people who are distressed by faith-doubt ambivalence:

1. Be prepared for frequent bouts with doubt. We are imperfect flesh-and-blood beings who become tired and face disappointment, pain, and grief with a sin-damaged psychological makeup.

2. Find a well-grounded Christian with whom you can talk about your doubts. Discuss encouraging Bible passages and pray together.

3. Use Psalm 42 as a pattern for a dialogue between yourself and God. Recognize that you are a creature of time in a changing world, and at the same time a citizen of eternity. Ask yourself, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?” Then tell yourself, “Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance” (v.5). As a creature of time and change, acknowledge that you, like the psalmist, are engulfed by His “waves and billows,” but as a child of eternity express your gratitude that God will direct His love toward you and give you a song (vv.6-8). As an earthbound creature, tell God all about your inner turmoil. But as a person redeemed for eternity, ask yourself how you can justify your dejected spirit (v.11).

This kind of dialogue will help you sort out your feelings and place foremost in your mind the fact that you are still an imperfect person on a troubled and changing planet, and that you by grace are, above everything else, a child of God and a citizen of heaven.

4. Keep in mind that faith is believing what God has done and said—enough to commit your life to Him. Your continuance in spite of your doubts and fears testifies to the reality of your faith. Don’t let yourself be influenced by people who offer an easy fix. There are no magic formulas, no special secrets known only to a few.

Therefore, keep on trusting God and keep doing what you know is right. The darkness has lifted before. It will again.

By: RBC Ministries

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Yours In Our LORD'S Service:

GOD'S Messenger
Make A Difference Ministries

Posts: 19 | From: California | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator


 
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