(just a note; when observing scripture ref. you can place the cursor on the ref and it will bring up the scripture or take you to the full content of scripture)
Doubt is something that we have all struggled with at some point in our lives. You more than likely doubted some of your friend's honesty or their faithfulness. Maybe you doubted when someone told you may be getting a promotion. Doubt can creep into our lives in almost any situation, it can cause you to withdraw from friend's or keep you from stepping forward to receive something good. Doubt can keep your faith from working and your relationship with the heavenly Father at a distance. Doubt will stop faith in its tracks! Are you faced with doubt today? Are you finding that your relationship with God is always at a distance or your faith is not getting that mountain moved? Let's examine some people from the scriptures and see how they handled doubt in their lives and what the Lord told them.
Before we look at these folks from scripture, let's take a look at the definition of "doubt." According to the dictionary: As a noun, doubt is "a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction." As a verb, "feel uncertain about, question the truth or fact of (something)," "disbelieve, (a person or their word)" "feel uncertain, especially about one's religious beliefs."
The first person I want us to consider is Eve. As you all know Eve was the first lady to enter the earth's domain. Along with Adam, the first man, they were placed in the garden of Eden and told to take care of it. Adam had been instructed as to what they could eat and what not to eat before Eve was brought on the scene. When God gave Adam his instructions He said that disobedience would bring death to him. This was Gods Word, and, it would not be changed, it was His way and no one, not even the Creator Himself would change it. Genesis 2:16-17 says; The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” Now we know that Adam instructed Eve as to what God had instructed him because Eve quoted back the instructions to the serpent. These two both knew the consequences of disobedience to Gods Word.
What happened then that caused the downfall of all humanity? First, let's consider the serpent and why satan choose a serpent to do his dirty deed. Genesis 3:1 states that the serpent was more crafty than any of the beasts that God created. Crafty means "crude, sensible in the Hebrew language. This scripture also states that he was cruder, more sensible than the other beast. "Beast" in the Hebrew would mean "raw, fresh, strong." Satan did not use an intimidating beast to strong arm Adam and Eve, because they both had been given authority over all the animals, fish and fowl. Using strength would have been useless and the end goal of Satan would have been thwarted by their God-given authority. Since the serpent was crafty he could use deception and try to get these two to give up their authority. Satan did not have the authority to do anything, he only had a mouth full of lies. Here we have it, deception. Get Adam and Eve to doubt Gods Word and have their authority handed over to Satan. Doubt was the key, and it worked. The first thing that happened was that Eve misquoted Gods Word, she added something that was not there. Look at the difference, God said; "you must not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil." Look at what the serpent said; "did God really say?" There it is, the casting of doubt in the form of a question. The woman responds with a misquote of what God actually said; "we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die." Deception is generally subtle and sneaks in behind you before you even realize you fell for the bait. Doubt of Gods spoken Word cost humanity paradise.
Let's look at another example of where doubt brought rebuke. Thomas in the New Testament referred to as doubting Thomas. Just who was Thomas and where did he doubt? We find Thomas was one of the disciples that had followed Jesus from the beginning. There is not much said about Thomas except he followed Jesus when asked to do so. His name in Greek is Didymus, which means twin. If we follow Thomas's life as he followed Christ we will see he had witnessed many healings, deliverance's, and heard many sermons. He followed Jesus the whole time after being called. Yet, after the crucifixion of Christ, Thomas like the other disciples went back to their old way of life. They thought it was all over. They had forgotten what Christ had taught them about the resurrection. Then, the miracles of all miracles happened, Christ rose from the dead, the grave was empty and the disciples were astonished. Then they remembered what Jesus had taught them about coming back on the third day. Well, all except Thomas. He doubted, he questioned Gods Word to them about the resurrection. Maybe not out loud, but he did question it. Look at this account in John 20:24-25, "But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” The other disciples actually saw the resurrected Christ first hand and told Thomas what they had seen, but Thomas would not accept their word. In fact, Thomas would not accept just seeing the risen Christ, he had to see the nail holes in his hands and put his fingers into the place the nails pierced the hands of Christ and put his hand into the hole that was made by the sword in Christ's side, he would not believe. Thomas was going to depend on his own senses before he would believe. This tells me that Thomas was questioning what Christ had told all the disciples in the first place, questions had to have entered Thomas's mind and cause him to doubt, questions that were subtle and thought-provoking. We need to ask ourselves where these questions came from, questions like "did Christ really say he would come back?" Didn't Jesus die just like everyone else dies? Deception came to Thomas in much the same way it came to Adam and Eve, subtly and sneaking in the back door so to speak.
There is one more person I want us to consider, a person who was set apart from the time he was conceived in his mother's womb. His name is John the Baptist. Before he was born and still tumbling around in his mother's womb the Holy Spirit came upon his mother as Mary the mother of the Messiah approached. Luke 1:43-45, "And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? “For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.” John the Baptist was to be the voice that would announce the arrival of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the savior who would set men free from their bondage to sin. John the Baptist went about proclaiming the year of the Lord, The Lamb of God who would save the world. John 1:28-34, "These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! “This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ “I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. “I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
John the Baptist not only proclaimed the coming of the Messiah, he witnessed the miracles Jesus had done. John was highly honored in the eyes of Christ. Yet, while in prison for at least six months, maybe as long as two years John the Baptist began to doubt. Those haunting questions began to filter in through those prison doors where John lay alone in a dark dungeon, isolated from people and all that was going on. Although scripture does not tell us the questions that entered his being, they do relate one question that snuck into the back doors of that prison cell and caused John to question the authenticity of the Messiah. Matthew 11:3 says; "Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?" You must understand, John knew from the beginning of his life that Jesus was the Messiah, God spoke to him and told John that this was His beloved Son. John saw first hand the dove that came over Jesus when he came up out of the water, John heard of the miracles Jesus was doing and he saw first hand the workings of miracles. Yet, here was this anointed man of God who knew the Old Testament prophecies, who knew the Old Testament Law and the history of the Jewish people. John knew what was to take place, yet that little area of weakness entered Johns mind, that one subtle, sneaky question, "are you the one who is to come (meaning the Messiah), or should we look for another." Doubt had entered the scene and the question arose, "are you the one." Another way to say this would be "are you really God's Son" or do we look somewhere else?"
It is amazing what Christ told the two disciples John sent to Jesus to inquire of His authenticity. When you read the portion of scripture of what Christ was doing at the time and what He told these two men seemed rather demeaning or none caring. Jesus did not answer their question as to who He was and assure them He was the Messiah, no, He told them to go tell John the Baptist, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. “And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me." Matthew 11:4-6. Jesus referred John the Baptist back to the Word of God. He was quoting from Isaiah 61:1 which John the Baptist was more than familiar with. What Jesus did was refer John back to the Word. In doing that Jesus was saying that the Word of God is true, it is eternal, and it is absolutely valid. The prophecies were being fulfilled right before their eyes so that all could see. Jesus wanted John to stand fast on the Word of God and know that it is true. Isaiah 29:17-19 and 35:2-6 also relate to the coming of the Messiah.
Doubt is destructive to one's faith and will cause you to falter in your walk with the Lord. It is crucial that we understand where doubt comes from, especially when dealing with spiritual matters. When you step outside of Jesus, you will begin to doubt. John the Baptist prepared for 30 years before he came on the scene to proclaim the "The Lamb of God" who takes away the sin of the world. John knew very well the prophecies concerning the coming of Messiah, he understood the times and the season in which he lived. But, doubt had entered his world when he felt all alone when he was cut off from the rest of the world. Doubt came to John the Baptist just like it does to all of us, in the form of questioning God's Word, "did God really say?" "Is this really God's only begotten Son?" "Does God really heal today?" Those simple little questions that enter our minds and begin to work on our thoughts and emotions. They stick with you as long as you are allowing them to bounce around in your thinking process.
I would like to leave you with some scriptures that tell us to trust in God's Word and cast doubt out of our thinking by not only standing on God's Word but also to use His Word to destroy any doubt of just who God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are. God is His Word, to not trust it is to doubt the validity of God Himself and deny that Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate, John 1:1-14.
Jesus told Thomas "blessed are they that have not seen yet believe." John 20:24-29. Unbelief is a choice. David encouraged himself in the Lord his God in 1 Samuel 30:6. In 2 Peter 1:17-19 God's Word is validated with an audible voice of God. Psalm 138:2 the psalmist says God has exalted His name and His Word above everything else.
Our problem today is that we base many of our decisions on our emotions and not on the Word of God. Emotions have their place, but they should not be used to make our decisions. Emotions don't last forever. Jesus did not give John the Baptist an emotional response, Jesus referred him back to the Word. The question to you should be this; are you going to live on an emotional level, a feel-good moment or feeling? God is trying/wanting to bring us up to His level, not come down to our level. God's Word is absolute, take it personally, honor God's Word.
Doubt is something that we have all struggled with at some point in our lives. You more than likely doubted some of your friend's honesty or their faithfulness. Maybe you doubted when someone told you may be getting a promotion. Doubt can creep into our lives in almost any situation, it can cause you to withdraw from friend's or keep you from stepping forward to receive something good. Doubt can keep your faith from working and your relationship with the heavenly Father at a distance. Doubt will stop faith in its tracks! Are you faced with doubt today? Are you finding that your relationship with God is always at a distance or your faith is not getting that mountain moved? Let's examine some people from the scriptures and see how they handled doubt in their lives and what the Lord told them.
Before we look at these folks from scripture, let's take a look at the definition of "doubt." According to the dictionary: As a noun, doubt is "a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction." As a verb, "feel uncertain about, question the truth or fact of (something)," "disbelieve, (a person or their word)" "feel uncertain, especially about one's religious beliefs."
The first person I want us to consider is Eve. As you all know Eve was the first lady to enter the earth's domain. Along with Adam, the first man, they were placed in the garden of Eden and told to take care of it. Adam had been instructed as to what they could eat and what not to eat before Eve was brought on the scene. When God gave Adam his instructions He said that disobedience would bring death to him. This was Gods Word, and, it would not be changed, it was His way and no one, not even the Creator Himself would change it. Genesis 2:16-17 says; The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” Now we know that Adam instructed Eve as to what God had instructed him because Eve quoted back the instructions to the serpent. These two both knew the consequences of disobedience to Gods Word.
What happened then that caused the downfall of all humanity? First, let's consider the serpent and why satan choose a serpent to do his dirty deed. Genesis 3:1 states that the serpent was more crafty than any of the beasts that God created. Crafty means "crude, sensible in the Hebrew language. This scripture also states that he was cruder, more sensible than the other beast. "Beast" in the Hebrew would mean "raw, fresh, strong." Satan did not use an intimidating beast to strong arm Adam and Eve, because they both had been given authority over all the animals, fish and fowl. Using strength would have been useless and the end goal of Satan would have been thwarted by their God-given authority. Since the serpent was crafty he could use deception and try to get these two to give up their authority. Satan did not have the authority to do anything, he only had a mouth full of lies. Here we have it, deception. Get Adam and Eve to doubt Gods Word and have their authority handed over to Satan. Doubt was the key, and it worked. The first thing that happened was that Eve misquoted Gods Word, she added something that was not there. Look at the difference, God said; "you must not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil." Look at what the serpent said; "did God really say?" There it is, the casting of doubt in the form of a question. The woman responds with a misquote of what God actually said; "we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die." Deception is generally subtle and sneaks in behind you before you even realize you fell for the bait. Doubt of Gods spoken Word cost humanity paradise.
There is one more person I want us to consider, a person who was set apart from the time he was conceived in his mother's womb. His name is John the Baptist. Before he was born and still tumbling around in his mother's womb the Holy Spirit came upon his mother as Mary the mother of the Messiah approached. Luke 1:43-45, "And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? “For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.” John the Baptist was to be the voice that would announce the arrival of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the savior who would set men free from their bondage to sin. John the Baptist went about proclaiming the year of the Lord, The Lamb of God who would save the world. John 1:28-34, "These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! “This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ “I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. “I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
John the Baptist not only proclaimed the coming of the Messiah, he witnessed the miracles Jesus had done. John was highly honored in the eyes of Christ. Yet, while in prison for at least six months, maybe as long as two years John the Baptist began to doubt. Those haunting questions began to filter in through those prison doors where John lay alone in a dark dungeon, isolated from people and all that was going on. Although scripture does not tell us the questions that entered his being, they do relate one question that snuck into the back doors of that prison cell and caused John to question the authenticity of the Messiah. Matthew 11:3 says; "Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?" You must understand, John knew from the beginning of his life that Jesus was the Messiah, God spoke to him and told John that this was His beloved Son. John saw first hand the dove that came over Jesus when he came up out of the water, John heard of the miracles Jesus was doing and he saw first hand the workings of miracles. Yet, here was this anointed man of God who knew the Old Testament prophecies, who knew the Old Testament Law and the history of the Jewish people. John knew what was to take place, yet that little area of weakness entered Johns mind, that one subtle, sneaky question, "are you the one who is to come (meaning the Messiah), or should we look for another." Doubt had entered the scene and the question arose, "are you the one." Another way to say this would be "are you really God's Son" or do we look somewhere else?"
It is amazing what Christ told the two disciples John sent to Jesus to inquire of His authenticity. When you read the portion of scripture of what Christ was doing at the time and what He told these two men seemed rather demeaning or none caring. Jesus did not answer their question as to who He was and assure them He was the Messiah, no, He told them to go tell John the Baptist, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. “And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me." Matthew 11:4-6. Jesus referred John the Baptist back to the Word of God. He was quoting from Isaiah 61:1 which John the Baptist was more than familiar with. What Jesus did was refer John back to the Word. In doing that Jesus was saying that the Word of God is true, it is eternal, and it is absolutely valid. The prophecies were being fulfilled right before their eyes so that all could see. Jesus wanted John to stand fast on the Word of God and know that it is true. Isaiah 29:17-19 and 35:2-6 also relate to the coming of the Messiah.
Doubt is destructive to one's faith and will cause you to falter in your walk with the Lord. It is crucial that we understand where doubt comes from, especially when dealing with spiritual matters. When you step outside of Jesus, you will begin to doubt. John the Baptist prepared for 30 years before he came on the scene to proclaim the "The Lamb of God" who takes away the sin of the world. John knew very well the prophecies concerning the coming of Messiah, he understood the times and the season in which he lived. But, doubt had entered his world when he felt all alone when he was cut off from the rest of the world. Doubt came to John the Baptist just like it does to all of us, in the form of questioning God's Word, "did God really say?" "Is this really God's only begotten Son?" "Does God really heal today?" Those simple little questions that enter our minds and begin to work on our thoughts and emotions. They stick with you as long as you are allowing them to bounce around in your thinking process.
I would like to leave you with some scriptures that tell us to trust in God's Word and cast doubt out of our thinking by not only standing on God's Word but also to use His Word to destroy any doubt of just who God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are. God is His Word, to not trust it is to doubt the validity of God Himself and deny that Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate, John 1:1-14.
Jesus told Thomas "blessed are they that have not seen yet believe." John 20:24-29. Unbelief is a choice. David encouraged himself in the Lord his God in 1 Samuel 30:6. In 2 Peter 1:17-19 God's Word is validated with an audible voice of God. Psalm 138:2 the psalmist says God has exalted His name and His Word above everything else.
Our problem today is that we base many of our decisions on our emotions and not on the Word of God. Emotions have their place, but they should not be used to make our decisions. Emotions don't last forever. Jesus did not give John the Baptist an emotional response, Jesus referred him back to the Word. The question to you should be this; are you going to live on an emotional level, a feel-good moment or feeling? God is trying/wanting to bring us up to His level, not come down to our level. God's Word is absolute, take it personally, honor God's Word.
