Doubts

Hello again!

Yesterday we finished Matthew, so today we’re moving on to Luke.–This is what God gave me today in His word:

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. (Luke 1:13)

And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” (Luke 1:18-20)

Doubting is, quite obviously, a very bad thing, with some unpleasant consequences. The problem is, we all doubt. Everyone Christian has times when they aren’t sure they are saved (which is somewhat ironic, because being worried about whether you’re saved or not is a good indication that you are a child of God; no one who wasn’t saved would bother to think twice about it), that God will actually fulfill His promises, and if God even exists or not. But, what can someone do to dispel these doubts (and avoid the possibility of some version punishment)?

Well, in the case of whether or not God will fulfill the promises He makes in Scripture or not, the solution is the same as it was for Zechariah: wait until it happens. This may seem rather childish; the, “Just wait, and it will happen.” approach may not seem very scientifically correct. However, God wants us to have a child like faith, and so will specifically put us into positions where we need to trust Him; positions, where we need to just wait on Him.

The other two doubts that may enter a Christian’s mind, which I named (obviously there are many more doubts that may cross the mind), are not quite so easily addressed. In fact, there’s even a little thinking involved. The two others that were mentioned were:

1. Not sure of their own salvation.
2. Not sure that God even exists.

Both of these have one solution: dwelling on Christ, the cross, as Jesus’ Resurrection. Am I saved? Well, do you believe Jesus rose from the grave or not? Does God even exist? Well thousands saw Jesus, who is God incarnate, and based off of that, we can safely assume that yes, He does exist. (In addition to that though, we can see the evidence of Him in creation.)

The point being this: no doubt can ever truly stand up against scrutiny. The Devil only ever gives part truths, and once we look at the way, the truth, and life (who is Jesus), whatever he says falls apart.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Who Among the gods Can Save You?

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in his word:

Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’” But they were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, “Do not answer him.” (Isaiah 36:20-21)

When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’” (Isaiah 37:5-7)

Just to give you a quick bit of background information:

The king of Assyria has sent one if his servants to conquer Jerusalem. So the current king; Hezekiah, goes to Isaiah to ask him what God has to say… Now then:

Devil: Hey there Bob. Look over your shoulder, see that guy? He was no match for me even though he worshiped Buda, what makes you think your different? What makes you think that you can stand against me and win? … The truth of the matter is that we can’t stand against the Devil. The truth of the matter is that the only way we can stand against the Devil is if we aren’t the one standing… By that I mean that we can only stand against the Devil if it’s not us but Jesus standing against him.

One of the things you’ll see is that the people on the wall remained silent when “the servant” taunted them. Do you think that has any significance for us? I think so; after all, we have no power over Satan, and therefore we should just remain silent when the Devil talks to us right? Wrong:

⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Look at this as well:

² And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” (Zechariah 3:2)

Even the Lord rebukes Satan in his own name! Why? Because we can’t say anything that can stop the Devil, but God can. Back In Isaiah again we see Isaiah talking to the King and the High Priests telling them that the Lord will make a way. It’s the same now! … Though not always through a Prophet God will make his way known.

Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me.

When God is reviled, he will “stand up for himself”:

⁹ When they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. ¹⁰ The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God. (1 Chronicles 13:9-10)

In short; we can trust our God because he is the one and only true God. We don’t need to fear the Devil because we have God living in us!

You are loved!

Joshua Cleveland