Doubt is certainly a dark place to be. The real problem, though, is not in the object doubted but in the subject who doubts! There is a lot more going on with doubt than meets the eye. We doubt God because there are often underlying issues in our hearts:
So, let’s give the devil a heart attack—let him be the “doubting Thomas”, not you! (Listen to entire sermon below.) If you have never put your complete faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation, why not believe what God's word says and call on Jesus Christ to save you right now? Click here and let us show you how you can KNOW JESUS.
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If asked what your “spiritual persuasion” was, what would you say? “I’m a Christian”, or "I go to church", or "I pray, I tithe, I volunteer", etc. Would you ever answer, “I’ve been boiled and hammered for Jesus”? When you come to Him, that’s exactly what has to happen in order to grow and remain in the presence of God. Exodus 25 is a HUGE word picture from way back in biblical times of what God is doing to us today. WE are the temple now. He is constructing us according to the same plan He used back then. As we cover a few things in Exodus 25—note that God required PURE GOLD for all the parts and pieces in the Temple. He requires this same “gold” from all of your parts and pieces, too! GOLD—to be pure, has to be boiled over and over again to get all the impurities out of it. It’s a heavy metal and sinks to the bottom as the impurities rise.
God led the Israelites to build the Tabernacle and the Mercy Seat:
It is the same for us today! Hang on…you’re going to get hammered! (Listen to entire sermon below.) If you have never put your complete faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation, why not believe what God's word says and call on Jesus Christ to save you right now? Click here and let us show you how you can KNOW JESUS. © http://www.123rf.com We so often feel that way when grief and struggles assail us. But we must be reminded that when overwhelmed…REMEMBER GOD’S GREATNESS! (Read Psalm 77:7-15 and Exodus 14:1-31) So, don’t get caught up in the details of your circumstances…get caught up in the greatness of God. We so often shake a fist at God because He didn’t stop the devastation or the “extreme circumstance”. But stop and think…if He is in total control, then your extreme circumstance isn’t “extreme” to Him! And, just because things didn’t work according to your plan, it doesn’t mean it wasn’t His plan! In the Scriptures noted, we see that the Israelites panicked when the Egyptian army was roaring down on them. They forgot so quickly what God had just delivered them from in their years of slavery and deprivation. By looking at the details of the situation instead of looking to God first, they were consumed in fear instead of faith. God’s love and plan won out and He rescued them again…just like He will for you. Lesson learned: Don’t get caught up in the details of your circumstances…get caught up in the greatness of God. LISTEN TO AUDIOIf you have never put your complete faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation, why not believe what God's word says and call on Jesus Christ to save you right now? Click here and let us show you how you can KNOW JESUS.
© Melinda Nagy | Dreamstime.com Suffering is real, whether we caused it or not. The point is when it is physical suffering, we are willing to suffer a bit more in order to get it fixed so it won’t interfere with our full functioning anymore. Will you have a scar? Many times you will. Does the scar hurt like the original injury? Not usually…but it is a vivid reminder of what happened. Hopefully a reminder that helps you not do the action again that caused the injury. In following a life in Christ, there is much suffering because we are trying to live a fully functional life with broken parts and pieces. We cannot do it without pain. The more we give to God, the more He can fix. The suffering will never go away completely because the journey requires a total makeover. But what an awesome difference when we begin to walk with some of the broken parts fixed! How can we do that? God gives us ample guidance in the Scriptures (quick summary is found in Part 1):
The sufferings of Christ might make us wince and say, “Ouch, that hurts!” A surgeon or a medical doctor may often have to hurt you to fix you. But how much more effective result we will receive when it is not just a broken bone or disease that will be removed to bring you a small amount of comfort, but a whole, totally new part that will bring freedom, faith and a future with God. Remember, suffering has value when you have the right view concerning it…and then it can bring you to victory. (Due to technical malfunction with our recorder, the first few minutes of this evening's message did not record. The recording begins five minutes into the message. Pastor Pugsley is giving a review of Part 1 of this series.)
PRINT OR VIEW HAND OUT BELOW. © Melinda Nagy | Dreamstime.com God doesn’t want us to suffer, but it is inevitable because this isn’t heaven! We are faced with:
Many do complain that God is unfair, that this earth is a mess because of Him, that suffering is His mistake…but I want us to take another look at “suffering”. I don’t mean suffering because of the common problems of the day…most of which we bring on ourselves with poor decisions in the realm of health, finances, relationships, etc. What I’m talking about is an “attitude” about suffering…what’s yours? Where does “suffering” come into your understanding of the truths of God? Are you angry, confused, or just plain old neutral? Romans 14:8 “for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” Is that your attitude? Not hardly, but it can be! Suffering is real, whether we caused it or not. The point is when it is physical suffering we are willing to suffer a bit more in order to get it fixed so it won’t interfere with our full functioning anymore. Will you have a scar? Many times you will. Does the scar hurt like the original injury? Not usually, but it is a vivid reminder of what happened. Hopefully, it will be a reminder that helps you not do the action again that caused the injury. In following a life in Christ, there is much suffering because we are trying to live a fully functional life with broken parts and pieces. We cannot do it without pain. The more we give to God, the more He can fix. The suffering will never go away completely because the journey requires a total makeover. But what an awesome difference when we begin to walk with some of the broken parts fixed! How can we do that? God gives us ample guidance in the Scriptures:
May we be willing to say, “Bring it on!” And God keep us with His mercy. Amen. LISTEN TO AUDIO:PRINT OR VIEW HAND OUT BELOW. That is the usual response from most sane people...no one looks forward to suffering. But can we learn something in it and gain something from it? The Book of Job certainly covers the issue and answers many questions regarding suffering. Just the word “suffering” brings a creepy, crawly feeling to most. So much so, we prefer to do without it forever! But let’s look a bit closer at the reality of suffering. It is really a two-sided coin. On one side, suffering could be seen as coming from God to bring out the best in us (squeezing the grapes to make wine, so to speak). On the other, it could be seen as Satan trying to use the same circumstance to bring out the worst in us. Your response to suffering can be to despise it, faint under it or receive instruction from it. If you realize the purposes of suffering, then maybe, just maybe, you can receive instruction from it. “Purposes” to suffering—yes, I said purposes to suffering. They are to produce fruit (patience, knowledge and maturity), to silence Satan, to glorify God, to become more like Jesus, to teach us dependence on God, to refine our lives, to rebuke our sin and to enlarge our ability to minister to others who are suffering. In Hebrews 12:11, we are told that discipline is sorrowful but if you are trained by it, it yields the fruit of righteousness. The entire Book of Job is glorious, really, when you see what God does to Job in his sufferings and the changes that came about in his life…it explains so very much and shows God’s supreme wisdom. Of course, we all know the ending...Job not only changes but has his health and his wealth restored to him doubly. Read Job 1-42, it’ll do a body good! Also, listen to the attached audio of the sermon and be blessed. Audio: (Click forward button below to play audio of message and/or download mp3 file.)
Study Guide: (Download file to print Study Guide for message or view embedded file below.)
Quick Access to Previous Message on the Study of Job: If you missed the first part of this two-part study, here is a quick link: Job - How God Turns Suffering and Loss Into Joy and Gain.
In the account of Job, we see a man who had everything. He was a man who loved God and was blessed mightily by Him. Satan, of course, didn’t like any of that and challenged God regarding Job. Satan accused Job of loving God only because Job had been blessed. He intimates that God used those blessings to bribe Job into loving Him. God proves His point in this account and allows Satan to torment Job, but not to take his life. Satan gladly obliges and throws it all at Job causing him to lose everything, even his health. But Job refuses to stop loving God. Job is tormented, he complains, he questions God, etc., but he never stops loving God and acknowledging God’s greatness. We all know the end of this story...even though Job lost everything, God restored him many times over. Job never got his original kids or servants or business back, but he received many times over a NEW and wonderful life to live. God is great and gracious in all His ways. He loves us and knows the depth of our suffering. Our problem is that we don’t wait long enough for God to fix or restore what is broken and lost. And, sometimes, even though things may never get fixed or restored, He will give you the strength and courage to get through it all and STILL have NEW life of joy and gain to make up for the suffering and loss. Joni Erickson was paralyzed in a diving accident at 15 years old. She never got the use of her body restored, but God blessed her with a determined spirit and a whole new life that she says would never have existed if she were not paralyzed from the neck down! She is a singer, artist, speaker, and philanthropist. She is married, and she and her husband started an organization that repairs old wheelchairs and delivers them to paralyzed youths in poor countries. Wow—what was taken away in one way was totally restored in another. Don’t try to figure God out...just let Him work His marvelous ways in your life. To Him be all the glory! (Scripture Reference: Job) Audio:(Click forward button below to play audio of message and/or download mp3 file.)
Study Guide: (Download file to print Study Guide for message or view embedded file below.)
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