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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Mary Magdalene and several disciples discovered the empty tomb of Jesus three days after His brutal crucifixion. They were confused and perplexed. Mary was weeping and wondered where they had taken Jesus. Two angels appeared and asked, "Why do you seek the Living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again. And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest." Perhaps these faithful followers of Jesus also remembered what He said to the evil scribes and Pharisees when they asked Him to show them a sign. Jesus said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Many more prophecies telling of Jesus' death, burial, resurrection, and ascension are recorded in scriptures to instill hope for those seeking everlasting life through Jesus who conquered death, hell, and the grave. Jesus told Mary Magdalene to "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not ascended to the Father; But go to My brothers and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.' Mary Magdalene came announcing to the disciples, 'I have seen the Lord' and that He had said these things to her." Jesus has ascended into heaven as our high priest and the sacrificial Lamb of God to present and apply His own blood upon the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies, "For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption." References: Luke 24:4-9; Matthew 12:38-40; John 20:17,18; Hebrews 9:24, 9:12 (Hear the entire message 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. I am sure you have heard of the exercise program “CrossFit”. It has the participants go through a series of exercises designed to strengthen them and increase their aerobic activity…it is brutal!! It involves using your body in different positions to squat, pull up, push up, etc. It is the workout of workouts! God has a “spiritual workout” for us and, just like the physical one, it will PREPARE you to serve Him. God tells us to be fit; be prepared; be ready. 2 Timothy 2:21 – be PREPARED for every good work Luke 12:12 – the HOLY SPIRIT will TEACH you in that very hour what you are to say 2 Timothy 4:2 – BE READY in season and out of season The seven “spiritual exercises” of CrossFit for Christ are:
(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. Many amazing miracles took place during and after the crucifixion of Jesus. Immediately following Jesus' last breath and declaration to God and the world that "It is finished," there was the miraculous tearing of the temple veil from top to bottom. At the same, "the earth shook, and the rocks were split and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised." The temple veil was torn to give us unhindered access into the Holy of Holies and the very presence of God through Christ's own body being "torn" for us. Though He was sinless and perfect in every way, He took upon himself our iniquity and sin and removed it and cast it into the "sea of forgetfulness." The law that required the sacrifice of bulls and goats could never remove the sins of the people and give them access directly to God. God appointed a priesthood for a season and gave rules for their atonement. But Jesus has been offered as the ultimate sacrifice – giving His own blood – and has torn down the veil and walls of separation and invited us to "draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need." (John 19:30; Matthew 27:51-53; Hebrews 4:16) 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. © Daniel R. @ creationswap.com Jesus knew that He was born as God incarnate. He was fully human and fully God on a mission to redeem man from death and eternal separation from God. In Luke 9:51 we read, “And it came about, when the days were approaching for His ascension, that He resolutely set His face to go to Jerusalem.” He was destined to be crucified in Jerusalem as God’s perfect and unblemished Passover Lamb. That’s what Palm Sunday is all about. Jesus was entering Jerusalem on the 10th day of the first month, Abib-Nisan of the Jewish calendar. He was displaying Himself to the world and was being set apart as the Passover Lamb. He would be “kept” until the 14th day for His sacrifice on Calvary— right on God’s schedule. (See Ex 12:1-14.) Zechariah spoke of His majestic entry into Jerusalem, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation. Humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9) The multitudes were going before Him laying their garments on the roadway and spreading branches along the way. They shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David and blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” (See Matthew 21:1-11) It has been over 2000 years since Jesus gave His life as a ransom for all who would receive Him as Lord and Savior. Make every day a “Palm Sunday” to bow before Him, casting your garments (your life) before Him and shouting “Hosanna in the highest and blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” 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. No one ever cries out to be persecuted…well, no sane person anyway. But a lot of the Scriptures address the subject of persecution, so we need to look at it, too. Persecution, meaning harassment or punishment for what you believe in is a tough place to be; but the end result of being persecuted can actually help you…if you let it! Your response to persecution determines whether you will be bitter about it or better because of it. But in order to achieve the more perfect result from being persecuted, two other areas need to be included, that of submission and suffering. Yeah, I know…most people’s favorite subjects! In 1 Peter, chapters 1 through 5, we are given some of the areas in which God indicates we should practice submission: citizenship, marriage, work, and Christian ministry. How is that connected you may ask? Well, to get through any persecution and suffering in a more amenable way you have to submit ever so totally to God; to trust Him and depend on Him for your rescue and resolve. The areas listed throughout the Book of 1 Peter amply cover most aspects of our lives in which we can practice, practice, practice because you cannot effectively submit to God unless you are practiced in submission. So even though most of us loathe persecution, suffering and submission, they are intricately woven with each other to help us, rather than hinder us in seeking and serving God and mankind. Listen to the sermon and glean even more gems of God’s wisdom. 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. © 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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