WHEN IN DOUBT... THE BASIC ATTACKS! 3-4

THERE ARE FOUR BASIC ATTACKS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER AND WATCHFUL:

ATTACK NUMBER THREE: DOUBTING GOD’S AUTHORITY GENESIS 3:4

IN SATAN’S ALL OUT ATTACK TO DECEIVE EVE, HE SAYS POINT BLANK: “YOU WILL NOT SURELY DIE” (V3:4). SATAN LOVES IT WHEN WE DOUBT GOD! HE WANTS US TO BELIEVE THAT GOD IS NOT IN CHARGE, THAT GOD IS NOT INTERESTED IN OUR CHOICES, AND THAT GOD WILL NOT HOLD US ACCOUNTABLE FOR OUR DEEDS.

WHEN THAT HAPPENS, EVERY MAN OR WOMAN DOES WHATEVER SEEMS RIGHT IN HIS OR HER OWN EYES. THAT IS THE HALLMARK OF OUR WORD, THE ATTITUDE THAT SAYS, "TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR OWN LIFE, AND BE ALL YOU CAN OR WANT TO BE"

NEVER FORGET THAT SATAN’S MASTERFUL SCHEME IS TO MAKE YOU DOUBT, REJECT, AND BECOME DEAFENED TO THE VOICE OF JESUS. WHEN YOU THINK WRONGLY ABOUT GOD, DAILY ASK YOURSELF: WHO’S VOICE AM I LISTENING TO?

ATTACK NUMBER FOUR: DOUBTING GOD’S PLAN GENESIS 3:5

IN GENESIS 3:5 SATAN BLOCKED THE CREATOR’S VOICE WHEN HE SAID “…YOUR EYES WILL BE OPENED, AND YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD, KNOWING GOOD AND EVIL.” FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, SATAN HAS SOUGHT TO CONVINCE MANKIND THAT HIS WAY IS BETTER THAN GOD’S. SO HE TRIES TO ENTICE US WITH HIS OWN PLAN FOR HOW WE CAN ACHIEVE IMMORTALITY, GLORY AND HAPPINESS.

HOW DOES SATAN DO THAT? HE TRIES TO SOLIDLY PLANT THIS THOUGHT INTO OUR MINDS... ABANDON ALL THOSE RESTRAINS, JUST LET GO AND WORK OUT YOUR OWN PLAN FOR PLEASURE. OF COURSE, HE IS SLICK AND KNOWS YOUR HABITS AND WAYS, HOW YOU INTERACT WITH GOD, SO THE WAY IN WHICH HE ATTEMPTS TO DO THIS VARIES IN WAYS THAT YOU WON’T “CATCH ON” RIGHT AWAY, TILL SOME DAMAGE HAS BEEN DONE. WE NEED DISCERNMENT AND THE NEED TO STAY CLOSE TO GOD IN PRAYERFUL ATTITUDE OF LISTENING AS WE WALK THRU OUR DAYS AND NIGHTS.

SATAN LOVES IT WHEN HE GETS US TO DOUBT GOD AND HIS PLAN!

THE DEVIL’S SCHEME IS TO PLANT THOUGHTS THAT GOD’S WAY IS TOO RESTRICTIVE, BUT HIS WAY ALLOWS FREEDOM TO PURSUE WHATEVER LUSTS WILL BRING THE GREATEST PLEASURE. IN FACT, IF SATAN WERE TO SUMMARIZE HIS PLAN FOR US AS A BILLBOARD AD, IT WOULD PROBABLY READ: GO FOR THE GUSTO! YOU ONLY GO AROUND ONCE! GET YOUR GRATIFICATION NOW! SATAN DELIGHTS IN WHISPERING TO US: LUST WON’T WAIT, SO LUST FOR WHAT YOU WANT, AND TAKE IT EVERY CHANCE YOU GET!

THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT ADAM AND EVE DID WHEN THEY GAVE IN TO THEIR DESIRE FOR PLEASURE (GEN.3:6). THUS THE HORRIBLE PRECIPITOUS SLIDE DOWN INTO SIN BEGAN. LET’S LOOK AT WHAT THE FOLLOWING VERSES REVEAL:

GENESIS 3:7-18 (EMPHASIS ADDED) “THEN THE EYES OF THEM WERE OPENED, AND THEY KNEW THEY WERE NAKED…AND THEY HEARD THE SOUND OF THE LORD WALKING IN THE GARDEN…AND ADAM AND HIS WIFE HID THEMSELVES FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD GOD…”BEFORE THIS AWFUL DAY, ADAM AND EVE HAD BEEN DRAWN TO THE VOICE OF THEIR LORD, AND RESPONDED TO HIM, THEY BOTH HAD LONGED TO TALK WITH THEIR CREATOR AND TELL HIM OF THEIR DISCOVERIES.

THEY LOVED TO ASK HIM QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS UNIVERSE AND THE GARDEN THEY LIVED IN. BUT NOW THEY DISCOVERED THAT HIS VOICE REPELLED THEM, SO THEY HID AMONG THE TREES OF THE GARDEN. THEN GOD, THIS JESUS WHO CAME “TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THAT WHICH WAS LOST” HAD TO BECOME THE SEEKING ONE (LUKE 19:10)

BEWARE OF THE ENEMY! WHEN IN DOUBT... LOOK TO HEAR GOD'S VOICE, READ HIS WORD AND PRAYERFULLY SEEK HIM, YOUR FAITH AND HOPE WILL RISE TO THE OCCASION!

UNTIL NEXT TIME,

PASTOR JOHN

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WHEN IN DOUBT... THE BASIC ATTACKS! 1-2

HERE ARE FOUR BASIC ATTACKS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER AND WATCHFUL:

ATTACK NUMBER ONE: DOUBT GOD’S WORD – GENESIS 3:1A.

DOUBTING GOD’S WORD IS THE GOAL OF THE DEVIL. IF HE CAN GET HIS FOOT IN THE DOOR BY MAKING US DOUBT, THE REST OF HIS PLAN QUICKLY CAN FOLLOW. WITHOUT THE FOUNDATION OF GOD’S WORD BELIEVERS ARE ADRIFT AND FALL PREY TO EVERY WIND OF DOCTRINE AND GET TOSSED TO AND FRO.

WHEN YOUNG PEOPLE ARE FIRST EXPOSED TO SCIENTIFIC SECULAR THEORIES (WITH THE GOD OF SCRIPTURE LEFT OUT) SATAN ALWAYS PLANTS HIS SEED OF DOUBT IN THEIR MINDS. “HAS GOD INDEED SAID…? GENESIS 3:1 A. SINCE LISTENING TO THE WORD OF JESUS ALWAYS INVOLVES THE BIBLE; SATAN TRIES TO PERSUADE US THAT GOD’S WORD IS JUST LIKE ANY OTHER BOOK. “OH, HE SAYS, THE BIBLE IS NICE, PERHAPS HELPFUL, BUT IT IS NOT ABSOLUTE.”

SATAN’S ULTIMATE PLAN IS TO KEEP US FROM REGULAR CONTACT WITH THE LORD BY ANY ONE OF A VARIETY OF TOOLS HE EMPLOYS; QUESTIONING THE AUTHORITY OF GOD’S WORD, AVOIDING THE TEACHINGS OF GOD’S WORD, OR NEGLECTING THE READING OF GOD’S WORD.

YOU DOUBT GOD WHEN YOU DOUBT HIS WORD, THINK ABOUT IT!

AGAIN, GOING BACK TO WHAT JESUS SAID TO THE DEVIL IN THE WILDERNESS WHEN TEMPTED, WHAT DID HE HAVE CONFIDENCE IN, THE WORD FOR HE SAID IN MATTHEW 4:4 “IT IS WRITTEN, MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD”.

DO YOU DOUBT BY NEGLECT, THAT GOD’S WORD IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVEN EATING?

JEREMIAH SAYS IN 15:16, O LORD GOD OF HOSTS. “THY WORDS WERE FOUND AND I ATE THEM, AND THY WORDS BECAME FOR ME A JOY AND THE DELIGHT OF MY HEART; FOR I HAVE BEEN CALLED BY THY NAME, O LORD GOD OF HOSTS.”

ATTACK NUMBER TWO: DOUBT GOD’S GOODNESS – GENESIS 3:1B

SATAN PLANTED SEEDS OF DOUBT IN EVE WHEN HE SAID, “DID GOD REALLY SAY, YOU SHALL NOT EAT OF EVERY TREE OF THE GARDEN? (GEN, 3:1 B) HE WANTED HER TO DOUBT GOD AND HIS GOODNESS. HE LIKEWISE BOMBARDS’ EACH OF US BY WHISPERING; LIES SUCH AS; GOD IS TRYING TO HOLD OUT ON YOU…HE IS ROBBING YOU OF SOME GOOD TIMES…HE IS OUT OF TOUCH WITH YOUR NEEDS…HE MISSED THAT DISASTER YOU JUST WENT THROUGH…HE MESSED UP ON HOW HE MADE YOU…HE MEANS WELL, BUT SINCE HE DOESN’T QUITE HAVE EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL;, THAT MAKES HIM NOT GOOD.

SATAN’S FIERY DARTS OF LIES ARE RESERVED FOR OUR MOST VULNERABLE MOMENTS. FOR INSTANCE, WHEN A BABY IS BORN WHO IS NOT FULLY FUNCTIONING, OR A YOUNG PERSON’S LIFE IS CUT OFF IN WHAT SEEMS TO BE A TRAGIC AND UNTIMELY DEATH. A NORMAL REACTION IS TO CRY OUT, “WHY LORD?” THINGS LIKE THIS MAKE NO SENSE TO OUR FINITE MINDS, SO WE MAY BE TEMPTED TO DOUBT GOD’S GOODNESS.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE IS WE IDOLIZE WHO GRACES’ THE MAGAZINE COVERS, OR ARE OTHERWISE IN THE SOCIAL SPOTLIGHT. AT SOME POINT, HOWEVER, THEY HAVE TO COME TO GRIPS WITH THE FACT THAT WE WILL NEVER LOOK LIKE THOSE PEOPLE. SO THE REALIZATION CAN LEAN A PERSON TO DESPISE THEIR FEATURES AND QUESTION GOD’S GOODNESS BY THINKING; WHY DID GOD MAKE ME THIS WAY?

WHEN THE STORMS OF LIFE ARE AT THEIR FIERCEST, DON’T GIVE IN TO THOUGHTS LIKE THIS THAT CHALLENGES YOUR FAITH. IS GOD REALLY IN CONTROL? WHY IS HE LETTING THIS HAPPEN TO ME? WHERE IS HE? IS HE REALLY GOOD?

AT SUCH TIMES, WATCH OUT BECAUSE SATAN ACTS LIKE A PROWLING LION (1 PETER 5:8), AND YOU MUST NOT GIVE THE DEVIL A PLACE TO LAND IN YOUR LIFE (EPHESIANS 4:27).

IN EPHESIANS 4:25131, LOOK AT ALL THE SINS PAUL LISTS THAT CAN OPEN UP A “LANDING SPOT” FOR THE DEVIL, WHICH OPENS OUR MINDS AND LIVES TO SATAN’S INFLUENCE. THESE AREAS WILL ALWAYS HINDER OUR WALK IN CHRIST. SATAN LURKS AT THE DOOR OF YOUR MIND, SO DON’T LET HIM IN!

NEXT: DON'T MISS: THE ATTACKS PART 3-4.

PASTOR JOHN

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DID JESUS EVER DOUBT HIS OWN IDENTITY?

DID JESUS KNOW WITHOUT A DOUBT THAT HE WAS THE SON OF GOD?

WAS THERE A TIME JESUS DOUBTED HIS IDENTITY? WHEN DID JESUS FIND OUT HE WAS GOD IN THE FLESH?

A. JESUS HIMSELF HAD SUPREME FAITH, SO WE SHOULDN’T THINK HE HAD ANY DOUBT ABOUT HIS OWN IDENTITY. NOTICE PETER’S CONFIDENCE IN IDENTIFYING WHO JESUS WAS IN MATTHEW 16;13-17; “WHEN JESUS CAME INTO THE REGION OF CAESAREA PHILIPPI, HE ASKED HIS DISCIPLES SAYING “WHOM DO MEN SAY THAT I, THE SON OF MAN, AM? SO THEY SAID, “SOME SAY JOHN THE BAPTIST, SOME SAY ELIJAH, AND OTHER JEREMIAH OR ONE OF THE PROPHETS. HE SAID TO THEM, BUT WHO DO YOU THINK I AM? SIMON PETER ANSWERED AND SAID, YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.

JESUS ANSWERED AND SAID TO HIM, BLESSED ARE YOU, SIMON BAR – JONAH, FOR FLESH AND BLOOD HAS NOT REVEALED THIS TO YOU, BUT MY FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN”.

B. SO VARIOUS PEOPLE IN THE WORLD AT THAT TIME, HAD VARIOUS IDEAS ABOUT WHO JESUS WAS, BUT HE KNEW WHAT HIS OWN IDENTITY WAS, AND CONFIRMED WHAT PETER SO DIRECTLY SAID TO HIM ABOUT IT.

C. ONE NEVER SEES ANY SELF DOUBT ABOUT JESUS CONCERNING HIS OWN IDENTITY. HIS HESITATION IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE (MATTHEW 26:37-39), WHICH CONCERNED HIS TEMPTATION TO WANT THE “CUP” (OF AWFUL PAIN) OF HIS CRUCIFIXION TO PASS BY WASN’T ABOUT HIS IDENTITY OR A KIND OF SELF DOUBT. SINCE JESUS WAS ALSO A PROPHET, HE HAD DIRECT KNOWLEDGE, AND HE DIDN’T NEED FAITH TO KNOW ABOUT GOD THE WAY WE DO, SINCE WE NEVER HAD A DIRECT VISION OF GOD AS HE DID BEFORE THE INCARNATION, (THAT IS, BEFORE BEING PUT INTO THE VIRGIN MARY’S WOMB).

D. THERE’S NO SIGN OF DOUBT THAT HE KNEW THAT HE WAS THE MESSIAH WHEN TESTIFYING BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN, SUCH AS MARK’S RETELLING. THE HIGH PRIEST ASKED, “ARE YOU THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE BLESSED’? JESUS RESPONDED; “I AM, AND YOU WILL SEE THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT OF THE POWER, AND COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.” SEE (DANIEL 7:13, FOR THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURE JESUS WAS REFERRING TO). FOR MAKING THIS STATEMENT, THE SANHEDRIN FOUND AN EXCUSE FOR CONDEMNING HIM TO DEATH. IT’S PROBLEMATIC TO THINK JESUS WOULD BE UNCERTAIN ABOUT THIS WHEN IT COSTS HIM HIS LIFE, BY CONFESSING HIS IDENTITY AS THE MESSIAH IN THIS SITUATION.

E. ONE INTERESTING SPECULATION, ALTHOUGH IT CAN’T BE PROVEN, CONCERNS JESUS WAS FIRST SELF ENLIGHTENED TO KNOW HE WAS GOD AND THE SON OF GOD. AFTER ALL, AS HE GREW UP, IT DOESN’T SEEM PLAUSIBLE HE ALWAYS KNEW THAT HE WAS GOD, SUCH AS WHEN HE WAS THREE YEARS OLD AND (SEE LUKE 2:2) IT COULD BE WHEN HE WAS TWELVE YEARS OLD AND GOT “OVERLOOKED” WHEN HIS FAMILY LEFT JERUSALEM AFTER THE PASSOVER FEAST THAT HE BECAME SELF AWARE OF HIS DEITY (SEE JOHN 1:1, 14) THEY FOUND HIM ANSWERING QUESTIONS IN THE TEMPLE AND AMAZING THE TEACHERS THERE ABOUT HE LEARNED HE WAS AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE. HE COMMENTED TO HIS PARENTS, “DID YOU NOT KNOW THAT I MUST BE ABOUT MY FATHER’S BUSINESS/” (LUKE 2:39) HE MAY HAVE FOR THE FIRST TIME FELT A MISSION FROM GOD AT THIS POINT HAD BEEN REVEALED TO HIM. IT MAY WELL HAVE BEEN FROM THAT POINT ON HE KNEW THAT HE WOULD EVENTUALLY BE CRUCIFIED, WHICH IS A MOST GRUESOME THOUGHT INDEED.

II. WHEN JESUS MET THE DEVIL IN THE WILDERNESS, HIS ONLY RESOURCE WAS GOD’S WORD, AND THAT IS THE WEAPON SATAN FEARS. THAT IS WHY SATAN’S ORIGINAL TEMPTATION WITH EVE CENTERED ON HER COMING TO A PLACE OF DOUBTING OR DISTORTING GOD’S WORD.

A. IN A VERY REAL WAY EACH OF US HAS WITHIN US THE BASIS OF SPIRITUAL FLAWS THAT SATAN EXPLOITED AS HE INTRODUCED SIN TO ADAM AND EVE.

1. JESUS EXPLAINED IT THIS WAY IN JOHN 8:44 (NAS); “YOU ARE OF YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL, AND YOU WANT TO DO THE DESIRES OF YOUR FATHER. HE WAS A MURDER FROM THE BEGINNING; AND DOES NOT STAND IN THE TRUTH, BECAUSE THERE IS NO TRUTH IN HIM. WHENEVER HE SPEAKS HE SPEAKS A LIE. HE SPEAKS FROM HIS OWN NATURE, FOR HE IS A LIAR AND THE FATHER OF LIES”.

2. EACH OF US IS BORN INTO THIS WORLD JUST LIKE OUR FATHER THE DEVIL. THAT IS THE TERRIBLE REALITY OF OUR DEPRAVITY. WE ARE SINNERS BY NATURE, BY CHOICE, AND BY THE DECLARATION OF GOD’S WORD. ONLY JESUS AND THE DIVINE TRANSFORMATION OF THE NEW BIRTH CAN CHANGE ALL THAT.

3. SATAN’S PLAN AS HE TESTED JESUS TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO, AND EVEN TO THIS DAY, INVOLVES HIS SAME LIES FROM GENESIS CHAPTER 3. THESE ARE THE LIES OF SATAN THAT SEEK TO KEEP MANKIND FROM LISTENING TO THE VOICE OF THEIR CREATOR. AS WE OPEN OUR BIBLES, REMEMBER, SATAN DOESN’T WANT YOU TO LISTEN TO GOD’S WORD TODAY! INSTEAD OF FOLLOWING OBEDIENTLY IN PARADISE, ADAM AND EVE DISOBEYED, FELL INTO SIN, AND PARADISE LOST. AS A SIDE, NOT FOR YOU AMERICAN HISTORY BUFFS, AN AMAZING FACT IS THAT THE FIRST WORDS PRINTED IN AMERICA WERE IN THE NEW ENGLAND PRIMER, THE FIRST PAGE OPENS WITH “IN ADAM’S FALL WE SINNED ALL”.

4. LISTEN TO THE FIRST TEMPTATION AND SATAN’S PLAN TO DISTORT GOD’S CHILDREN TO DOUBT GOD’S WORD. GENESIS 3:1-; “NOW THE SERPENT WAS MORE CUNNING THAN ANY BEAST OF THE FIELD WHICH THE LORD GOD HAD MADE, AND HE SAID TO THE WOMAN, “HAS GOD INDEED SAID, “YOU SHALL NOT EAT OF EVERY TREE OF THE GARDEN”? AND THE WOMAN SAID TO THE SERPENT, “WE MAY EAT THE FRUIT OF THE TREES OF THE GARDEN, BUT OF THE FRUIT OF THE TREE WHICH IS IN THE MIDST OF THE GARDEN, GOD HAS SAID “YOU SHALL NOT EAT IT, NOR SHALL YOU TOUCH IT, LEST YOU DIE.” THEN THE SERPENT SAID TO THE WOMAN. “YOU WILL NOT SURELY DIE, FOR GOD KNOWS THAT IN THE DAY YOU EAT OF IT YOUR EYES WILL BE OPENED, AND YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD, KNOWING GOOD AND EVIL.”

5. AT THE SCENE OF THE FIRST TEMPTATION TO SIN, AS WITH ALL OTHER DOCTRINES, THE FIRST OCCURRENCE HAS MANY POWERFUL INSIGHTS, NOTE THE WAY SATAN ATTACKS GOD’S AUTHORITY BY A SERIES OF DOUBTS ABOUT GOD’S WORD AND DISTORTIONS OF GOD’S WORD.

NEXT: THE 4 BASIC ATTACKS

PASTOR JOHN

WHEN IN DOUBT... THE OPINIONS OF OTHERS?

DOUBTING ONESELF BECAUSE OF THE OPINIONS OF OTHERS

PEOPLE CAN BE VERY CRUEL; THEY CAN SAY THINGS TO US THAT BREAK OUR SPIRIT. THE VERSES BELOW CAN, LIKE ALL OF GOD’S WORD, CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

2 CORINTHIANS 10:3-5; “FOR THOUGH WE WALK IN THE FLESH, WE DO NOT WAR ACCORDING TO THE FLESH. FOR THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE ARE NOT CARNAL BUT MIGHTY IN GOD FOR THE PULLING DOWN OF STRONGHOLDS, CASTING DOWN ARGUMENTS AND EVERY HIGH THING THAT EXALTS ITSELF AGAINST THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, BRINGING EVERY THOUGHT INTO CAPTIVITY TO THE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST.”

SO, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? TO BRING EVERY THOUGHT INTO CAPTIVITY AND MAKE IT OBEDIENT TO CHRIST? IT MEANS TAKING YOUR OPINION OF YOURSELF OR OTHERS OPINION OF YOU AND COMPARING IT TO GOD’S OPINION OF YOU.

THE WORLD SAYS TO YOU “YOU ARE NOBODY, BUT COMPARE THAT TO GOD’S WORD AND YOU FIND HIS OPINION IS “YOU” ARE SPECIAL”.

THE WORLD SAYS TO YOU YOU WON’T AMOUNT TO ANYTHING. GOD’S WORD SAYS “I HAVE GREAT PLANS FOR YOU”.

THE WORLD SAYS YOU’RE WORTHLESS, GOD DAYS “YOU ARE SO IMPORTANT I DIED FOR YOU.”

WE ARE TO CONFORM TO HIS WORD, NOT THE WORLDS’.

NEXT: PART 8: DID JESUS EVER DOUBT HIS OWN IDENTITY.

PASTOR JOHN

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DOUBTING YOURSELF BECAUSE OF FAILURE ?

SOME CAUSES FOR SELF DOUBT IS FAILURE AND PEOPLE’S OPINION.

FAILURE CAN BE DEVASTATING. WHEN SOMETHING WE DO DOESN’T SUCCEED, WE BEGIN TO DOUBT OUR ABILITY. BUT DID WE REALLY FAIL? OR, LIKE WE LEARN IN THE VERSES ABOVE, IS THERE A GREATER PLAN GOING ON.

MAYBE THIS WAS ALLOWED TO HAPPEN TO MAKE US STRONGER, TEACH US TO LEARN OF GOD’S GRACE, AND BE A LEARNING EXPERIENCE. HOW OFTEN HAVE WE USED A PAST FAILURE TO OUR ADVANTAGE, LATER ON IN LIFE? WE LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES. REMEMBER THAT GOD IS ON YOUR SIDE. HE TELLS YOU:

"I ALONE KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU, PLANS TO BRING YOU PROSPERITY AND NOT DISASTER, PLANS TO BRING ABOUT THE FUTURE YOU HOPE FOR.” JEREMIAH 29:11.

NEXT: DOUBTING ONESELF BECAUSE OF THE OPINIONS OF OTHERS

PASTOR JOHN

DOUBTING GOD'S PLAN BECAUSE OF UNANSWERED PRAYERS?

DOUBTING GOD’S PLAN BECAUSE OF UNANSWERED PRAYERS

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS UNANSWERED PRAYER, IT’S JUST THAT SOMETIMES THE ANSWER IS “NO”. WE SHOULDN’T GET DISCOURAGED OVER THAT, REMEMBER ROMANS 8:28 AND ALSO THESE TWO THINGS:

JESUS SAYS “I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA, THE BEGINNING AND THE END, SAYS THE LORD, WHO IS AND WHO WAS AND WHO IS TO COME, THE ALMIGHTY”. REVELATION 1:8.

WE SHOULD “TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND LEAN NOT ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING; IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, AND HE SHALL DIRECT YOUR PATHS.” PROVERBS 3:5-6.

JESUS KNOWS THE BEGINNING AS WELL AS HE KNOWS THE END, WHEN HE SAYS “NO” YOU KNOW THERE IS A GOOD REASON FOR IT THAT YOU MAY NOT SEE. BUT TRUST HIM, ACKNOWLEDGE HIM AND WATCH AS HE DIRECTS YOUR LIFE.

NEXT: DOUBTING ONESELF BECAUSE OF FAILURE

PASTOR JOHN

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WHEN IN DOUBT... DOUBTING BECAUSE OF BACKSLIDING?

DOUBTING SALVATION BECAUSE OF BACKSLIDING

THIS SCENARIO IS SOMEWHAT COMMONPLACE, A GREAT TRICK OF THE ENEMY.

HE SLIPS YOU AWAY FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD, INCH BY INCH. ONE DAY YOU WAKE UP DUE TO SOME AWARENESS THAT YOU NEED GOD, BUT ARE KEENLY AWARE NOW THAT YOU HAVE NOT BEEN WALKING WITH HIM AS YOU ONCE WERE; SO MUCH SO THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE TURNED COMPLETELY AWAY, DUE TO HARD CONDITIONS, BAD DECISIONS, AND UNFORTUNATE CIRCUMSTANCES. NONE THE LESS, THE DESPAIR OF BEING AND FEELING SEPARATED IS COMPOUNDED BY THE ENEMY.

THE VOICES OF “HE WON’T RESCUE YOU NOW” OR YOU HAVE NO WAY TO SHOW GOD ANYTHING FOR HIM TO ACCEPT YOU NOW AFTER TURNING YOUR BACK” SO YOU TRAVELED MANY MILES AWAY FROM JESUS, BUT WAIT, THERE IN ONLY ONE STEP TO TRAVEL BACK TO HIS ARMS.

A. THE SAME SCRIPTURE, OUTLINED ABOVE, I JOHN 1:9 WORKS QUITE WELL RIGHT HERE.

B. PROVERBS 28: 13 “HE WHO COVERS HIS SINS WILL NOT PROSPER, BUT WHOEVER CONFESSES AND FORSAKES THEM WILL HAVE MERCY”. ISN’T THIS PASSAGE OF SCRIPTURE ABSOLUTELY CRYSTAL CLEAR? BRING THE SIN OUT OF THE DARKNESS INTO THE LIGHT AND YOU ARE HEALED. WHO WILL TRY TO KEEP IT HIDDEN? NONE OTHER THAN THE FORCES OF DARKNESS TRYING TO CONDEMN YOU 24/7 TO GIVE UP.

C. PRAYER IS YOUR HIGHWAY OF COMMUNICATION WITH GOD; HE PUT THESE SCRIPTURES OUT THERE FOR US TO FEED ON. WHY? BECAUSE HE KNOWS THE LIES OF THE ENEMY, HE KNOWS THE WEAKNESS OF THE FLESH. KEEP IT SIMPLE, YOU SIN, YOU REPENT, LIKE RIGHT AWAY. GOD HAS HIS ARMS OPEN WIDE FOR YOU ALL THE TIME, GOOD OR BAD.

NEXT: DOUBTING GOD'S PLAN BECAUSE OF PROBLEMS

PASTOR JOHN

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