Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Mr. DOUBTfire

Deuteronomy 28:66 "Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night and have no assurance of life."
Matthew 14:31 "O you of little faith, why do you doubt?"
Matthew 21:21 "...if you have faith and do not doubt..."
Mark 11:23 "...and do not doubt in his heart..."

Real quick breakdown before the message; the Deuteronomy scrip is talking about consequences of disobedience, Matthew 14 is Jesus talking to his disciples, and Matt 21 and Mark 11 are from the same conversation where Jesus says that a human could literally cast a mountain into the sea if he really believed without doubt that it would happen. So, obviously most of this group has got over the initial hurdle of whether to believe in God and Jesus being who He said He was, so that is step one, give ourselves a pat on the back we have made the most important leap of faith. However we become hypocrits when we live in ways that lack faith and show doubt, whether it is stressing because we are late, don't have money to pay a bill, worried about job security, how we will be received by a group of friends if I act like too hardcore of Christian, etc... Those things show that we have doubt that God real, is actually in control, and that He really cares about every aspect of our lives. Those actions show that we are of "little faith". How big is your faith, how big is your doubt, what is bigger? How can a persons faith be healthy when it constantly gets trumped or choked by it's owners doubt? Writing this makes me hate myself, I'm in the crowd with my hand up agreeing (admitting my guilt) to everything that I'm rapping ,guilty, guilty, guilty. I'm tired of my doubt being larger than my faith this isn't right, God made us to be one-minded, bold, and strong warriors prepared to do battle with anyone. How can we do battle and be victorious when we can't even defeat our flesh one time before we even get out of the house. These scriptures show how powerful and important faith without doubt is, let's pursue that, I don't want to have little scrawny faith nuts anymore, I want a heavy satchel filled with brass, is anybody feeling this? Have the faith to know that God is doing a work and it is part of the greatest story ever told, play your part and anticipate greatness in abundance and see your world change, no longer will I listen to my flesh tell me I'm not worthy or I am weak, or I don't deserve good because of my sin. God loves us straight up, straight down and He loves to give so know that all your getting is part of the plan and you will be used for His glory so be prepared. We can't let the earth tell us what is important, sharing with a homeless guy can be better than hitting a dong in the league or catching a TD in the Rose Bowl. Replace your doubt with faith and watch. Remember; "You are a slave to who you obey", (flesh or Holy Spirit), who is your master? For clarity the Holy Spirit, Jesus, and God make up the trinity and for Christians they are all one (three in one=trinity). Blessings.

1 comment:

Tyler Parker said...

Faith is a tricky one in the minds of believers. You say that you have true faith, but what if God asked you to kill your first born, Abe styles. You think you could get the blade out?
Who are the justified ones? They are the ones who believe. Faith is the instrument of justification. Faith does not merit justification. But faith is the instrument by which sinners lay hold of justification. (Rom 4:5-6, 22-24).
Faith is, therefore, what the Gospel demands from hearers.
Faith is not the sinner's work; it is a gift of God (Eph 2:8-9; John 6:44, 65; Phil 1:29), but all are commanded to repent and believe (Acts 17:30)

These are tough scrips to me. Good subject, hard to believe but necessary.