John 7:40 When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared, “Surely this man is the Prophet we’ve been expecting.” 41 Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others said, “But he can’t be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee? 42 For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born.” 43 So the crowd was divided about him. 44 Some even wanted him arrested, but no one laid a hand on him. 45 When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” 46 “We have never heard anyone speak like this!” the guards responded.
Why do people try to explain away who Jesus is? Why is there so much scrutiny in order to deny He is the Son of God, the Messiah? Doubt (def) - a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction. Doubt is a huge faith killer and it is easily hidden by those wanting to seem "spiritual" and "have it all together." When the rubber meets the road though, there is doubt. The presence of doubt means there is a lack of true conviction to live for Jesus. I am speaking from experience here, and it hurts my heart at times when I have my doubts. It also kills my faith walk. We are beat on again and again by a doubting world that satan and His demons empower, and sometimes he wins! In a moment in time, we can doubt, and satan jumps on it and tries to expand that doubt.
How do we fight and defeat that doubt? Faith (def) is complete trust or confidence in someone. It seems too easy at times as a solution, but in its simplicity, there is also a purity. Our faith does not come from us. That might seem like a very cryptic way of looking at life, but in reality, our faith comes from God. When our doubt is stronger than our faith, we need to turn to God and ask him to increase our faith. Romans 12:3 Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. 4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function. WE NEED GOD! The Apostles realized they needed more faith and in the book of Luke they make the request of Jesus to increase their faith and here is what Jesus said to them. Luke 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.” 6 The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you! We use this verse to show the "amount" of faith, and Jesus seemed to answer them with how much they needed a "pure" faith. Unfiltered, untainted, unmanipulated, and definitely not of themselves. God dispels doubt with faith.
Where does faith come from? Paul wrote this in Romans 10: 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Our faith and the anchor of our belief system is found in the Word of God! Think about this: The church is many times held back because of a lack of faith. That lack of faith shows a distinct problem in many Christians' lives, and that problem is a lack of understanding of the Word of God. The apostles wanted more faith, and they were actually asking the source of their faith, Jesus, and He was right there with them. We ask for more faith, and the source of our faith, Jesus, is right here with us in the Word of God. We need to understand the Word more, then we will doubt less, and our life convictions will align with God and His Word. Problem solved? Don't just read massive amounts of scripture and think it will be absorbed in your heart. Study the pure words of God and learn from them. Jesus had to teach the disciples in parables at times because they could not understand in depth the truth of what He was saying. In other words, they needed to look deeper at Jesus' teachings and learn. Jesus answered this question by His apostles in Matthew 13: 10 And the disciples came up and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 And Jesus answered them, “To you, it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them, it has not been granted.12 For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.13 Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
Jesus isn't hiding anything from us, but we need to look deeper to see just what His truth is saying to us and then our faith will be affirmed and stronger, and doubt will not be so prevalent. God's Word is sharp and helpful and should be the priority in our walk with Jesus. The writer of Hebrews describes this Word in the following way in Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we must answer.
If you don't study the Word of God, doubts will rise. If you study the Word of God, faith will rise. Your choice....
Today's Message,
David Warren
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