Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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 From Doubt to Faith

James 1:1-18


The one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

Why do the most dangerous vehicle accidents occur at highway intersections? Because it’s a place where some key decisions have to be made. It’s when you have a choice between slowing down or accelerating, changing lanes, turning right or left, etc. Similarly, life is full of choices at every juncture. We often come to the crossroads in our life when some key decisions have to be made. We have take these decisions based on the human aspects – processing the visible data available to us and spiritual aspects – believing in God’s promise for us. If we make the wrong decisions then we will suffer through the consequences of those decisions for the rest of our lives. As humans, we don’t like to be wrong and disappointed with our decisions. In spite of God’s promise that "He will never leave you nor forsake you," we begin to doubt the path that God wants to lead us and try to choose the path that is easier for us and contrary to God’s will and purpose in our life.

Abraham met God, who informed him that he would have a son from whom a mighty nation would arise. Yet, when Abraham's life was in danger (going through the crossroad experience in his life), he lied in order to save himself from Abimelech, although he knew God's promise of a son had not yet been fulfilled. However, Abraham would go on to become a man of great faith and is listed in the Bible's Faith Hall of Fame (Hebrews 11). In fact, if there's an MVP in that Hall of Fame, it's Abraham. How did Abraham achieve this? I would like to highlight 2 ways to get from Doubt to Faith:

Don’t Give the Enemy Any Room:
We don’t wake up in the morning and say to ourselves, "Today I am going to doubt…" No, doubt moves into a vacuum, it takes over when we don’t do the right things. If we don’t keep our mind filled with faith, we will be constantly assailed by doubts. Ephesians 4:27 "And do not give the devil a foothold." The Greek word is "topos." It emphasizes that we can actually give ground in our lives to satanic control. If you’ve got a negative attitude, an attitude that says "I don’t believe" in any way, then you’ve given the enemy room to whisper thoughts of doubt in your head.
Stand Firm on God’s Word: God’s Word is the ultimate answer to get from Doubt to Faith. When the doubt monster comes in and tries to get you down, go to the Word of God. John 20:31 teaches us that - These words are written that you may believe and not doubt. These words are written to drive out doubt from your heart. These words are written to overcome unbelief and strengthen faith as you struggle against doubt. These words are written, yes, the words of the Scriptures, the Bible, to transform us from doubters to believers – transform us from doubt to faith.
Prayer: As we go through the crossroads of our life, please give us the wisdom to make the right choices and decisions that will fulfill Your will for us in our life. Amen

Thought for the day: Unbelief gives into doubts, excuses doubt and finally defends doubting as a virtue of the rational mind. Faith in God fights doubts!



Soji Scariah, St. Paul's MTC, Dallus

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