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Health & Fitness

Doubt and the Devil

Doubt and the Devil

The absolute truth is that there is no truth so God does not exist therefore Christ and His saving work on the cross is just  a myth.

How is that for an attention-getter Christian?

  • When you read that, did you feel anger?  (Did you say to yourself “Rich, you are such a moron!!”)
  • Did you get defensive?  (“Rich, let me explain to you why you are such a moron…”)
  • Are you totally baffled? (“Rich, how could you be such a moron!?!?”)
  • Does it make you feel sad? (“Rich, why oh why did you have to reveal yourself to be such a moron? ”)
  • Are you now getting ready to write me a furious and righteously indignant reply blasting me? (“Rich, the next time I see you, I am going to take my giant-print King James Study Bible with concordance and beat that moron idea right out of your moron head!!)

 Ouch… 

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When such an inflammatory and provoking statement is made and further directed specifically at the very tenants of your Christian faith, it becomes an attack upon the bedrock foundation of your life and a less than appreciative response is certainly understandable. (I would feel the same way and though I do not have a giant-print King James study Bible with concordance to start imparting wisdom with, I do have a NKJ version, so beware.)

However, that philosophy of relativism, where “truth”, any truth, all truth, is in the eye of the beholder is running rampant throughout society today.

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Some time ago we were privileged at my church to hear an excellent sermon on the topic of relativism and I would never presume to add to such an accomplished body of work, nor do I want to bore you with a rehash. However I do want to explore with you something which could be construed as the precursor to relativism philosophy, something the enemy has exploited and plagued the human race with since the beginning – DOUBT.

Let me “Richaphrase” a little story from the Bible for you. I bet you can figure what book it is from…

Once upon a time, there was a nice chap by the name of Adam. Adam had the pleasure and privilege of living in a paradise created by an omnipotent and omniscient Being who we will henceforth (I love that word, so fancy sounding) refer to as “GOD”.  As a matter of fact, Adam himself was specifically crafted by GOD to live in this lovely (garden-like?) place. Adam was happy, GOD was happy, and He gave Adam some work to do including coming up with a name for every other creature GOD populated his world with. (On a side note, both GOD and Adam MUST have had a good sense of humor, how else do you explain the “platypus”?)

Anyway, as the pairs of animals came marching by with Adam naming them and checking them off, (said in a deeply officious voice) “You shall be called a “Cows” – 2 each,  next…” at some point the figurative light bulb blinked on above Adam’s head. “Hmmm” thought Adam, “2 cows, 2 elephants, 2 hummingbirds, 2 platypuses….. only 1 Adam?” GOD being GOD, actually saw the bulb blink on above Adam’s noggin and said to Adam, “You know what, you have been working hard, take a break My man” and while Adam was enjoying a restful divinely-inspired siesta, GOD did what GOD loves to do and creates something, a partner for Adam, henceforth known as Eve.

Now when Adam woke up from his nap and saw Eve, he immediately said to himself “One of these things is not like the other” (come on, sing it, you know you want to J) and shortly another new thing was introduced into the garden.

Now, unbeknownst to the happy, now couple, there was another being in the garden. This being was not happy, he was not nice, and he had a chip on his shoulder from some earlier dealings with GOD that so did NOT turn out like he had planned. This being was also created by GOD but make no mistake, despite what he would have you believe this being was NOT omniscient or omnipotent. What had happened was him and his buddies, they used to be tight with GOD. But they got a little too impressed with themselves, thought themselves a little too pretty, got greedy and stupidly thought they jack GOD up and show Him the door. But, being neither omniscient nor omnipotent, his attempts to “out-GOD” GOD  (who was, I know duh..) proved to be a monumentally bad call on his part and he and his buddies went down in a spectacular flaming crash & burn. Since then, he figured to lay low (literally in this case, as well as figuratively), bide his time, and maybe subtlety do some covert sabotage to GOD’s business rather than take him on directly again, diablo a Dios (thank you Google translate). We shall henceforth refer to this malignant deceitful parasitical infected tumor of a being as “devil”.

Devil, in the form of a serpent (lying low remember?) watched Adam and Eve in the garden and when the time was right, he surreptitiously slithered on over to Eve and casually (think Joe Pesci from Goodfellas) mentioned to her, “Hey Eve, how you doing? You and Adam are such a cute couple. You look lovely today by the way, new herbal shampoo….? Hey, since we are talking, what’s the deal with that tree over there? You never eat any of the fruit from that tree? What gives? I thought GOD said you could eat whatever you wanted.”

Eve (delighted because Adam being suuuuch a man, NEVER notices when she did something new to her hair) responded back to devil “Why yes, I am using a new shampoo, has something in it Adam decided to call Aloe Vera. I know, where does he come up with these names right…?  So…. Tree? Oh, you meant thaaaat tree. Yup, GOD did say we could eat whatever we wanted except for the fruit from that one tree. He said if we ate it, we would “die”. I am not sure what “die” is but it so DID NOT sound like fun, so we leave that tree alone.”

Devil replied back “Die? Evie baby you don’t even know what “die” is and you are going to let that scare you? GOD made you right? You and Adam are his super-duper favorites plus he made you the caretakers of this whole operation including that tree. He would never “die” you. Look at it! That fruit looks absolutely delicious and I bet it even tastes better than it looks. Plus (said very conspiringly out of the side of his serpenty mouth), I just so happen to know that if you eat this particular fruit, you will become just as smart and cool as GOD. Heck, GOD is holding you and Adam back. You know you want to, what’s the worst that can happen? Go ahead - take a bite…”

And after thinking about it for a bit, you know what? She did…

Ok, even with some small literary liberties taken, we all know the story from Genesis chapters 2 and 3. We also all know the rest of the story, the consequences for the choice quickly not-so-happy couple made, and the continuing ramifications of that choice which are still being dealt with today. But I want to discuss the underlying reason why they made the choice they did in the first place.  

Despite having the privilege of directly interacting with God on a daily basis, speaking with him, seeing him work his marvelous works, experiencing first-hand his divine provision, but despite all that, somehow Eve then Adam DOUBTED God’s Word to them. At some point they said to themselves, maybe even at a subconscious level, “God is not who He says He is, He did not mean what He said, and He would not / could not do that which He said He would do. “

If you have read any of my previous postings, you have probably figured out that I am big on definitions. A stated definition provides clarity and sets a standard that we can consistently work with so let’s define DOUBT before we go any further.

The word doubt is both a verb and a noun and is defined:

1.       to be uncertain about; consider questionable or unlikely; hesitate to believe.

2.       to distrust.

3.       to fear; be apprehensive about.

4.       a feeling of uncertainty about the truth, reality, or nature of something.

Now let me state for the record, there are things which I, Rich, have doubts about.

·         I doubt the Mets will qualify for even a wildcard spot in the baseball playoffs this year.

·         I doubt Eli Manning will throw another 3 interceptions in the first quarter of a football game this season.

·         I doubt my 12 year old minivan will last another 12 years.

But those sorts of petty doubts are not the serious types of doubts I am addressing because:

·         We know the Mets are stinking it up… again (But Harvey & Wheeler are looking pretty good for next season…).

·         We know by way of his 2 super bowl wins and MVP awards that Eli rocks.

·         We know that any car made after 1959 is not designed to last 24 years.

No, the type of doubts I am concerned with are those which, if left unchecked, will undermine your faith and poison your relationship with God, leaving you adrift, sinking, and alone.  The devil’s main goal is to separate you from God. He hates God for that previously mentioned flaming crash & burn and any way he can mess up a believer’s walk with God is fair game for him to exploit and the simplest and most effective weapon he can employ is doubt. He figures if it worked then, why not now.

Ephesians 6:16 advises us –“above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”

The fiery darts of the wicked one are doubts. If the devil can get you to question, become uncertain about, or hesitate to believe the veracity of God’s character, promises, and Word; if he can trick you into thinking that your circumstances are beyond God’s control; if he can convince you that you are of no worth to God, he would count each as a victory.

Remember that we started out talking about the idea that truth nowadays is relative, is at the discretion of the individual. In an attack on one of the fundamental truths of Christianity, that a loving God exists and wants a relationship with you, the devil has so co-opted portions of our society that there now organizations, entire industries devoted to disproving the Bible and the existence of God. Take a moment and consider of the enormity of the consequences of those misguided, hubris-filled efforts. That God-created humans are spending their lives trying to discredit and disprove the God who brought them into existence in the first place must sadden and pain God immensely. The devil though, he is tickled pink and can kick back in the recliner, enjoy some popcorn, and watch people self-destruct all the while high-fiving his buddies down in hell as the souls come streaming in. All because doubting God, his existence, and his values has become fashionable and politically correct.

Doubts are rarely obvious, rather they are subtle and creep like vines of darkness, discretely insinuating themselves into your thoughts and emotions, slowly but surely strangling and dimming the light of your faith. Doubt is not the big lever which pries open the door to the heart of your faith, it is sneakier than that. Doubt is that imperceptible force which causes the slightest crack in the door jam. And once that crack is made, a circumstance will inevitably come along which the devil will try to slam into that crack, to try to bust it wide open in a full on assault on your walk with God.

One thing I feel should be pointed out is that nowhere does the devil directly contradict God’s word. The devil does not at any time dispute the veracity of God as expressed to us in the Bible. He never says to us “God’s words are untrue”, in fact he himself quotes them to Jesus during his time of temptation in the wilderness. What the devil does though is act in such a way as to persuade people to themselves conclude that his promises are untrue or at least lacking. He tricks us with semantics, with legalisms where we mentally circumvent and rationalize ways around God’s truths instead of confidently and firmly standing pat on our faith and trusting almighty God. With nudges, misdirection, and innuendo from the enemy, we talk ourselves into even deeper trouble and despair, convincing ourselves that in some way God has abandoned us, is inadequate to help us, or that we are so broken and tainted that God would never ever actually lower himself to help the likes of us. And what do we do? We try to wrest control or even worse, we give up and allow ourselves to become overwhelmed and lost.

All because at some point in some small way we were scammed by an enemy who has nothing but malice in his black heart for us into thinking “I bet God can’t…, This is too much for God…, There is no way God could ever, would ever…, Where is God now that…?” and the worst “I promised my heart to God thru Christ but did I do it right..? Did he hear me…? Did I really mean it…?”

But what does the Bible have to say about doubt?

James 1:6 – “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.”

Matthew 14:31 – “And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him (Peter), and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Matthew 21:21 – “So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.”

Romans 14:23 – “But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.”

What did we learn about doubt?

·         Doubt causes us to be cast about, driven by, and at the capricious mercy of our circumstances.

·         Doubt is a distraction which causes us to take our focus off of God.

·         Doubt leaves us open and vulnerable, prey to the manipulations of the enemy.

·         Doubt can be construed as sin.

What else can we take away from the above?

Did you notice that in each verse where doubt is mentioned, FAITH is also prominently mentioned?

That’s because faith is counter to, negates doubt.

Faith is the antibiotic for the infection of doubt, curing it. Faith is a 1000 watt halogen spotlight you shine on the shadow of doubt, obliterating it in the light of it’s truth. Faith is the Round-Up you spray all over the creeping vines of doubt, killing them and preventing re-growth. Faith is your protection from doubt. When the devil throws flaming doubt darts your way, lift up the shield of faith and knock them to the dirt and if you are really feeling manly, confidently spit on them and put them out.

Why faith?

Faith is reassurance in times of trouble

Isaiah 41:10 – “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

 

Faith lets us confidently rely on God’s power, not our own

Psalm 20:7 – “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”

 

Faith is the promise that God is in control

Romans 8:28 - “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

 

Faith delivers us from our own self-inflicted inadequacies

1 John 3:20-21 - “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.”

 

Faith is larger than your circumstances

1 John 5:4 – “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”

 

What is Faith?

Faith is anti-doubt.

Where faith exists, doubt cannot.

There are absolute truths, open your Bible and explore them.

God is out there, He made you, He loves you

Christ was born, lived, and died on that cross for you.

Believe it.

Keep the faith Christian.

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