Is Jesus Really Who He Says He Is? Dealing With Doubt

I like to think of myself as a man of much faith in Jesus. My entire life both here and after death is lived by believing that Jesus was a real man who came down from heaven where He is the Son of God to walk this earth in bodily form. By faith I believe that the Bible is true and that Jesus came and died and then was resurrected and now He sits at the right hand of God the Father where He intercedes for me. By faith I believe Jesus was more than a man, I believe He is one of the three persons of the Godhead we know as the trinity and thus He is fully God. I believe this by faith.

But I would be disingenuous if I told you I never have doubts. Sometimes I just get these strange thoughts that maybe all this is just it. Maybe when I die my life will just end. Maybe, I think, there will just be nothingness and all this faith I have in things unseen is just a coping mechanism to deal with the stress of life. Sometimes I just doubt.

How about you? Do you ever feel your faith wavering? Maybe in times of tragedy you start to question your faith. Maybe when you watch the news and see all the violence and all the pain of life and wonder if what you believe is really real. Well guess what? You and I are in good company.

John the Baptist was a great prophet who was given the task of being the one who would come before the arrival of Christ to prepare the world for His coming. He baptized Jesus. Imagine that. Jesus said this about John in Luke 7:28, “I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John.” John was a very important man in the history of Christianity. Yet, like you and I, John doubted. Read the story.

Luke 7:18-20
The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”  And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’”

John the Baptist, called the last of the OT prophets, the man who literally baptized Jesus, was there as the Holy Spirit descended on Him, as the Heavens opened and God declared Jesus His beloved Son, later on questioned if Jesus was truly the Messiah. If you, like me, ever have doubts then you are in good company.

You see John was sitting in a prison cell with plenty of time to think. John had been faithful to the truth and was being punished for speaking out against sin. His message from the very beginning was one of repentance and he was unwilling to compromise truth for his own freedom and even his life. And now after all the faithfulness to his calling he had demonstrated, his faith wavered and he wondered if Jesus was who He really said He is.

Most of us can relate. Life is hard and sometimes it can beat you down. Maybe you came into your relationship with Jesus thinking it was all going to be smooth sailing and later when it got hard your faith wavered. Or maybe sometimes you just get alone and start to wonder. That’s ok. Jesus understands. Life is not easy and bad things happen all the time. Sometimes when we pray we don’t think God hears or maybe we wonder if He hears but just doesn’t care because He doesn’t act quickly or the way we think He should. But the Bible is clear that it is in these hard times in which our faith grows and in which we learn to persevere.

So what do we do when we doubt? We do what John did; we ask Jesus if He really is who He says He is. It’s called prayer. We also turn to His Word and we read it. We search out the promises and then we read the stories of those who came before us. They struggled too. Open up the Psalms and read how David wrestled with his own faith but then see how he found peace and comfort in spending time with God.

Let’s see how Jesus reacted to John’s doubt and how He responded to John’s questions.

Luke 7:20-23
 And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’”  In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight.  And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.  And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

It’s ok to doubt. Warren Wiersbe says this in his commentary on Luke chapter 7, “There is a difference between doubt and unbelief. Doubt is a matter of the mind: we cannot understand what God is doing or why He is doing it. Unbelief is a matter of the will: we refuse to believe God's Word and obey what He tells us to do. "Doubt is not always a sign that a man is wrong," said Oswald Chambers; "it may be a sign that he is thinking." In John's case, his inquiry was not born of willful unbelief, but of doubt nourished by physical and emotional strain.”

So when doubt creeps in move closer to Jesus. Pray about it. Read your Bible. Begin to fellowship with other Christians who can encourage you and share in your life difficulties. Remember that we have an enemy who wants to mess up your life and take away your joy. So keep your eyes on Jesus.

I leave you with a scripture. It’s about faith.

Romans 10:17
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

May God bless all who read this with the faith to carry on the work He sent us to do.

The 4 Resources of God Jesus Used to Defeat the Devil

Reading through the story of the temptation of Jesus in the desert from Luke chapter 4 we can find that there are four spiritual resources Jesus used to get Him through, not only the temptation of Satan, but also through His ministry while on earth. These four resources are also ours to use in our own lives.

The first resource is prayer and the Gospels are replete with examples of Jesus spending plenty of time in prayer with the Father. But take note of the importance of prayer Jesus demonstrates from Luke 3:21-22.

“Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Even before Jesus begins His ministry He went first to the Father in prayer. After setting the example of baptism Jesus prays and catch what happens.  “The heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form.” You see in every thing we do in our Christian life we need to put prayer first. We can do nothing in our own power and when we go to God confessing our own weakness and inability to do anything we receive our power through the Holy Spirit. This takes a humble heart and sometimes our first prayer has to be for God to show us our own need to be in His power.

Then note the second resource Jesus depends on as seen in the end of verse 22. God speaks in response to His prayer and says, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior we are adopted into the family of God and become one of His sons. Ephesians 1:5 tells us “He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.” Romans 8:14-15 says “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” As Christians we are God’s children and He is the ultimate Father who will watch over and protect His children.

The third resource Jesus had while on this earth was the power of the Holy Spirit and we are no different. Luke 4:1 “And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness .” Romans 8:9 says, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” Take some time and study the scriptures about the Holy Spirit and all the things He does for us. We have the same power that raised Christ from the dead living inside of us (See Romans 8:11).

The fourth resource Christ had was the Word of God and He used it to defeat Satan soundly in the desert. “It is written” was Jesus’ response to Satan. We, too have the Word of God with which to use as a sword as we see in Ephesians chapter 6, which is our guide to spiritual warfare.

Friends we have the resources to have victory over the devil in our lives. Prayer, the love of the Father that comes from being His son, the power of the Spirit, and the Power of God’s Word will carry us through the desert. And we have one more great resource; we have Jesus Himself interceding for us. And we know that Jesus has already defeated Satan at the cross.

So let us go where the Spirit leads us and let us go in power and the strength of God even when we must travel in the wilderness and in the desert.

We need not be afraid. We are well equipped for battle.

Do We Really Believe Jesus?

 Oh you of little faith. The Bible records these words to have been spoken by Jesus at least five times. This morning as I was spending my morning Bible reading time in Mark chapter 4 I couldn’t help but pause and look at one of the stories in light of my own life. It is the story of the time Jesus was with the disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee and the storm comes up which scared the daylights out of the disciples. I love this story because as I read how it plays out it I cannot help but kind of chuckle when I think about how Jesus reacts.

With apologies to my wife for picking on her publically, I am reminded of a recent conversation we had. She was looking for the computer paper as she needed to print something and it was empty. Since our printer only holds 30 sheets this happens often and just about two weeks ago she had called me asking me where the paper was. I knew exactly where it was and even though she at first was insistent that it wasn’t there, I knew it was and after she finally was able to understand my instruction on how to find it she was able to do so. So now just two weeks later she cannot find the paper and insists it’s not where it was before. With complete confidence (probably more like arrogance) I showed her it was there just as it always is. Why couldn’t she find it? I had placed two boxes in front of it so though it was there she couldn’t see it.

I bet Jesus had the same thoughts I had when my wife insisted the paper wasn’t when they woke Him up from His nap in the middle of the storm. Why do you doubt what I say?

But let’s be honest; all of us lack faith in the middle of the storm. We say we trust Jesus for our eternal salvation but then we worry about things way less important than life after death. This morning I want to offer three things we can learn from the story of the storm and the disciples.

First of all they had the promise of Jesus Himself as to their destination, which was the other side of the sea. Mark 4:35, “On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.”

If Jesus came over to your house today and said to you, “Let’s go to the mall”, would you be worrying that you might not make it there? Even if He said let’s take the old beater pickup you had just to mess around on the farm in, it’s probably a safe bet that the man who cast out demons, healed the sick, raised the dead, and then Himself died and was resurrected could get that truck to the mall and back. The Bible is full of promises from Jesus about our lives and what He wants us to do, yet we live in fear of actually doing what He says. If Jesus is who we say He is then the will of God will not be stopped.

The second lesson is this; the disciples had Jesus with them in the boat. I could understand that if Jesus sent them out alone they might lack confidence in their own ability to navigate the storm. But He was there. And according to the same Bible that tells us He will save us from our sins is the promise that He is with us always. First of all He is God and God is omnipresent. God is everywhere. Jesus also promised that the Holy Spirit would live in your heart when you become a born-again believer. Since the Holy Spirit is also God then not only is God everywhere in the world, He is also in your own heart. But not only can we lean on scripture to remind us of this truth Jesus also promised to always be with us. Open your Bible and read it and you will find these promises all over God’s Word.

The final lesson I want to call attention to today is this; Jesus was perfectly at ease in the midst of the storm. He was sleeping. This does not mean that in the midst of your storm Jesus doesn’t care and just went to sleep on you. It means He is so in control of things that if you are in a boat with Him the storm cannot hurt you. The Psalms are a great place to find comfort. Listen to the words of Psalm 4:8, “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.”

Jesus calmed the storm that day we read of in the Gospels. But the real problem was not the storm; it was the lack of faith in the disciples. We are in the same boat. Storms will come. Jesus promised it. The question is what will we do in them?

All of us lack faith at times. None of us have perfect faith. Sometimes my poor faith scares me. But then I remember something else Jesus said about faith. Again the disciples are our example. They had just failed to cast out a demon and wanted to know why. Let’s listen in.

Matthew 17:19-20
Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”  He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Do you see the good news? If you focus on their failings because of little faith you miss the point. Jesus said if we have just a teeny, little faith we can move mountains. You see the good news is that we are going to fail, but He is not. The faith has to be in Him, not self. Not even in others, but only in Him.

So here’s the mission. Trust in Christ and Christ alone. Read your Bible and take note of the promises of Jesus. They do not fail. We say we believe. Do we? Pray and do not lose heart. Ask the Holy Spirit to pray for you and through you when you feel weak. And finally be in a church family. You need them and they need you. We must encourage each other with the truth of God’s Word and then be obedient in following it. I leave you with one last scripture to ponder and to put in effect.

Ephesians 5:15-21
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,  making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.  And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,  addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,  giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,  submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

God bless you.

Who did Jesus Come to Save?

For a great many years now men have argued about the efficacy of the atonement work of Christ on the cross. One side says Jesus died for all people. The other side says Jesus died for only the elect. Smarter men than I can present great arguments for both statements. Reading through the Gospel of Mark this morning it occurs to me that maybe we are arguing over the wrong issue. There is a story in Mark in which Jesus answers that question but with a different spin. Let us take a look at what the “experts” were saying in Jesus’ day.

Mark 2:15-16
And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.  And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

The scribes wanted to know why in the world would Jesus hang out with the scum of the earth. You see they believed they were the good people. They were those who supposedly followed the law and were the ones the Messiah should come to. 

But Jesus turned their world upside down. The Gospel’s are filled with stories of Jesus against the Pharisees. They were constantly trying to trap him and He was constantly turning it all back on them. Listen to how Jesus answered their question.

Mark 2:17
And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus died on the cross for sinners. He died on the cross for the lost. We could argue for 2000 years about whether or not the atonement is for the elect or for all but the fact of the matter is it we are missing the point. The more important point is that the work on the cross has no effect on those who think themselves righteous.

I’ve studied it all out for years and quite honestly if you had to label me you would call me a Calvinist. I’m not a fan of labels but call me whatever, I don’t really care. I just read the Bible and believe what it says as best as I believe the Holy Spirit has taught me. But on this topic I think we should be more concerned about sharing the truth of the Gospel to ALL unsaved people. And the truth of the Gospel is that we are all sinners who fall short of the glory of God and because we are all sinners we must humble ourselves and confess to God that we are hopeless without the blood of Christ to cloak us in pure, unadulterated holiness that only He can provide.

So here is the conclusion of all this; if you think you are good enough to face your maker without Jesus then you might as well say Jesus work on the cross is ineffective because it won’t save you.  The Bible teaches that and that cannot be argued by anyone who claims the Bible to be true. I leave you with an OT reading that has both the good news and the bad news. At one time I thought I was ok with God because I simply believed He existed. I was blind but now I see. We must share this truth to others who think as I once did.

Isaiah 57:12-21
I will declare your righteousness and your deeds, but they will not profit you.  When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you! The wind will carry them all off, a breath will take them away. But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain.  And it shall be said, “Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people’s way.”  For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made. Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, I struck him; I hid my face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.  I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the LORD, “and I will heal him.  But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt.  There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

Have You Forsaken Jesus?

“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” If you are familiar with the Bible, particularly the Gospels, then you recognize this as the final words of Jesus just before His death. If you are even more of a Bible expert you will recognize that Jesus was actually quoting Psalm 22:1 in which the psalmist also said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The psalmist added this, “Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?”

David wrote that Psalm. David was a man who knew the pain of feeling alone and abandoned. He knew the feelings of betrayal. Certainly one can feel the desperation in the words of Psalm 22. Most of us will not escape this life without feeling lost and abandoned. Maybe today you feel that way. Maybe the memory of those times is still fresh in your mind. I know those feelings. I sure hope my last words on earth are not “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” I pray yours are not either.

But they were the final words of Jesus. You see the reason Jesus uttered those words is because He was paying the penalty for sin. The penalty for sin is separation from God. And the truth is even one single sin will bring separation from God. That’s just the truth of scripture. God is holy. God is so holy He cannot be in the presence of sin. We cannot stand in front of Him if sin is upon us. Sin stains us. According to scripture all of us are sinners. Romans 3:23 “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We’re all guilty. We hung Jesus on the cross. Each and every one of us.

But the Gospel means good news and the good news here is that Jesus was willing to utter those words on the cross. And because He was we have hope. But we can never forget the fact that in order for us to be saved Jesus had to be willing to accept punishment for what we have done. One of my favorite passages of the Bible is Philippians 2:8 which reminds us of what Christ did saying that He, “being found in human form humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

But then another passage intrigues me. Isaiah chapter 53 is a beautiful reading that prophesied the coming of Jesus and what He would do, and how He would be received and treated. But one passage just amazes me.

Isaiah 53:10
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief…

The King James renders that as “it pleased the LORD to bruise him.” There is a great lesson here for us. God’s will pleases God. Yet read through Isaiah 53 in the detailed description of what Jesus faced.

Isaiah 53:2-5
For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.  He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Watch the movie The Passion of the Christ sometime and you will get a glimpse of the pain Jesus suffered. And as previously stated He suffered it because of us. And why?

Isaiah 53:6
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Yet God was pleased to let His only Son, whom has been with God through all eternity having never, ever been separated from, not only take our punishment in terms of physical beatings and abuse, but for the first time ever in eternity Jesus and the Father were spiritually separated. Thus Jesus had to cry out in anguish like we’ve never known, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani.”

That my friend is how much God loves us.

So today let us not take for granted our salvation. We were bought and paid for. God the Father and Jesus the Son deserve our complete worship. They deserve more than the lip service we give them. More than the weak worship we offer Sunday mornings when most of us think standing in a room singing songs and clapping hands and tapping our toes to the beat of a band is all the worship we need.

My prayer is that one day I will be a true man of worship. I look forward to the day I will fall in front of the Almighty God and worship Him in true spirit and truth void of my selfish desires and sinful nature. But until that day we must get serious about worshipping God. We must learn to fall down in front of Jesus, the Lamb of God and be sure that He never has to ask us again, “Why have you forsaken me?”

Glory Be to God. And to Him alone.