Doubt Archives -

Your Burning Question & the “Wait Answer”

My Thoughts:

We all have that one (or maybe several) question we want an answer to, especially questions we want to ask God to His face. And some aren’t as pretty or nice as “Why was I an only child,” or “Why didn’t I get that job,” or the one the apostles asked right before Jesus ascended: “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (v. 6 noted below).

Lifestyle worshiper, did you notice our Lord’s answer to this question? It appears to be another “wait answer,” doesn’t it? Not only does He command them to wait for the Holy Spirit’s power (in v. 4), He is now ‘making’ them wait for the answer to this burning question. (The way the Greek presents this question suggests that many apostles were asking this question, and they kept asking this question until He finally ‘answers’ them.) Again, to you, this may not be as burning a question as yours, but to them this was a burning question: When will their enslavement & tyrannical occupation by the Romans end, and they become free….

To repeat, we all have very earnest, personal and profound questions that sometimes demand an answer, and after screaming them, all we hear is the echo of our own voice. But once the echo fades, and we listen a little more intently, we hear the gentle voice of the Lord say to us, “It’s not for you to know right…. Trust Me that I will work all this out for the Good.”

Brothers and sisters, this “Wait Answer” rarely satisfies, but I know that my faith is being strengthened on a much deeper level then it had been when the event that spawned the question transpired—When my ‘whiny’ “Why” was burped…. Perhaps would you join me in praying for one another to receive the Goodness of the Lord so that we can at least begin to accept the ‘Wait Answer’ to our burning question? I will pray for you….

Main Text: — Acts 1:6-7 — ⁶So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷ He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.” [NIV84]

Additional Scriptures to Renew Your Thoughts

I still have a lot to say to you, but you cannot bear it now. — John 16:12 (ISV)

Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. —1 Corinthians 3:1-2 (NIV84)

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. — 1 Corinthians 13:12-13 (NIV84)

Lord Jesus Christ, I confess that there are many, many things I do not understand, and I am often paralyzed trying to figure them out or crippled in my screaming and demanding an answer. Forgive me for doubting Your Goodness. Create in me a clean heart so that I may walk in the Light as You are in the Light. Be my Peace as I receive Your “Wait Answers.” In Your Name, Amen.

Pastor Mike

“What if the Miracle….”

Date: 02-28-15

The Big Idea: Lifestyle worshiper, let us not miss the miracle that the LORD will surely bless you with.

My Thoughts: “What if the miracle never comes?” This is what the enemy wants you to ask. With his slithering, slippery tongue, he hisses doubts in your ear. He wants you to buy the lie that the LORD is withholding something good from you. Oh, sadly, I have often listened to this hiss….

But, Lifestyle worshiper, perhaps our definition of “miracle” needs to be refined. Oh, it is still something beyond what we could achieve. It is still something beyond what we could think or imagine, but perhaps it is also something beyond what we can perceive—at least for the moment, and maybe even in this life. Now I know that this may sound like a copout of sorts, but if we have a predetermined “miracle” that we are looking for, won’t this make it harder to see the actual miracle the LORD has provided? We will miss seeing it because we are looking for something quite different.

The other day I was looking for the vacuum cleaner at the church. It is helpful to know that there are actually three vacuum cleaners, but I was looking for the vacuum cleaner. So I asked the person I was working with: “Where’s the vacuum cleaner?” With a wry smile and a soft giggle, she gently said, “Ah, right in front of you.” I was amazed: I couldn’t see the ‘other’ vacuum cleaner literally in front of me, and yet as I had panned the room, I missed it. Why? Because I had a predetermined picture in my mind as to what the vacuum cleaner ‘ought’ to look like….

Lifestyle worshiper, let us not miss the miracle that the Lord will surely bless you and me with. Oh, and join me in ignoring the hiss of that sly snake….

Main Text: — Nehemiah 6:15-16, 19 — ¹⁵So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth day of Elul in 52 days.¹⁶ When all of our enemies—including the surrounding nations—heard this, they became very discouraged, since they saw that the work had been done by our God…. ¹⁹ Furthermore, they kept reporting Tobiah’s good deeds to me, and kept repeating what I told him. Tobiah kept sending letters to intimidate me. [ISV]

Additional Scriptures to Renew Your Thoughts

Fear the LORD, you his saints,for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

— Psalm 34:9-10 (NIV84)

For the LORD God is a sun and shield;the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

—Psalm 84:11 (NIV84)

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? — Romans 8:32 (NIV84)

Lord Jesus Christ, as I patiently wait for the blessing of Your Goodness towards me, open my eyes to see the ‘miracles’ already before me. Deaden my ears to the hissing lies of the sly snake. By Your Blood and in Your Name, Amen.

Pastor Mike

“More Gets Done”

Date: 02-08-15

Text: — Nehemiah 6:15-16 — ¹⁵So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. ¹⁶ When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God. [NIV84]

The Big Idea: When we yield to the Lord Jesus Christ and work together in rebuilding relationships, we get to witness a miracle.

My Thoughts:

Many of you are probably very familiar with the acronym, T.E.A.M. Together Everyone Accomplishes More. I believe this is very, very true. We see this in Nehemiah’s rebuilding the wall. But what we also see is nothing short of a miracle (see the above passage). Yes, the “M” could stand for this as well, but we do not accomplish it per se, though we are co-laborers. When we yield to the Lord Jesus Christ and work together in rebuilding relationships, we get to witness a miracle.

Lifestyle worshiper, do you believe this? Is this why you are reluctant to work with the team? You are not quite sure of the end result because you have been struggling so, so hard to repair the walls to no avail?

Good! Now you have learned that struggling in your own strength cannot do it. You must hoist your sails and catch the Wind of the Spirit. He will carry you along. He will empower you to do great things well beyond what you can think or imagine. Receive a fresh wind of hope this morning. The Lord is faithful: He will do “it”—in His time. Amen? Amen!

So, find your team. Pray for your team. And watch the Lord accomplish a miracle!

Scriptures to Renew Your Thoughts

I will praise You with the harp for Your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praise to You with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.

— Psalm 77:22 (NIV84)

But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one,

— 2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NIV84)

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.

— 1 Peter 4:10 (NIV84)

Lord Jesus Christ, forgive me for giving up hope while I have struggle to repair this relationship with _________. I ask You to infuse me with a fresh Hope and an inner strength that can only come from Your Holy Spirit. In Your Name, Amen.

Pastor Mike

“Same Information; Two Responses”

Date: 12-20-14

Text: — Matthew 2:7-13 — ⁷Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” ⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. ¹³ When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill Him.” [NIV84]

The Big Idea: It is critical what we do with divine revelation.

My Thoughts:

As a pastor and a minister of the gospel for almost 40 years it has fascinated me at the responses I would get from the same information: Some positive and joy filled; some contemptuous and hateful. I know it is not a surprise; Jesus warns us about this, but it still fascinates me nonetheless.

Lifestyle worshiper: Have you found this to be so, too? Perhaps you have discovered as I have that it is critical what we do with divine revelation: Our destinies depend on our decision.

The Magi took the information the scribes offered, made a diligent search, and worshiped the Child. King Herod heard the same information and order the execution of all children in Bethlehem two and under. This latter decision is extreme, to be sure, but what about the decisions short of worshiping the Child-King? Are their destinies any different than Herod’s (who, by the way, died a painful death)? Your thoughts.

Scriptures to Renew Your Thoughts

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

— Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV84)

Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did. — 1 John 2:6 (NIV84)

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. — James 1:22 (NIV84)

Heavenly Father, as I commit myself to follow the true Light , the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray I am singleminded. Keep my feet firmly walk ing in the Light as He is in the Light. May I hear His voice alone and obey His promptings. Empower me by Your Holy Spirit to live a life that is pleasing to You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Pastor Mike

No Joke, Really”

Date: 12-16-14

Text: — Matthew 2:1-2 — ¹After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” [NIV84]

The Big Idea: Open your eyes and pursue the Light in your winter.

My Thoughts:

It has been joked about and maligned a lot, but it is really no joke, at least not to the wisemen. In their long pursuit over hundreds of miles, they moved toward the light: They traveled by faith in the dark searching for the Light of the World as they followed the lights of the heavens.

(Now we know that the stars do not tell the fate of people but the Story of God, the creator, and this is what the wisemen unveiled as they interpreted the glory the heavens reveal. (See Psalm 19:1ff.))

Lifestyle worshiper: Are you pursuing the preverbal Light in your winter? Are you getting closer to the Light?

In one of Larry Norman’s songs he said, “You can’t see nothing when you close your eyes.” Indeed, it is heard to see the Light with our hands over our tightly closed eyes in fear of the dark. But when we open our eyes, they slowly become accustomed to the dark, and, in fact, the slightest light becomes ever so bright. And sometimes that slight, small light is merely a very bright light in the distance. We just need to walk through the darkness by faith towards it. It is then we will see what the Light reveals: The reward of our pursuit of the Light through our winter. Join me by opening our tightly closed eyes, and taking that first step of faith in the darkness toward the Light. Your thoughts?

Scriptures to Renew Your Thoughts

In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.

— John 1:4 (NIV84)

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

— John 8:12 (NIV84)

When [the Magi] saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

— Matthew 2:10-11 (NIV84)

Heavenly Father, strengthen my feeble knees as I take firmer steps toward Your Son, the Light of the World. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Pastor Mike

“Don’t Doubt in the Darkness”

Date: 11-26-14

Text: — Isaiah 7:10-14 — ¹⁰ Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, ¹¹ “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.” ¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.” ¹³ Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. [NIV84]

The Big Idea: Your winter may be dark and cold, but our Lord’s promise of Christmas is bright and warm.…

My Thoughts:

A while back I was at a conference where I heard the keynote speaker, Neil Anderson, bring a message with the big idea: “Don’t doubt in the darkness what God told you in the light.” It was a message I needed to hear then…, and now.

Lifestyle worshipers, we all walk through some valley of the shadow of death. Some valleys are darker then others; some are longer, but no matter how dark the valley or long the night, the Lord’s promises are not diminished, delayed or detoured. He is right there with you. Your winter may be dark and cold, but our Lord’s promise of Christmas is bright and warm.…

I have often reminded myself (just the other day, in fact) about the story of the disciples getting into the boat. “One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake” (Luke 8:22). He didn’t say, “let us stop in the middle of the lake and drown”; no, He promised they would get to the other side. Meanwhile, the Master took a nap and the sea boiled. The disciples entered a dark valley. The fishermen especially knew of the serious danger they were in: No wimps here.

Jesus said they were going to make it to the other side; He just didn’t say how or when. Brothers & Sisters, perhaps this story will encourage you to not doubt in the darkness what the Lord told you in the light? I know it does me. Your thoughts?

Scriptures to Renew Your Thoughts

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.

—2 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV84)

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

— 1 John 5:14-15 (NKJV)

For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for well-being, and not for calamity, in order to give you a future and a hope..

— Jeremiah 29:11 (ISV)

Lord Jesus Christ, forgive me for doubting Your promises to me. We will make it to the “other side.” I know You are ‘in the boat’ with me. My confidence is in You. As I wait for Your promised rainbow to appear, strengthen my inner most being. In Your Name, Amen.

Pastor Mike