Faith To Overcome Doubt

In the past, my Christian life has gone in cycles of highs and lows. Sometimes the lows will last a few weeks like when I start to feel overwhelmed with work and don't seem to make the time to spend time in the Word. One time the low point lasted several years when I thought that I knew what was best for my life.

If this happens to me, surely it has to happen to other believers as well...Right? And if so, what can we do to prevent it in the future?

I finally found the answer in James 1:2-8.

2 - Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
3 - because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
4 - Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
5 - If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
6 - But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
7 - That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;
8 - he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

As Christians, we all are going to go through times when our faith is tested. However, God will never give us something that we aren't able to overcome if we stand strong in our faith. ( I Corinthians 10:13 ). When our faith is tested and it withstands the test, we grow stronger in our faith ( v3-4).

However, when our doubts overwhelm our faith the problems begin. The times when we ask God for strength but do not believe that He can carry us through, that is when we become "blown and tossed in the wind." Our doubting of the power of God prevents our faith from growing. To make matters worse, our doubts also prevent us from receiving the blessings that He wants to give us.

My memory verse for the week will be I Peter 5:6-7

6 - Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,
7 - casting all you anxiety on Him, because he cares for you.

The newest member of our family

Our house now contains 2 adults, 3 children, a dog and Kiki, the cat. Unfortunately, sometime in the past 7 years I have developed an allergy to felines. Only time will tell if she becomes a permanent member.

The Shepherd

My wife and I teach the younger kids ( Kindergarten -> 5th grade ) on Wednesday nights at our Church. This past week we taught about 'Worry' and the focal passage was Psalms 23:4. The following is the story that I wrote to help the kids understand the role of a shepherd and his sheep.


The day was warm and sunny. The shepherd had led his flock of sheep to a small valley next to a stream and a small hill. The place was perfect; the shepherd was able to sit and relax in the warm sun on this hill while the sheep ate and played below.

Occasionally, one of the sheep would wander a little away from the others and the shepherd would have to pick up his rod and staff and walk down into the valley to urge the sheep back to the rest of the group. Sometimes the sheep wanted to be playful and try to run away, but the shepherd was patient and used his staff to guide the sheep back to where it should go because he knew the grass was better near the river and the sheep could have all they wanted to drink.

Unfortunately, since the area was such a nice place to relax and drink, the wolves in the area knew that they could sometimes sneak up another animals and get a quick dinner. It just so happened that there were two wolves that wandered by this day. Seeing the flock of sheep, they approached as close as possible without making a sound. Suddenly, they charged into the sheep scattering them in all directions.

Choosing a single sheep from the group, they started chasing it up the hill, but they did not expect to run into the shepherd.

The shepherd had seen the wolves approaching and had headed down to the valley. The wolves were so focused on capturing the lamb, the never saw the big human swinging at them with his weapons – the rod and staff. Both wolves were wounded and ran away, leaving the lamb with his protector.

Busy Day

Wednesday is always a busy day for me that does not leave a lot of extra time for writing a post for the blog. Instead, I thought I'd share a video that I found on Tangle.com ( formerly know as GodTube.com )



The boy is calling a Christian Radio station and it is interesting to note that the caller is only 13 years old.