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Tuesday, 03 February 2009 21:37 |
We need to have a conscientious purpose, and to be truly serving God with clear goals in mind. A plan and clear purpose that we believe in, will move and motivate us to accomplish the Lord's work. It can't just be a survival plan.
We need to know, understand, and believe in the purpose that God has saved us to do and fulfill.
Consider our fellow brother in prison (Bro Mark) who believes in the purpose and work he has to deal with souls. We also need to believe in and fulfill our purpose.
"Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation." Hebrews 3:12-15
There’s a strong spirit of unbelief in the world, in this age that we live in. The enemy wants to overcome us. He doesn’t want us to overcome the feelings of hopelessness, that the enemy so often uses on us. He wants us in a place where we feel there is no hope, where it becomes difficult to trust, and where we lose confidence. The Bible describes this as unbelief. It is an evil spirit that discourages people to a point that they lose sight of the promises of God and are not able to grasp hold of them and believe them.
Unbelief is subtle, it doesn't typically take over suddenly. Often it works when things do not go according to our expectations. When Jesus went to his own people, they wouldn’t believe. Jesus did not come to them as they expected the Christ to come.
Often unbelief works to cause people to retreat after a disappointment. The ultimate purpose of unbelief is for us to give up hope and not trust God. The apostles hopes were dashed when they saw the betrayal of Christ. They retreated. Later when a good report came of Jesus' resurrection, they found it difficult to believe it. Thomas said he would have to put his hand in Jesus’ side, before he could believe.
Unbelief is a real spirit that works hardness in the heart, and this is why Jesus had to chastise the apostles for their hardness of heart.
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I sometimes tell God, I just want to really feel you, feel your arms around me etc..
But I take comfort that the Lord was faithful to Thomas' unbelief and came to him personally and said, "Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands... and be not faithless, but believe."
Another time a father cried out, "Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief!" and again Jesus showed mercy and grace and compassion for that weakness. If we will but take an unbelieving heart to Christ and pray, "help thou my unbelief", surely he will not fail to fill us with belief and assurance!