Joh 20:24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
Joh 20:25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
I have mentioned Thomas before, I believe he has been given a bad rap. After all how many of us in that instance would have acted differently?
But Thomas is not the subject just the lead in here.
He is not the only one given to the need of the tangible.
Gideon needed a sign, a fleece.
The children of Israel had a cloud in the day and a pillar of fire at night. They had manna and quail provided for them for years.
John the Baptist in jail needed reassurance.
Elijah needed reassurance that all was not lost after defeating Ahab and baal.
The point here is that these examples given us in the Word needed tangible proof at one time or another, and quite a few of them walked and talked with Christ! They ate with Him, saw Him do things never done before.
We as humans have a short term memory issue, we seem to forget what He has done for us before and constantly worry if He will come through yet again.
We have a need for the physical proof, just as they did way back when.. The Israelite spent 40 yrs in the desert because they forgot the works and provisions of God. They saw things that we could never dream of and they forgot!
The red sea dividing, Moses coming down the mountain bathed in the glory of God.
Yet they grumbled, murmured, and forgot God.
Joh_20:29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Blessed are those that have not seen and have believed. We have not seen yet we believe. We are blessed.
Yet how often do we go through those times of doubt and little faith?
How often do we ask for a sign?
This is not a weakness as long as we do not dwell there. It is not a sin to question, nor is it a sin to wonder.
We are human we need tangibles.
We need to see, feel, hear, taste and know our God is real.
How many times have I looked at the sky and said Really? This is what I get?
How many times have I asked if He was real?\
How many times have I lost sight of the objective?
Yet how many times has He come through for us and we revel in His grace, mercy and love then a day or two later we turn around and ask if that really happened. Was it coincidence?
We get out of the moment of victory and start to forget.
Write down the prayers then follow up with the answers and how they happened. Refresh the memory, keep a record of the miracles we asked for. The day to day stuff, the big events, all of it.
Satan will go out of his way to work doubt in, take that room out for him. Keep a record, don't give him or your own mind the ability to work doubt in.
John recorded things for us so that we may know. Keep a record read it reread it as needed so you may know.
That will be your tangibility factor.
Defeat the need for a sign or doubt by keeping a record of your prayers, your needs you bring to Him and His answers.
Don't just write the prayers and then mark them off when answered.
Write down every detail of how they were answered to give coincidence as little room as possible as you get further away from the event.
God comes through for you, your memory fades, your mind makes less of it, doubt creeps in...
Be proactive.
1Jn 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
1Jn 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
1Jn 5:15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
John wrote that We may know. Do the same that you may know.
Joh 20:25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
I have mentioned Thomas before, I believe he has been given a bad rap. After all how many of us in that instance would have acted differently?
But Thomas is not the subject just the lead in here.
He is not the only one given to the need of the tangible.
Gideon needed a sign, a fleece.
The children of Israel had a cloud in the day and a pillar of fire at night. They had manna and quail provided for them for years.
John the Baptist in jail needed reassurance.
Elijah needed reassurance that all was not lost after defeating Ahab and baal.
The point here is that these examples given us in the Word needed tangible proof at one time or another, and quite a few of them walked and talked with Christ! They ate with Him, saw Him do things never done before.
We as humans have a short term memory issue, we seem to forget what He has done for us before and constantly worry if He will come through yet again.
We have a need for the physical proof, just as they did way back when.. The Israelite spent 40 yrs in the desert because they forgot the works and provisions of God. They saw things that we could never dream of and they forgot!
The red sea dividing, Moses coming down the mountain bathed in the glory of God.
Yet they grumbled, murmured, and forgot God.
Joh_20:29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Blessed are those that have not seen and have believed. We have not seen yet we believe. We are blessed.
Yet how often do we go through those times of doubt and little faith?
How often do we ask for a sign?
This is not a weakness as long as we do not dwell there. It is not a sin to question, nor is it a sin to wonder.
We are human we need tangibles.
We need to see, feel, hear, taste and know our God is real.
How many times have I looked at the sky and said Really? This is what I get?
How many times have I asked if He was real?\
How many times have I lost sight of the objective?
Yet how many times has He come through for us and we revel in His grace, mercy and love then a day or two later we turn around and ask if that really happened. Was it coincidence?
We get out of the moment of victory and start to forget.
Write down the prayers then follow up with the answers and how they happened. Refresh the memory, keep a record of the miracles we asked for. The day to day stuff, the big events, all of it.
Satan will go out of his way to work doubt in, take that room out for him. Keep a record, don't give him or your own mind the ability to work doubt in.
John recorded things for us so that we may know. Keep a record read it reread it as needed so you may know.
That will be your tangibility factor.
Defeat the need for a sign or doubt by keeping a record of your prayers, your needs you bring to Him and His answers.
Don't just write the prayers and then mark them off when answered.
Write down every detail of how they were answered to give coincidence as little room as possible as you get further away from the event.
God comes through for you, your memory fades, your mind makes less of it, doubt creeps in...
Be proactive.
1Jn 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
1Jn 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
1Jn 5:15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
John wrote that We may know. Do the same that you may know.
No comments:
Post a Comment