Do You Want to Get Better? Part 2

Posted on April 24, 2015 by dkoop

Jesus QuestionsJohn 5:6 “6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him ‘Do you want to get well?’”

Why would Jesus ask him that?  Perhaps it’s because Jesus knew, you can’t just help someone who needs help.  You can only help someone who wants help!  “Do you want to be made well?”

Sometimes people ask, “What is the greatest hindrance to faith?  Some think, “Doubt is the biggest obstacle to faith.”  Some think, “Fear is the greatest obstacle to faith.”  Some think, “Worry is the greatest obstacle to faith.”  All good answers …

I believe that “the familiar” is the biggest obstacle to faith.  People say, “But you don’t understand, I’ve tried everything possible!  They start to accept what is, rather than believing what could be.  “Don’t you know, I’m just an average student.  I knew that in the second grade, and I know it today.”  “Our family – we’ve struggled financially for years.  My parents did, I do, my kids probably will.  That’s just the way it is.”  “We’re just all overweight.  It’s genetic, it is what it is.”  “You don’t understand.  I’ve tried to overcome this addiction, but I just cannot seem to do it.”

Our desire must be bigger than the disability.  Do you want to be made well?  Are you compensating by making excuses?  Yes, you’re discouraged, but you’re simply used to living where you are.  I believe the Spirit of God today would ask you, “Do you really want to be well?”

Do you really want to be out of debt?  Is shopping your drug of choice?  You may say you want it, but your actions do not.  Do you really want to overcome the addiction?  Some people are more comfortable in the known.  You think, “I know what it’s like to be in this prison, and I may not like it, but at least I know what it’s like.”  Do you really want to find healing in a relationship?  Do you really want to be made well?

You can’t help someone who just needs help.  You can only help someone who wants help.  We cannot change what we’re willing to tolerate.  Until your desire becomes bigger than your disability, you will not start to find healing.  So, Jesus asked a question, “Do you want to be well?”

tx_leander_theridgefellowship_3DPromoCover At our church we see people change all the time. Just get a copy of our book, “Dark side of the Soul,” seven stories of life change from our Leander location.  It’s free for every guest in Leander and we mail them out.  For years something persisted in these seven people’s lives then by the power of God, they changed.

That which was their greatest misery is now their greatest ministry.

That will speak to somebody, because there is something that’s holding you down, or holding you back, and you’ve been miserable with it for years.  And when God heals you after all that time He get’s the glory.  “God healed my headaches.”  “God healed my cancer.”  “God helped me overcome my fears.”  And the longer that it’s persisted, the more glory you’re going to give God, because you’re going to realize you couldn’t do it on your own!  You needed a power greater than that which you had, and the Risen Christ came on the scene.

The guy says, “I’ve got no one to help me.”  And Jesus looks at this guy and says this: “Get up!  Pick up your mat and walk.”

Jesus heals the guy, supernaturally.  Notice three things:

  1. The sick guy didn’t even ask to be healed.
  2. He did nothing to earn it, or deserve it.
  3. The healing did not happen in the way he thought it would. This is going to speak to somebody.  Jesus did for him what he didn’t even ask Jesus to do.

This is one of the million reasons why your greatest priority in life is to KNOW Jesus Christ  This is part of our mission at The Ridge.   As you KNOW Christ as you get close to Jesus – He will do things for you, you didn’t even ask Him to do!  He’ll bring healing in your life, in areas where you didn’t even know you needed healing.  He’ll change your thought processes, in ways that you didn’t even know you were dysfunctional.  He’ll bring forgiveness and healing into your heart, in areas where you didn’t even know you were sick.  When you get close to Jesus, He will do things for you, you didn’t even ask Him to do.

Notice, the guy didn’t deserve it.  He didn’t earn it.  Jesus did not heal this man because he was good.  Jesus healed the man because Jesus was good.  And that’s His grace!  We can’t earn it.  We’re not good enough for it.  We can’t give our way to get it.  We can’t work our way to get it.  He gives us blessings untold because of His goodness, and because of His grace, and for His glory He did this.

Lastly the healing didn’t come in the way the man thought it would.  He thought, “If I can just get in the water, I’ll be healed.”  The healing didn’t come through the water!

Perhaps, you’ve been searching for the healing in a particular way, and it may not come that way.  It may come through the Living Water, Jesus, who does something in a way you did not even expect.

Perhaps, you’re in financial trouble, and you keep buying lottery tickets.  Thus sayeth your pastor:  “It’s not coming through lottery tickets.”  You expect it through one way, and God may bring you a blessing, a healing, a transformation, in some way that you never, ever even expected it before.  That’s the power of our good God.

Jesus says to him, “Get up!  Pick up your mat and walk.”  Jesus essentially said, “No need for excuses.  I want to see your faith.  Don’t you tell Me what you can’t do and what other people will not do for you.  I want to see you stand up, and you walk.  I will do for you what you cannot do, but I want you to do what only you can do.  I’m going to touch you.  I’m going to heal you.  But I want to see your faith do what, for 38 years, you have not been able to do.  I want you to have the courage and the faith to step away from the familiar, because the familiar is often the greatest hindrance to faith.  And you’re going to have to have faith to stand up, when you think your legs are not capable of supporting you.”

This may speak to you because you’re going to take a step of faith to overcome a problem that you gave up on years ago.  I don’t know what it’ll look like for you.  You may drop your cigarettes in the garbage can as you walk out the door.  You may confess to your Growth Group a problem where you need help and ask for prayer.  James 5:16 says, “Confess your faults to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed” Revealing is the beginning of healing. You may check yourself into rehab, or call a counselor.  It will take a significant step of faith, because you’re a bright person.  If some small tweak would have helped you overcome this problem, you would have done that years ago.  God is going to touch you, and you’re going to take a step of faith, and for some of you, you will experience healing through that step.

Or you may be on the beginning process of a journey that leads toward healing.  You thought it was going to come through the water.  You had no idea the presence of God was going to meet you, and you were going to be touched by the power of the Holy Spirit, and it would spark something in you that only God could do.  And other people are going to ask, “Why do you have such hope?  Why do you have such freedom?”  You will say, “I can’t explain it, but God was with me and spoke to me.  You see, I experienced Christ on this day.  I felt His love on this day. I have hope, because I’ve been with Christ.”

Do you want to be well?  Do you want to overcome the addiction that has held you hostage?  Do you want to be free of worry, and anxiety, and fear that keeps you up at night?  Do you want to be free of an angry spirit that hurts every relationship you’re ever even around?  Do you want to overcome the inability to trust people, so that you can begin to trust and have intimacy once again?  Do you believe that God is able to do anything, and heal you of any physical sickness?  Do you want to be made well?  Because God isn’t just going to help someone who needs help, He helps those who want help.  Do you want to be well?

Let me pray for you, “Father, I pray that Your power, Your love, Your Spirit, and Your presence would minister faith, hope, and healing. Thank You for Your healing power through Jesus.  God, I pray that, by Your power, You would do miracles, just like you have done in so many others lives. Now, God, I know that You’re going to work, I also know that You don’t want to hear our excuses.  You want to see our faith.  I pray, God, that we would take steps of faith, appropriate steps of faith, as You lead us, and God, You would see our faith, be pleased by it, And we thank You, God.  You may do them in a way that we do not expect.  And we’ll give You all the glory because You are the only One worthy of praise.”

In Jesus Name Amen.

www.RidgeFellowship.com

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“Do I Want to Get Better?” Part 1

Posted on April 24, 2015 by dkoop

Jesus QuestionsThink about this question through the lens of any ongoing long-term problem that you might have.  We all have different problems, but which ones persist and stay with you?

You may have ongoing medical issues or an ongoing problem with overspending, or overeating, or overcommitting.  It might be an addiction that just won’t go away or an ongoing challenge in a relationship.  This is the context of today’s passage.

John 5:1-9 says, “1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.  2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.”

A pool by the Sheep Gate?  I don’t know who the master planner was for this community, but I don’t want to swim or drink from a pool by the Sheep Gate.

This isn’t a regular pool, this is a natural body of water, and a gathering place.  Verse 3 says, “Here a great number of disabled people used to lie – the blind, the lame, [and] the paralyzed.”

You may think, “What were they doing there?  Were they all getting a suntan?”  There was a tradition that an angel would stir up the water, and whenever the water bubbled up, they believed that whoever got in the water first would be healed.

They might wait days, or weeks, and then as soon as the water bubbles up, it’s a free-for-all to see who can rush and get in the water first.

Verse 5 says, “One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.”   He’s been there for 38 years!

“6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him ‘Do you want to get well?’”

That seems like an insulting question, doesn’t it?  That’s like asking a broke guy, “Do you want a hundred bucks?”  It’s like asking a hungry guy, “Do you want to go to an all-you-can-eat buffet?”  It’s like my wife asking me, “Do you want to make out?”  This is an obvious question, “Do you want to be made well?”   “Yes, I want to be made well!”

The man says:  7 “Sir,” the invalid [replies], “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred.  While I am trying to get in, [somebody] else goes down ahead of me.”  8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up!  Pick up your mat and walk.”  9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

A moment in the presence of Jesus changed everything for this man.

I want to look at problems that persist.  For 38 years, this man was sick.  A moment in the presence of Jesus changed everything.

I see at least three significant challenges for problems that persist,

1. The longer a problem persists, the more discouraged we become. Some of us, we’ve had an ongoing problem – it just won’t go away.   You’ve prayed about it for a while, but nothing happened, and you tried what you thought might help it, and nothing worked.  You become discouraged.  You tried to work on your marriage, and you prayed about it, and you were nice, and you maybe went to church together, but your marriage is still bad.  And years later, you think, “I don’t believe anything’s going to help.”  You prayed about some physical problem you have, and you went to some doctor, and you tried another doctor, and you tried another doctor, and you prayed some more, and nothing got better, and you just get very discouraged, even to the point of thinking, “Maybe this is just what God has for me.”

I cannot even imagine what people I know and love, who have real challenges that last not for few months, but for years …  It can be incredibly discouraging.

2. The longer a problem persists, the more excuses we make. Why? Because, ultimately, it’s going to make us feel better if we put the blame somewhere else.  And that’s what this guy does.  He says, “Jesus, I have no one to help me get into the water.  When I try to go in there, I can’t walk, and they all run by me, and I’m just left there, completely helpless and hopeless.  No one can help me.”

Now, I don’t want to be hard on this guy, at all, because I’ve never been disabled, and, certainly, it would be difficult.  But let’s be honest.  There might have been a way for him to get close to the water.  He couldn’t walk, but he might have been able to crawl.  Or scoot, or do the Inchworm or whatever it takes to get there.

This guy gets to the place that we often get: “No one will help me out.  I can’t do anything about this.  Oh, my marriage, it is never, ever going to get any better.”  “I’ve been to the doctors, and I’ve tried.”  “And I can’t ever get a good job, because I don’t have a college degree.”  “I went to counseling once, and it didn’t do any good.  I even tried church, for two weeks straight, and nothing happened!  I’ve tried everything, and I can’t get any better.”

3.  The longer a problem persists, the more we compensate for that problem.

Are you compensating for an issue in your life?  Perhaps, you are highly functioning alcoholic.  Sure, it puts a stress on your marriage.  Yes, it’s a challenge for your children.  But, professionally, you’re highly functioning.  People don’t know, and if they do know, they don’t really care, because you figured out how to manage around it, and you’re highly functioning, even though you have a significant addiction.

Perhaps in your marriage, you’ve just learned to exist in a dead marriage.  You don’t like it, but you accept it – just the way it is.  You’ve tried everything you know to do, and yet, you have no common vision.  There is no intimacy.  There’s no spiritual movement.  You’re not trying to invest or impart anything significant into your children.  It’s more of a business relationship, a partnership: “We’re just going to stay together for the sake of the kids.  This is all we have.  We don’t really like it, but we know how to manage it.  We’re just going to stay in this.”

Perhaps you’ve learned to compensate for a pornography problem.  You tell yourself, “It doesn’t really matter that much” and you’ve learned to erase the traps.  You’ve learned to stay away from getting caught, and you think it’s not that big of a deal.  But you’re just compensating.

Perhaps you’ve learned to compensate for your overspending.  People look at you and think, “you’ve got it going on!”  They have no idea you’ve been living paycheck to paycheck for so long, you don’t even know how you’re going to get out of trouble.  And you’re the master at maxing out this credit card, and that credit card.  You’re robbing Peter to pay Paul, and you’ve learned to compensate for it.

Here’s the issue.  We cannot change what we are willing to tolerate.

In the next post we will examine, How to get better.

www.RidgeFellowship.com

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Why Do You Doubt?

Posted on April 16, 2015 by dkoop

Jesus QuestionsHave you ever felt like you missed something big that everyone else seemed to know? Have you ever felt like you were not spiritual enough because of you have some doubts?

Have you ever felt like you could really believe even more in Jesus if you could have an experience with him?  If you have ever felt this or anything like this you would be in good company with Thomas.

I think that Thomas gets a bum rap. Whenever someone mentions Thomas, they don’t just say “Thomas”, they always say “Doubting Thomas” as if there were a bunch of people named Thomas in the Bible and it is necessary to say “Doubting” to get the right one. I have a news flash for you. Thomas is the only Thomas in the Bible. Thomas is enough.  The guy has caught grief for 2000 years.  I really feel for the guy. He is often singled out as having an inferior faith because he actually expressed his doubt in the resurrection. He made his reservations known out-loud. And because of that he the poster child for skepticism.

It is important to note that Jesus was not offended or angered by the request Thomas made. Jesus responds with love and kindness.

WHAT ABOUT DOUBT?  (John 20:24-29)

Thomas struggle with doubt is found in John 20:24-29. This is Jesus’ 6th appearance after His resurrection, exactly one week later. The rumors had been flying, but many people still claimed to have seen Him, including most of His disciples, except Thomas. Thomas had not been around when Jesus appeared to the other disciples behind locked doors 7 days before recorded by Luke.  Note that they doubted too!

Jesus said, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see. Luke 24:36-39a

Maybe Thomas just didn’t know where the disciples had gathered. They were scattered after the arrest and were in hiding. It is easy to imagine that Thomas had gone off on his own and had not found his way to the rest of the group. Thomas was probably Galilean. I would not be surprised if he left the city entirely, maybe he even went home, and did not come back until he realized that none of the others had left. Maybe he was with the group, but had left on some errand.
24 One of the disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came.

 I Will Miss Opportunities To Experience Jesus If I Separate Myself From The Community Of Faith.

I am not sure where Thomas was but I do know one thing. When we separate ourselves from the community of faith, it is not unusual for us to miss an experience with Jesus. We talk about finding God when we are alone with nature, but the reality is that we are more likely to encounter God when we are with other believers.

I thought about this in my own life, experiences with God, how he helps me with messages, gives me direction, convicts me of sin, but the greatest experiences by far were when I was gathered with other believers.  There have been profound insights I learned in church, Sunday school, Growth Groups, times when I felt the Holy Spirit so strongly. Here at The Ridge Fellowship I often have a tear of joy, gratitude or are moved deeply when we sing.  I was talking to someone this past week that came here and then has not been in a while and they described coming and feeling the Holy Sprit all around them. I’ll never forget when I felt the Jesus knocking on the door of my heart and I accepted him at a revival service when I was 11 years old.  Or when I was baptized, when I was called into the ministry, (by the way at the time some of these things didn’t make a lot of sense to me until later) but I could not deny the experience that God had showed up.  These incredible experiences were in the company of others, not on some lake fishing or on a golf course somewhere.  This is how Jesus works.

We don’t know where Thomas was that first day. Perhaps due to fear, depression, disillusionment, discouragement, withdrawal seemed to be his only method of dealing with the supposed loss of his friend and master, Jesus.
When you get depressed, where do you go? Do you run from others? Do you hide? Do you get away from it all? Do you pretend it’s not happening? Or do you get with others who could help you? It’s OK to hurt, to be disillusioned. It’s OK to be depressed from time to time. It’s OK to not be perfect, or functioning perfectly 100% of the time. You certainly don’t need to escape from reality for long periods of time when you’re hurt. It has been my experience that this is a church that people can turn to in troubles, not run away from. When you separate yourself is when you miss Jesus.

25 They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

  • It’s Ok To Have Legitimate Doubt.

Notice how Thomas deals with his doubt. He brings it into the open. He isn’t hostile or unpleasant. He just doesn’t believe it and he says so. He says, “Show me.” He also doesn’t leave the group. Even though he is now something of an outsider, he hangs in there and gives things time to work themselves out. This is not some excuse. He is willing to be shown.  That’s why I say “Legitimate Doubt” some people claim to have doubt but it’s a smoke screen or an excuse to live the way the want to live.  In other words deep down they would say, “I would rather live my life the way I feel like it than follow Christ. I would rather be a material girl and spend all my money on me then to follow Christ.

Let’s play a little game. I’ll put a word, and you think of its opposite. Don’t be shy just think of the first word that comes to mind.

Up ______, Black______, Girl ______, Faith ______

That last one is tougher isn’t it? What exactly is the opposite of faith? Lee Strobel says the opposite of faith is NOT doubt.  The opposite of faith is unbelief, or unwillingness to believe. All people of faith, have times of doubt or areas of doubt in their lives. All the heroes of faith struggled with doubts, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and David, Job and Jonah and on and on.

Imagine for a moment that you are a teacher. One student spends the day staring out the window or nodding off to sleep. The second pays attention but not fully because they have the uncanny ability to regurgitate everything back on exams. The third is full of questions and obviously wrestles with everything you say. They test and try to see if what you say is true especially during homework. Which student will actually believe what you have taught? The second student may get the better grades, but the third student is the one who has internalized the lesson. Doubts and objections are a sign that the student is engaged and growing.

Doubt can be like a fork in the road. We can use our doubt as an opportunity to mature our faith and grow in our relationship, or we can use it as an excuse to isolate ourselves and pull away. “Doubting Thomas” became “Believing Thomas” because he stayed with the other disciples in spite of his doubts. He was rewarded with a closer knowledge of Christ.

What about you? Are you discouraged? In your relationship with the Lord, has something happened to bring doubts into your mind? Are you looking for proof of Jesus’ love, of God’s power, of the Spirit’s usefulness in your life?  Well, the good news is, even as Thomas was looking for proof, proof came looking for him!

26 Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said.

  • Am I Seeking Jesus?  …He Will Find Me.

Behind closed, locked doors of fear, Jesus once again appeared. He met the confused and frustrated followers where they were at, not simply waiting for them to rise to His level. And something very encouraging Jesus looked right at Thomas, the one who loved Jesus but got lost in doubts, and singled him out. If you are lost, Jesus is looking for you. The Bible says He would leave the 99 to find the lost 1. If you were the only one who needed it, He would come looking for you.

I stick up for poor ole Thomas. And I think his reputation needs a little polishing. He really wasn’t such a bad guy. In fact, he was no different from the other disciples; he was just a week late! The other disciples also needed a personal encounter with the risen Jesus JUST AS MUCH AS THOMAS DID. Until Jesus appeared all of them reacted with fear and disbelief.

Faith and understanding began only after Jesus made himself known personally to each of them. And isn’t it exactly the same for us. We remain with doubts and fears until the Lord comes through the locked doors of our hearts. The miraculous news in all of this is that Jesus searches and finds us.  The stone door that sealed the tomb couldn’t stop him. He had conquered death and he was going to make it known to his friends and to the world. And no flimsy wooden door could stop him from coming into the disciples’ room! And when they saw him they were changed. We all need a personal encounter with the Lord before we can declare, “my Lord and my God.” A second-hand Jesus just will never do. We need God to break into our locked hearts and to give us that encounter.  That’s what Jesus did for Thomas and that’s what he wants to do for you.

 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”

  • Jesus Invites Me To Experience Him

Jesus responds to this in a way that many churches would not. So often in churches, we’re quick to get an attitude. “If you don’t believe like we believe, take a hike! Hit the road! Adios! Happy trails loser!  And yet Jesus doesn’t do that. Look what He said:

“Put your finger in there. Look at my hands. Reach out your hand, and put it in this hole in my side. TOUCH IT… EXPERIENCE IT… LIVE IT… BREATHE IT… EAT IT… SLEEP IT… LIVE IT… And once you experience me, it will result in faith it will result in your believing.

Jesus was saying,  “Whatever you have to do, do it. Whatever it takes for you to get to the place of faith do it. He was saying, “I’m opening the door. I’m giving you the leeway. I’m giving you the opportunity to substantiate this faith for yourself, to explore every logical line of thought. I’m giving myself to you, to find out what you need to find out, in order that your faith might be perfected.”

That’s really what He’s looking for anyway.  He’s got enough half-hearted followers. He’s looking for someone who really wants to experience Him.  He wants someone who wants to live for him, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We’re all in God’s employment.  But He’s looking for career Christ followers.  He’s had enough weekend warriors, part-time employees. He’s had enough fill in work. He’s had enough seasonal labor. He’s looking for someone full time, all the time.

And I’m going to be honest with you unless you’ve had a Thomas kind of experience, you can’t be that kind of Christian; unless you’ve had an intimate experience with Him; until you’ve familiarized yourself with the scars that liberated you; until you’ve seen the place where the blood flowed; unless you’ve seen the nail prints that bought your freedom; until then, you can’t live the way He wants you to.

Jesus has a heart for a generation like Thomas, a generation that has to touch Him. For a generation that isn’t just going to settle for the story they have to live it for themselves. I see that in many in our church.  They help and make a difference, teach the children, help with the youth.  We have high percentage of people involved in serving.   We are not just going to talk about missions or send money we are going to go!  It is truly amazing that a church we have gone to Mexico, Alaska, Guatemala, India, Nepal, Uganda, Kenya and this summer to Trinidad.  Jesus has a heart for that generation.

I’ve got news for you.  Jesus wants you to experience Him!  “Reach out with your finger.” In other words, “Your exploring this is okay. I welcome your curiosity about my divinity.” “Look at my hands.” In other words, “EXAMINE ME. I can stand up to your inspection. “Put your hand in my side”  In other words, “Delve into me, if that’s what it takes you to figure me out.”

Are you a Thomas? Is seeing believing for you? I’m inviting you to a Faith that is HANDS ON. This isn’t just a story that’s demanding a blind faith. Look what happened in Thomas, He walked in with doubt. He TOUCHED CHRIST. And He walked out with an intimate relationship.
28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. 29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

  • What’s Keeping Me From Believing In Jesus?

You see, Thomas wasn’t a doubter – he just wanted something to believe in. He wasn’t content with what others said – he had to experience it himself. He wanted to use his eyes to see what he could commit his life to. He wanted to be sure of what he wanted to commit his life to.

And Jesus wants to do the same for you. He wants to show up behind the closed doors of your life, and say, “See how I died for you,” and then call you to live for Him, a life fuller and more abundant, more prosperous and useful. He wants to take you past the doubts in your life that hold you back from serving Him with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul and all your strength. He is calling you to a cause bigger than yourself. The risen Lord Jesus is calling you to new life following Him. And if you don’t live with a passion and purpose, meaning and fulfillment, you haven’t found all that Jesus died to give you.
What will it take for you to trust Him in faith in all issues in your life: financial, emotional, spiritual, sexual, relational, or marital?

What will it take for you to believe that you matter to God? What will it take for you to believe that if people need Jesus not only for eternity but also for today? What will it take for you to believe that God made you to be included in the process to bring them back to Him? What will it take for you to believe that church is not a matter of do’s and don’ts but of relationships? What will it take for you to believe that God loves you just exactly the way you are, but loves you too much to let you stay that way? What will it take for you to believe that He wants to take you further in your walk instead of letting you stagnate like maybe you’ve been doing for too long? What will it take for you to believe that there’s more for you than coming week after week, festering in that critical nature, judging all that happens around you, sitting back waiting to be entertained?

I want to encourage you to deeper walk of faith, for some of you put your MONEY where your mouth is, for some of you get in the game, SERVE. I am calling you to step up in faith. Trust His Word on all levels. Take Him at His Word. He is calling you to fall in love with Him. And He’s calling you to do all you can for as long as you can to help others fall in love with Him.

Are you still living with regret? Living in the darkness?  Jesus is here today to warm your heart, to show you the light and he asks you to join him in a cause that is exciting and life changing.  Reaching people for Jesus, helping them KNOW Him, and helping people GROW like Jesus.  Perhaps you can relate to Thomas. Will you give your missed opportunities to Jesus?  Will you say Jesus, I do want to know you, help me to see you help me to experience you.

Darrell

www.RidgeFellowship.com

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Five Ways to Overcome Doubt

Posted on April 4, 2015 by dkoop

Jesus Questions1.  Identify My Object Of Faith

We all have faith.  But in what do we have faith in?  Our personal abilities to pull ourselves up by our own boot straps?  Our family?  Our friends?  Our ideals about life?   Our faith must be invested in something that is solid.   The object of my faith is Jesus Christ.  He is the one who is God in human flesh, who had 456 specific prophetic facts to describe his birth, life and death before they came to be.  These prophecies were given 700-1400 years before he lived.  The odds are impossible of one person fulfilling all these, the evidence for his life are overwhelming, the evidence of his resurrection are overwhelming.  All these things have been recorded in 66 different books by 40 different authors over a period of 1600 years on three continents that agree on Jesus and there is historical and archaeological evidence for what is recorded in the Bible, which is still the top selling book every year.

“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.”  1 Corinthians 3:11-12

I know I can’t get to heaven on my own or forgive my own sins or save myself.  I place my faith in someone who can has lots of evidence for who they say they are.  Jesus.

2. Make an Informed Decision

 We have much evidence for the Christian faith.  We can make an informed decision.  For example:

Let’s say I asked you to take a guess about something in my pocket.  Then I put my hand in my pocket and took something out.   If you took a guess, what would you guess?

A coin?  Chapstick? a toothpick?  A business card?

How do you know its not an elephant?

You would make an educated guess to the best of your ability. You would fairly sure it has to be something that will fit in a pocket and that is normally in a pocket.  This is an informed decision.

Then if I told you, “It’s a dollar.” You can choose to believe or not.

I am telling you it’s true but you have not seen it.  That’s faith.  Hebrews says faith is the evidence of things not seen.”

If I choose to reward your faith, I open my hand to reveal the dollar.  Now its no longer faith its knowledge.

Sometimes people think that faith is knowing something is true beyond a shadow of a doubt whatsoever.  God has not subjected himself to that kind of proof.  Instead we have to rely on convincing evidence and make an informed decision.

Faith believes in something without having all the complete information.  [Hebrews 11:1] defines faith this way…

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  (KJV) Hebrew 11:1    That is how the Bible defines faith.

 

  1. Go Where Faith is

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another.”  Hebrews 10:25

 If you want to grow a garden, you wouldn’t go to the North Pole would you?  You’d go where a garden will flourish.  If you’re going to “do faith” then you’re probably not going to go join an atheist support group either?  You’re going to want to spend more time around people who you respect for their life, their mind, their character, and their faith.  Get around people whom you can learn from.  Watch their life.  Like the people in  Acts 2:44,

44And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had.”

 They did life together…they learned from one another and they leaned on one another for support.  The Ridge could be that place for you.

When our kids get sick, we often wonder who they caught it from, because sickness gets passed around.  Even though faith is not literally contagious like that, we benefit when we hang around people with a strong faith. They tend to anchor us, reassure us and give us new confidence. They probably don’t have a strong faith by accident.

These are probably people who have instituted in their lives some spiritual practices and disciplines that have helped strengthen their faith over time. We can learn from that. This is why Growth Groups are so important!  It’s a place where you can get into a group and learn from more mature believers and how they have built a strong faith.

  1. Consume Faith Building Materials

“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.”  Philippians 4:8

In other words, read the Bible.  Find some books that can build up your faith.  Books that build strong motivation for faith, that clarify the nature of God, that examines the evidence of Christianity that deal intelligently with the critic of faith, etc.

 5.  Step Out in Faith

“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me-put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”   Phil 4:9

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”  “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. Matthew 14:28-29

 Jesus is saying that you need to do more than gain knowledge about faith, but you need to experience knowledge about faith.  Do what faith does.  FAITH IS A VERB

It’s like riding a bicycle.  My older children Kaleb and Noel  have learned how to ride a bike.  We didn’t have them read books and watch videos on how to ride a bike.  They went outside, got on their bike and began to learn, experientially.  They had to get the feel of it.  They fell down.  Noel once learned a valuable lesson about brakes.  Noel took her bike to the top of our driveway and got going down pretty fast but didn’t know how to use the brakes and ran into Niki’s parked car.  But each time Kaleb or Noel fell down, they learned something new about staying on the bike and riding it.  Faith works much the same way.  It’s about action, it’s about experimenting and gaining experiential knowledge.  You can believe all you want, but at some point you’re going to have to sit on faith, put your hands on the handle bars, feel the grips in your hands and start pedaling.  And you will discover what myself and millions of others across the world have discovered…

CHRISTIANITY ISN’T TRUE BECAUSE IT WORKS, IT WORKS BECAUSE IT’S TRUE!

*I want to unapologetically say that it is so much more fun, riding the bike than reading about it, or watching a video about it!  Some of you have been auditing Christianity for a while, it’s time to get on the bike!  It’s time to go to the soup kitchen, to go on a mission trip to Trinidad or Guatemala or elp in the children’s classes.  You have been gifted, and equipped enough.  Step out in faith.  Yes it will be scary. Just ask our ministry leaders.  None of them had prior experience in what they’re doing.  I remember them saying, “I sense God is calling me to do this, but I’m very scared.” “I don’t feel ready or experienced enough” One of our Growth Group leaders who is so effective, I encouraged her to lead a group and it seemed to go against every fiber of her fear, but now that she is sailing, with wind in hair, she’ll say, “It’s exciting to be used by God and to see him work, I don’t know why I ever waited so long!”

My faith is stronger and deeper now than it was 10 years ago.  But I’ve got bumps and scrapes that I’ve experienced along the way.  I still struggle with doubts.  There are still questions that I have unanswered, but I wouldn’t trade my journey for anything.

 Take the steps necessary to develop your faith journey.  Today, it may be the day to say, I have thought about Jesus long enough, I don’t have all the answers but I have enough to make an informed decision.  Today you can receive Christ by inviting him in your life, simple prayer like, “Jesus thank you for loving me, for dying on the cross for me, for who you are, I place my trust in you, I don’t have everything figured out, but in time it will be revealed, I trust you in faith, help me to step out in faith, and live the life you have for me.”  Amen

 Darrell

www.Ridgefellowship.com

 

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