Mark is out of town, and he thought picked up flash drive that contained the meditation that He was going to send you this morning. Therefore, to make sure he does not fail to stir up your God-consciousness this morning, as a favor to maintain his streak, I am sending you this letter; something Mark used in a teaching setting, way back in 2014. Let me introduce myself. My name is Thomas, one of the twelve Apostles, as verified by the Gospel writers. As you will ascertain from a review of my attached resume’, the Gospel I wrote by the inspiration of God, it tells you almost everything you can find about me in the Bible.
Back to my name, I prefer Thomas or Didymus. The former is Greek, and the latter is Aramaic. Both mean “twin.” If you look for my twin’s name in Scripture, you will not find it. I have a nickname, like many of you do, and like most nicknames, including yours, they remind you of times past, an experience or even a character trait that you are not really proud of…that is until you look deeper into the nickname. When you do that, it will remind you what you went through to get where you are now on your Christian journey or perhaps how your past can encourage someone else. You see after I doubted that Jesus was the resurrected Savior, my nickname became “Doubting Thomas.” While it can be looked at from a negative perspective, referring to someone who doubts what they have heard or what they are told…especially general and/or specific messages sent by God, it can also be seen from a positive viewpoint. You can see why I prefer Thomas or Didymus can’t you? Well that is one’s first impression. But here are some things to note about doubt. Many of them will be helpful to you.
- Doubting can lead to unanswered prayer. (Pause and read James 1:5-7.)
- Doubt is an experience common to all people. No one is exempt, not even those with faith in God. (Pause again and look at Mark 9:23-24.)
- Doubt will cause the faithful to seek the truth. I need to tell you if you stay with it after doubting, you will search and find the truth. (Read John 20:24-25)
- Doubt comes with a remedy. The remedy is faith! How do we get faith? (Well you answer that question, after you read Romans 10:17, Psalm 77:11 and Hebrews 11:1.)
- Many Bible characters had doubt! Can you take a minute and think about just a few?
- Eve (See Genesis 3:1-6.)
- Abraham (See Genesis 12:12-13)
- Moses (See Exodus 3:11; 4:10-13.)
- Gideon (See Judges 6: 1-15; 36-40.)
- Elijah (See I Kings 19:3-4 and I Kings 19:10&14.)
- Zacharias (See Luke 1:18-20.)
- Peter (See Matthew 14:29-31.)
Oh there are others, but I am sure the aforementioned examples will be helpful to you! Now, think of yourself and know that even when doubt comes, you can overcome the doubt by faith, and you can go on to do a great work and/or be a great witness for the Lord!
Be blessed,
Thomas
P.S. Mark will be back tomorrow! He really is still committed to the climb!