Wednesday, January 28, 2009

GET THE DOUBT OUT.

The more we grow up spiritually in the Lord, we become more rooted and grounded in the faithfulness of our God. But sometimes doubt will try to creep in and attack our trust in the Lord. In order for us to not lose ground under the attack of the enemy, we must act decisively. Below are 4 steps that we must take to eliminate doubt.

Matthew 21: 20-22 says, "Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, " How did the fig tree wither all at once?". And Jesus answered and said to them, " Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, " Be taken up and cast into the sea' it will happen. And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." (NASB)

The first thing we must do when dealing with doubt is to recall God's past faithfulness, and remember His promises. God has done so much for each of us, we have no reason to think that He won't help us in what we are going through now. When we spend time praising God for what He has done for us in previous situations, we are reminded of His Love and provision. Meditating on promises from scripture will reassure us that God will continue to meet every one of our needs.
Read Psalm 41:12, John 16:13; Eph. 3:16 for encouragement.

The second thing is that we must ask the Lord for scriptural guidance. The Lord will direct you to certain passages and make them a rhema word to you for your situation. Get these passages from the Lord down into your inner man. Meditate on them and give God thanks and praise for being active in your life. Prayerfully consider how to apply these verses from the Lord to your circumstances.

The third step is to choose to believe God and His promises. We are wise to put our confidence in Him.

And finally, we must place our trust and faith in what Jesus did for us at the Cross of Calvary. That is where the victory was won forever..

Our human nature is what makes us vulnerable to doubt. But we are also partakers of the Divine nature if we are born again.( 2 Peter 1:3-4) So when we choose to trust God, uncertainty cannot shrink our faith.
God bless you.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Dispensationalism Overview

Dispensationalism is a System of Theology that recognizes 3 basic things; 1- There is a distinction between Israel and the Church.
2- Scripture is to be interpreted by the literal method unless the text itself mentions a figurative or symbolic interpretation.
3- The purpose of God in this world is His Glory. The before stated beliefs are common to dispensationalists.

Dispensations are ways of dividing time responsive to a particular revelation of the will of God. A basic understanding of the dispensations is a must if the believer is to rightly divide the Word of God.
There are 7 dispensations.
1-] Innocence- From Creation to the Fall. Genesis 1:27; 3:24 2-] Conscience- Start of civilization to the Flood. Genesis 4:1; 8:14
3-] Human Government- leaving the Ark to the Tower Of Babel. Genesis 8:15; 11:32 4-] Promise- From the Call of Abraham to Egyptian bondage. Genesis 12:1; Exodus 19:2
5-] Law-- From the 10 commandments to the end of the Gospels. Exodus 19:3; Acts 1
6-] Grace- Pentecost to the end of the Tribulation. Acts 2; Revelation 19:21
7-] Millennium- Imprisonment of Satan to the Great White Throne. Revelation 20:1; 22:7

This is a very brief outline on Dispensationalism.