Have you ever doubted? I know I have. Doubt means: to call into question the truth of; to be uncertain or in doubt about; to lack confidence in, distrust.

Asking the whys:

Doubt goes in two directions. The first direction it leads to is unbelief. Unbelief is the opposite of faith. The other direction it takes leads you to the truth, to a greater belief in God and His word.

George Bernard Shaw said, “Any belief worth having must survive doubt!” We doubt — don’t we? We ask the whys: Why did my friendship end? Why did God not help me when I was being abused? Why can’t I find a spouse? This is all doubt.

Blaming God:

The children of Israel believed God did good and evil. But we should know better. We know God gives us only good and perfect gifts, and it is the devil who does evil. But as the Israelites did, people today blame God. We all doubt at one time or another. We will at times blame the circumstances — they are too hard or too big.

Believing God: 

The truth is: doubt at times will grow into great understanding if we never quit seeking God. When someone allows doubt to become unbelief, they are really questioning God’s ability to perform. If you doubt yourself too long, then it turns into an unbelief of yourself — you will lose hope. We may all doubt ourselves, our abilities, but we should never allow it to turn into disbelief.

There is always hope with, and in, God.

Just a thought, 

PSS

Good advice is not always godly advice.

The highest standard:

We should weigh every decision against the word of God. When faced with a problem or a tough decision, we should go to the word of God and take our counsel from it. When we are at a crossroads in our life, what we put our trust and confidence in is important. It is the difference between life and death, success and failure, overcoming or being conquered by something or someone. You are the only one who can decide for your life — no one else can decide for you. 

What you believe in:

What a person believes is very important to their life. IF you choose to believe in the word of God, and you have complete trust and confidence in the word of God, it will bring life to all your being. Proverbs 4:22 NLT says, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. This is speaking about the word of God.

The final say:

Allowing God’s word to have the final say will keep you safe, protected from making decisions that could cause harm to your life and well-being. God’s word is full of wisdom — we must hold on to it, trust in it, and have confidence in it.

It’s your choice. You choose whom you will serve.

Just a thought,

PSS

Fear is one of those emotions that causes us to be overly safe in our lives. It can be a result of hurt, disappointment, or tragedy. Whatever the cause, it’s not a place where we should camp out. Too many of us spend our lives in fear. We take no chances, and we try to control everything and everyone around us.

Focusing inward:

Fear manipulates us into giving up on others and living a life that only focuses inward. We should strive to live a life that not only improves our lives, but the lives of those around us as well. A life of service and helping others is a life well lived.

Living life to the fullest:

Protecting ourselves from life’s misfortunes and making sure we never get hurt again isn’t living life to the fullest as God intended. When you serve others and pour yourself into it, you’re bound to get hurt from time to time. But isn’t the risk worth it? One day we’ll stand before the only Judge that matters and have to give an account for our lives. What would the Judge say to the one who declares, “Lord, I played it safe and didn’t take any chances. I looked out for only myself and made sure I didn’t risk anything”? How can He judge that?

Trusting God:

It’s all about loving life and trusting God with it. Step out in faith and help others by serving in the kingdom!

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark — professionals built the Titanic.

— Author Unknown

Just a thought,

PSS

When we make mistakes, when we blow it, when we fail — because we all will — we cannot allow these mistakes to define who we are.

Failure is not the end:

Failure is not the end if we are willing to follow Jesus. Life is worth living. We will all blow it from time to time — no one is perfect. When we do, we have hope because of what Jesus did for us.

Don’t go back to failures: 

When we walk with Jesus and then walk away (backslide), we tend to go back to our failure. We tend to go right back and do the things we used to do. We don’t fall back to something new but something we have been delivered from. So, we must be aware of this so we don’t get deceived.

Curve balls come from nowhere:

Life will throw us a curve ball at times. Things come out of nowhere. They catch us off guard and, if it is painful enough, can sidetrack us. We begin to blame God somehow, and when we do, we will go back to our old life. It is sad that if things don’t go the way we want, we will walk away from God. We don’t have to — we choose to.

So, let us all realize as followers of Jesus we will be loyal to Him — our whole. Because of the price He paid for our sins, life is worth living.

Just a thought,

PSS

This past weekend we celebrated what we call Palm Sunday — Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

Hail Jesus:

The people were hailing Him as King as He rode a donkey into Jerusalem — celebrating Him, shouting, “Praise God for the Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!” The reason they were celebrating Him is they believed He was coming as a military conqueror — one who would cleanse the temple of Romans — one who would defeat the Roman Empire.

Crucify Him: 

When they realized He was going to set up His kingdom here on earth, when He cleansed the temple of the priests and money changers instead of ridding the Romans, they began to scream, “Crucify Him!” Isn’t this true for many today?

Suffering setbacks:

As long as Jesus does what we want, what we expect, we are hailing Him as King. But once something goes wrong in our life, as soon as we experience pain or a setback, then we start screaming, “It’s unfair,” “God doesn’t love me,” “God, you could have prevented [this thing or that thing].” How sad that we believe things God never said and expect Him to do for us what He never promised. We need to serve Him on our best day and on our worst.

Don’t be part of a fickle crowd. Stand out from the crowd and hail Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords regardless of the circumstances you are experiencing.

Just a thought,

PSS,