When I Doubt My Faith

“I believe; help my unbelief!”

I love this line from Mark 9.  A father has brought his son to Jesus to be healed, Jesus says, “all things are possible for the one who believes”, and the father then in return responds, “I believe; help my unbelief!”.

I think this is so true of all of us at some point in the faith, we all struggle with unbelief or doubt at some point or another.

If you struggle with doubt, you are not alone, in fact, you are in good company!  

• Genesis 3 - Eve was in the Garden of Eden, enjoying all the goodness God had provided for her, and still she began to doubt God’s promises
• Luke 7:18-19 - John the Baptist, who was considered by Jesus to be the greatest man to ever live, struggled with doubt.  
• Matthew 14:31 - Peter walked on water with Jesus, but seeing the wind and the waves, he doubted and sank.  

The list could go on and on of people who wrestled with doubt at some point in their lives in the Bible.  

So what do you do when you doubt?  

1. Verbalize your doubts.  In Luke 7.18-23 John The Baptist first verbalized his doubts.  He was questioning whether Jesus was truly the Messiah and he verbalized this.  Instead of holding in your doubts and struggles, verbalize them to trusted believers who can help you.  
2. Read God’s Word.  We must end up where we began, reading the promises of God’s Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to illuminate His words within our hearts.   2 Timothy 3 says this, : 

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 

3. Remember What God Has Done.  Remember what God has done in your life in the past, remember the joy of your salvation, remember the trials of the past and how God has worked through them.  Psalm 77 says this: 

                    “I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago”

4. Pray.  Ask Jesus to give you great faith.  Just as this father in Mark 9 articulated his doubts, he also asked Jesus to help him with his unbelief.  Pray and ask God to help you with your unbelief.  

Remember we can’t walk this walk alone, join a local church to where you can encourage, build up, and fight for each other in your daily walks with the Lord.  

“I believe; help my unbelief!”

Monday's Victory

Monday's Victory 

Yesterday we celebrated the Resurrection.  We talked about the victory we have in Christ.  We mentioned the freedom in forgiveness.  We celebrated that even though Friday occurred, Sunday came.  However for many of us, Monday comes too.  We find ourselves put back in the tomb, defeated, deflated, overwhelmed with life.  We were excited yesterday, but today we long for that excitement, we wonder what went wrong, where is that freedom, where is that victory, where is God now amidst Monday's troubles?  

Be encouraged believer, God is right where He was yesterday, on His Throne.  Oftentimes we fail to have freedom and victory amidst our troubles because we simply fail to ask for it.  I encourage you today, if you find yourself defeated, deflated, or overwhelmed pray this,  "God I need help" or "God I need Your help, I cannot do this alone".  

So many times I have found myself in a place where I am defeated and deflated, and when I ask for my Father's help, He has never failed me yet.  Be encouraged believer you can have the same victory on Monday you had on Sunday, it's only a prayer away.     

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest

Matthew 11:28

In Christ Alone Our Hope Is Found

We often sing a song entitled “In Christ Alone” at our church, the first line simply says this, “In Christ alone my hope is found”.  However, if I am being completely transparent, often times I catch my happiness and hope wavering upon circumstances of life.  

It’s a hard thing in our culture to consitently train ourselves to find our hope in Christ alone, but if we look for our hope and happiness in anything else, we will be met with disappointment.  

I wonder today if your hope and happiness have been distracted by culture’s demands?  Look to Christ alone - the joy of salvation, the guilt-free gift we’ve been given, the lack of fear over death.  Find joy and hope in your salvation, knowing that you are forgiven, accepted, and loved by God.  

Things begin to look up when we look through the cross.  When we once again realize we are accepted by God.  Be encouraged today brother or sister, your hope, joy, and happiness is found in Christ alone.  

Remembering God's Faithfulness

I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes I will remember your wonders of old.

Psalm 77:11 ESV

Another year is ending.  These become more and more frequent the older you get.  At the end of the year many people begin to think of what they want to accomplish for the next year.  

Then there are people like me.  

At the end of the year I like to reflect upon what all has happened in this past year.  I like to reflect upon God’s goodness and what He has done in the past year.  I think this is a good reminder of God's faithfulness to us throughout the year and away we can know He will continue to be faithful in the year to come as we remember His past victories in our lives.  Therefore as I reflect upon this year of 2015 I remember what God has done in the lives of my family, in the lives of my church family, and in this great community that He allows me to serve in.  This has been one of the busiest years of my life, but it has also been one of the best years.  

January

Natalie and I begin the year at a worship night at the Village Church

I also had opportunity to sing with the Singing Men of Texas this past year.  Singing with over 150 men who are ministers of music across north Texas 

February

In February we had the amazing opportunity to spend some great family time in snowy Gatlinburg with all of Natalie's family

March

I lost one of my dearest friends and role models, my Pawpaw.  He had suffered for many weeks and finally went home to be with his Lord.

In March our FBC Howe children's choir present the musical "Back To The Cross" on Palm Sunday

April

Our church held our Easter service at Howe High School, something I had never done before, church out of a box, and we saw 500 in attendance in a town of 2000.

I was asked to lead a prayer for the dedication of the new Howe Economic Development Center and asked to serve on the Chamber of Commerce.  

Mackenzie played softball for the first time.  She did great and loved it!  Especially hanging out with the girls!  

Just another day in Texas, riding on a mule with the cows.  

May

May was full of flooding with record rain fall in Texas.  At church we hosted a Women's Queen Bee Luncheon in the midst of all the flooding.  We were also blessed to be able to spend our anniversary at a cool bead and breakfast thanks to Natalie's parents.  

June

Titus turned 2 in June and once again in June we had amazing time at VBS, followed by a great youth camp at Austin Stone church in Austin were we spent time serving that community then followed by an amazing time at Pre-teen camp where we saw several boys come to know the Lord!

 

July

In July we spent a lot of family time together recouping from the busy three weeks of ministry in June. Mackenzie also lost her first tooth.  

August

In August I begin my 3rd year of operating the scoreboard for the High School football games.  Mackenzie played fall softball, we were able to go visit our dear friends the Traffanstedt's in Houston/Galveston, and our church held a night of prayer for our schools as they started back.  

September

In September Natalie begin watching kids for the first time, she has three awesome children she watches everyday in addition to ours.  We also were able to go to Branson with Natalie's family once again.  I also saw some great friends from college that I hadn't seen in quite some time.  Our Church also saw great attendance at "See You At The Pole" at all three campuses.  

 

October

In October our little girl turned 5 years old! We celebrated by having a roller skate princess party.  The girls all had a blast!  Our church also saw great attendance at the best Harvest Festival we have ever had. 

 

November

In November my wonderful church allowed me the opportunity to go to the Austin Stone Worship Conference.  It was by far the best conference I have ever been to.  Our family also traveled to Mississippi to celebrate Thanksgiving with our Mississippi family.  Natalie's Grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.  

December

This was by far the busiest December I have ever had.  It begin with a wonderful Dinner in December held at Howe High School with our children presenting the musical, "David's Dynasty.  It was a "Country Christmas".  Then the very next week FBC Howe's Adult Choir in combination with 4 area churches presented the dramatic musical, "Jesus Our Treasure" at three different venues on three different nights, ministering to over 1,000 people in our community.  On December 24th we had our Annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Service to a packed house, it was a great night.  Christmas day we spent with Natalie's family in Midlothian and Duncanville.  The next Sunday we spent worshipping with Natalie's family at FBC Midlothian.  For New Years my family from Mississippi came in town.  

It has been an amazing year and God is truly blessed me and my family!