Layman's Lounge

SELF DOUBT - AN ALREADY DEFEATED ENEMY

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Category: A Deeper Word
Published: Tuesday, 07 May 2013 15:07
Written by Mark Neddeau
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1 COR 2:2 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

Friends,

Paul is a great example of wisdom revealed and humility lived. Like Moses before him, he felt that his words were not "wise and persuasive", yet he changed the world as we know it. His wisdom was evident to those listening but not to him. Now, there is no doubt that among you readers that there are some with the same self-portrait.

You feel inadequate to what God has told you to do. You cannot see yourselves in the position to affect the world around you, yet God has put a callling into you that you cannot ignore. So, what do you do?

6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

First you begin by realizing that what you have to give is going to be ignored by those committed to the world and the world's philosophy. That is, in this day in age, Chrisitanity will be viewed and accepted as an isolationists religion by those who are committed to the wisdom of the rulers of this age. Your words and works are and must be focused on the hungry and given to the desperate. But, how do you find them? By sharing what God gives you to ALL, and letting the hungry come forth from among them!

Your works are given by God and thus the wisdom you share will be beyond your understanding and spoken in simple terms, with power!

PHIL 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

iF YOU CANNOT EXPRESS CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF, EXPRESS CONFIDENCE IN GOD!

God is the author and finisher of your faith. It stands to reason then, that he is the author and finisher of the faith in those you have been called to reach! Every great man of God in the Bible - without exception had human fear, self-doubt and even a touch of rebellion in them. Each one had to overcome the fear that they were not equal to the task! Each one came to the realization that since it was God's work and God's Word that they were sharing - they could remove themselves from the equation when it came to drawing anyone. It was no longer their responsibility to answer for the response (or lack thereof), so long as they did whatever they were commanded to do!

Don't give up! Don't let go! Go the distance in God. speak when he tells you, even if you think you know the crowd He has you speaking to! Even if you receive ridicule, or worse, give God his due! Like the men before you, it is alright to acknowledge your limitations, but it is not alright to allow them to stop what God has begun in you! Walk in faith and favor - and let God do his work through you! Remember, it is not YOU who works, but God who works THROUGH you!

In Love,

Elders Mark and dana Neddeau