Doubt

at present texting me. Okay, so Jeevan is saying it's good now. So guys, so I'm out

of self-isolation in about four hours. Looking forward to coming out because

the last time I remember not having human contact like this was when I was

in the womb. That's the last time I didn't meet people, real people, for five

days. But ever since Wednesday evening and it was just this one day that I felt

kind of tired, I thought too bad I'll have to stay home for five days. So just

wanted to be responsible and just wanted to, in a way, set an example for the rest

of us too in case there's anything like that because we sometimes only use faith

and do not use rules. So just be aware of that, eh? It is what it is. Okay, so let's

start. I wanted to talk about doubt today, about doubt. And it's an extreme position

I'm taking when it comes to doubt. So I don't think we have a choice but to take

extreme positions on the word of God. Man, the music sounded so good. I was thinking

to myself, there was a time when we didn't know how to do these things and now I was

listening to the music and it was so good. So great stuff, Jane and Brandon and the rest

of the crew. And like it or not, you have to admit that Sheldon's a gift, eh? That guy

can play. Others can too but I was listening to him today and it was fascinating. Anyways,

so doubt comes from the word distazo, which isn't important. It means double and it basically

means wavering between two minds, eh? Wavering between two minds. And so on one hand, as

believers, when we doubt, we affirm our belief in God, but then we question God's goodness

and weigh his motives and his character. So let me say that again. Doubt is to waver

between two minds. And so on one hand, I affirm my belief in God because I'm a believer, but

on the other hand, I'm questioning God's goodness and I'm weighing his motives and character.

And it's very hard. Doubt is unstable and when you let it rule your head or your heart,

you become the same way, unstable. Do you realize how unstable then we really are because

we doubt on a daily basis? I'm talking about doubting what God says, eh? So doubt is unstable.

So if I let it rule my head, I become the same way. James chapter one verse six to eight

talks about it, that a man who is double-minded, is wavering, is like a piece of wood tossed

about the ocean and should not expect anything because he is unstable. No one is immune to

being tempted by doubt. No one is immune to being tempted by doubt. And so, and I'm choosing

those words very carefully. I'm saying no one is immune to being tempted by doubt. But

once you give it some play, doubt can grow roots. Doubt can grow roots. And when you

allow thoughts that contradict what God has said in his word to remain active, when you

allow thoughts that contradict what God has said in his word, when you allow it to remain

active, when you allow it repetitively to distort what God has said, when you allow

it to misinterpret itself, when you allow it to deny what God is saying, then it grows

deep roots, eh? But I can train myself, and this is the extreme position, I can train

myself to never doubt. What if I chose never to doubt again? Some of you might be sitting

there saying, yeah, yeah, I never doubt. I would say to you that there might be one or

two areas in your life where you do not doubt. But otherwise, you do doubt. As a pastor who's

known you for a few years, you do doubt. You doubt many other areas of God's word. Same

applies to me. There are areas where I do not have doubt, but there are so many other

areas where I have doubt, where it's as constant as is true. Maybe God will have some intent

to some other reason, some other motive. So don't fight this from the point of, but I

don't doubt, I just, I'm full of faith. I just believe whatever God says, I believe.

If that was true of my life, my life would appear so different to you, and your life

would appear so different to me. So I just want to demolish anyone who's thinking that

they are not riddled with doubt. That is the first place I start from, that father,

I am unfortunately someone who doubts, and I want to end up being someone who never doubts

again. What a place to live, eh? I can choose never to doubt again. Not by spouting scriptures

of faith. Sometimes I almost suspect that the more I spout scriptures of faith, the

more I'm trying to squash doubt. I'm not talking about squashing doubt. I think it's an effective

way to deal with doubt, where you quote scriptures, but I'm trying to get to a place where I can

never to doubt again because of who I think God is and who I'm becoming with God.

One area at a time, perhaps. So how do we go about it? First, doubt is a liar,

and it began with the author of lights. Doubt is a liar. Doubt is a liar, and it began with Satan,

the author of lights, the father of lights. Doubt is a liar, and it began with Satan,

who's the father of lights. He's the first one who introduces doubt into the garden,

the garden in Genesis chapter three, when he begins to suggest to Eve that God's motives,

God's character, God's goodness needs to be questioned. So when talking to a believer,

or talking to a believer who has faith, Satan always uses doubt about God's nature,

or God's intent to do something, to do something he's promised, to do something he's written in

the word. When talking to a person of faith, Satan always uses doubt about God's nature or intent to

do it. That is one thing, but one of the things that really bothered me was Numbers 23 19, where

it says that God is not a man that he should lie. God is not a man that he should lie,

and this really kind of settles it for me. God is not a man that he should lie,

so doubting God is like calling him a liar, and I have decided that I won't.

God is not a man that he should lie, Numbers 23.

So doubting God is like calling him a liar,

and I have decided that I don't want to do that,

because otherwise I'm aligning myself with the original accuser of God, which is Satan.

The very name means accuser. Let's just read Numbers 23.

I know some of you know it well, but it's worth reading.

God is not a man that he should lie, or a son of man that he should change his mind. Has he said,

and will he not do it? Has he spoken, will he not fulfill it? Purely,

has he said, and will he not do it? Has he spoken, will he not fulfill it?

Let me read it one more time. God is not a man that he should lie,

or a son of man that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it?

Has he spoken, will he not fulfill it?

I mean, every time then I doubt God, it's like calling him a liar,

and I've decided I just won't. Otherwise, I'm aligning myself with the original accuser of God,

which is Satan.

The second thing I have to do to combat lies is,

the second thing I have to do to combat lies is, how do I deal with my feelings? Because

when my mind and my emotions are fixed on a problem, doubt begins to distort the voice of

God. When my mind and emotions, when my mind and emotions are fixed on a problem,

it distorts, doubt

distorts the voice of God.

So much so that, when you look at Mary, who was in the garden,

she mistook the voice of Jesus, who she really knew well as a caretaker of the graveyard,

than as Jesus that she knew. Because one can get so fixated, and I'm not saying

it's not natural, I'm just saying, for me to get out to a place where

I don't succumb to doubt, I have to at some point withdraw from the,

not withdraw, at least draw back from the intensity of the emotions of things,

and how the mind is just so vortexed into whatever is happening. And if I don't, doubt begins to

distort the voice of God. Usually, when I take back my thoughts,

usually, when I take back my thoughts, I take back my emotions. Usually,

when I take back my thoughts, I take back my emotions.

Because even if things are happening outside of you, what you rehearse inside your mind is what

determines your emotions. What you rehearse inside your mind is what determines your emotions.

So let's just take some time off, eh? Go back to the second point,

I'll write it down, and just ask, just repent of it.

Number 2319.

Read it, and then

to doubt God is to say he is lying, and make a decision

not to do it anymore.

Just take a couple of minutes off, yeah? Go ahead.

Okay, so just take this to heart. It just kind of impacted me like crazy that every time I doubt,

I'm actually beginning to say that, God, I can't trust you, you are lying.

And I don't want to do that anymore.

Another thing we can do is dismiss doubt by disengaging from internal conversations

and external conversations that feed doubt. This happens to us on a regular basis, eh?

Okay, dismiss doubt by disengaging from internal and external conversations.

Internal conversations are what go on in your mind, and it's this information highway in there

that just is relentless, that begins to conspire on its own.

Whenever I want to touch the wrong side of my hair, I forget that it's a mirror image. Sorry.

So dismiss doubt by disengaging from internal and external conversations.

So whenever I see myself feeding myself doubt because of something someone said,

because of something someone read, because of something that I have an inferiority or I have

a problem with, it just keeps feeding. And so dismiss doubt by disengaging from

internal conversations because entertaining doubt just multiplies it. Entertaining doubt

multiplies doubt. It adds to the confusion. So don't give it the time of day.

Sorry, don't give it the time of day because that was Eve's problem.

She listened too long to the serpent, and the longer she listened, the worse it got.

And the thing is, if you don't speak doubt, it usually aborts itself,

but when you verbalize it, it becomes more yours.

If you don't speak doubt, it usually aborts itself,

but when you verbalize it, it becomes yours. So can you repent of that too?

So not repent of it. Can you make a decision saying, I'll disengage

from internal conversations, so-called. So take time for that.

Too bad. Okay, so guys, the reason I'm giving you time to repent or think about it is because

you don't realize how riddled we are with doubt. Next, doubt uses time as a weapon.

So when people, when I, oh, I hope I can be heard. Okay. Yeah. Doubt uses time as a weapon.

So when people give up, people begin to give up when they don't see the manifestation fast enough.

People begin to give up when they don't see the manifestation fast enough.

It's a powerful weapon used by doubt. So do the opposite from now on, because what's our intent?

Our intent is, father, I don't want to doubt you ever again.

That's the extreme position we are taking. So do the opposite. When you're frustrated

that the outcome is being hindered from manifesting, either by circumstances or the

devil or whatever the reason be, and you're frustrated that the outcome is not manifesting,

just shift your faith into the next gear, because time is used as a weapon by doubt to clobber us.

And so how do you move your faith into the next gear? You do that by speaking the word.

You do that by calling forth what God has said in his word or things that he has promised, as in

Romans 4, 17 to 21. You rebuke the condition. You rebuke the devil.

You rebuke the devil. You speak by faith as if it has already happened.

We've talked about this when we talked about faith.

At the end of the day, it is when I'm not seeing things happening, that is when I'm really defining

Hebrews 11 well, where I'm living by the evidence of what and the substance of what I cannot see.

So, I'm not saying that I'm not speaking it, but I'm saying that I'm not speaking it.

May has a question. Dismissing doubt by not speaking it, but some legit concerns we have,

how to differentiate this from platitudes and speaking things into being.

Yeah, so when doubt begins to riddle you

and it begins to ferment in your mind, learn how to not verbalize it because

doubts love being verbalized because they've begin to start this vicious cycle where

what I say now is what I hear is now what I think is now what I speak, and it takes on its own

strength. So, that's why I would suggest to you that when doubts arise, I don't need to call you

up and tell you about this could happen. What if, what if the more I verbalize it, the more I begin

to own it. What if I could kill it with the word of God? I'm not saying don't call a friend and

don't talk about your fears. No, tell people that you know well about your fears so that they

walk with you and help you. I'm just saying we have this ability to start giving our doubts so

much oxygen. And if we meet the wrong people, they'll add oxygen to your doubt, not faith to your doubt.

I'm just appalled that a church that is

well rooted in faith can still have sufficient doubt.

Or that someone who loves faith can have a lot of doubt.

It is when I'm not seeing the manifestation that the evidence and the substance of things unseen kicks in.

So, I would say refuse to be defeated by time.

Refuse to be defeated by time.

Wait time must not become worry time. Refuse to be defeated by time.

The next thing I'd say is

Larissa has a question. How do you not entertain doubt while coming alongside and helping others who are stuck there?

How do you not entertain doubt while coming alongside and helping others who are stuck there?

So, I don't know if I should go and help someone who is stuck in doubt if I am not in a position

to stand in the truths of God unshaken and deliver to them help. Otherwise, it'll be like a non-swimmer

rescuing someone who is drowning.

So, if I am to help somebody in a certain area, I must be fluent and well versed in the truths of God.

Otherwise, I can end up being like Job's friends giving what seems like godly advice when it can still not be God's truth.

Which is kind of what I say in the next point where one of the ways to deal with doubt is to soak my life in the word and soak my life with the people of the word.

Soak my life in the word and soak my life or surround me with the people of the word.

Soak my life in the word and soak my life

or surround my life with people of the word. Which then means that you need to choose the people or the tribe you are with and your teachers carefully.

Because I personally think that academia and denominational theology

has sterilized faith and created more doubters than the devil.

That's a terrible statement to make. So let me make it again.

I believe that academia and denominational theology

has sterilized faith and created more doubters than the devil.

In Luke 11 52, Jesus put it this way, you have the key of knowledge but you will not enter it and you will not let others enter it either.

One of the things with doubt is doubt doesn't want the responsibility of believing.

Doubt doesn't want the responsibility of believing.

Because it's hard work guys.

Because the only way out of doubt is to go back into the word which then allows you to step into faith.

And it's work. Doubt doesn't want the responsibility of believing.

One of the ways to work around it is to create reading habits first and then keep up the habit

as a lifestyle. I told you about this one preacher

and the Lord told him for the next six months I only want you to read Psalm 91.

And that's all he would read man Psalm 91 again and again and again and again.

Six months. At one point he wanted to read 2 Timothy or 1 Timothy

and as he began to read 1 Timothy his eyes began to blur because he couldn't read.

And the Lord told him didn't I tell you to go back and read Psalm 91 for six months so why are you

deviating from what I asked you to? But can you imagine what will happen to you if you read Psalm 61?

Psalm 91 for six months. Can you imagine what will happen to you?

Can you imagine the kind of person you'll become? That'll saturate you so completely

that you'll be one of the boldest people on the face of the earth. COVID or no COVID?

So if I am to help you in an area where I'm struggling with doubt then I should either

reinforce myself or take someone with me who is less prone to doubt in that area so they can really

help you. Otherwise it's quite possible that you will drown despite my help and that I will drown

with you. If that is any company so be it but that isn't what you were looking for.

Here's another one.

Doubt grapples to understand. When things are not happening, when a promise of God that you are

trusting in hasn't come to pass, you wrestle to understand. You almost feel like if you understood

why it would be fine. It would all work out. You would be able to handle it.

Doubt grapples to understand but in our grappling to understand,

we dig a deeper hole. If you want to overcome doubt, you must realize that it is okay not to

understand. When things happen despite you not deserving it. When things happen despite

you living an exemplary life. When things happen despite you not deserving it. When things happen

despite you living an exemplary life. When things happen despite the faith you've so clearly shown.

I'm not saying you shouldn't ask, father, what's happening. I'm saying it is not important to

understand. Understanding can come later. At the end of the story, Job still didn't understand

why. It's we in hindsight know why. At the end of the story, Job still didn't understand why

but he got caught in the last chapter of Job 42 verse 5. Let me read it. It's so beautiful.

Job 42:5

Let me read from verse 1.

Then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours

can be thwarted. I'm reading from the ESV. I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of

yours can be thwarted. Wow, man, what a statement, eh? Who is this that hides counsel without

knowledge? Therefore, I have uttered what I did not understand. Things too wonderful for me,

which I did not know. Here and I will speak. I will question you and make it known to me.

Well, I love this next slide. I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes

see you. I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you. Not because he

actually saw God, but because he came to this place where it was not important for him to

understand. And then God begins to respond and he says, I'd heard of you, but I really see you now.

There was a grasp that Job had. Doubt tries to destroy that. Doubt makes knowledge more important

than God. The knowledge of what is happening more important than God.

Soren Kierkegaard, there's a quote from him that I heard recently. He said,

life is lived forward and understood backward. Life is lived forward, meaning we keep living life

forward, but we will understand it backward. When we look back, we can understand it later.

Doubt wants to know and understand now, and it is not important.

Yeah.

Does this take time to

destroy the weapon of time that has been used against many of us,

that has created the world, that has created the world of God, that has created the world of God,

that has created doubt. The problem with doubt is this, guys, doubt in one area

will then lead you to question God in other areas, too, that you are trusting him for

and that you've been quite confident of.

It's almost like, okay, he didn't deliver in this area, so he'd probably

choose not to in the other area too. It worms its way into different compartments of your life.

So just take time off right now to destroy doubt as a weapon, to destroy doubt using time as a

weapon in areas where you haven't seen things happen. How do we do that? We said when we get

frustrated because of things being hindered from manifesting in our lives, we'll put faith into

the next gear by speaking what the Word says, by calling forth what the Word says like Abraham did,

calling things that God has said are going to happen even though at present they haven't

happened. Rebuking situations that aren't from God, rebuking conditions, rebuking the devil

were required, speaking out faith, decrease of faith. We've talked about this in the past.

This morning I was thinking of that scripture and actually woke up with this song,

I know I have believed and I'm persuaded that he is able, it's an old English song.

Anyways, that was one song that I woke up with. I'm persuaded that you have said it to God and

you're able to do it. So that's one thing. And then the other one is, I will talk about this a

little later. But it is important to, we'll talk about it later, I can get there later.

Let's just take time to just stop allowing the enemy to use time as a weapon. So I'm going to

mute again and take a couple of minutes for you to just talk to God about it.

Okay. Doubt is blunted when faith and patience plow in tandem. Doubt is blunted when faith and

patience plow in tandem. So faith and patience, faith plus patience, put them on a plow together

and doubt is blunted. Because faith carries with it immediacy. And patience has this idea of

eventuality. And doubt works here. It's in this space that doubt begins to work. But if I can get

these two to plow together saying, Father, I understand that there's an immediacy to faith,

that you're a now God. That when I ask according to your will, then I must also have the confidence

that you hear me and if you hear me, then I can receive as my present possession what I have asked

according to your will. So there's that on one side. On the other side, there is this thing of

eventuality where for reasons, and there's so many different reasons we won't go into,

it takes longer for it to manifest. And it is in that gap that doubt begins to work. And so

when faith and patience plow in tandem, that is when doubt is blunted. This is what transpired

in Abraham's life. On one hand, he changes his name because he really believes he'll be the

father of nations. On the other hand, it's taking time and he refuses to allow this gap to grow.

He refuses to allow this gap to grow. And one of the ways he does that is the song that I

sang a little earlier, I was trying to sing, which you see in Romans chapter four.

Verse 19 and 20 and 21. He did not weaken in faith when he considered this gap,

when he considered his own body which was as good as dead, or when he considered the barrenness of

Sarah's womb. The unbelief did not, no unbelief made him waver, but he grew strong in his faith

as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

Faith and patience working together, immediacy and eventuality.

This is the process of maturity, eh? The Bible says that patience must have its full work

before you can be made perfect.

Listen to this again, Jacob, patience must have its full work before you can be made perfect.

And let me not forget that the ultimate intent of God on the earth is to raise up mature,

perfected sons and daughters.

So even the idea of exerting faith is not so much for the release of an outcome,

but first the maturing of his sons.

And so blunt doubt with this amazing weapon called patience.

You might say, but Jacob, I've waited really long, I've been really patient. I don't deny it, man.

But this is one of the things that you're called to do along with the other things that we've been

talking about. One of the cool things about teaching online is one, you don't have to wear

a mask and two, you don't have any idea of time.

Anyways, just a few more points and we're done.

Guys, all realms, and by all realms I mean the realm of heaven, the satanic realm, the earthly realm,

all realms use sight and sound to their advantage.

All realms use sight and sound to their advantage.

And so we are bombarded with visual imagery and sounds

that are not just visual, but visual.

And so we are bombarded with visual imagery and sounds, and it actually creates a labyrinth of

underground tunnels in your mind. And these tunnels get flooded with thoughts and emotions

by different realms at different times.

And if I don't have a Philippians 4.8 filter, if I don't have Philippians 4.8 categories,

then my mind will not be stayed on God as it says in Isaiah 26 verse 3 at the right time.

Isaiah 26:3

Let me write that down.

Because all realms, the realm of heaven, the realm of evil, the realm of the earth,

because all realms use sight and sound, imagery and sound to influence our minds more so now than

ever before, what is happening is there's this network of times where we are in the realm of

sound to influence our minds more so now than ever before.

What is happening is there's this network of tunnels that are constantly being dug through

my head so that at the opportune time any of these realms can flood my life with thoughts and emotions.

And because this is the matrix that we live in, I must cultivate Philippians 4.8

filters and categories.

If I don't, I will not be able to stay my mind on God.

And if I'm not able to stay my mind on God, I will not have peace.

So I have to ask myself the question, is it true?

Is what I'm thinking right now true?

Because doubt ferments in a mind that does not have Philippians 4.8 filters.

Let me say that again.

Doubt ferments, F-O-M-E-N-T-S and F-E-R-M-E-N-T-S.

Doubt ferments and ferments in a mind that does not have Philippians 4.8 categories.

And what is Philippians 4.8 categories?

Is it true?

Is what I'm thinking right now true?

Is what I'm thinking right now honest?

Is what I'm thinking right now just?

Is what I'm thinking right now true?

Is what I'm thinking right now fair?

Is what I'm thinking right now just?

Is what I'm thinking right now pure?

Is what I'm thinking right now lovely?

As in, does it have, I'll just leave it a lovely.

Is what I'm thinking right now noble?

Is what I'm thinking right now excellent?

Is what I'm thinking right now virtuous?

If not, I must decide that it is not my thought to consider.

I must drive it away.

I must take a whip and begin to drive it away.

Because it is only a matter of time before my temple becomes a marketplace for thought

peddlers.

And then it becomes like a, it becomes like a bartering of thoughts.

Now, maybe they meant this.

Now, maybe they meant that.

Now, maybe it was this.

Maybe that's not what the Bible says.

Maybe Greek means this.

Maybe Hebrew means that.

Maybe he's not a healer.

Maybe he is a healer.

Maybe he punishes you.

Maybe he doesn't punish you.

It becomes such a confusing mess.

And Isaiah 26, 3 becomes absolutely impossible.

He whose mind is stayed on God will have his peace.

This is why I said this is sometimes work.

I would not say it's work.

I would say it's a discipline.

And as with every discipline, if I can delight first, discipline becomes easy.

If I don't delight and go for discipline, it's a little harder.

So what do you delight in then?

You delight in the fact that, Father, I am, this is such a ridiculous statement for the

rest of my life, but I get to try it today.

And then when I wake up tomorrow, I can try it again tomorrow.

And this is my delight.

I will never doubt you again.

Selah, I will never doubt what you say again.

I will never doubt what you have written in your word again.

That's impossible.

Well, it's working today.

That's fine.

And then when tomorrow comes, we can start afresh.

Imagine if we became a church that never doubts.

Anyone who joins us with the last name Thomas will have to change their names.

What can we do?

Thank God it's not Derek Thomas.

Just two more points with obviously five subsections.

Are you sending me any questions?

Let me just check.

No, all good.

You know, there is something strange that has happened over the last five days since I've been in self isolation.

I'm having more water, less coffee.

Now I'm having fruit for breakfast.

Stranger.

Yeah, I hope it doesn't last too long.

I'll be out this evening.

Just watch out.

Stay off the roads.

Like I said, hasn't happened to me since I was in the womb.

Okay.

Another way to come against joy.

Sorry, come against doubt is to be of good cheer.

Another way to come against doubt is to be of good cheer.

Be of good cheer.

Why? Because doubt and joy aren't compatible.

Doubt and joy aren't compatible.

Doubt and joy aren't compatible.

Joy is prophetic in that it grasps the outcome with finishing faith.

Joy is, I mean people don't think like this, but joy is actually prophetic because it grabs the outcome with finishing faith.

This is what you see in Habakkuk chapter 3, verse 17 to 19.

Habakkuk 3:17–19

Though the fig tree has not blossomed, I will do cartwheels of joy.

So joy is prophetic in that it grasps the outcome with finishing faith even though the fig tree has not blossomed.

But doubt is usually blinded by and overwhelmed by present reality.

We are so overwhelmed by present reality that doubt enters in.

Once doubt enters in, you cannot see, you cannot hear, you cannot believe the promise of God.

You cannot see, you cannot hear, you cannot believe the goodness of God.

Why?

Because present reality is so overwhelming that it blinds me from being able to see.

It's one thing to be blinded from being able to see the goodness of God.

What bothers me is it then moves into clouding the face of God and being suspicious of people.

So it's not that it takes away from my ability to see the promise of God, it begins to darken the face of God.

That's what doubt does. That's what happened in Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

We don't realize that almost everything in the first 3 to 11 chapters of Genesis sets up a pattern for the rest of the earth, till Jesus comes.

So I would say get to joy before doubt gets to you.

Get to joy before doubt gets to you. Every morning, there will be enough during the day to bring in doubt.

But get to joy before doubt gets to you.

Find it or find the people with it.

But get to joy before doubt gets to you.

That's why the advice that Jane was giving you saying, Father, it doesn't matter that the songs seem unplanned,

but we want to be using Sundays as a practice because during the week this is how we'll function.

Last point.

I overcome doubt by getting back into faith.

I overcome doubt by getting back into faith.

And there's no way to get back into faith than coming to the word of God and reading and hearing it and speaking it.

I overcome doubt.

There's no way of overcoming doubt by going to a counselor, by listening to good music and all this stuff.

That's a stopgap. That's a mandate.

Getting back into faith requires that I get back into the word of God and hear it, receive it, study it, speak it.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing with ears of faith.

It's odd, eh? Faith comes by hearing, but I must hear with ears of faith.

Let me say that again. Faith comes by hearing, but I must hear with ears of faith,

as in ears that are willing to say, Oh God, you do not lie.

Numbers 23, 19 is a brilliant scripture.

It's God saying it about himself, eh? Let me read it again.

Sure, I feel bad that he has to say these things about himself.

God is not man that he should lie, or a son of man that he should change his mind.

Has he said? And will he not do it? Has he spoken? And will he not fulfill it?

Message. God is not man, one given to lies and not a son of man changing his mind.

Does he speak and not do what he says? Does he promise and not come through?

NLT. God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind.

Has he ever spoken in faith to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?

NIRV. God is not a mere man, he can't lie. He is not a human being, he doesn't change his mind.

He speaks and then he acts, he makes a promise, and then he keeps it.

If Jane doesn't have any other song after this, I pray God that you just sing the chorus of Promise Keeper.

Maybe not, pick another song. We've sung that so many times. Or maybe, I'll leave that to you.

So one of the ways we all come out is getting back into faith.

That only comes by hearing the Word of God, but hearing with the ears of faith.

Receiving it, marinating in it, speaking it.

So my question to you is, do you meditate? Do you meditate?

And I've said this before, but meditation is God-directed self-talk.

Meditation is God-directed self-talk.

Do you meditate? Do you engage in God-directed self-talk?

God has said something and you literally talk yourself into what God has said.

Writing it down, speaking it, remembering scriptures, memorizing them, going over them.

Guys, remember one thing, doubt speaks and it can sabotage life.

And therefore, faith must speak too. Doubt speaks.

Go back to Genesis and you see that again.

Serpent introduced doubt. He introduced doubt by speaking it. Doubt speaks.

It's the same ploy again and again and again.

Doubt speaks. Doubt speaks through experts. Doubt speaks through pastors.

Doubt speaks through books. Doubt speaks through circumstances.

The world around you, news media. Doubt speaks through the fallen nature of the world.

Doubt speaks through things we are unable to fathom. Doubt speaks through delay.

Doubt speaks and can sabotage life. Doubt speaks through the experiences that we've been through.

Doubt speaks through the fear we've developed.

Doubt speaks and can sabotage life. Therefore, faith must speak.

You see this being played out in Isaiah 36 verse 5.

Isaiah 36:5

Isaiah 36 verse 5. I'm reading from the ESV.

Isaiah 36:5

Isaiah 36 verse 5.

Isaiah 36:5

Man, this is the longest I've spoken in five days.

I've been doing a lot of God-directed self-talk and text messaging, but to actually speak, this is fun. I missed it.

Isaiah 36 verse 5 from the ESV.

Isaiah 36:5

And this is a guy called Rabshakeh, who is a general to the king of Assyria.

And look at what he says in Isaiah 36 verse 5 in the ESV.

Isaiah 36:5

Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war?

And whom do you now trust that you have rebelled against me?

I love the play of words. He's trying to tell Israel, listen, your words mean nothing. So don't even speak faith.

The enemy uses words to bring doubt so that we may not speak words of faith.

And he did it in Genesis 3. He's doing it again in Isaiah 36 verse 5.

Isaiah 36:5

Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war?

The answer is yes. In whom do you now trust that you have rebelled against me?

And then you see what Isaiah says in Isaiah 37 verse 6.

Isaiah 37:6

Isaiah said to them, say to your master, as in King Hezekiah,

that says a lot, do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard,

with which the young men of the king of Assyria have rebelled me.

And then God begins to declare His words.

You know, children don't doubt. A child does not doubt.

A child has to learn at some point to be afraid.

A child has to learn to distrust.

So speak, speak your faith.

You will say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move.

Do you know that the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5.28,

she said that she would be healed once she touched Jesus' clothes.

It's one of our problems at Acts 29.

We understand, we believe, but we do not say as much.

And I've tried to break that for years with some success.

You must say, you must say not like a mantra, not like a chant.

I hate that when Christians just spout off scriptures,

thinking that saying it that way is going to ward off some kind of evil or doubt.

No, this is a problem, right?

Because it is not enough for us to recite verses.

You can start there.

But I've got to get to a place where these words have become so normal to me

that out of the abundance of my heart, the mouth is speaking,

not out of the memorizing of my mind.

So, let me end.

What if I chose never to doubt again?

What are you doubting right now?

What is it that in your life at this present moment you're struggling with?

You've walked well, you've shown faith, you've stood.

Some of you have stood long, some of you for two weeks.

You're undergoing whatever the effect of what you're standing up for is putting on you.

You hear stories of how it didn't work out for others.

Your experience doesn't seem to have changed over the last 10 days, two weeks, two years.

And you don't want to entertain doubt, but in the back of your mind,

there is this thought process that's beginning to churn.

Go over these notes, eh?

Because I want us to become people who never doubt again.

And you can choose that.

What if I chose never to doubt again?

I can train myself never to doubt again.

I'll end with the first point, which for me is the most precious one.

Doubt is a liar because it began with the author of lies.

He used it against Eve.

She listened for too long.

I mean, when he first approached her and said,

what did God say?

She spoke the truth.

She should have walked away.

But she engaged in a long conversation, and the longer she engaged,

the more doubt entered.

She should have shut it down right after what she said.

But she didn't.

She should have dismissed doubt by disengaging from internal conversations

inside your head and external conversations with people who feed it

or circumstances that feed it.

Doubt is a liar.

It is, and here's the atrocity of it.

When I say doubt is a liar, the intent is always,

can I lie to you about the nature of God and His intentions towards you?

And given Numbers 23, 19, doubting God is like calling Him a liar.

And I have decided that I won't.

And I'll use all these points to my advantage, and so will you.

We will align ourselves with Him who said He is the way,

the truth, and the life. He is for us.

Yeah.

Look forward to seeing you guys on a one-on-one basis this week.

And I'll see you next time.

Surprisingly, it's been a good five days for me, man.

I've come out looking forward to life.

I think sometimes it's good if you have to self-isolate,

and all you have is you, yourself, and God.

It's a good thing.

You rarely get to do this.

I'm talking about myself, but let me not go there.

Let's end on this.

Yeah, I've been blessed.

It's such a pleasure watching this online.

This is the first time I'm watching Acts 29 online, and it sounded so good.

And I was so happy to be able to worship online.

I've never done that before with Acts 29.

So that was a new experience for me, too.

So bless you guys. I'll let Derek take over from here.

Talk to you guys later. Bye.

Thanks for watching.