Episode 19: Are you a doubting Thomas, or do you know someone who is?
Do you know how the term “doubting Thomas” came about? Yes, a guy named Thomas doubted. In the last few episodes, we have discussed doubt—whether it’s good, bad, or indifferent—what it means and what may lead us to doubt things in our lives. We saw that doubt in the Bible referred to a negative attitude or action against God.
Doubt, in my opinion, is not bad in itself. It has me ask more questions for clarity and, most of all, for truth. As mentioned in an earlier episode, many of us doubt people who lie. I doubt that a person who lives their life telling lies all the time can be trusted. As mentioned in another episode, God is not a liar, so when I doubt Him, His Word, and His Ways, I am calling Him a liar. This is where it can be an issue. My trust in an all-knowing, powerful, wise God is lacking when I doubt Him.
Many parents teach their children about God and His love for them by showing them How God gave Jesus in their place so they don’t have to suffer eternally. His perfect sacrifice covers us as we, in our humanness, could never stand up to a perfect God. Children grow up to believe that but then start to doubt what they learned. I just ordered a book by Sean McDowell and John Marriott titled Set Adrift-deconstucting what you believe without sinking your faith. I’m pretty excited to read it because it mentions all those who no longer gather (go to church) with other believers. I know many people who study and read their Bibles but do not want to step foot in any “organized religion.” I used to tell someone that said that, no worries, where I go isn’t “organized”. I was joking, of course. God is an organized God, that’s for sure. He likes order and sets things in order for His people. We get impatient and don’t like to wait, so we doubt He is working all things out in our lives, and we jump from one thing to another, trying to see where we fit. Okay, maybe that’s just me. Seriously, I am learning to wait for God to order my steps. I’m hoping a friend of mine will be a guest to tell you how she had to wait for a job, what that was like, and how doubt crept in, but that made her leap even closer to God. We see God’s divine order in creation. (Colossians 1:17). He wants order in the church, with Jesus being the head of the church and allowing the Holy Spirit to operate through His people. Again, not all crazy, some of you know what I mean, but let the Holy Spirit have His way. (1 Corinthians 14:33, 40). I heard women say they won’t go to church because they are 2nd class citizens. Just look at the verses around the verses in 1 Corinthians I mentioned. It says women should not speak in the church and should cover their heads. If you have a problem with this, you should be in a Bible study or get a Bible study and learn what that is saying and the reasons given. Don’t let the enemy of your soul keep you away from the richest blessings of knowing Jesus better. Women, we are told to speak, and yes, I can cut my hair. Even shave it if I want….when God calls me home, or Jesus returns, it’s our hearts He will be seeing.
Okay, let’s get back to Thomas. He was a follower of Jesus as Jesus walked the earth. Poor Thomas, labeled a doubter forever now. But was he? Jesus had risen from the grave. When crucified, there were nails in His hands and feet. There was a twisted crown of thorns placed on His head. (Matthew 27:29) . There was no mention of nails in Jesus' hands and feet as I read about His crucifixion. Because of what Jesus told Thomas, when Thomas doubted it was indeed Jesus in the flesh, he saw. Jesus said, “Put your finger here, see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. STOP DOUBTING AND BELIEVE.” Thomas replies, “My Lord and my God”. (John 20:24-30)
I don’t want to be unbelieving; I want
to believe. This next thing is for everyone who hasn’t seen Jesus in the flesh
(you and me). Jesus said: “Thomas, because you have seen me, you believe.
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. These are written that you
may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing,
you may have life in His name.
I have also to add what faith is- The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:11)
Thomas was very honest, saying that unless I saw the nail marks in His hands, put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I would not believe. Thomas was a follower of Jesus, so I believe he learned from and loved him. It stopped there. Where does your faith stop? What proof are you asking God to give you? If you are truly searching for truth, God will show you. (John 16:12-15 and Matthew 7:7-8)
If you look up the verses mentioned in John and Matthew, you will see that they relate to the Holy Spirit. When doubt subsides and you rely on the Holy Spirit's guidance, powerful things will happen in your life. Many promises follow as one believes in the power of the Holy Spirit.
So many of us start our journey with Jesus, not understanding the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It was so timely that the message Sunday at church was on the Holy Spirit, and doubt was mentioned several times. I love it when God does this….. It gives you what you need to better understand His word and His ways. That shows me His love and that He wants me to know Him better.
The first way to better understand God's word is to ask Him for wisdom. When asking God for wisdom, we are told that we must believe and not doubt. If we doubt, we will be like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind (James 1:1-6). Do you believe God will guide and direct you and provide you with His wisdom? Caution here….His wisdom is not like the world. We have a prescription of Wisdom in the JesusRx prescription for life workbook. You can find the book on Amazon or go to evapopek.com for other purchasing outlets.
Think about how many decisions we must make daily. Think about all the decisions you made last month, places to go, people to see. I know I need God’s wisdom to choose what is best for my life. Are you seeking the “best” for your life, or are you settling for 2nd best? If you are, Don’t!
How timely was the message I heard at church Sunday regarding the working of the Holy Spirit and His attributes? In the book of John, we are told about the role of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life. (John 16:13, 14:15-18) When the Spirit of Truth has come, He will guide you into all truth. ALL truth, not some half-truth, ALL truth, it says. I want THAT!
If you listened to the podcast on getting to know me, I mentioned a friend who, years ago, referred to me as “spiritual.” I don’t try to be “spiritual.” I do realize there are all kinds of spirits in the world. Many of those spirits I never want to be associated with or let near me. I want the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Revelation given to me by the Holy Spirit to be ever present in my life! I have not seen Jesus in the flesh as Thomas did, YET I BELIEVE! DO YOU BELIEVE what Thomas doubted? That Jesus rose from that grave and made it known He fulfilled what was spoken of Him in the old and new testaments? Don’t be a doubting Thomas, be called blessed! If you do not doubt you are called blessed, Jesus said that.
The preacher I heard Sunday knew nothing about me. He didn’t know about the JesusRx Prescription for Life podcast or that I’m doing the “prescription for doubt.” God knows and gave me what I needed to do this week, not only with this podcast but in other areas of my life. In obedience to God, He has brought me great joy and reasons to rejoice this week. I’m seeing evidence of being where He has called.
The preacher is doing a series on the Holy Spirit and asked, “Can I even call myself a Christian without having the Holy Spirit working in my life?” I have had to unlearn many things I learned from this world and “religion.”
The Holy Spirit was on people in the Old Testament, allowing them to do powerful, supernatural things. ( Judges 14:6) An example is when Samson tore a lion apart. In hard times, the Spirit of the Lord came to those needing to speak and act, showing them what to do as false teachers and preachers were revealed. (Micah 3:1-8, Amos 3:7-8)
Over and over again in the Old Testament you see people acknowledging the Spirit of God and the reason so many things happened in our earthly state they would not have been able to accomplish.
The Holy Spirit's supernatural power exists IN the believer's body today. Not just around us. In my humanness, I don’t always allow what is supernatural to work through me. I want to get to where I move out of the way of self and let the POWER FLOW THROUGH ME. Just think of how powerful we, as God’s people, can be if we allow the Holy Spirit to lead and knock off the spirits around us that want to hinder us or cause us to stumble. (John 16:1, Hebrews 12:1).
I will share with you the attributes of the Holy Spirit the preacher talked about Sunday. Are you ready? I will leave the information in the show notes. If you want to livestream the services on Sunday, please do so, especially if, for whatever reason, you aren’t attending church.
The Holy Spirit has a personality. He thinks, chooses things, has a mind and will, has emotions, comforts, speaks, teaches, feels sorrow, and, one of my favorites, intercedes and helps me pray when I don’t know what to pray.
(Romans 8:27, 15:30, Acts 9:31, Hebrews 8:29, 3:7, 1 Corinthians 2:13, Ephesians 4:30)
Why do you think some don’t see miracles happening? Let’s look at why miracles were withheld in Matthew 13:54-58. Jesus was rejected. When He (Jesus) had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not, His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon and Judas? And His sisters are they not all with us? Where then did the Man get all these things? So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “ A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” Now He did not do many might works there because of their unbelief.
There you have it. They could not even recognize Him as a prophet, let alone Priest and King. They had no idea He was the ultimate sacrifice and will return to this world as ruler. Oh, the miracles and blessings they missed out on. The preacher reminded me I cannot bring God down to my level; His ways are higher, and He will show them to me. I never want to say God is a liar, but in essence, when I doubt, I am doing just that. We need to pray, knowing as we ask for wisdom and revelation from God, He will teach us! None of us will live here for eternity. The Word of God gives us glimpses of what our eternal home will be like, but not until this body breathes its last breath here will I know the full riches of heaven. My mother-in-law knows the full riches today!! She passed on to her eternal home last week. She was 90. I am so happy she is living her best life now. It was not a good life here. She was filled with much pain, emotionally and physically. She knew Jesus, and that’s what got her through to be 90, full of a knowing hope she would be living with Him. Not a hope, I hope. But a genuine hope of knowing! Some of you get what I’m saying. We don’t doubt He has prepared a place for us (John 14:1-6)
When you pray and ask others to pray with you, the Holy Spirit will guide those prayers. In Romans 15: 30-33, Paul asked people to pray three prayers, and they were all answered. (Acts 23:10, 2:17-20a and 25:11-12). There will always be a difference when your prayers are Holy Spirit-led.
There are a lot of verses listed, and if you don’t want to look all of them up, can you please look up John 14:1-6 and read that? Thomas wanted understanding. He asked “Lord we do not know where you are going and how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, saying, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Followers of Jesus asked many questions.
I will end where I began, where Thomas needed proof. He had been told about Jesus coming back from the grave. We are told Jesus is coming back, yet so many doubt the truth of God’s Word. Those who rely on the Holy Spirit to reveal truth and see the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit are blessed.
Blessed are those who have not seen Jesus crucified, risen, seen in the flesh, and ascended in heaven and YET BELIEVE.
I pray you choose to believe and be blessed!
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