When faced with a challenge or an unanswered prayer, it’s unlikely that we all would respond with joy. Dr. Stanley examines what causes our trust in God to waver and encourages us to address our own moments of fluctuating faith.
Dr. Charles Stanley: Do you
often wonder why God hasn’t
answered your prayer when you’ve
come to Him over and over again
about the same issue?
And you tell Him about it; you
give Him all the details and
yet nothing happens.
Could it be it’s
because of your faith?
Not that you don’t have any,
but your faith sort of wavers.
It’s strong today and tonight
you’re not sure; strong
tomorrow, maybe the next day
it’s not so strong.
And so, we have wavering faith.
That is, it comes and goes.
And then we wonder why God
doesn’t hear and answer
our prayer.
In James the first chapter,
and I want you to turn there
if you will.
The second verse the first
chapter he says, “Consider it
all joy, my brethren, when you
encounter various trials.”
Now, we don’t like trials very
much, but he says count it
joyful, “Knowing that the
testing of your faith is
producing endurance.”
That is, that there’s something
good about the test, “And let
endurance have its perfect
result, so that you may be
perfect and complete,
lacking in nothing.
But if any of you lacks wisdom,
let him ask of God, who gives
to all generously and without
reproach, and it will be given
to him.”
And then he says, “But he must
ask in faith without any
doubting, for the one who doubts
is like the surface of the sea,
driven and tossed by the wind.
For that man or woman ought not
to expect to receive anything
from the Lord, being a
double-minded man or woman,
unstable in all their ways.”
He’s simply saying this: Just
because you pray for something
once doesn’t mean necessarily
God’s going to answer it
right then.
And oftentimes because God
doesn’t answer on our schedule,
we stop praying and our
conclusion is He’s
not listening.
Or our conclusion is there must
be something wrong with me.
In other words, because God
doesn’t answer it on our
schedule, does not mean that
He is not going to answer it.
But sometimes God does what?
He lets us pray and pray and
pray, not to get Him to do it;
but we pray and pray and pray
until God has accomplished
His purpose in
answering the prayer.
And it’s not always the fact
that you get what you’re
praying about.
Sometimes it’s about
the way you get it.
And that is we have to wait; we
have to trust Him; and we have
to believe in our heart
that God is hearing us.
We don’t see any
evidence of it.
And I think all of us can say
we’ve been through those times
when we’ve prayed and prayed
and prayed and we thought,
God, where are You?
Here’s what You’ve said.
And I’ll have to admit sometimes
there have been times when I’ve
held up the Bible and said,
See, God!
You re-read this verse.
You wrote this.
And I just want You to see that
I’m trusting You for it and
I don’t know why I’m not
having an answer.
Well, because God doesn’t
promise to answer on my
schedule, but on His.
And if you’ll think about it;
Who knows best when to answer
your prayer?
We think we do but not always.
So, I want us to think about
this whole idea of the wavering
of our faith.
And James lived close to the
Sea of Galilee, no doubt.
And when those hot winds would
come down off the mountain
across the sea and storms that
Jesus talked about, and
they’re right in
the middle of them.
And the waves would go this way,
then they’d go that way and
the ship’s up and ship’s down.
And they were scared to death
knowing they were going to sink.
He said, That’s the way
our faith is sometimes.
That is, it’s not steady.
It’s not always the same.
So, watch this.
One of the marks of our devotion
to Jesus; is the fact that we
can pray and pray and pray and
we don’t give up because God
doesn’t answer on our schedule.
And so, I’ll tell you how you
know when you’re giving up when
you think, Well, I don’t know.
Maybe I’m not asking
the right thing.
Deep down inside you know
you are.
And you–and so, you wake up one
morning and you think,
God’s going to answer
my prayer today.
Praise the Lord.
You’re excited.
It doesn’t happen.
The next thing you get up and
think, God, what happened?
And so, we judge ourselves.
We condemn ourselves.
We conclude that God does not
always answer prayer.
He does always answer, maybe not
the way I like Him to, but He’s
always going to answer it.
So, would you say your faith is
sturdy, steady, consistent,
believing, unwavering, trusting
with all your heart knowing that
God is going to answer
your prayer?
Or would you say, to be honest,
I can believe Him as long as
I’ll get a little encouragement,
but sometimes I think,
God, where are You?
Where are You, God?
Why haven’t You
answered my prayer?
Do you think that fussing at God
is going to get Him to answer
your prayer?
No, because what that says is,
Well, He’s accomplishing
His task.
That is, when we argue
with God, what’s He doing?
He’s showing us, first of all,
we’re impatient.
Secondly, we don’t know
His will.
Number three, we’re not ready.
And so, what seems to us to be
a mistake on a part of God
or forgetfulness on His part,
is not that at all.
He’s in the process of teaching
us, listen, to be consistent,
to trust Him, to believe Him.
Now, watch this, to believe Him
when I don’t see any evidence.
Real faith is I’m trusting God.
I’m believing what He says.
Not because I see it; not
because I feel it; but
because He’s promised it.
Watch this carefully.
Are you listening?
Say amen.
Your connection to the source
of all your blessings;
your connection to the Person
who releases those blessings;
your connection to your future
eternity, is in the Person
of Jesus Christ.
So that, that being true, and
we don’t get our answers
when we want them.
We have to ask ourselves
the question, Why?
And here’s what it’s not.
It’s not because God
doesn’t care.
It’s not because He
didn’t hear you.
It’s not because He
can’t answer it.
There are other reasons.
And one of the primary reasons
is we think we’re trusting Him
when we’re not.
If on Monday, I’m praising God.
I’ve been to church.
I got all fired up with the
music and the message and
I’m–God’s answering prayer.
God, this is a week for me
to really pray.
God’s going to answer my prayer.
And Thursday comes and you
haven’t said, had a single
answer yet.
Then what is God saying?
Maybe you’re looking at
the wrong thing.
And so, what we do, we begin–we
don’t like to admit it, we begin
to doubt what God says.
Ask and it shall be given you;
seek and ye shall find; knock
and it shall be opened to you.
Well, Lord, I’ve been asking
since Monday and I don’t have
an answer.
And then, we quote Him some
other verses and doesn’t seem
to impress God at all.
And so, what happens?
The next thing you know, we
think, Oh, He’s not going to.
Oh, yes, He is.
Maybe He will, maybe He not.
And so, up and down
our faith goes.
Wavering faith doesn’t
get anything from God.
So, let’s think for
just a moment.
What causes our faith
to waver like that?
When we choose to go by
our feelings, rather than
the Word of God.
When we move our eyes from the
Word of God and His promises
to how we feel, we are going
to begin to be unstable
in our faith.
And, God knew that.
The wonderful thing about this
Word, you never have to question
what God says.
What He says is not just true
sometimes, it true all the time.
And, when we choose to go by our
feelings, rather than the Word
of God, our faith is going to be
up today and down tomorrow.
So, we put our feelings first.
That’s one of the
reasons we waver.
Secondly, when we yield, listen,
when we yield to reason rather
than believe God.
In other words, you can’t go by
reason, because reason and faith
do not always agree.
God’s reason, for example, for
not answering my petition the
way I asked may not be the
reason I would come up with.
For example, we, when we come to
God and asking big things of
Him, we have all kind of reasons
for, to believe He’ll answer
our prayer.
It may be that God sees
something we haven’t thought
about and He’s not about
to answer our prayer till
He deals with that.
So, if there’s a reservation, if
there’s a hesitation, if there
is, if there’s an instance in
which God is waiting,
it’s because He has a
legitimate, good, divine,
helpful reason for it.
And I think oftentimes
believers, because God doesn’t
answer our prayer when we
expect it, what happens is we
just doubt Him.
We pout.
We think, Well, there’s no point
in me praying anymore
because I asked God for this.
And every once in a while, I’ll
meet somebody who says I hear
you’re talking about prayer.
I used to pray.
I say, What do you mean,
used to pray?
Well, I prayed before and God
didn’t answer my prayer,
so I just forgot that, just gave
up on that, and God doesn’t
answer prayer.
It’s amazing how juvenile and
child-like we can become because
things don’t happen the way we
expect it and when we expect it.
So, ask yourself the question,
Do you go by reason or by
the Word of God?
And then, a third thing.
We fail to see God at work
in our circumstances.
That is, if you don’t see God at
work in your circumstances,
you’re going to doubt
what’s going on.
And, remember this, as a
follower of Jesus, nothing can
happen to you unless
He allows it.
And so, difficulty, hardship,
pain, suffering,
moments of doubt.
He–why does He allow this?
Because He’s trying
to grow us up.
And so, we fail to see God in
our circumstances, what happens
is, we begin to
wobble in our faith.
How is He going to grow us up
if He doesn’t test us?
If He doesn’t try us.
If He doesn’t allow us to face
things that we don’t understand.
Things that we don’t like.
Things that, that oftentimes
would drive us to the Word.
I think about times I’ve been in
situations and I thought,
God you got to
speak to my heart.
And I’ll flip to something like
this, “The counsel of the Lord
stands forever.”
See, I just happened
to turn to that.
But that’s what He usually does.
Not all the time.
But, turn me right to the verse
of Scripture, He knows I need.
Because, all of us are going
to face tests and trials.
And, one of two
things’ll happen.
I’ll turn to Him and trust Him.
I’ll turn to the Word of God and
read and strengthen my faith.
Or, I’ll find myself wobbling
and wasting time.
And oftentimes, that’s where
people get in trouble.
Well, if God loved me, He
wouldn’t let this happen.
You, listen.
You stay out of the Word of God
a few days and you’re
in trouble.
Because, the devil loves
for you to leave the Word.
Because, then he can inject
into your thinking things
that are not true.
The next thing you know,
you’re doubting God.
And so, God, He knows, watch
this, He knows exactly when
to answer your prayer.
He doesn’t have
to check a clock.
He doesn’t have to check
the calendar.
He knows exactly
when you’re ready.
That’s true of every blessing;
everything we ask of God.
He knows, watch this, He knows
exactly the right time because
on big issues oftentimes, and
sometimes small, big issues,
God has a very particular time
to do what we’ve asked Him to do
in order to accomplish what
He wants to accomplish.
And that is, God isn’t just
interested in meeting
my desires.
He’s interested in doing what?
He’s interested, primarily,
listen carefully.
He’s interested primarily in
shaping us into the likeness
of His Son, which means I have
to learn to be patient,
trust Him when I don’t feel
like trusting Him.
Trust Him when I don’t see
anything in sight.
Trusting Him when I’m tempted
to give up but trust Him.
He’s not promised to do it
on my schedule.
All of us have a divine
schedule, but we can’t run it.
God knows exactly the right time
to meet every single need
we have.
And sometimes He
waits a long time.
Sometime He waits a long time
and we give up and we go back
and we give up and we go back
and we give up and we go back.
Remember this.
If you–watch this carefully.
If you have asked something
that’s in the will of God,
relax.
It’ll come in His timing when He
knows you’re ready and He’s
ready and your receiving it at
this time will enable Him to
accomplish what He wants
to accomplish in your life.
He’s in charge.
Then sometime, we listen
to negative counsel
from other people.
How many people have said to
you, Well, you must be something
wrong what you’re asking for
because how long have you been
praying for that?
And I think about people, for
example, who are looking for
a husband or a wife or
something as serious as that.
And they’re thinking, Okay God,
mmm-mm, times going by God,
mmm-mmm, God, where are You?
Here’s what You promise.
Let me ask you a question.
How many of you believe that
God forgets His promises?
We all believe He
doesn’t forget, right?
Then, the next question is God,
what are You trying to
say to me?
Because God is more interested
in His purposes for our life
than He’s interested in what
our purpose is.
And how often have
people given up?
Lord, okay.
Maybe this is just not
for me in life so
I’m just going to trust You.
And all of a sudden,
everything unfolds.
God is in the process of
teaching us to trust Him.
God loves to answer our prayer.
Listen to what He says.
Ask, it shall be given you, seek
and ye shall find, knock and it
shall be opened unto you.
So, think about why you find
yourself wavering in your
prayer request.
Because think about this.
What do we call Him?
Our Heavenly what?
Father.
Our Heavenly Father loves us.
And if you’ll think about this,
the next time you think God
doesn’t care, all you have
to do is remember this.
Look at the cross.
You want to know whether
He cares or not?
Look at the cross.
There’s nothing to equal that.
There’s no love equal to what
God did through His Son,
the Lord Jesus, at the cross of
Calvary, nothing that will ever
happen will match that.
And so, when we give up, we
don’t realize what God’s up to.
He’s always up to
something good, no matter
what it might be.
And so, when we listen to
negative counsel, we’re heading
for trouble.
Listen, if you’re asking God
about something in your life,
probably it’s best that
you keep it to yourself.
Some things you can ask other
people to help you pray
about, naturally.
But then there are some things
that God just wants the two of
you, just the two of you
to deal with it.
Don’t talk to anybody else
about it.
Just talk to Me about it.
And you say, Okay, well Lord,
I’ve been talking to You three
months and You
haven’t done anything.
Yes, watch this, yes, He has.
Listen carefully.
When you think God hasn’t done
anything, He’s had three months
to work on you and to get
you ready for the answer.
And oftentimes, right before God
has it all prepared for us,
we want to give up.
We say, God hasn’t heard me.
We walk away from God at a
pivotal point in our life,
don’t forget that!
I see it happening all the time.
Well, I’ve been praying.
Well, what happens?
Well, you know what?
I’ve decided God just
hasn’t heard me.
Yes, He has.
Think about this.
Why wouldn’t God listen to you?
You say, Well, I’ve
never been saved.
He’s waiting for you to
recognize your sinfulness,
cry out to Him to save you.
So, don’t give up on God.
He knows exactly where you
are in your life.
Then of course, when we
focus our thinking on our
circumstances rather than God,
what does He do?
Remember this.
He always has as His objective
our love and devotion
and commitment to Him.
Our mind is on something else;
His mind is on what will build
our relationship.
And so, when we think about we
focus on the circumstances and
we think, Well, how could God?
In other words, now that this
has happened, how could God
possibly do anything with this?
You can’t rush God.
You cannot hurry God.
Does God care?
Yes.
Does He care about everything?
Yes.
Care about everybody?
Yes.
But He knows the right time, the
right place, the right person,
or the right things,
whatever it might be.
God knows exactly
what you need.
He knows exactly the
right time to provide it.
He knows how long to withhold it
until He gets your attention.
Would you say that God
wants the best for you
or just pretty good?
The best.
He wants the best for us.
Then I must be willing
to wait for the best.
Ask and it shall be given you.
Seek and ye shall find.
Knock and it shall be
opened to you.
Three simple promises of God.
Be, you know why He said it?
Because He wants to answer our
prayer; ready to answer
our prayer.
Because it doesn’t come when I’m
expecting it, or anticipating
it, or it doesn’t come like I
expected it to come, we give up.
We say, God doesn’t
answer prayer.
Or, we conclude
God’s not listening.
Or, we conclude I must have done
something wrong back yonder
in my life somewhere along the
way and now God doesn’t answer
my prayer.
All of these are Satanic
traps to fall into.
And when I think about
that, circumstances,
you can’t go by circumstances.
Then of course, one of our
problems is we’re sort of
ignorant of God’s ways.
In other words, there’s nothing
in the Bible that says, Ask
and it shall be given
to you immediately.
That’s what we wish it would say
but it doesn’t say that.
And when you think about how
God operates, watch this.
Whatever we’re asking for that
may be the will of God,
usually He has not only that but
something else in mind also.
And God is a loving God.
In other words, God isn’t
trying to withhold anything
good from us.
It’s that our faith begins to
waver because we don’t get it
when we want it, the way we want
it, and it may be that we don’t
get it through whom
we expected it to come.
And, the more we understand the
ways of God, the more patient
we’ll become when it
comes to answered prayer.
Because oftentimes He withholds,
watch this, He withholds what
I’m looking for because He’s got
something better than I was
looking for.
Think about this.
God, your Heavenly Father,
why would He withhold
from you anything
that’s good for you?
Why would He give you
something less than the best?
And I think back through in my
life how many years I’ve been
a Christian, God has never
withheld anything from me
unless He gave me
something better.
I’ve thought about
that many, many times.
God, thank You for not
letting me have that.
Thank You, God, for
making Your choice.
So, ask yourself the question,
Are you usually demanding
when you come to Him?
When you make a request, are
you willing to say, Lord,
here’s what I’d like to have.
Here’s what I have my eye on.
Here’s what I’m praying for.
I’m trusting You.
Now, Lord, I need this
in sixty days.
No, you don’t.
And listen.
Watch this.
Time, time, time becomes an
issue in your prayer life,
you have to leave that to God.
You have to leave it, you have
to leave the time to God.
Would you not agree if He’s
omniscient He knows exactly
the best time?
So, we sit in church and say,
Oh yes, I know that’s true.
But Tuesday night you may think,
Well, God, where are You?
His timing is perfect timing.
And I could give you example
after example, personal things
in my own life where He’s been
right every single time.
There’ve been times
when I thought, God.
And I remember, one occasion
that was a very critical moment
in my life.
And so, I remember coming back
from breakfast that morning and
kneeling down and talking to the
Lord and I thought, I don’t feel
You very close, God.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday
I prayed.
I cried.
I begged.
I pleaded.
I reasoned.
I fussed.
I argued.
I did everything possible and
the longer the week went by,
the worse I got.
Saturday night, when I’d given
up, said, Okay, forget it, God.
Just forget it.
Saturday night, I didn’t
get down to pray by my bed.
I didn’t open the Bible.
I just said, Forget it.
I remember walking out and you
know how you brush your teeth
and look in the mirror?
I was brushing my teeth looking
in the mirror, it’s like, what,
God said to me, What did
You ask Me for?
And I remember being very
haughty and saying, Well, God,
I’ve been asking, why You–what
are You doing this week?
Been a horrible week.
Went back and sat down.
God beautifully and quietly
answered what I was asking
for and it was fantastic.
And you know what?
I had to get on my knees and
confess and confess and repent
and repent and repent about my
lack of patience and blaming God
and accusing God and pointing
to Scriptures and telling,
Well, God, what
about this verse?
And what about that verse?
God is interested
in growing us up.
He’s interested in
growing us up.
Listen.
He says He’s, watch this,
predestined.
That is, He’s predetermined to
conform us to His likeness.
Well, let me ask you this?
How many of you think you’re
pretty much like Jesus today?
Nobody?
Well, if that’s true, doesn’t He
have the right to keep working
till He gets us
where He wants us?
Anytime you think you’re about
there, ha, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
Here’s what happens.
He gives us a dose of something
in order to remind us
He’s still working on us.
And I don’t know whether
this will be encouraging
or discouraging, but until
the last day of your life and
the last moments of your life,
He’s going to be working on you.
You know why?
Because He predestined us to be,
thus, He predetermined divinely
to conform us to
the image of His Son.
In other words, above everything
else, if you want to know what
Jesus thinks, what God the
Father thinks, what His primary
ultimate objective.
Not getting you to heaven,
He’s going to do that.
But conforming you to the
likeness of His Son now
while we’re here.
So, what would He have to do in
your life to get you looking
more like Jesus?
Well, you don’t want to answer
that, because nobody knows you,
but you and the Lord.
He knows that secret something
in your life that He’s been
working on.
He knows something that
you don’t feel worthy of.
So, He knows exactly
where we are.
So, He’s working at us.
And He wants to deepen our
faith, strengthen our faith,
change our negative attitudes
and our lack of faith.
He always has our best
interest at heart.
And so, whatever He’s doing in
your life, is God loving you
into His image, working on your
life, till He gets you where
He wants you.
Will we ever be there
totally in this life?
No.
But think about this.
Here’s the will of God.
He’s going to work on us.
He’s going to work in us.
He’s going to work for us till
we breathe our last breath, and
His ultimate purpose is shaping
us, conforming us into His
likeness, because one of these
days, He knows He’s going
to call our name and we’re
going to stand before Him.
He’s got big plans
for all of us.
And they have to do with,
listen, they have to do with
making us like Himself;
conforming us to the likeness
of the image of Christ.
That’s what He’s interested in.
All this other stuff’s
something we do.
So, we’re ignorant
of God’s ways.
And, one of the things that
causes our faith to wobble,
is our guilt over present
or past sins.
And, watch this carefully.
As I talk to people over the
years, one of the biggest
handicaps to trusting God
is they look back.
And instead of looking at God
and His love and forgiveness
and kindness, they look back and
they think, How could God
ever love me for what I’ve done?
How could God ever love me what
I’ve been, where I’ve been,
what I’ve been?
And so, we judge ourselves
and the devil, he loves that.
God doesn’t want you
looking back.
He wants you looking
straight toward Him.
He forgives every sin.
He wipes it clean with
the blood of Jesus.
We’re His children.
He’s conforming us
to His likeness.
He’s working in our life every
single day, because He knows
ultimately where
we’re going to be.
So, ask yourself the question,
Is your faith solid, strong,
immovable?
Or, is it wishy-washy?
Don’t be like the waves of
the sea, coming and going.
So, how do we correct
our wavering faith?
We correct it by asking
the following questions.
So, I have a list of them.
Ask yourself the
following questions.
Number one: Where are
these doubts coming from?
Where are these doubts
coming from?
Probably, something
in your past.
Something going on in your life.
Listen.
When you are asking God
about your life.
And, you are in the process
of living in sin.
You are going to have confusion.
Listen.
A spirit of confusion will
envelope the life of a person
whose living in sin
and talking to God.
You going to have a
feeling of confusion.
Where are these
doubts coming from?
Secondly, you think about this.
Did God promise to
meet all your needs?
Well, I hear a couple of yeses.
How many of you say–would say,
God, yes, He’s promised
to meet all my needs?
Amen.
Has He?
He must have missed somebody.
Not only has He promised it.
Watch this.
He’ll meet all of our needs.
Not all my wants.
Not all of my desires.
But all of my needs.
Now, why doesn’t He meet all
my wants and all my desires?
Because He loves me too much.
If my wants and my desires,
come into conflict with the
Word of God, He’s not
going to answer it.
Why?
Because, He loves us too much to
give us what we shouldn’t have.
Thank God, He’s not given me a
few things that I’ve asked for.
Because, listen.
He always have something better.
And think about this.
We all would say, “Yes,
He’s promised to meet all
of our needs.”
Think about this.
Did He not promise to be
with us all the time?
What’s that verse?
Real short.
“I will never leave you
nor forsake you.”
How many of you have ever felt
left and forsaken by God?
The rest of you are
not being honest.
Sure, you have at some point.
And, you think, God,
where are you?
God, what–why aren’t you
answering my prayer.
What’s going on?
He’s always interested in
drawing us to Himself.
And making our life count.
Somebody says well, “Sometimes,
I don’t feel God’s presence.”
Watch this.
Why has He made it so that
sometimes I don’t feel
his presence?
Why would God do that?
Can you have a good reason?
Sure, because He doesn’t want us
to live by our feelings.
He knew we’d vacillate.
I feel fantastic today.
Well, I–God was
so close yesterday I–
God’s nowhere to be found.
In other words, if we live by
our feelings, we would never
know where we are in our
relationship to God.
Because, for example, is it not
true that sometimes you get up
in the morning, head out to do
whatever you do, and it’s like
you left God back
at your house.
Or, when you got out of your
car and you left Him there.
Or, when you left your business,
you left Him there.
In other words, we don’t always
have this jolly feeling that
God is with me.
Because, if I lived that way,
I’d be living by my feelings.
We live by what?
Truth.
We live by the truth.
“I will never forsake you.
I will never leave you.”
We live by truth of
the Word of God.
And sometimes we come to forks
in the road in our life.
We have to make choices.
And, some of these choices
are very, very serious.
That’s why, living in the Word
of God is so very important.
Because, the truth is, this
Book is our spiritual compass.
And listen, it never points
in the wrong direction.
Whatever, you’re looking for,
whatever you’re seeking God to
give you guidance and direction
for, you get in the Word of God
and start reading.
You say, “Read where?”
Well, it’s–you have some
favorite places, but reading
the Psalms,
read the Proverbs.
Or read in the Epistles.
Or wherever it might be.
And, it’s like a compass.
And it’s always pointing
in the right direction.
If I don’t live in the Word of
God, my faith is going to waver.
And then, listen to this.
Did He not give you one of
the greatest gifts of all?
And that is when you were
saved, He indwelt you
with the Holy Spirit.
That is, listen to this.
God says, I’m going to send the
Holy Spirit, who will be in you,
with you, and upon you.
He’s going to be your guide.
He’s going to be your helper,
the parakletos.
He’s going to be your helper.
He’s going to be the
source of your strength.
He’s going to be there for you
anytime, anywhere,
in any circumstance.
He’s going to be the One who
empowers you, enables you.
He’s going to be
your very life.
That’s our security.
That’s our absolute assurance.
And so, once you receive Christ
as your Savior, listen to this.
He loves you so much,
you cannot be lost.
Watch this.
Once He writes your name in the
Lamb’s Book of Life, you’re
trusting Him as your Savior,
there’s nothing in the Bible
about erasures.
Not in there.
Nobody can erase your name from
the Lamb’s Book of Life,
because it’s written
with indelible divine ink.
Cannot be erased
under any condition.
Once you’re saved by the grace
of God, watch this, grace says
in the very beginning,
I don’t deserve it.
Grace is all about love and
forgiveness and cleansing
and acceptance.
Once you trust Him as your
personal Savior, your name
written in Lamb’s Book of Life,
and what?
You sin against God,
you get chastised.
You sin against God,
you pay the price.
But, watch this, the price
is never your soul.
Never your soul.
Once you’re saved by the grace
of God, you’re forever saved.
You start living in sin,
what happens?
Chastisement comes.
And you, He will chastise you.
You say, Well, how much
will He chastise me?
He’ll chastise you until you
think you can’t stand it
anymore, and you get
straightened out with God.
That may be where you
are this morning.
You may have to admit,
Well, you know what?
I got out of the will of God
back yonder and I told God,
I didn’t want to live
that way anymore.
It didn’t work for me, so I
showed up this morning hoping
I’d hear something
that will help me.
Once you trusted Jesus Christ
as your personal Savior,
you are forever a child of God.
You may be a child of God with
lots of doubt, lots of fears,
things are not working
right in your life.
But watch this, but not lost;
not lost, because He loves you;
because He cares; because
He has the best for you.
This is Holy God who said,
I’ve sealed you unto
the day of redemption.
That is, when He calls us home.
Sealed, secured forever.
We have no reason to doubt Him.
And every once in a while I’ll
meet somebody who says to me,
You don’t know what
I’ve done in my life.
I said, It doesn’t
make any difference.
No, but if you knew the kind of
life I live, you wouldn’t be
talking about, to me,
about God’s love.
Yes, I would.
No matter what you’ve done,
where you’ve done it, with whom,
it doesn’t make any difference.
This is the awesome
forgiveness of God.
On the cross, every single
solitary sin that man has
or could ever possibly commit,
the price has been paid for
your forgiveness, your
salvation for all eternity.
He’s an awesome God.
He loves us with a love that
we can’t even describe.
And when I think about people
whose faith wavers,
I think sometimes they must
think that there must be
something too hard for God.
No, it’s a matter of
surrendering to Him and
watch Him work in your life.
That’s who God is.
He’s this awesome
infinite God, full of love
that’s indescribable.
I ask you one last question.
What could Almighty God have
done to prove His love for
all of us that even matches
what He did at the cross?
What else could He do
to prove His love?
“For God so loved the world that
He gave His only Begotten Son,
that whosoever,” watch this,
“whosoever believes in Him,”
not works for Him,
not labors for Him.
“Whosoever believes in Him
would not perish but have
eternal life.”
Do you believe Him?
Do you believe He
died for your sins?
Do you believe that when He
went to the cross, He paid
your sin debt in full?
Are you willing to ask Him
to forgive you of your sin,
surrender your life to Him and
start, listen, begin life anew
with Jesus in your life?
Sealed by the Holy Spirit and
one of these days welcomed
into heaven by Almighty God.
Trust Him.
Don’t let your faith waver.
Know who you are.
Know what He’s done for you.
Know where your name’s written
and know that, listen,
watch this, you can’t sin
enough to erase your name
from the Lamb’s Book of Life.
You can’t.
You say, Well, now mmm-hmm.
No, no, no, no, no.
You can’t.
He doesn’t forgive our sins
partially or for a limited
amount of time.
When we confess Him as
our Savior, sealed by
the Holy Spirit, and one of
these days, welcomed into heaven
by Almighty God, amen?
Father, we thank You for loving
us and we look at the cross
and think, Oh, how
unworthy we are.
Oh, how much You must love us.
Show us how to live out what
You’ve done for us and what
You do for us continually.
Deliver us from
all doubt, all fear.
And may we rest absolutely
and totally in Your loving arms.
In Jesus’s name, amen.