Chapter 12, "What
To Do With doubt."
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Hello and Welcome to
Steps to Christ in Song.
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Today, we're gonna
look at the topic of
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"What to do with
doubt." There are many reasons
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rest to think that we can doubt.
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There are things that
are hard for us to wrap our
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minds around. For
example, as little microscopic
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organisms that even
scientists find it difficult
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to understand and
explain. There are wonders
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everywhere that are
difficult for us to even think
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about and beyond our
understanding. And so,
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why do we find it
difficult to think that in the
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spiritual world, that
there are things that are far
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beyond to our understanding.
Really the difficulty lies
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within the narrowness
and the weakness of the
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human mind. We're
talking about our finite mind
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dealing with the
infinite God. In the Bible,
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we see and also in
nature, a revelation of God's
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existence of his divinity
and I believe that if we put
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our full trust in that,
that it will dispel all doubt,
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but before we get
too far into the topic.
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Let me just ask to Cara to
lead us in a word of prayer.
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Dear heavenly Father,
you are such an amazing God,
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you are infinite in
love, in wisdom, in power,
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and compared to you
we find that human beings
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are as nothing. But
despite your greatness,
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we often do not trust
you, when we don't understand
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your word or your plan for
us we have doubt just bring
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up in our minds. Oh!
Lord we want to have complete
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faith in you. Please, take
away our doubts and give us
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your Spirit to help
us understand your word.
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Help us to trust your
infinite wisdom and increase
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our faith Lord we
pray in Jesus name, amen.
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Amen, amen. If you
are a new Christian,
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you may sometimes
have questions about your
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new faith or you might
wonder if this Christianity
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stuff is really
true. You are not unusual;
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in fact it's not uncommon to
have hard to answer questions
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about God and the
Bible. There are many things
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in the Bible that are
clear and easy to understand,
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but there are also
some things that defy human
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reasoning, this
shouldn't alarm you because the
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Apostle Paul
exclaims in Romans 11:33,
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all the depth of the
riches, also the wisdom and the
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knowledge of God. How
unsearchable are his judgments
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and his ways past
finding out. This fact shouldn't
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discourage you
from seeking our God,
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on the contrary it shall
encourage you to know that
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the God you are
seeking is much more greater
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then you are. In fact,
you will be finding new things
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about Him for the rest of
the eternity. So don't panic,
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if all your questions
aren't answered right away.
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Be assured, God will
rebel himself more fully
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when you are ready.
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Immortal,
invisible God only wise,
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In light
inaccessible hid from our eyes,
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Most blessed, most
glorious, the Ancient of Days,
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Almighty, victorious,
Thy great name we praise.
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Unresting,
unhasting, and silent as light,
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Nor wanting, nor
wasting, Thou rulest in might;
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Thy justice, like
mountains, high soaring above
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Thy clouds, which are
fountains of goodness and love.
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To all, life Thou
givest, to both great and small;
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In all life Thou
livest, the true life of all;
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We blossom and flourish
like leaves on the tree,
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And wither and perish
but naught changeth Thee.
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Great Father of
glory, pure Father of light,
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Thine angels adore
Thee, all veiling their sight;
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All praise we would
render; O help us to see
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'This only the
splendor of light hideth Thee!
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Wow! The words of
that song just inspired me
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with awe and reverence for God.
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The way that his power
and glory are described,
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increase my faith in his
wisdom and in his ability
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to take care of
everything that I commit to him.
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Cara you know what
helped to me to not doubt
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the love of this immortal
invisible God is that when
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I was lost, he gave
me a map, the Bible,
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which has given me a
sense of direction in my life
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and also taken away the
doubt from my life. Ryo,
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I wanted to ask you a
question, have you experience
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what it means
to be lost and lose
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your direction through doubt.
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Well, I have an interesting
experience when I went
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Disney Land. My
parents and I went Disney Land,
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when I was 6 years
old and lots of people.
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Right, there was lots
of people because it was
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summer break right and
everybody lots of people
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trying to get in.
And before we went in,
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my parents told me to go
to the top of the hill that
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was right in front
of the entrance and wait
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there if I get lost.
So, they had a plan. Right.
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Just in case you get
lost. There is a landmark
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on top of the hill.
It was a landmark exactly
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and it was kind of
funny. Well now that
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I will look back
it's kind of funny because
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as soon as we went
in, I got lost. Oh! Boy.
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There were lots of
people, it wasn't even funny.
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People were pushing
and pulling each other,
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trying to get in.
But anyways, after about
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10 or 20 minutes
wandering about crying and just.
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Oh, it's terrible. So,
terrified and even scared me
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even more when I
thought of you know not being
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able to see my
parents anymore and something
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like that. Yeah.
And it was really hard
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and I felt like it was at
two or three hours or even
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like all afternoon,
even though it was only
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10 or 20 minutes. Yeah.
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But anyways and after
that, I finally realized
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what my parents
said or what my parents
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told me to do. So you
forgot about the landmark.
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You were just
looking everywhere last place
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you saw them and you
didn't think of going there.
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Because I was panic.
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Yeah. And I don't know
what to do. But soon as,
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I remembered that I
just ran there and but there
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they are you know, it
was they were there already
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and waiting for me.
And same thing with God
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you know, we get lost,
we always get lost sometimes
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and that hill that
landmark is like Bible.
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Bible is our
landmark and God gave us that
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even before we got lost.
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Yeah, have you ever
found in the Bible for yourself
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personally, that you
found times when you doubted
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and the Bible helped you.
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Oh yeah, well
these couple of years,
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there were thoughts in my
mind like is there really God,
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is there really Jesus or
is there really such thing
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that was happened in
the Bible because looking
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nowadays and it's so
hard to believe it because
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there is a lot of sin
going on and crime everything
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like that. It's really
hard to think that way but,
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but when you look on to
Bible and you start reading
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how Jesus lived his life.
He just makes me feel that is,
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he is real and God is
real. And we could see that
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even in our little
things, we doubt so much,
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but that just distracts
us from not believing God.
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And that helped you to
get rid of the doubt that
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you had in your heart.
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Right, just simply
by reading the Bible.
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Wow, wow, that helped me too.
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It was the Bible that
gave me direction and a sense
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a purpose in my life.
Thanks for sharing your story.
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One thing that's clearly
taught in the Bible is that
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God wants to spend the
rest of eternity with you.
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That's why he makes the
basic knowledge of the plan
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of Salvation so clear that
even child can understand it,
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but this doesn't mean
that these simple truths
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aren't profound. The
Bible speaks to the most basic
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human needs, well at
the same time it gives food
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for thought, that even
the most intellectual people
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will be challenged
to understand. You see,
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spiritual things are
spiritually understood.
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Speaking of God it says
in First Corinthians 2:10
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and 2:12, His spirits
searches out everything
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and shows us even God's
deep secrets, and God has
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actually given us His
Spirit not the world spirit,
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so that we can know
the wonderful things God
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has freely given to
us. Maybe the reason that
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even children can
understand spiritual
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things is that they haven't
shut out the Holy Spirit.
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The next time you
study your Bible open up your
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heart and ask God for
His Spirit to guide you.
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Open my eyes, that I may see
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glimpses of
truth thou hast for me;
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place in my
hands the wonderful key
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that shall
unclasp and set me free.
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Silently now I wait for thee,
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ready, my God, thy will to see.
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Open my eyes,
illumine me, Spirit divine!
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Open my ears, that I may hear
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voices of truth
thou sendest clear;
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and while the wave
notes fall on my ear,
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everything false will disappear.
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Silently now I wait for thee,
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ready, my God, thy will to see.
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Open my ears,
illumine me, Spirit divine!
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Open my mouth, and let me bear
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gladly the warm
truth everywhere;
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open my heart and let me prepare
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love with thy
children thus to share.
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Silently now I wait for thee,
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ready, my God, thy will to see.
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Open my heart,
illumine me, Spirit divine!
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Isn't it amazing to
think that in all powerful God
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wants to show us
some of His Glory,
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but imagine if He
would to show us everything
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about Himself. I think
that would undermine our need
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of Him. God will
sometimes ask us to follow Him,
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even though we don't fully
understand the big picture,
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we don't exactly see
where that path is leading,
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but that's okay. God
asks us to trust in Him,
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to put our faith in Him because
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He will see us
through. Sharon, why is it that
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we often doubt God when we
don't see the full picture?
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Have you ever
experience anything like that?
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No, Mr. Lemon I've, I
felt that way when I heard
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the story about my
uncle and my dad when they
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went to the army and
they were drafted in Korea
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and my dad and my
uncle they both said
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the same thing
they said, you know,
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we are not gonna
hold to that and we need
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to go to church on Sabbath.
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So they stood
up for their faith.
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Yeah, and as they
were doing that you know
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they said the same things,
but the results were different.
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My dad, he was beaten
and tortured and punished
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and just always hurt.
And on the other hand,
00:15:48.19\00:15:52.18
my uncle when he was
beaten, he wouldn't feel
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it or right before he
was beaten somebody would
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come in and say, oh
you can't harm this guy.
00:15:59.64\00:16:02.53
Yeah, so his
torture wasn't as bad as the
00:16:03.00\00:16:04.31
torture for your dad.
Yeah, and as I was thinking
00:16:04.34\00:16:07.80
about story, I was
thinking, why is God doing that?
00:16:07.83\00:16:13.75
Yeah. Why did they go
through things like that?
00:16:14.36\00:16:17.70
Yes. Like what is my dad
go through something so hard.
00:16:18.10\00:16:21.69
Right. And my uncle,
he comes out with no pain.
00:16:22.13\00:16:24.93
Right, it doesn't seem fair.
00:16:25.36\00:16:26.39
Yeah. And I
questioned that so much,
00:16:26.42\00:16:28.09
but as I think about it
more and as God showed me
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more through the
Bible, he said that,
00:16:32.82\00:16:35.50
you know he gives us
trials that we can bear
00:16:37.22\00:16:38.74
and it might not seem
fair, but everybody is different
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and God makes the fair
for everybody and there
00:16:42.70\00:16:46.11
is a wonderful promise
in First Corinthians 10:13,
00:16:46.14\00:16:48.64
and it says, there is
no temptation taking you as
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such as is common to
man. The God is faithful
00:16:52.62\00:16:55.09
who will not suffer
you to be tempted above
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that you are able,
but with the temptation
00:16:57.28\00:16:59.72
make a way to escape.
That's a wonderful promise.
00:17:00.35\00:17:03.11
Yeah and as I read it, it
changed my life so much that,
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you know we doubt, we
question, we can't see,
00:17:08.97\00:17:11.24
but God says that he gives
us trials that we can bear.
00:17:12.16\00:17:16.44
Yeah. And He has a plan
and He is loving and just God.
00:17:16.47\00:17:21.22
That's a wonderful
thing I like about the Bible
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is just that promise
actually gives us a sense of
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purpose and meaning
and you know in difficult
00:17:27.67\00:17:31.40
situation when we
have doubts. Yeah.
00:17:31.43\00:17:33.53
It's perfect thanks for sharing.
00:17:34.37\00:17:35.73
Sometimes the Bible
seems confusing because
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deep in our hearts. We
don't really want to know
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the truth. I mean
knowing the truth makes us
00:17:43.42\00:17:46.28
responsible to do
something about it and if there
00:17:46.31\00:17:48.79
is a sin that would
cherish you it may blind us
00:17:48.82\00:17:51.20
to the truth. When we
want to know the truth,
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God's spirit will open
our eyes and Jesus tells us
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in John 7:17 that If
anyone wants to do His will,
00:17:57.33\00:18:01.24
that is God's will, He shall
know concerning the doctrine.
00:18:01.27\00:18:04.82
We can know for sure that
God is true and the greatest
00:18:05.58\00:18:08.54
evidence of this is
our personal experience.
00:18:08.57\00:18:11.05
You see, when we truly
give up our sins to Christ
00:18:11.46\00:18:14.38
and accept His perfect
life in place of our own
00:18:14.41\00:18:17.03
sinful lives. There is a
peace that we receive that
00:18:17.06\00:18:19.76
is unmistakable, so in
times of doubt or questioning
00:18:19.79\00:18:23.31
that memory of the sweet
piece of forgiveness is best
00:18:23.34\00:18:26.82
evidence that God is
true. And remember what Paul
00:18:26.85\00:18:30.54
says in First Corinthians
13:12, now we see through
00:18:30.57\00:18:34.99
a glass darkly
but then face to face.
00:18:35.02\00:18:37.64
Now I know in part; but
then shall I know even as also
00:18:37.67\00:18:42.49
I am known. When
Jesus comes everything will
00:18:42.52\00:18:45.76
make sense because
then we will see clearly.
00:18:45.79\00:18:48.48
Far away in the
depths of my spirit tonight
00:19:16.98\00:19:25.64
Rolls a melody
sweeter than psalm;
00:19:26.26\00:19:34.59
In celestial like
strains it unceasingly falls
00:19:35.46\00:19:44.10
O'er my soul
like an infinite calm.
00:19:44.53\00:19:51.88
Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
00:19:55.09\00:20:02.68
Coming down from
the Father above!
00:20:03.22\00:20:11.41
Sweep over my
spirit forever, I pray
00:20:12.27\00:20:21.46
In fathomless billows of love!
00:20:21.69\00:20:30.67
What a treasure I have
in this wonderful peace,
00:20:43.35\00:20:51.41
Buried deep in
the heart of my soul,
00:20:51.95\00:20:59.51
So secure that no
power can mine it away,
00:21:00.39\00:21:08.78
While the years
of eternity roll!
00:21:09.19\00:21:16.55
Ah, soul! are you here
without comfort and rest,
00:21:29.70\00:21:37.83
Marching down the
rough pathway of time?
00:21:38.27\00:21:45.61
Make Jesus your Friend
ere the shadows grow dark;
00:21:46.71\00:21:54.69
O accept of this
peace so sublime!
00:21:55.25\00:22:02.83
Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
00:22:04.79\00:22:12.69
Coming down from
the Father above!
00:22:13.13\00:22:20.80
Sweep over my
spirit forever, I pray
00:22:21.34\00:22:32.16
In fathomless billows of love!
00:22:34.30\00:22:44.47
Know the words of that song,
00:22:53.71\00:22:54.78
we sow with our
gladness or comfort or rest,
00:22:55.30\00:22:57.91
describes a soul in the
path of doubt and further
00:22:58.69\00:23:03.49
on in the song it shows
how doubt turns into joy
00:23:03.52\00:23:07.18
and peace. This comes
through accepting the peace
00:23:07.21\00:23:11.59
from the father
above. You know Robby even
00:23:11.62\00:23:15.27
Christians have a hard
time and end up doubting.
00:23:15.70\00:23:19.82
And let's face it, I
mean there are lot of things
00:23:21.44\00:23:23.14
that we don't understand
and I know that you come
00:23:23.17\00:23:25.75
from a long line
Christian family,
00:23:25.78\00:23:29.41
very strong Christian
family with a lot of pastors
00:23:29.62\00:23:32.77
and church
leaders in your family,
00:23:32.80\00:23:34.55
and it's probably a big
question maybe an unfair
00:23:34.75\00:23:37.56
question to ask you, but
have you ever experienced
00:23:37.59\00:23:39.69
doubt in your life
and in your family?
00:23:39.72\00:23:42.00
You know we have, I
remember when I was a really
00:23:43.11\00:23:45.91
little kid, we moved over
to China to be missionaries,
00:23:45.94\00:23:48.95
and my parents were
setting up a missionary training
00:23:48.98\00:23:52.33
school in China, and that's
really difficult considering
00:23:52.36\00:23:55.60
that the government
is against religion,
00:23:55.63\00:23:57.24
so we had to go underground
basically to do these
00:23:57.27\00:23:59.98
types of training. So,
my parents were just trying
00:24:00.01\00:24:02.89
to start the school
and they are having a lot
00:24:02.92\00:24:04.58
of difficulties and
soon they found out that the
00:24:04.61\00:24:08.24
government had heard
what they were doing and
00:24:08.27\00:24:10.52
they heard through the
grape vine that the government
00:24:10.55\00:24:12.56
was going to kick
them out of the country,
00:24:12.59\00:24:13.93
and that would be
really bad because if they were
00:24:13.96\00:24:16.13
kicked out, they wouldn't
have been allowed to come
00:24:16.16\00:24:18.55
back into the
country at all. They you know
00:24:18.58\00:24:21.16
wouldn't and their
work would have been majorly
00:24:21.19\00:24:23.27
compromised. So they
had to quickly leave.
00:24:23.30\00:24:25.45
So they left and
went to Taiwan and there
00:24:25.48\00:24:28.66
my parents got a
little bit discouraged because
00:24:28.69\00:24:31.23
all my dad was
doing there was doing
00:24:31.26\00:24:32.37
language studies. Wow!
And he couldn't do any of
00:24:33.57\00:24:37.40
the frontline mission
that he wanted to, you know,
00:24:38.00\00:24:40.07
this wasn't your
normal missionary work
00:24:40.10\00:24:41.90
just sitting and
going to class everyday
00:24:41.93\00:24:43.83
to learn Chinese.
Right. You know, and he got
00:24:43.86\00:24:46.16
discouraged. He
wasn't sure exactly,
00:24:46.19\00:24:48.17
where the Lord was
leading him. He knew,
00:24:48.20\00:24:49.86
he had led him to
Taiwan, but he wasn't sure why.
00:24:49.89\00:24:53.00
And he didn't, he was
beginning doubt a little bit.
00:24:53.03\00:24:55.34
Right,
temptation to go home. Yeah.
00:24:55.37\00:24:57.25
Just leave all this. He
just wasn't sure what was,
00:24:57.28\00:24:59.56
what the big picture was. Yeah.
00:24:59.59\00:25:01.39
And then after
being there for a while,
00:25:02.01\00:25:03.64
we moved back to Hong
Kong, and there things
00:25:05.87\00:25:08.17
started to come
together for my family,
00:25:08.20\00:25:11.09
because my dad works in
the office working for China
00:25:11.12\00:25:15.52
from the outside.
So, he would call China,
00:25:15.55\00:25:18.41
he would make visits
to China, and he would,
00:25:18.44\00:25:20.93
because he had
lived there in the past,
00:25:20.96\00:25:23.43
he was able to work
way better. He knew people,
00:25:23.46\00:25:26.05
he knew some of the
language and he was able
00:25:26.08\00:25:28.75
to be a better worker
for God because of it.
00:25:28.78\00:25:32.23
And the picture was
you know painted him more
00:25:32.71\00:25:35.22
beautifully when he
moved back to Taiwan,
00:25:35.25\00:25:37.93
and there my dad was
the conference president,
00:25:38.77\00:25:40.61
and the office is on
Chinese, and I still remember
00:25:41.93\00:25:44.42
him picking up the
phone and talking in Chinese,
00:25:44.45\00:25:46.38
reading Chinese
papers, writing in Chinese
00:25:46.41\00:25:48.88
and if he hadn't had
that time before when he
00:25:49.80\00:25:52.19
was in Taiwan
during that language study,
00:25:52.22\00:25:54.56
he wouldn't have been
able to spread the Gospel
00:25:55.16\00:25:56.59
like he was doing now in Taiwan.
00:25:56.62\00:25:59.47
So God had this big
picture that I didn't notice
00:26:00.20\00:26:03.18
and my parents
certainly didn't realize,
00:26:03.21\00:26:04.94
but because they
trusted in God even though
00:26:05.71\00:26:08.08
sometimes doubts
came into their minds,
00:26:08.11\00:26:09.97
if they kept on that
track and followed God.
00:26:10.58\00:26:12.82
They didn't have to
worry because God had a way
00:26:13.59\00:26:15.92
bigger picture
and he was in charge.
00:26:15.95\00:26:17.79
Excellent, so he
prepared the way.
00:26:17.82\00:26:19.48
He prepared the way.
00:26:19.51\00:26:21.04
Great story. You know
we have many uncertainties
00:26:22.11\00:26:25.75
in our lives and our
minds tend towards doubting
00:26:25.78\00:26:28.63
when that happens. One
of the disciples of Jesus,
00:26:28.66\00:26:31.91
Thomas is known
as doubting Thomas,
00:26:31.94\00:26:34.52
and the reason why
he doubted though he
00:26:35.28\00:26:37.25
was with Jesus for 3 ½
years, and he had great
00:26:37.28\00:26:41.41
faith in Jesus, but
after the resurrection,
00:26:41.44\00:26:43.67
he doubted whether
Jesus was actually alive,
00:26:44.28\00:26:46.19
the other
disciples had seen him,
00:26:46.22\00:26:47.72
but Thomas had
not. And so he said,
00:26:47.75\00:26:49.86
unless I actually
see Him in the flesh,
00:26:49.89\00:26:52.12
unless I'm able to
take my fingers and put them
00:26:52.61\00:26:54.17
in the places where
the nails were and where
00:26:54.20\00:26:56.57
the spear had been, then
I'm not going to believe.
00:26:56.60\00:26:59.00
And Jesus was gracious
enough and loving enough
00:27:00.05\00:27:02.07
to actually appear to
Thomas and to dispel his
00:27:02.10\00:27:04.80
doubt and so he
appeared to him in the flesh
00:27:04.83\00:27:06.79
and he said take your
finger and put it here in
00:27:06.82\00:27:09.19
these nail marks and
put away the spirits,
00:27:09.22\00:27:12.20
and then Thomas was able
to fall down on his knees
00:27:13.55\00:27:16.39
and say my Lord and my God,
00:27:16.42\00:27:17.72
and Jesus said to him
Thomas, you believe because
00:27:18.71\00:27:22.05
you have seen me, but
blessed that are those
00:27:22.46\00:27:24.75
who believe and have not seen,
00:27:25.08\00:27:26.65
that blessing of Jesus is
for you and for me because,
00:27:27.83\00:27:30.68
we have not seen the
immortal invisible God
00:27:31.18\00:27:33.72
the way in which Thomas
did. He saw Him in the flesh.
00:27:33.75\00:27:36.93
Often the thing that gets
us into trouble with doubt
00:27:38.98\00:27:41.21
is that we only trust
what we see with our eyes,
00:27:41.24\00:27:43.62
but there are many
things that we don't see
00:27:44.24\00:27:45.93
with our eyes. And
I'm gonna ask that we just
00:27:45.96\00:27:48.42
close off our program
together with the word
00:27:48.45\00:27:50.97
of prayer and ask God to
give us that kind of faith.
00:27:51.00\00:27:54.13
Let's pray, heavenly
Father, we ask you Lord,
00:27:54.79\00:27:58.54
through your Holy Spirit
to give us a heart of belief
00:27:58.57\00:28:02.43
and dispel all our doubts
in Jesus name we pray, amen.
00:28:02.63\00:28:06.28
Steps to Christ in
Song is a 13 part series.
00:28:10.27\00:28:12.62
from Fountain View Productions.
00:28:13.07\00:28:14.10
Designed to be an
easy non-threatening way
00:28:14.13\00:28:16.76
to share the good news
about Jesus Christ with friends,
00:28:16.79\00:28:20.16
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00:28:20.19\00:28:21.63
Order your copies now by calling
00:28:21.66\00:28:23.96
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00:28:29.53\00:28:34.20
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00:28:34.23\00:28:38.51
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