doubt

CAN SATAN READ OUR MINDS?

(October 26, 2024) Dr Richard Winter very clearly shares a great truth…

Well… can he? Can the devil read your mind?

We all know that Satan is our adversary who seeks those whom he may devour. And I must confess that in our spiritual battles sometimes we give the devil too much credit! We so often blame him or ascribe to him power and authority that he simply does not have.

One of those areas deals with when we ask ourselves, ‘Can Satan read our minds?’ and fear creeps in. You will be happy to know the answer to this question is no, he can’t!

But… just saying ‘No, he can’t’ is not enough. We need to consider scripture to understand this topic better and be aware of the following three ploys of the devil.

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ATTENTION RELUCTANT LEADERS!

(September 18, 2024) Wayne Swift once again calls it as it is…

Picture this scenario — a young man like many young men feels a strong and ambitious call to change the world. He lives in a safe environment, and has been privileged compared to the rest of the world’s population. He has been well educated, and people like him, even admire him. But so far he hasn’t yet carried a great deal of responsibility.

Then one day as he’s out and about his impetuous nature compels him to begin the process of changing the world and he does so by buying into disputes that are not his to buy into. Worse still his inability to control himself leads him taking the life of another while trying to sort out a dispute. Character flaws were very quickly unveiled in the heat of a battle. The very next day another dispute occurs before his eyes and suddenly before he can take any remedial action both parties in the dispute turn to him and accuse him of murder.

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CALLINGS, CHANGES AND CHALLENGES

(January 25, 2023) Robert McQuillan shares encouragement …

As with other articles in this issue 2023 can be a time of accepting a challenge from God, whatever it may be. And if one does, it’ll involve three Cs… Callings, Changes and Challenges.

Callings – that’s between you and God. Answering them, I’ll just point out, will mean…

  • Trusting the Lord more than ever.
  • Discovering more about God.
  • Serving Jesus in new position(s) with the Holy Spirit’s anointing and power.
  • Believing for and seeing more miracles and salvations.
  • Making your mark for Christ.

As for changes and challenges, they’ll involve…

1) Convincement
John 14:1 is such a well-known scripture, and often preached on. As I’m talking about challenges and changes, some of which I’ve mentioned above and some readers might be concerned (oops, another C!), I’ll quote from the CJB (Complete Jewish Bible) – ‘Don’t let yourselves be disturbed. Trust in God and trust in me.’

Trust is pisteuo… to believe, have faith in, be persuaded, to place trust in. Read the preceding chapter and note that tension was really in the air among the first disciples! Jesus had been indicating challenges and changes that lay ahead – His betrayal, death, the depths of Peter’s commitment, and now He indicating that He will be leaving them. Doubt, distrust and uncertainty had crept in already. No wonder John 13:22 tells that the disciples were staring at one another!

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STANDING FIRM ON WHAT YOU BELIEVE GOD’S WORD TEACHES

(November 30, 2017) Robert and Maureen McQuillan encourage those going through challenging times, especially leaders who teach solid scripture truths…

Ever wonder which unrealistic idiot came up with ‘Just trust Jesus and everything will be absolutely fine in life’ or ‘The Christian life will be like a bed of roses so no worries’ or led new converts to think Christianity is ‘Easy Street to heaven’ – or that ‘Ministry’s great… all fame and glamour, no hassles.’

Probably some dodo man, think you wise realistic ladies!

The reality is that …

  • Life is a gift from God, to be appreciated each new day and lived to the full as best possible.
  • Ministry is a privilege, not to taken carelessly or irresponsibly as it must honour the Lord.
  • Unfortunately we have a lying, distracting enemy!
  • Although we can fully trust God and his word for our needs, we live in a fallen world.
  • Life itself – not just Satan – can unexpectedly unleash furious storms against us!

Bad things happen, even to Christians! (more…)

THOMAS AND THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS (Mar 7, 2016)

Jim McClure
Dr Jim McClure, noted theologian, highlights a crucial point about accepting Christ’s resurrection.

Thomas was not with the other disciples on Easter evening when Jesus appeared to them.

It would be pointless to speculate as to the reason for his absence, but in a sense it was well that he was not because when he eventually saw the Risen Christ, he made one of the most powerful confessions of faith to be found in the New Testament. ‘My Lord and my God’ (John 20:28). (more…)

LEADERSHIP GLEANINGS

THE POWER OF NEGATIVE THINKING
Wayne SwiftWayne Swift reminds leaders that negative thinking is powerful – and not in a good way:

In a May blog Michael Hyatt wrote, ‘Norman Vincent Peale published The Power of Positive Thinking in 1952. But it’s only more recently that we’re learning about the destructive power of negative thinking.’ (more…)

FAITH AND DOUBT

Dr Robert & Maureen (2)
Robert and Maureen McQuillan raise a relevant nitty-gritty point:

Two interesting words – faith and doubt…they come up again and again in scripture, church life, conversations between Christians. And they’re used in a number of ways in sermons, especially ones intent on challenging where we really are as ‘faithful non-doubting’ followers of Jesus.

Both are action words – faith speaks of positive action, doubt of negative activity.

In general chatting with some Christians or in counselling, one can so easily wonder ‘Where are they at? Where are they coming from? They don’t seem to be able to really trust Jesus let alone his word. With all this negativity, where is their faith?’ (more…)

JESUS LOVES DOUBTERS!

Brian Nixon

Brian Nixon, Special to ASSIST News Service,writes…

In her book Doubt: A History, Jennifer Michael Hecht wrote, ‘Socrates counts among those great minds who actually cultivated doubt in the name of truth.’[1]

This seems like a contradiction: Doubt in the name of truth? If something is true, it is beyond doubt; facts are facts, right? And yet, everyone doubts at some point. But what if that doubt could lead you to discover a greater truth about God? Could doubt and truth have something in common? (more…)