The Shepherd's Flock USA

Our earthly GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) system is a worldly tool to guide you to your desired destination by displaying a map picture, and a voice, prompting you when and where to turn to reach your destination, so you won’t be “lost”. If you make a wrong turn, a voice prompt will say “re-calculating” and will give you directions to get you back on course toward your destination.

This GPS system also shows what time you should arrive at your destination. The system can also locate fuel stations, food, airports, hospitals, etc., etc.

Our Spiritual GPS (God’s Positioning Spirit) system is a Godly system for guidance by God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, which can prevent you from being “lost”. The Holy Spirit can prompt you, lead and guide you, in the direction you should go. If you listen to the “small voice” prompting you by the Holy Spirit, you can turn up the volume so you can hear the Holy Spirit. You can re-program your mind to better follow His guidance, by reading His instruction book (the Bible), and communication with Him through prayer. Your main destination is heaven.

Spiritually speaking, the other GPS system may provide good guidance here on earth but in the end, your use of only the earthly system, will not lead you to heaven, therefore you may end up in the lake of fire, instead of heaven.

With the earthly GPS system, you can program the GPS to lead you to your earthly “home” regardless of where you are at. However, the Spiritual GPS system, if followed, can lead you to your “heavenly home”.

Which system are you using?

One of the most potent sources of doubt is introduced in the early chapters of Genesis. It is Satan himself who causes Eve to doubt God by questioning His Word: “Did God really say you must not eat any of the fruit in the garden?” (Gen 3:1). Satan even tries to get the long-suffering Job to curse God (Job 1:11). Satan is said to be seeking to devour Christians (1 Pet 5:8).

This statement must not be taken literally, but means that Satan wants to devour the Christian’s commitment to God and testimony before others. One way he does this, is by introducing doubt into their mind.

The world system is another source of doubt. Since it has its own set of values and objectives that are opposed to God, it has also its own worldly wisdom (1 Cor 2:6). This wisdom stands in direct opposition to the wisdom of God taught by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:13). It is clearly revealed, for example, in the opposition of the evolutionary theory to the truth of the creation of man (1 Tim 6:29).

Probably the greatest source of doubt Christians face is simply their own spiritual immaturity. James traces doubting in prayer to double-mindedness and instability (Jas 1:6-8). Paul explains that when Christians doubt sound doctrine, it is because they are children in the faith and thus are easily deceived (Eph 4:14). Conquering this kind of doubt demands a growing, obedient relationship with God.

The cure for doubt depends to some extent on the thing doubted. However, the real problem is not in the object doubted but in the subject who doubts. Therefore, the following steps should be taken by the doubting Christian:

a. Confess the doubt to God as sin.  Doubt is basically unbelief in God and His Word and is therefore sin (Rom 14:23; Heb 11:6). God has promised to hear our confession of even the darkest unbelief.

b. Study the evidence for the Christian faith. Christians have nothing to fear by looking into the facts from any source of knowledge. The greatest evidence for the validity of Christianity, the resurrection of Christ, is attested by many proofs. Among these are the empty tomb, post-Resurrection appearances, and transformed disciples. Since the Resurrection is true, it verifies everything the Bible says.

c. Make certain of your salvation. Paul exhorts Christians to examine themselves to make sure their faith is genuine (2 Cor 13:5). So did the author of Hebrews (Heb 6:1-9). Salvation from sin is by simple trust in Jesus Christ. Until you are assured of your salvation, you will be troubled by enormous doubts.

d. Faithfully study the Word of God. “Faith comes from listening to this message of good news-the Good News about Christ” (Rom 10:17). Through study and application of the Bible, our faith is strengthened and matured. Most especially, we must master the doctrines or basic teachings of the Bible if we are to be stable, mature Christians (1 Tim 4:13, 16; 2 Tim 3:16; Titus 2:1, 10).

e. Pray. The surest way to face doubts when they come is to have an extensive history of answered prayer. The more a Christian prays with faith, the more that Christian sees God answer prayer; the more a person sees God answer prayer, the stronger that person’s faith becomes while the doubt becomes less.