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Read: Acts 1:6-14
6
When they
therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying,
Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to
Israel? 7
And
he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or
the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
8
But ye shall
receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:
and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in
all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of
the earth. 9
And
when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was
taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
10
And while they
looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two
men stood by them in white apparel;
11
Which also
said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into
heaven. 12
Then
returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet,
which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day’s journey.
13
And when they
were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode
both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and
Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus,
and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.
14
These all
continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with
the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his
brethren.
Recognize that
if you could not doubt, you could not believe.
So don't be threatened or intimidated by your doubts. Robert
Browning put it like this:
"You call
for faith: I show you doubt, to prove that faith exists. The
more of doubt, the stronger faith, I say, if faith overcomes
doubt."
Those who doubt
most, and yet strive to overcome their doubts, turn out to be
some of Christ's strongest disciples. One commentator points out
that Thomas, being a twin, must have developed an early
independence of judgment that made it possible for him to break
with his brother and become a follower of Jesus.
This is an
assumption, of course, but I think it is a valid one.
It was that independence, perhaps, that led him to reject the
testimony of the other disciples when they said,
"We have seen the Lord."
Jesus did not reject Thomas because of his doubts, but said to
him: "Reach out your hand and put it
into my side. Stop doubting and believe"
(John 20:27).
Suddenly his
doubts vanished, and he was transformed in that moment into one
of Christ's most committed disciples. Up until then, no one had
called Jesus "God". They had called Him, "Messiah," "Son
of God," "Son of the Living God" - but not "God."
Here Thomas the
doubter leaped beyond the others, and became the strongest
believer of them all. And this faith of Thomas' did not stop at
faith - it resulted in mighty achievement. The doubter became a
doer. And how!
PRAYER:
O God, what a prospect - my faith, at first so tentative, can,
through Your illumination and my response, become a driving
force. It can not only save me, but send me. May there be no
limits! Amen.
FURTHER STUDY:
Matt.8:1-13; Rom.10:17, 14:23; Heb.11:1
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Where does
faith come from?
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What did
Jesus say to the centurion?
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