GEORGE'S ANGELS WRITING MINISTRY | |
| In Loving Memory of Bishop George E. Moye | September 1998 |
Five Frequently Asked Questions
There are basically some elementary questions most new believers have, as well as the mature
believer from time to time: Am I really saved? Will God keep His word? Will He hear and
answer my prayers? Will He reject me if I sin? How can I know His will for me?
So who do you believe, Satan or God?
To help you make the choice between who to believe, read Titus 1:2 which says that God doesn't lie about His promise of eternal life. And then flip over to 1 John 5:11-12 which reads God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life. Now, lets discover what the Bible says about Satan. Turn to 1 John 8:44 and you will see a description of Satan given by Jesus Himself. He says that Satan was a murderer from the beginning and that there is no truth in him, that he is a liar and the father of lies.
Knowing that God cannot lie and that Satan is the father of lies, you should have no problem
deciding in whom to believe and place your trust.
Now that you are sure of your Salvation, you are probably motivated to get to know this wonderful God that cannot lie. But, here is Satan again telling you that God is too busy to listen to your little problems. He also tries to make you doubt the goodness of God. But you must believe that when you go to the Lord in prayer, He hears and He cares. Two of my most favorite Bible verses will help you to believe God hears and cares about you. Matthew 1:7-11 tells us to ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
God promises to answer prayer, He does not promise that the answer will be what you want it to be all the time. There are basically 3 answers to our prayers: YES, NO and Wait. Sometimes what we ask for is in accordance with God's will and the answer can be yes or wait. If it is wait, then perhaps God is in the process of working things out in the background to bring the manifestation of your prayer. Or perhaps He is working something out in your life before that manifestation. The key is to trust and depend on God to do what is best for you.
Sometimes the answer is no. God being all powerful, all wise and all knowing, He can see the
end from the beginning. And perhaps what you are seeking is not what is best for you in the long
run. I cannot tell you how many times I have prayed for something and didn't get it and later
was glad God didn't answer my prayer. We cannot see beyond what we think we want at the
time. We may not be able to see that the very thing we are praying for will be the worst thing
that could ever happen.
Besides all of this, God wants to have a personal relationship with us and He wants us to talk to Him about everything. Hebrew 4:14-16 will prove this point as it reads, Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Temptation is another tricky area where Satan tends to confuse the new believer. And, again
mature Christians struggle with this as well. I believe it is because of the confusion in the world
today about who is the one that tempts us. Satan has sold us on believing that God tempts us.
The truth is that God tries us and allow us to be tempted by Satan but it is to make us strong so
that we will be able to stand against evil. 1 Corinthian 10:13 There hath no temptation taken
you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be
tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape,
that ye may be able to bear it. It is a comfort to know that we all face the same stuff. The Bible
says we are tempted by things that are common to man. The best part is the next sentence where
it explains the faithfulness of God who will not allow us to suffer temptation beyond what we
can bear and will also make a way for us to escape it.
So the next time you are tempted you can pray knowing God hears and cares enough to make a
way of escape for you. Perhaps the following prayer will help you:
Dear Lord, I am weak at this moment regarding ______________________ but Lord I
know that it is Satan who wants to see me fail. Your word tells me that You are faithful
and that I will be able to go through this and overcome it because You will not allow Satan
to tempt me beyond what I can bear. So I know that I am able to bear this, not because I
am strong but because You will help me and provide a way out for me. I believe Your
word and put my faith in You not in myself. Thank you God for Your love, grace and
mercy that are mine from everlasting to everlasting. Amen.
Satan knows that sin will cut off our communication with God. That is why he feeds the new believer lies such as "You've really blown it now - God won't put up with that" and he makes you feel as if you would be better off going back to your old ways. Again we have caught old Satan in a lie. We can read I John 1:9 and discover that God says "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Listen to Proverbs 28:13 which says "He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy".
It is wonderful to know that God will cleanse us from our sins if we confess them to Him. There is no need to try to hide them from God anyway. You can't. But, God does promise to cleanse us if we would confess them to Him and renounce them --which means to turn away from them, whatever they are.
Not only does God forgives us, His forgiveness is sure and complete. When we confess our sins He removes them from us "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." You will find this promise in Psalms 103:12.
This is definite assurance of the forgiveness of God toward us, if we confess and turn from our
wicked ways.
Giving your life to Christ can be very scary, in that it gives God full control of your life. This can leave you wondering, what if God expects something from me that I don't want to do?
But I want you to be sure that God has something good planned for you and this is the ABSOLUTE TRUTH. In Jeremiah 29:11 God says 'For I know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper you and not to harm you...plans to give you hope and a future.'" How can we be sure to be in God's plans for us? Good question. The answer is found in another one of my favorite scriptures, Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will direct your paths."
My testamony is that I no longer need to know all that lies ahead of me. I have learned to keep
trusting God and talking to Him and He leads me day by day. My grandfather taught me this.
Sometimes I would ask him, "how do you talk to God" and he would tell me 'the same way I talk
to you.'" I later learned that this is just the way God wants me to communicate with Him. Our
lives should be a constant communication with God. He will lead and guide us, on this you can
depend.
1. Hearing the Word from godly pastors or teachers provide us with insight from Bible study done by others. It also stimulates our appetites for the Scriptures. The weaker finger-the pinkie-represents hearing, because we retain the least through that method of intake (5%) Romans 10:17
2. Reading gives us an overall picture of the Bible and is also the foundation of daily quiet time with God. This activity is represented by the ring finger. We generally retain 15% of what we read. Revelations 1:3
3. Studying the Scriptures deepens our convictions. It requires greater time and effort but results in increased Bible knowledge. Most people retain 35% of what they study. This is represented by the middle finger. Acts 17:11
4. Memorizing God's Word enables us to overcome temptations and to have verses readily available for ministering to others. Memorizing scripture helps to focus during meditation. The index finger, our strongest finger represents memorization. We remember 100% of what we memorize if we consistently review it. Psalms 110:9-11
5. Meditation is the inward process that should accompany each of the other four methods of
studying the scriptures. This is why meditation is assigned to the thumb. Only the thumb can
touch all the other four fingers. By meditating on God's Word as we hear, read, study and
memorize, we discover its transforming power at work in us. Psalms :2-3
Visit the Call to Salvation webpage for guidance on giving your heart to Christ.