03 July 2022
Two-Minute Features | 10 July 2022

Doubting, Fear, & Blocking the Answer (TMF:1890)

Friday, July 08, 2022
Peace to Live By: Doubting, Fear, & Blocking the Answer (TMF:1890) - Daniel Litton
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       And because they fear they won’t get what they want, they doubt when they go to ask God for help. This is why doubting is bad, and why we are not to live on a negative level of thinking. Doubting is negative. How does one overcome doubt? By surrendering the desire for wisdom, that’s how. When a person goes to God in prayer and asks for the understanding, the person should say to themselves, “I will be happy if God gives me the answer, and I will be happy also if he chooses not to.” You might say, “But isn’t that doubting! You are saying to yourself that God may not help you!” Actually, it isn’t. Doubting is when a person genuinely believes that God doesn’t want to help them, or just won’t help them for whatever reason. The strong-minded person knows God will help them. But they are surrendered to the desire for that help. In other words, what matters is God, and whether or not the answer is received is secondary. There’s not too tight a grip.

Accepting Ideas that Aren't Sound (TMF:1889)

Thursday, July 07, 2022
Peace to Live By: Accepting Ideas that Aren't Sound (TMF:1889) - Daniel Litton
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       This is what happens when we are not founded in the Word of God. This is why we need the Bible. James says, “the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” Without God’s Word, things that aren’t true can seem good and reasonable. Ways that won’t work can seem right. Evil masquerading as the truth is a problem. The absence of the Word of God as a person’s foundation for all truth means that person can and will accept ideas that aren’t sound. I think a root behind a lot of doubt is the fear that what we want won’t happen. And behind the fear of a wish not being fulfilled means the person wants whatever it is too much. Think about it. The want can be to get out from the trial. Why else is someone seeking wisdom for the trial? Wisdom is our way to try to overcome the problem. But the want is too strong. This causes the person to petition for wisdom from God. But because the want is too strong, the person is fearful they won’t get what they want—release from the trial.

God Wants Us to be Wise & Successful (TMF:1888)

Wednesday, July 06, 2022
Peace to Live By: God Wants Us to be Wise & Successful (TMF:1888) - Daniel Litton
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       James says we need to be open-minded and faith-filled. I have found that God has delivered wisdom to me through books, secular televisions shows, talk shows, driving down the road, and yes, of course, other people in my life. The reality is, wisdom can come from pretty much anywhere. But God gears it toward our situation so that we hear, or see, exactly what we need to—that which enlightens us to help us with our situations, whether it is a trial or not. And the beautiful thing is, James also tells us that it is God’s delight to give us this knowledge. He wants us to be wise and thus successful. He wants us to have success at whatever it is we are setting out to succeed in. God loves it when we thrive, not when we dive. Ah, but doubting can be a problem for some. James says, “for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (6-8 (ESV).

Truth Traces Back to the Bible (TMF:1887)

Tuesday, July 05, 2022
Peace to Live By: Truth Traces Back to the Bible (TMF:1887) - Daniel Litton
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       What I have found as I have studied various topics, say, in psychology and the like fields that what is true always can be traced back in some way, shape, or form to the Bible. Perhaps you’ve noticed the same thing. There are a lot of works out there in the realm of psychology and self-improvement which contain a lot of truth. Truth, though, has its foundation in God, the One who created it. That’s why so many different types of books, the varying expositions by all different kinds of humans can be helpful for us. The person doesn’t have to be a believer in Jesus to benefit us. Any easy example of this is, a doctor who learns how to perform surgeries. That doctor learns those skills based on truth. It is all tied back to what God designed in our bodies. When we ask God for wisdom, the beautiful thing is that he will deliver to us. James says we need to be open-minded and faith-filled.

What Does It Mean to Lack Wisdom? (TMF:1886)

Monday, July 04, 2022
Peace to Live By: What Does It Mean to Lack Wisdom? (TMF:1886) - Daniel Litton
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       Let us breakdown the word wisdom to help our minds explore what James is speaking of here. To lack wisdom? Wisdom could be defined as understanding, intelligence, knowledge, common sense, the best choice, good judgment, prudence, what is logical, what is rational, what is sound. One reason we can lack these things is because we are not all-knowing and omniscient. We sometimes have to take gambles. This is where a fear of being imperfect needs to be relinquished. The person who always strives to be perfect is incapable of acting in many varying life situations, especially ones like we are taking about that don’t have a clear answer. As I am a human, and so are you (unless you're listening from your saucer), we cannot always make the right choice all the time. It is part of our personhoods, part of our beings, as humans, to make mistakes. There is something wrong with us if we don’t.