"Left Wanting?"

"Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake." (John 13:22 KJV)

  "Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith." (2 Corinthians 13:5 NLT)

 What we have before us today, interestingly enough, is something which I believe is needed in each and every one of us, if we really want to be used of God. First off, this particular situation has to do with the disciples doubting, not only who Jesus is talking about, but more importantly, if He was talking about any one of them; thinking to themselves, "Could it be me?" 

 Paul is trying to make a particular point about real genuine faith, which is not based upon the ability of the messenger, but that the messenger knows the he or she is just a vessel for Jesus to speak or work through. In other words, we believe that the power comes from Christ Jesus, and is not our own! 

 By now you are probably wondering how that associates with the situation in front of us today; and if that is the case, you really don't know how vulnerable you really are to being led astray or having a fall. I have seen too many very anointed pastors, (some of which had huge churches that numbered over 5,000; much more than that, if you counted the on-line and television members,) that crashed and burned, mostly by thinking that they were too big and strong to fall. 

 We must never forget how weak and frail we really are! As soon as we think that we have arrived, as if we can do anything on our own, or think that we have somehow conquered something, we have given the enemy the chance to tear us apart! Without knowing how much we need the Lord, no matter what we are doing, anything and everything that goes wrong or sideways will be our downfall, and it will be our fault! 

 Without changing the subject, the thing with this Covid, whatever you want to call it, I truly do believe that it has a spiritual nature: meaning that the devil is surely connected to it. Some of those that I know who have fallen to it, are those who have mocked it or scoffed at it, as if it could not touch them. Anytime I hear a brother or sister claim that they can take on the devil, I cringe and start praying for their protection! 

 We do our very best in being weak, letting God show up and get things done! When you are saying to yourself, "Greater is he that is in me, than he that is in the world," you must remember that the power is from Him, and not from you...

"Then he said to the disciples, "Anyone who accepts your message is also accepting me. And anyone who rejects you is rejecting me. And anyone who rejects me is rejecting God, who sent me." When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, "Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!" "Yes," he told them, "I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. But don't rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven."" (Luke 10:16-20 NLT)