From Doubt to Faith

You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1512. Today's Devo is called From Doubt to Faith. Hey there. We're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional podcast. Hello, everyone, My name is Lauren Alessi and I am your host for this week. We are taking every day and dedicating it to a person in the Bible that was directly impacted by Jesus's walk, Jesus's resurrection, Jesus's death, and just learning from them and what we could take from them and how we relate to them. So today we're talking about From Doubt to Faith. So. So can anybody guess who we're talking about? Thomas. Doubting Thomas. So let us discuss. Today's verse is found in John, chapter 20, verses 27, 28. So yesterday we spoke on Mary Magdalene. Today we're talking about Thomas. He was a disciple of the Lord's, he followed. So a little bit of context here because, apologies, I gave like, no context to Mary yesterday and I just dove in. Let's give a little bit of context. So Thomas was a disciple. He followed Jesus. He was one of the 12. He experienced a lot of the miracles that the other disciples did. And then like most of the disciples, when Jesus died on the cross, he scattered, got scared, and he scattered like most of the disciples. Okay, okay, so here we're going to pick up in John 20, verses 27, 28. Sorry, extra context. Now Mary has come, she's seen Jesus and she's like, guys, Jesus is alive. And the disciples are like, what are you talking about? And then here Jesus is presenting himself to the disciples and he's alive and he looks great. And they're like, oh, my God. Wow, a miracle has taken place. Even though Jesus warned them about this multiple times that this was would happen, they're still like completely shook. Okay, verses 27 to 28. Let me slow down. Then he said to Thomas, put this is Jesus speaking. Then he said to Thomas, put your finger here. See my hands? Stop doubting and believe. Then Thomas said to him, my Lord and my God. So what do we see here? Jesus is trying to convince Thomas, it's me, Thomas, it's me. Jesus. It's not a ghost. It's not somebody pretending to be me. And he Tells him, look where the nails were in my hands. Feel them, feel the holes, feel the scars. Feel everything. And as. And he. He tells him, stop doubting and believe me. And as soon as Thomas feels the scars, as soon as Thomas feels the proof, essentially that's when Thomas says, my Lord and my God, there you are. It is you. Essentially, he says. And what I love about Jesus in this moment, as you keep reading, I. I do recommend you read through this whole story. Jesus could have easily come back super defensive to the disciples. I think that's how I would have been. I would have been like, only two of you believe me, then that's who's coming with me. Um, because most of them were. Did not believe that that was Jesus. Um, but Jesus really allowed the disciples time to come to the reality of what just happened. And especially Thomas, who did not. He doubted Jesus. He was like, this is not you. And Jesus is standing there in the flesh like, this is me. And you spent time with me. And. And Thomas had to feel the proof for himself. And Jesus being so gracious in who he is and so loving in who he is, says Thomas, come feel me. Feel the scars in my hands. I understand. This is crazy. Thomas is fine. I know you. You know me. I know this is crazy. Come. And a lot of Christians have sort of skewed this story to be like, doubting Thomas forever. He'll be known as Doubting Thomas, but Jesus never put that on him. Jesus never put that title on him. Jesus fully recognized how difficult this was to comprehend. And Jesus met Thomas halfway there. So where in your life are you doubting Jesus? Where in your life are you having a hard time to even admit that you're doubting Jesus because you feel like as soon as you say it, you have to admit to lack of faith. Let me encourage you here. Jesus is not scared of your doubt. Jesus is not scared of your lack of faith. He works with humans every single day. He's used to it. And I would just recommend right now, just like Jesus is telling Thomas, stop doubting and believe. Don't believe it once you see it. Just believe in God. Believe him right now. Believe him today where you're at, start believing him and let's pray. Dear Lord, we thank you so much for the example found in your word. God, we thank you that straight up in your word, you tell us, stop doubting and believe. So, Lord, whatever we're facing, God, if it's something really, really tough, God, if we're believing for a miracle, Lord, help us to stop doubting and to just believe whatever it looks like, no matter how big or how small. God, we just remove any area of doubt, insecurity and unbelief God and help us to believe. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow. We pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.