“You don’t feel joyful, so you must not be saved.”

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

“Your prayer wasn’t answered, so God must not be listening to you.”

Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall

be opened unto you.

I John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

John 6:37b And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

“You failed to obey God, so you aren’t saved anymore.”

I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

“If you were really saved, you wouldn’t have this temptation.”

I Corinthians 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.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Hebrews 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

“God doesn’t love you, and no one understands your problem.”

I John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son

to be the propitiation for our sins.

16a And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love.

I Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

MEMORY VERSE: And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. —Revelation 12:10-11

CENTRAL THOUGHT: We all experience up-and-down emotions, temptations, dry and dull feelings, doubts as to our salvation, our sincerity, and worthiness; accusations against God’s love and care, and hopeless feelings that no one understands. God’s Word is more than enough to refute all of satan’s accusations and our own personal doubts.

WORD DEFINITIONS

Matthew 7:7 “Ask…”: “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you” (Holman Christian Standard translation). “Ask with confidence and humility. Seek with care and application. Knock with earnestness and perseverance” (Clarke’s Commentary).

I John 2:1 “Advocate”: one who pleads another’s cause before a judge; a pleader; counsel for defense; legal assistant.

I John 4:10 “Propitiation”: the atoning sacrifice that appeases God’s wrath.

I Peter 5:9 “Stedfast”: “Solid (firm); referring to what is immoveable (will not budge); stable (not changeable), standing fast without buckling or giving way (steadfast)” (HELPS Word Studies).

LESSON BACKGROUND

There are so many comforting promises and sure-fire answers for all the enemy throws at us. Remember that Canaan, a type of the Christian conquest, was full of battles with enemies. It was a land of hills and valleys. (But—as in I Kings 20:28—so is our God a God of the hills and valleys!) Some enemies were to be driven out little by little. Some enemies weren’t annihilated, but were left as slaves, a type of our human emotions. Being saved doesn’t take way personality, emotions or feelings; rather, we are to rule over them, as a mother who quiets unruly children.

There are many other kinds of doubts and accusations we will have hurled our way. These are just a few very common ones. But the scriptures listed here can be applied over and over again, to every situation. They are powerful weapons, mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.

—Sis. Angela Gellenbeck

DISCUSSION:

1. Jesus Loves Me, This I Know: Which scriptures can we use to affirm our belief in God’s love and care?
2. No One Understands: What verses let us know this isn’t true?
3. Might As Well Quit: We can guarantee this is whose voice?
4. More Where That Came From: Name other verses you have used for weapons against doubts, temptations and accusations.

COMMENTS AND APPLICATION

Dear young child of God, if only I could convey the intense, overwhelming love of Christ for you! His mercy and compassion is so great you cannot measure it. He is “touched” by your weaknesses. You’ll find victory by focusing on that great love.

Here is something else I found helpful in my experience: “One other point of which I must speak in this connection is the difficulty I experienced in endeavoring to locate myself spiritually when in the midst of the confusion…. Could I be saved at all when in such a state? Did I need to repent, or only try to do better? Were my careless actions and thoughtless words sins, or only mistakes? Fortunately, I was advised not to try to figure out so carefully what was sin and what was not, but to present to Jesus anything that troubled me, and to trust him implicitly to work in me the victory that I needed. By humbly confessing my weakness and claiming the promise of Philippians 2:13, ‘For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do his good pleasure,’ I was enabled to gain victory almost immediately over many faults and failures with which I had wrestled long and over which I could never have gotten victory if I had spent my time picking every failure to pieces to find out whether it was something of which I needed to repent as a sin or only a mistake. I felt that God was pleased to have me humbly confess and trustingly turn over to him for correction any and every error whether it seemed to me serious or not” (Experience Number 13: Deliverance from Discouragements and Extremism in Riches of Grace by E. E. Byrum).

Another important point is that you can turn every one of satan’s advances into a time of worship and praise. That he cannot stand! Then ignore his ongoing ranting and go and help someone else. Devote all that time and energy you would spend rebuking him doing deeds of love and kindness for others.

—Sis. Angela Gellenbeck

REFLECTIONS

The enemy of your soul is cruel and relentless in his quest to bring you to a place of discouragement and despair. He will stop at nothing. His strategy is to plant seeds of doubt, and questions in your mind, leaving you tormented, disoriented, and confused. He leaves no direction or answering solution—just hopelessness and despair.

In my own experience, the Devil started exploiting my tender conscience at a very young age. He would bring crushing feelings of guilt over mistakes and slip-ups I made, and since I wanted so badly to please the Lord, I fell for it every time, thinking that it was the Lord pricking my conscience to “fix it.” The problem is, it never stopped, but became more and more unreasonable. I was soon staggering under a load that I was never meant to carry.

Finally, one night, I came to the end of myself and what I could endure. In my despair, I cried out to God and He came to my rescue! This was the first time I remember the Lord unmistakably speaking to me and it is a sacred memory I treasure. He gave me Revelation 8:8,10, and 11, assuring me without a doubt that I was clear before Him, and that He had an open door, a way of escape, for me out of that awful bondage. This was such a relief to my tormented spirit.

From that point on, it was a journey up and out from that place. It has been a slow and sometimes painful process, for the Devil doesn’t give up easily, but the Lord has been a patient and gentle Teacher. He taught me that my worrying and fear were rooted in me not trusting Him to take care of me and keep my soul. I was letting fear of straying rob me of the peace that comes with God’s keeping! He let me know that “in returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.”

Oh, dear one, “tossed with tempest and not comforted,” don’t be afraid to ignore Satan’s whispers and questions he puts in your mind. God does not partner with fear, doubt, or confusion. If these accompany your dilemma, you can be sure of its source. Dare to trust God’s promise to keep you (Philippians 3:15, Psalm 56:13). Turn it over to God! He WILL be true!

—Sis. Jenee Doolittle, Loranger, LA