CHAPTER ONE
The peril of unbelief
Unbelief has always robbed man of God’s greater blessings meant for him. Unbelief is the root cause of indecision and lethargy that results in sorrowful pain of regrets… just try and imagine the lifetime of painful regrets it would be for David the son of Jesse had he not taken on the singular opportunity to confront Goliath, from Gath, who was a giant of a man, measuring over nine feet tall?! God needed a national event to announce David’s arrival on a lavishly advertised international scale! And what event will better fit to announce a national hero than a war designed to wipe out Israel had David not intervened! Imagine if David had passed on that singular golden opportunity and walked away from confronting Goliath? Oh what tragedy it would have been! One of the things to learn is how to seize the moment and present yourself when opportunity comes knocking at your door. Nothing is impossible, with God ALL things are possible; only believe!
All of Israel was kept from entering the promise land because of the evil report of ten men. In a single moment, the destiny of a whole nation was sealed – they all perished in the wilderness because of unbelief …except Caleb and Joshua who had a different spirit. They believed God that they can take the land. And they did!
The Evil Heart of Unbelief:
The evil heart of unbelief is the death chamber for great ideas and possibility thoughts; it is the grave yard for great enterprise. It is the darkest and most deadly region in the whole universe where even God Almighty has no power once it is in operation. One of the lowest points in the Holy Scriptures reveals this to us where God was rendered helpless in the face of the unbelief of men. It was said of the anointed Messiah “… he could there do no mighty work…because of their unbelief” (Mark 6:5-6).
The evil heart of unbelief seals the doom of any man, race or generation. It is a force more bitter than hell, for in hell you have no choice. An evil heart of unbelief holds its victim in a vicious death grip in the midst of abundant opportunities to make life changing choices. Paralysis permeates the systems of her victim with the introduction of poisonous venoms of crippling fear, self doubt and utter hopelessness applied in lethal doses.
We have been warned to beware of this evil heart of unbelief. “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12
In this verse of scripture it is interesting to note that Apostle Paul was speaking to believers! He was warning each one of them to carefully guard against harboring an evil heart of unbelief. Truly it is the believing one who needs to be careful not to allow doubts and unbelief to creep in unnoticed and contaminate his faith. Unbelief has a contagious effect, so beware not to be infected through the unbelief of others.
Some selected scriptures with explanations:
Matthew 13:58
And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Mark 6:5-6
And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.
As scary as it sounds, these repeated quotes from Matthew and Mark are real!
God’s hands of intervention are practically tied in the very presence of unbelief. It is a waste of time to approach God with a doubtful heart. A double minded man cannot receive anything from God. Each time we operate in unbelief we should realize that we are willfully and consciously disconnecting from divine participation. Unbelief effectively excludes God’s intervention even when God is willing and ready to help. God’s arm will only be revealed where His words are believed.
Matthew 17:19-20
Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
The ministry failure experienced by the disciples of Jesus had a root cause – UNBELIEF! A group of empowered men were helpless in the face of a crisis they have been equipped to handle! For Jesus had given healing powers to His disciples earlier on. For in Matthew 10:1 it states “ And when He had called unto Him His twelve disciples, He gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease”. Lack of divine power could not have been the reason for their inability to heal the child because we just saw that they had been endued with power. It was unbelief present in some of them which eventually spread like wild fire and consumed every one of them that prevented the miracle. We can see the contagion effect of unbelief here also. The disciples of Jesus including the father of the child seeking cure were all weakened into submission by the venom of unbelief. All avenues for intervention was paralyzed, there was not as much as a grain of faith within the whole bunch!
Mark 9:24
And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
We see in this verse of scripture a desperate cry for help from the father of the sick child. He confessed his helplessness in his struggles with unbelief to Jesus. Little wonder his child could not receive the healing. Like many people today, he could not help himself he appealed to Jesus to help him in his struggles between belief and unbelief.
Mark 16:14
Afterward He appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen Him after He was risen.
Here we see Jesus Christ the risen Lord and Master scolding the eleven for their unbelief again! This underscores the importance of faith in our christian walk, for after Jesus arose from the dead he still had to teach faith to his disciples.
Romans 4:20
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
The purpose of unbelief is to rob us of God’s greater blessings by causing us to stagger and lose focus. But thank God, Abraham the father of faith was strong in faith and whipped unbelief giving glory to God!
Hebrews 3:12
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
All you need is a heart harboring unbelief in any form to guarantee your disconnection from God! It is impossible to please God without faith.
Hebrews 3:19
So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Every attempt at accessing any form of blessing from God with a heart full of unbelief is futile and fruitless. Unbelief ensures a life of unrest.
Hebrews 4:6
Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
God is committed to do all He can to help the remnant of faith to enter into the rest of faith.
Deuteronomy 28:66
And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life:
Unbelief or doubt is a fall out of the curse of the Law. We should resist it with every God-given ability we have.
Daniel 5:12
Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.
Unbelief or doubt can be dissolved! Hallelujah!! It cannot withstand the force of an excellent spirit fortified with knowledge and understanding
Matthew 14:31
And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Unbelief or doubt r
obbed Peter of God’s best for his life. Yes Peter started out well but lost focus and started to entertain doubt and unbelief; he instantly lost the miracle of walking on water and began to sink! We need to maintain the faith we started with to the very end.
Matthew 21:21
Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
Mark 11:23
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Again here Jesus is guaranteeing us in these two scripture verses that our faith will uproot a whole mountain and cast it into the sea only if we “doubt not!”
Luke 12:29
And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
Jesus is warning us here about the peril of unbelief or doubt. We are not to live in frantic fear like rats running around looking for what to eat and drink solely by our own effort. A doubtful mind will die in stress and anxiety. So beware!
Romans 14:23
And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
Any action taken in unbelief or doubt will crumble when challenged by fearful situations.
I Timothy 2:8
I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.
United prayer will only work when “men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.”