And He said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? -Matthew 4:40
Fear and faith can NEVER co-exist. At any time you are living in fear of the days at hand or have fear concerning all or any of the going on of your life, then you have yet to know what life pleases God and takes away not some, but ALL fear!
One can not have faith in a person that is not God. You can have faith for things (not IN things) to work out in life, but if your faith is misguided and leaning upon the circumstance rather than The One who holds the circumstances, than your faith is vain and a short lived substitute.
The Bible says that FAITH comes by hearing the word of God. That is why the disciples Jesus addressed inMatthew 4:40 got reprimanded. They allowed their fear for the storm to have more say in their heart than God's word..."let us go to the other side". Today much of the world has yet to know what faith is.
If you are believing God's direct word of provision over your life than why have fear concerning the matter that would lend you to believe that He may not come through for you? God never gives a spirit of fear and we are not called to walk by fear, but by FAITH! It is when we depend on what we only naturally see that we become vulnerable to fear. But if we can see spiritually and maintain the vision and belief in God's word, we then become more susceptible to see His Word come to pass and split our Red Sea of fear so that faith can march on through to the other side He has promised, AS HE PROMISES!!!
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
One of the great exchanges that takes place when one allows The Holy Spirit to occupy their life is that fear gets kicked out so that faith may dwell. FaithMUSTbe found in the life of a professed follower of Christ because without the gift of faith, one canNEVERplease God.But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6
The term FAITH is so generically used and applied today within American society. When one hears the term faith and does not know exactly the origin of faith, one would just say “FAITH” is a form of ANY religious belief. However that is not true. The origin of FAITH, as stated earlier, comes from hearing the very WORD of God! Romans 10:17. It is because of the common misconception of faith that would cause a society to embrace a humanistic viewpoint that ALL RELIGIOUS BELIEFS get people into the “here after” or to inherit life after death or be in right standing with God, thus really willing to suppress the truth and live a lie.
Why does faith please God? Faith is not just a mere belief in something, but it is an action taken because of belief. In other words, faith is measured by the footsteps a believer is willing to take in what they believe to be truth and obedient to that truth. Since faith comes by hearing the word, one must know the word of God, the very direction and course of His heart in order to apply faith called obedience in response to that direct word! In other words we can easily exchange the word faith with obedience and know that without obedience it is impossible to please God!
…Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice… 1 Samuel 15:22
Today we live in dark times here in America. On the social plain people whose views as I stated to be humanistic rather than Biblical would say that times haven’t been any greater, but when we consider the havoc, violence and even terrorism that have been sharing headlines, FEAR seems to be knocking at the door step.
BUT GOD has not given us a spirit of fear!
It is to the born again, the redeemed of the Lord that a fearless is has been made available to them if they so desire it! Before Jesus got into speaking about the signs of the end times to His disciples, Jesus commanded (not suggested) that they should NOT be troubled! Matthew 24:6.
Why should Disciples of Christ NOT be troubled? It is because it is not of God for them to have FEAR!
FEAR is what paralyzes you, but FAITH is what mobilizes you! As it has been said before, FEAR is what keeps you awake during the night, but FAITH is what keeps you at rest!
There are many and even those in the Church today who love God, but allow the fear of the things in this life put a blur on their perspective of how great God is!
In order to maintain a FAITH-FILLED life, one must believe FIRST that GOD is who He is and that He will respond faithful and true when you seek Him (Heb. 11:6).
In order to maintain a FEAR-LESS life, one must cultivate God given and enabled power, love and a sound mind. If we only obtain two and neglect one or obtain one and neglect the others then we are susceptible to living with a little on godly fear in our life.
Make no mistake there are two fears: the fear of God and the fear from Satan! There ought to be a fear OF God, without taking in the fear FROM Satan. The fear of God it is not the same as the fear Satan brings! The difference is that Satan tries to make you fear, but God the one to fear. Having the fear of God is simply acknowledging that He is far greater than anything else.
1 John 4:8 & 18 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
God has given us power, love and a sound mind; but God is love. Yet also God is powerful and God is sound and true. POWER and SOUNDESS is WHAT God is, but LOVE is WHO God is and if we be found in WHO God is then we see that there is no reason to be troubled.
Today some may glean more to the love of God, other the power and some the soundness; but the truth is that when living and expressing the life of God, one must demonstrate all three God given attributes and gifts. Real love cannot be shown at the expense of true soundness and the same could be said about exemplifying power. One could not say they have a family of their own without being both married and having a child or children. You need all three gifts to be a “COMPLETE” family unit. So to be COMPLETELY in faith we must walk in all three gifts God has given.
The message of this post is simply this…DON’T LET FEAR CRAMP YOUR FAITH!!If you find yourself fearful of tomorrow, turn to Jesus. If you find yourself fearful of your past, turn to Jesus. If you find yourself fearful for today, turn to Jesus. Why? Because He is the same YESTERDAY, TODAY and FOREVER!
When one comes to Christ and lives completely for Him, picking up their cross daily, they are already laying their lives down. The Bible says in the book of Revelation about those who overcome the enemy, that they do it by the blood of Jesus, the word of their testimony and that they love no their lives unto death. In other words, it is the quality of a divine redemptive work in one’s life that will cause the person to be faithful and not fearful because they have nothing to lose but all to gain. How can one lose their mind when they already surrendered their thoughts to Jesus? How can one lose their sole when they give it over to The Keeper of all living souls? How can one lose hope, when their trust is in in a living hope? The fact is, if you die to “yourself”, Satan can’t snatch “yourself” away. You can’t take that which is no longer there. Neither can fear be given where faith has already been claimed!
My prayer for you and myself included as we face these defining days that lend much reason to fear, that we would intercede for America and live out the Kingdom Life that could only be found in Jesus Christ! If we give it all up now, it won’t be an issue if it was taken. Selah. Cast your cares to Jesus before your cares cast you into fear!
1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Romans 8:37 …In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Be Blessed