I said it last week... it's not an original thought... several times I've heard it and read it...
The first emotion expressed by fallen humankind was fear (see Gen. 3:10). Fear of anything other than God is mutually exclusive to faith in God.
--- Neil Anderson, Victory Over Darkness
The comment, however, has echoed... or rather haunted... because of the way it was received... or interpreted... as meaning: if you fear... you have no faith...
Now... I'm not saying... feelings of fear and worry... mark you as devoid of faith... faith-less...
To me... it simply means you are not living out of faith... you are exercising unbelief... rather than belief...
I have a lot of experience with fear... worry... anxiety...
For many years these emotions ran my life... and it all began after I took my step of faith... threw it all in with Him... began to walk the Way...
I can tell you the exact moment... fear began to corrupt... cripple... my ability to live by faith...
It began with an irrational choice to give into an inexplicable fear... rather than stand on the truth of what I knew... I let a feeling override my experience... I believed a lie...
Fear and anxiety entered... and began to grow... taking over more and more of my life... but faith did not leave... I just lived as if I didn't have any... acting as if His Word wasn't true... and He wasn't enough...
I lived that way... a... long... time...
It occurred to me this week... in the midst of this haunting... that to live with fear... as a Believer in Jesus... one of God's adopted... is to be like a very wealthy individual who lives as if they are very poor...
Do you know anyone like that...?
I do... it can be very frustrating... to see someone so well-off... fear and fret... over pennies...!
The Word tells us we have everything we need... to live a life of faith...
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly places...
Ephesians 3:1 ESV
This verse begins a passage that I encourage you to read the rest of... (click on the Scripture reference above to go to the full chapter online if you don't have a Bible handy...)
Paul expounds on the riches of His grace... the guarantee of the inheritance... and then he reveals his prayer for the faithful...
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
Ephesians 3:17-19 NIV
Even though Paul knew of their faith... and love for the saints... he prayed for their spiritual eyes to be enlightened... to the truth... of their glorious riches... and power... in Christ...
Paul knew... it was important to know the Truth... because fear... is always ready to feed you a lie...
Paul knew... it was important to know the Truth... because fear... is always ready to feed you a lie...
God began to work in my life... little by little... showing me where I was living in unbelief... not by faith...
I didn't believe He was who He said He was... or who I was... because if I had... I wouldn't have been so fearful... I would have trusted Him and lived quite differently...
Fear of the Lord... is the beginning of faith... and the key to leaving behind paralyzing fear...
I didn't believe He was who He said He was... or who I was... because if I had... I wouldn't have been so fearful... I would have trusted Him and lived quite differently...
Fear of the Lord... is the beginning of faith... and the key to leaving behind paralyzing fear...
People around the world are paralyzed by fear of anything and everything but God. Chuck Colson said, "For the church in the West to come alive, it needs to resolve its identity crisis, to stand on truth, to renew its vision... and more than anything else, it needs to recover the fear of the Lord."
--- Neil Anderson, Victory Over Darkness
We are so susceptible to fear in this broken... troubled... world... but over and over... the Word tells us...
Live in the Truth... not according to a lie...
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.
Psalm 62:8 ESV
So today... I pray for Believers struggling with fear... and anxiety... I pray as Paul prayed...
May God bless you with the Spirit of wisdom and revelation... that you may know Him better... trust Him more... and live by the riches of your faith... and by every spiritual blessing you have already received... Lord... open the eyes of their heart... to Your truth... love... power... and grace... in Jesus's name... Enable each one to live as the truly well-off... and not the bankrupt...
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