Faith And Fear

Faith opens the door of your life to God. Ephesians 2:8 says that our salvation is comes by God’s grace, through our faith. No one could honestly study the ministry of Jesus upon this earth and miss the fact that He honored people’s faith. Hebrews 13:5 says, “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.” The opposite of faith is fear. Fear is the fruit of unbelief, and it opens the door of your life to the devil. Sixty three times in the Bible, the Lord used the phrase, “Fear not.”

There are different kinds of fear, and every kind is not bad. It is good to fear God with reverential awe. It is good that God has been built into us a “flash” of fear that alerts us to danger, so that our defense mechanisms can come to action. But to experience a constant phobia type fear is of the devil. It is the fuel for ungodly pride, unreasonable jealously, emotional disorders, and all manner of things that keep us from living the life that God has purchased for us through the sacrifice of Christ.

Psalm 91 is a promise of great blessing to the person of faith. Verse two ends by saying, “In Him will I trust.” To trust in something is to rest your faith in it. It is to rest to the point that no troubling concern remains. First Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your care upon Him, because He cares for you.” So, when somebody tells you to take care of yourself, you tell them you are not going to do it, you are going to cast all your care upon the Lord! Now, the question is how do we dwell in secret place of the Most High? It seems that all the promises of this Psalm are predicated upon our doing so. I submit that the secret place is that intimate relationship that comes by believing His word so much that everything we think, speak, and act what it says.

Have you ever put yourself in front of the spiritual mirror and examined how you believe? Some people don’t even believe as well as the devils believes. James 2:19 says that they believe and tremble! A lot of people say they believe, but there is no trembling, and there sure isn’t any faith walking. All you have to do is listen to a person talk. The Psalmist said, “In Him will I trust.” Most folks I’m hearing are saying, “I hope I can get enough in my retirement account.” Nothing wrong with a retirement account, but I wouldn’t trust it if I were you. You might be able to live off of it, but you can’t live abundantly off of it. But, according to Second Corinthians 9:8, God is able to make all grace abound toward you, so that will always have all sufficiency in all things, and that you may have an abundance for every good work! How is God going to do that? Any way He wants to! He’s the One who makes water come forth out of dry rocks and bread fall from heaven. He’s the One who can take a two-piece fish dinner and feed five thousand! I’m hearing people say, “I hope this special doctor can do something for me.” Or, “I’m getting this other kind of medicine and maybe that will work for me.” Proverbs 3:8 says, “It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones.” The “it” refers to remembering what God has said and doing it, trusting him with all your heart, and turning away from evil. Psalm 91:3 says, “Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.” Let me tell you what “surely He shall” means in the Hebrew: It means surely He shall!

Whether or not you are effective in prayer depends on whether you are praying in faith or fear. Faith says, “Lord, this is what You said, so I take my stand on it, and that’s the way it has to be.” Fear says a lot of words, but claims nothing, and according to James 1:6-7, doesn’t get anything.

The way you give is the direct result of whether you are operating in faith or fear. Second Corinthians 9:7 says, “God loves a cheerful giver.” He takes delight in a cheerful giver. One becomes a cheerful giver when he realizes that the promises of the word of God are absolutely true, and there is a spiritual law of sowing and reaping. When you get that down in your heart, it makes giving exciting. You are no longer a figurer or feeler when it comes to giving, but you are a faither. I have some friends, who everything they touch seems to turn to money. They are some of the most generous people I’ve ever seen. I’ve always thought that God gave them the spiritual gift of giving, and He may have, but the Lord showed me that what they do will work for anybody. They give quietly, not wanting to have their names put on anything. As a matter of fact, many times they have come to me, asking me to help them place a gift in somebody’s hand anonymously.