Photo by Mary Jones
As we celebrated Christmas and reflect over the past year, the consistent trend that comes to mind over and over is fear. Fear of social and family gatherings, fear of COVID 19 Delta and now Omicron, fear of public places, fear of getting sick and the overcrowding in hospitals, fear of economic collapse, fear of war and rumors of war, fear has been and continues to be the overwhelming driver of society and the decisions that are being made. What brings this to mind is a message I put together for Christmas. For Christmas I pray and ask God for a message to share with my family reflecting upon the prior year but giving a message that builds upon the hope we find in Jesus and a word encouraging my family for the future. This year the message was faith over fear. When I prepared for the message I was led to deliver, I was reminded that what we lean in to or focus on enslaves who we are. Galatians 4:8-9 (NLT), “Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world?” Have you ever thought about fear as a false god that enslaves and drives your very being? Please hear me, I am not asking you to go out and place yourself in unsafe situations as I believe the Holy Spirit guides and directs our steps to keep us safe. I can, as I imagine you are able to also, give many testimonies when we have followed the Holy Spirit’s guidance along the path the Lord has established for us and came out as overcomers and successful in whatever was laid before us. Following God’s will, will always produce an outcome that not only glorifies the Almighty but satisfies every desire within our hearts. I can and again assume you are able to also share examples of when we practiced the free-will that God has given us and went our own way only to end up in a situation that if we would have listened to His guidance, could have been much better off. God plans our footsteps, Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT),” Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Praise God and thank you Jesus that our lives, when left to You and Your will are made whole and protected! So back to the message, what about being enslaved to fear? This points me to Ephesians 6:12,” For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” Our adversary and his dominion do everything they can to steal, kill and destroy who we are in Christ (John 10:10). As we have discussed previously, how does satan or the sin and darkness of this world make advancements in our lives? Through the stealing of the Word of God in our daily walk with Christ. When we begin to focus on the things of this world more than the Truth as written in the Holy Bible, our hope and our firm foundation of faith begin to be eroded away. We begin to lose our faith in the Creator and begin to rely on mankind for our future. For this next year, I want to encourage you to keep your focus on our One true source, the Rock of our existence. Psalm 18:1-6 (NLT) tells us,” I love you, Lord; you are my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. 3 I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies. 4 The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me. 5 The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path. 6 But in my distress, I cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.” God’s protection and authority are all around us, waiting to be activated and delivered. What I am finding is that through the fear and anxiety this world promotes we may at times be reacting to what we see and hear and not what we know to be true through the living Word of God. When we react to circumstance around us through the flesh and not in faith based on the Word of God, we are opening the door for the spiritual forces of darkness to enslave and take hold of the situation and influence the direction that we allow ourselves to be drawn toward. I find this statement harsh, and I do not mean it to be, but let’s think about our actions verses our intentions. Our actions may respond with statements like, “my illness”, “I haven’t gotten COVID yet but my time will come”, “I know my finances are going to be affected by this economy” or “these gas prices are going to be the death of me”. In the flesh, these are normal or even promoted statements driven by the negative spiritual forces that fight for our souls daily. When, as a transformed believer in Christ, God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. He teaches us through the continual study of His Word (Joshua 1:8) that we do not live by the things of this world but instead we are led to believe, receive, and verbally proclaim His promises and Truth as written in scripture. A Truth that is not defined or restricted by what we see but instead guided and directed through hope which leads to faith. Hebrews 11:1 (NLT) states,” Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.” Faith is a result of what we hope for. That goes back to my statement earlier in the clarification between how we respond and what our intention is. I believe each and every one of us want to live by what we read, hear and discern from the Word of God. We desire to live a peace-filled existence surrounded by the blessings and favor of God, however our outward actions and words have not been retrained and redirected to respond as we are instructed. God desires for us to live an existence focused and speaking His promises which in turn bring about His glory in our daily walk. As I outlined a few statements above, God’s ways are not our ways and His desire is that you and your family are blessed beyond measure, not sick but living in perfect health, not financially struggling but living in His abundance and favor. We do not find this God desired elevated living from anything associated with this dark world. God is the Creator of all things and from His perspective, we are not of this world but only in this world for a short amount of time. With that being said, why do we believe it is only a matter of time before we become ill or why do we think because prior generations were affected by something that we have to be? We are children of the most High God, a God that owns all animals and the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10-11). I also want to bring to mind that all things were created through Christ and for Christ (Colossians 1:16). So, as we think about this next year, I want to encourage you to focus on faith over fear and retrain how you respond and act. Think about what you are calling upon yourself or your family and begin to line it up with the Word of God and not with what you see or hear around you. Proverbs 18:21 (NLT), “The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.” So speak life and not death as you walk out God’s will for your life. As born-again believers, we should be rebuking illness, living in love and forgiveness, speaking truth, claiming victory and prosperity in our finances and walking in the glory and salvation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Do not live by what you see, but in hope and through faith, activate through proclamation the God inspired Living Water that is within you!
Shalom!!
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