Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to
the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out,
not knowing where he was going.
Imagine if God told you to pack up, get in your car, and start
driving---without telling you where you are going. My husband and I
actually had that experience when we started out in the ministry. We
loaded all our stuff into a Ryder Truck and went south. Then God
told us where we were going. That’s one of those things that should
have the warning: “don’t try this at home.” Really, most of the time
God will tell you where you are going. It is rare that He will send
you off like He did Abraham. But, it can happen. Let me tell
you—when it does—it’s a very interesting experience.
That’s what God did with Abraham. And, he obeyed God. He could have
reacted in FEAR but, instead, he reacted in FAITH.
I
want to be very careful here when I speak about fear and faith,
because some fear is absolutely necessary to keep us alive. When it
operates as God intended, it is a healthy warning of impending
danger; it is a key for survival. But healthy fear is designed to
help us react properly to a situation and then the fear is GONE.
Fear that lingers is not healthy fear, and it is NOT God-given, but
that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s YOUR FAULT! But it will be
your responsibility to get help, whether the reason is spiritual,
emotional, or chemical.
God doesn't give us a
spirit of fear. A spirit of fear
can mean two things: an attitude and mindset, or it can mean a
literal spirit that we need to be freed from. Either way, God has a
cure.
The fear verses faith that I am speaking about today is the kind
that is a mindset—a driving force in our lives.
TRUTH:
Everyone is driven by faith or fear---one or the
other. They are actually positive and negative versions of the same
thing:
Expectation of an event that has not yet come to pass
or
The
belief in something that cannot be seen or heard
A person who lives in fear is always expecting something bad---even
if he or she doesn't quite know what that something is. Do you walk
around with a feeling of uneasiness? Are you constantly prophesying
negative things? Even constantly telling our children “You’re going
to catch a cold” or “You’re going to fall” or “You’ll never make it
one time” can teach them fear. It can form a lifetime of negative
habits for your child. My family did this and I carried on the
tradition. It’s something we all had to break out of and it wasn’t
easy. But it can be done! Even a lifetime of fear can be changed
(traded in) for a new life of faith.
A person who lives in faith always expects victory and good things
to happen---even
if he or she can't see how it will happen---even if things look
really bad. Are you so centered on God’s Word and His Promises that
even when things happen that you can’t understand---situations that
seem impossible---you don’t fall apart. In fact, you trust that God
will take care of it and show you the solution.
I’ve lived in both states of being and I can tell you…FAITH is a
whole lot better than FEAR! Living in fear means being constantly
stressed out while living in faith means having a peaceful
existence. I’ll take the peaceful existence any old day.
TRUTH:
·
A person of fear lives on the edge of insanity.
Fear makes you think crazy thoughts. I used to plan funerals
when my husband was late in coming home. Thank God, we have
cell phones now. It’s a lot easier on my health than
planning funerals.
Fear makes you do crazy things. You can react in anger just
because you’ve had fear for a loved one.
Fear can make you physically sick and, if you’re already
sick, it can push you over the edge.
·
A person of faith lives in perpetual reward.
You
will think the best—not the worst.
You
won’t be waiting for “the other shoe to drop”
You’ll be planning celebrations, not funerals.
·
Reason never makes room for miracles, but Faith releases
miracles
God’s Kingdom isn’t limited by the laws of nature or the
steps of logic.
Having an attitude of faith will constantly release God’s
Supernatural solutions.
·
Reason can only be stretched so far, but Faith has no limits
It’s just as easy to believe for a big miracle as a little
one.
Don’t limit yourself to what you can think up on your own.
The only limit to your realization of tomorrow is the doubt you hold
onto today.
You need to "doubt your doubts" and believe your faith. You may not
seem realistic by other people's standards, but actually you are
seeing a greater reality---God's reality, based on the
truth of His Word.
You do this by "picking" your way through life ignoring negative
expectations or emotions.
You choose what to believe, based on God's character and what He has
told you.
You will accomplish great things if you don't know that they can't
be done.
Just be "ignorant" enough to do the impossible.
When I first came to the Lord, I had no limits to my faith. I
believed God could do anything and everything and I also believed
that He wanted me to ask Him for the things I needed—however big or
small. So, that’s what I did and He always came through for me. Now,
I wasn’t ridiculous in the things I asked for, but I asked for
things that might seem outrageous to other people. For instance, I
asked Him to stop the rain on a car trip---and He did. My husband
and I asked Him to fix a flat tire on a Ministry trip late at
night---and He did. I also asked Him to put an egg in the egg bin of
my refrigerator on a very stormy day when I had to make cupcakes for
my son’s school. And you know what? He did. I was so excited that I
called my husband at work and that dear man had the faith to believe
me and rejoice with me---over one little egg.
I want to add that I have asked for eggs since then and haven’t
gotten any. We’ve had other flat tires that we’ve had to fix
ourselves (well…my husband did, not me). And, I’ve prayed for rain
to stop and though sometimes it did, other times I just got very
wet.
Circumstances shouldn't rule you. It is said that they are “the
rulers of the weak---but the weapons of the wise.” Circumstances
don't push or pull you. They supply daily lessons to be studied from
which you glean new knowledge and wisdom.
Depressed people spend too much time thinking about how things are
now and not enough time thinking about how things should be.
Of course, they also spend time thinking about how bad things could
get—in detail.
Our Bishop has said “There
is a Heavenly warehouse. This is the place God where keeps all
things that were about to be delivered just as the person stopped
working and praying for them. It is a warehouse filled with the
dreams and goals of the ‘less courageous’.”
“The tragedy of life is not that a person loses, but that they
almost win. As humans, we detour and ‘ease’ off because of a lack of
understanding; because of a lack of faith. The greatest people are
formed in calamity and distress. The hardest steel comes from the
hottest fire.”
“If you let fear rule you, you will spend eternity examining a
reflection of the person you could have become. But you have the
power of choice, You can make the decision to fight until the
end---until you reach your goal and fulfill your purpose.”
Don't you compare yourself to others or you will always be average.
You’ll also never be happy or satisfied. Just be who God made you to
be. You are unique. God needs you to be just who you are.
PRINCIPLE:
·
Focus on results
The
journey may be rough
The
road to any success will involve some failures
·
it is only important that you continue
The
devil wants you to quit because he knows that if you keep
going, you’ll get to your goal—you’ll receive the reward.
Keep your eyes on the vision that God gave you, and you will never
be discouraged
The Abraham Formula for Life:
·
Know the vision and it’s outcome
·
Hold fast to your dream regardless
·
Endure, endure, endure.
“Be not weary in well doing for in due season you shall reap if you
faint not”
GOD IS NEVER LATE, EVEN WHEN YOU THINK IT'S GETTING LATE. NOTHING IS
IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD! The
greatest miracles in the Bible took place AFTER the time it was
still possible:
Abraham
and Sarah
Rachel
Hannah
Elizabeth
Lazarus
And, never forget, the resurrection was preceded by the death of
Christ. All of the disciples thought their hope was gone. But only
when the seed dies and falls to the earth can it produce the fruit.
Resurrection involves death.
The choice is ours to make: Live by Faith or live by Fear.
