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Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Today: Faith vs Fear
Passage: 2 Tim 1
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.(2 Tim 1:7)
Paul is encouraging Timothy in faith
When the Israelites set out from Egypt and came in front of the red sea, they looked back only to see pharaoh
For many reasons it is important that we don’t look back
The only thing to look back is to think and thank of the good and wonderful things the Lord has done for us
When they looked back, they saw Pharaoh with his whole army coming after them
It was natural to have fear; but faith is about the super-natural
So Moses, who had faith, encouraged and strengthened them
12 Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”
13 And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. 14 The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” (Ex 14:12-14,NKJV)
We can see the people speaking their fear out and Moses speaking faith
It is important to speak the faith out and not to speak the fear out
When a person speaks the fear out, the job is easy for Satan
Whenever Jesus did a miracle, the first thing Jesus tried to do, was to get a word of faith out from that person who needed the miracle
Fear vs faith. Even if we don’t have enough faith to believe God for a miracle in our situation, it is important not to have fear
Many a time our attitude is like we need to have some fear associated with the situation we are going through
The three boys who were about to be cast into fire for not worshipping the idol said:
17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.(Daniel 3:17-18, NKJV)
I think, this is a good example of Biblical faith. It is more about commitment to God and His will, rather than about the end result. It is about “God is with me in this whole entire thing”
The Spirit of God is a spirit of faith and not a spirit of fear
In the New Year, shall we have a spirit of “no fear”?
The enemy may come like a roaring lion; but as long as the Lion of Judah” is with us, there is no need to fear
All that is needed is one person, without fear
See what Paul had to say when their ship was totally broken:
33 And as day was about to dawn, Paul implored them all to take food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day you have waited and continued without food, and eaten nothing. 34 Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you.” 35 And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it he began to eat. 36 Then they were all encouraged, and also took food themselves. 37 And in all we were two hundred and seventy-six persons on the ship. 38 So when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and threw out the wheat into the sea.(Acts 27:33-38, NKJV)
Just a hint: say “thanks” to God before we eat any meal
Have faith, not fear
God bless
BG
Prayer: Lord Jesus, give me the true faith, which has no fear attached to it. Thank you, Amen