Today's devotional by Andrew Womack is great reminder that our thought life is so very important to our walking in victory in every area!
Luke 8:50 "But when Jesus heard it, he answered him
saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole."
MATTHEW 9:23-31; MARK 5:35-43; LUKE 8:49-56
Jesus told Jairus to "believe only" implying that
faith and fear can operate in us at the same time. This is also the reason
James tells us not to be double-minded, or to waiver (James 1:5-8). Fear will
negate faith. We can have both thoughts of faith and thoughts of unbelief at
the same time.
Fear and faith are opposing forces. Fear is actually faith in
reverse. Fear is believing something or someone other than God. Therefore, fear
makes us subject to Satan and his death just as faith makes us recipients of
all that God has to offer. This is the reason Jesus told Jairus, "Fear
not." Jairus' fear would have sealed his daughter's death.
Instead of trying to build huge amounts of faith to overcome our
fears and unbelief, a simpler method is to remove our fears by cutting off
their source. Then, our simple "child-like" faith that remains will
do the job. It doesn't take big faith - just pure faith.
Where does fear come from? Second Timothy 1:7 says, "For
God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power and of love, and of a
sound mind." It doesn't come from God. The way that fear is able to come
upon us is that we take our attention off of Jesus and put it on our situation.
Fear or doubt cannot "just overcome" us. We have to
let it in. In the same way that faith comes by hearing the Word of God, fear
comes by hearing or seeing something contrary to God's Word. We would not be
tempted with fear or doubt if we didn't consider things that Satan uses to
minister that fear and doubt. Satan tries to distract us with thinking about our problems. No
problem is too big for God. We should cast our concern about the problem over
on God and just keep our eyes on Jesus, the Word.
Amen! Remember that faith the size of a mustard seed is ENOUGH to get the job done, IF it is not crowded out of our hearts by thoughts and meditations of fear! Since we KNOW that God didn't give fear, let's refuse to accept that delivery! AMEN! Here is Hillsong with "I Will Exalt You":
Shalom in Him!
