FAITH AND FEAR
Could you envision living the rest of your life without fear? Could you envision living the rest of your life with sufficient faith to over come all obstacles life presents? Is it possible? Yes. Is it probable? No. It is possible, however, to minimize the overwhelming power of fear and to employ more effectively the benefit of living in faith. We can find the solution by understanding the forces that capture our thoughts and converts them into fear. With knowledge we can begin to understand the full meaning of faith and its application in our lives and how it can free us from the stranglehold of fear, and free us to enjoy a life that many people dream of or aren't even aware a life like this exists.
Let us begin the journey of understanding fear with the introduction of its author, none other than the devil himself, otherwise known as Lucifer. I believe using his name will be more effective; it makes him seem real and believe me he is as real as you or me. He was the highest-ranking angel in Heaven and tried to overthrow God. He failed in this feeble attempt and, along with his band of angels was thrown out of Heaven to roam the earth for a period of time known only by God Himself. Unfortunately, these fallen angels are a real threat, a very real force, trying every moment of our lives to put us in and keep us chained to a life of fear: a life of worry, sickness and despair. Lucifer is the creator of sin, the father of everything that is immoral or wrong. We would be well served to understand this and be aware; armed ready for him and his band of demons at all times. We cannot yield for even a second, as he is there waiting in his dark domain for the chance to strike and try to destroy us. He is the basis for the Curse levied upon the earth since the fall of man. There is much Scripture on this subject. People are always asking why there is disease and sickness in the world. Don't look any further than Lucifer, himself as being the cause. Before sin was in the world, there was no sickness or disease. There was no immorality to be found. Sin began in the Garden of Eden and has never left us and all the credit belongs to you know who, Lucifer. Man brought it upon himself by not understanding, by his lack of knowledge of the forces of evil that were to be unleashed upon the world in the Garden of Eden; which was to otherwise be, man's Utopia. I have a great deal of compassion for anyone who does not have a way out from these forces. Their end will be with Lucifer and then it will be too late; they will have an eternity of agonizing torment with no way out.
There is a way out for anyone who believes in the name of Jesus. See John 3:16:"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish and have eternal life." Each person needs to make his or her decision. The ingredient for this is faith. It will be helpful to understand what faith is. The Biblical description of faith is found in Hebrews 11:1; "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Romans 10:17 says, "…faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." In Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." In other words to accept something you can't see or understand is faith, and faith comes from and is enriched by reading God's Word. Faith shouldn't be a stranger to us, after all we live by faith every day, walking, driving, flying, etc. It really is peculiar that we exercise faith in so many areas of our lives that we know are fraught with danger and disaster, and without question, blindly if you will. It should be much easier to have faith in God because we have such an abundance of proof of His existence; we have the Bible (66 books written by 40 different authors over a 1500 year period), we have the world and everything in it (God's creation), we have the Universe over which man marvels. I just learned this week that there are in excess of 35,000 verses of Scripture contained in the Bible and without one word of contradiction or error. This is indeed, mind-boggling. My goodness, how much more proof do we need? Faith can overcome any doubt created by the master of deceit, Lucifer. Faith can help us 'see' and appreciate what Jesus did for us on the cross. We see tremendous demonstrations of faith throughout the ages, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Jacob, just to name a few. These were real people throughout the ages, exercising their faith in God. The Bible says that in some instances God spoke directly to some, but today there is no need for we have His written Word for all the people in the world to read and develop a knowledge of God, which will produce in us a powerful faith, with which we can overcome Lucifer and his band of demon angels. God said we can and that's good enough for me.
Science wants proof before it will accept and adopt a finding; repeated testing for a period of time and perhaps even a few years is their method of discovery. As I previously mentioned the Bible contains, if you will afford me the liberty to say so, 66 books, 40 different authors and 1,500 years of 'testing.' You decide which has more proof, never without error.
Fear will produce worry-Faith will overcome it, eradicate it. Fear produces sin-Faith overcomes sin. Fear causes illness-Faith can heal it. Last but not least, both fear and faith are a journey; one leads to hell and the other leads to Heaven. Hopefully you decide the correct road to take.
In closing I would like to remind you what to do when fear creeps in and it will no matter what your thoughts, stop and renounce fear (Lucifer) in the name of Jesus, pray and ask Him to help you overcome the fear and He will. Let the angels around you encompass you in their bosom. Keep this thought in mind, Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.
I remain your friend and servant, Nick Number 25
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