Living By Faith Or Fear

Living By Faith Or By Fear, What’s the Difference?

Some people love to be scared, that’s why they watch the most gruesome horror movies, to get a sensation of fear, it can be powerful, palpable, even deadly. You have heard the saying “Scared to death”. It can be real, very real, so real that over 365 times in the Bible God told us “Fear Not”! Why is it so important to Him? You can not please God without Faith! The spiritual rule is Fear Tolerated is Faith contaminated, And we are supposed to live by Faith. Have you heard of the man who worked for the railroad checking rail cars for a living? He worked at a depot that handled a lot of Cold or Freezer cars. One day he was checking one and he was shut into the freezer car, he tried everything to get out, but it got colder and colder, he finally resigned himself to the fact that if he did not break out, or someone find him, he would die. He wrote a message to his wife and children telling them how much he loved them. Finley he just froze to death. He was later found that evening, and with great consternation the officials wondered how he had died in a freezer car that wasn’t even operational, that’s right the freezer unit was broken, non–functional. Yet when they did the autopsy his body showed that his death was consistent with the body of someone who had frozen to death. His wife said that in the past he had dreamed about freezing to death in a locked car, and had feared it since then. Like Job what he feared had come upon him.

Job 3:25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. 26 I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.

God is so against Fear that He wrote 365 times in His Love Letter to mankind, the Bible, or Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth , Not to Fear. Why? Because fear puts you into a Physical relationship with the evil one who comes to kill, steal and destroy. You are no longer in spiritual control of your mind will and emotions. When you are not in spiritual control you open your mouth to creating negative circumstances, because Prov18:24 says “the power of life and death are in the tongue.” Pro 18:20 A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled. 21 Death and life are in the power of the toonngue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

Prov 29:25 The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.

Fear does not come from the Lord but from Satan, the evil one. It is his greatest weapon, right up their with Pride and arrogance.

As Christians we are called to 2 Cor 5:7 “walk by faith not by sight”! For sight is a sense like touch, hearing, smelling, and tasting, and can be used to control the mind and body.

2Co 5:5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. 6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 8We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

Satan has had many thousands of years to perfect tempting us through our senses, to control our minds and steal our souls. Recognize that Gluttony, Sexual proclivity, depravity and diversity, drunkenness, and so many other sins are to keep us in slavery to our bodies’ desires and not to our spiritual faith and beliefs. Everything good that we need can be gotten by exercising our faith through the Power and Relationship of Jesus Christ.

1Jo 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Mar 11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Mar 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Five Levels Of Knowing God

Five Levels Of Knowing God

There are many levels of knowing God in this world. Unfortunately some accept a weak distant relationship with a Loving God who desires to know us intimately forever. By saying there are many ways to know Him, I do not mean that all roads lead to salvation and Heaven like some believe. The Bible is specific about that. John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. He is the sure way to everlasting Life:

John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: John 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

There are many who chose not to know him and chose to walk in darkness without the light of Christ, we are not going to talk to them in this writing. We are going to talk to those who at sometime in their life have said I am a Christian, or prayed “the sinners prayer” or ever cried out Father, or Jesus, save me, or help me! You started a relationship with God Almighty. Like any journey it begins and ends somewhere, but it is often the Joy and Sorrows we experience along the way that we call life. But remember we are not to judge our relationship with God on our feelings or experiences, but on our Faith.

Rom 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

2Cor 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight: (sight) here implies our senses and feelings, for these things are of a carnal nature, of the body where faith is of a spiritual nature because it was given to us in a measure from God a spiritual being.

Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

The question remains where are you now on this spiritual relationship with Jesus your Savior? Do you still just know of Him, this is the first level of relationship? You want to have a relationship with someone you must first know of them. But you can know about someone you have never met and still want to know them, for instance I know about Michel W. Smith. I like his singing, I even saw him today in a good movie, but I do not have a personal relationship with him. In fact it is easier to have a personal relationship with The King of the universe, Jesus Christ than to have one with a well known singing star.

The next level in having a relationship is to know more about him. I can find out a lot about Michel W. Smith by checking out info on the internet, or talking to others who know him personally, if I can find someone. With Jesus Christ I can search the Word of God, thousands of books written about the Bible in Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and other translations, I can speak to other Christians who know Him personally in their lives. There is more written about Him than any single living individual in history. Since the invention of the printing press The Bible has been the most printed book in history. Before the printing press it was the single most hand printed book. The places you can go in the world today and not find a copy of the Bible are few and far between.

The next level of Knowing Him is a personal statement that you need Him as a part of your life, as your Lord and Savior daily. Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. This begins a relationship that as long as you continue to confess Him as Lord over your life and seek to follow His will for your life will bring you into a one on one relationship with Him. Matt 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Here is another key to a relationship with Him it takes effort on your part like this verse: Matt 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: These are actions, actions that must be taken in Faith. But remember that every action must have and equal or greater reaction. When you try to draw nearer to God, He promises to draw nearer to you, when you choose to love Him it is because He first loved us. Good made a plan and a sacrifice to know and love you, so when you recognize that in your heart and spirit and chose to return that love, you win.

The next Level of relationship is a commitment to fellowship with Jesus like Adam fellowshipped with God in the Garden Of Eden. Gen 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: He spent time with Adam and was pleased with him as he named the animals and even made Eve as his helpmate. Jesus still desires that personal relationship with you as we can see in several scriptures like: Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. And: 1John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 1John 1:4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

The next level of relationship is a commitment to serve Him by serving His plan for your life. This means accepting the great commission and the power Jesus gave you as part of His body here on earth. Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Mark 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; Mark 16:18 They shall…..; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. He also charged us to: Matt 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Matt 22:38 This is the first and great commandment. Matt 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. He also wants us to visit the sick , give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, pray for those that despitefully use you, visit and pray for those who are in prison, and more. All these fall under the second commandment of Love your neighbor as yourself, if we were in any of these situations you would want someone to love you enough to do these unto you. We can’t do all of these all the time ourselves, but we can choose to do as much as we can and God will help us to do more when we put his loving relationship into motion, in Jesus name.

Brother John

God bless and keep you, and make His face to shine upon you!