Faith Over Fear

 

Faith Over Fear

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            We live in a very fearful time in history and we live in a society that's full of fear People are fearing about losing their job their home their health their family their friends their position. You name it Right now we are facing a problem but God will often use the problem to make you seek his power and remind you of the promise that he is gonna get you to the other side Did you hear what I said God will often use a problem like what we are facing right now to get you to seek his power To remind you of his promise that you will get to the other side To remind you of the promise that you will live and not die to remind you of the promise that no weapon that is formed against you will be able to prosper To remind you of the promise that if God is for you then who can be against you this problem needs to lead us to the power that can remind us of the promise that we have in Jesus Christ Remember the promises of God James chapter 1 verse 12 Blessed is the person who perseveres under trial because when he has stood the test He will receive the crown of life That God has promised to those who love him. These trials not gonna last there's an end to it You'll come out at the other end of the tunnel ask God for wisdom To help you from your situation and then ask God for the faith to endure And say, God, I'm not gonna give up this too shall pass It's not coming to stay it's coming to pass

I don't know where you are right now, but don't you forget your history with God He has never forsaken you he will never forsake you whatever he brought you through before Let that be the building block of your faith for the moment that we are in right now. You are gonna get to the other side We're a nation full of fear and we fear many things we should not have to be fearing and if you watch the news you Can stir up enough fear very easily Lots of things around us to cause fear And despite all that God's people not to live in fear  Surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand What did Jesus say over and over again fear not And he says that he's not given us the spirit of fear.

But of power and love and a sound mind If a person is living in fear, think about this you think about all that you know about God and then you're living with this fear, which is not of God And here's God has a will for your life and you're afraid to step out and many other people have challenges in life who've been told they can't do this or can't do that and they just do what's seeming is miraculous when somebody tells you you can't do something the issue is God what do you want me to do? He's the one who decides how he's equipped you and how he's built you to do and most of us can probably do Far more than we do if we would just trust him instead of thinking. Well, here's what we do We look at somebody else and say well I can't do that. God doesn't expect you to do that Whatever he called you to do He's calling you to do it to the degree called you to do it to fit his will purpose and plan for your life So he doesn't expect us to try to measure up to someone else It's when other people put their measurements on our life that we have a lack of confidence and become fearful at times. 

As long as fear dominates our life Then we're not going to do it Now the question is how do we deal with it? How do we deal with fears now read carefully What I'm gonna say will seem simple. What that fear is It's not going to get any smaller The longer I focus on it what happens The bigger part of my life it consumes the more it influences my decisions or my makeup, whatever it might be So I've got to change my focus If I'm gonna get over it and freed of it, I've got to change my focus I've got to get it off that and I got to get it on God and then here's what I must do I must turn my focus immediately to the most powerful weapon. Listen to the most powerful weapon that I can have in times of fear. And what is that? It's the Word of God My focus is on my faith because whatever I focus on is gonna grow Whatever I focus on is gonna have greater power in my life This is a time to bring your focus on your faith comes by hearing and hearing The Word of God what I do in this season Shift your focus From fear to faith some you need to cut off the news Yes, some of you are so informed you're in fear cut the news off and open up the word of God and begin to speak it over your soul shift your focus. He says number one. Do not fear.

Why I am with you who is I am? That's Jehovah God the sovereign creator of the universe The Bible says he's established his throne in the heavens and their sovereignty rules over everything So he says do not fear that is listening. It's one thing for somebody to tell you don't be afraid of that It's something else for God to say do not fear Why to listen do not fear I am with you Jehovah God's with me. Look at this Do not anxious and look about you That's one of the most important phrases in the whole Bible when it comes to overcoming anything. Do not anxiously look about you You know why he said that Because he wants to get our focus on God As long as I focus on what I'm afraid of it gets larger and larger and more important and listen and more detrimental Do not anxious and look about you For I am your God Not just your friend I'm your God I'm the sovereign creator of the universe and I'm your God. I'm your personal God Then he says He says I will strengthen you how much strength does he have he's omnipotent He says I will strengthen you Sure I will help you why did he put that surely there for to say listen you can rest assure to this because I'm Who I am And because I love you because I am your God I am going to help you He says surely I will uphold you with my righteous hand. It doesn't make any difference what you face in life.

Listen, you're in my hands I sovereign God of this universe. You're in my hands. I will hold you up. I will lift you I will strengthen you. I'm your God You don't have anything that can outmaneuver Almighty God I will uphold you with my righteous right hand So whatever you facing you believe that the God of this universe Has given you a personal promise. I know this doesn't belong in my life any longer And so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna take you to your word and now from this point on I'm gonna set my focus on you And I lay this fear down I'm laying it down based on who you are What you said So here's the question Do you believe that God is who he says he is Then you need not carry that fear any longer because watch this, you know what this all boils down to It is a faith battle Problems are purposeful they have a purpose realize they come to produce and one of the first things they produce is greater faith they test your faith problems test my faith Now your faith is like a muscle can't be strengthened unless it's tested unless it's stretched unless it's put under pressure. You don't develop strong muscles by doing anything you develop strong muscles by stretching them and strengthening them and testing them and pushing them to the limit Do you have a reason to hold on to this fear When God has said you don't have to I will uphold you with my righteous right hand Which means whatever you're facing in life Sovereign God of this universe is gonna hold you safely and bring you through it no matter what Wouldn't you agree, it's better to live your life for God Than to live it in fear uncertainty doubt and so I want to encourage you to trust him as your Savior.