Heart Tracks - Fear Or Faith?

"As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more." Psalm 71:14....."God will save. It's His nature." Chris Tiegreen

Philippians 4:6 says that God has not given us a spirit of fear, yet that is exactly what many of His people are living in right now. Fear of the future. Fear of what may happen. Fear of the "what if?" The Father has not given us a spirit of feat, but satan, the father of lies is certainly happy to place such upon us.....if we'll allow it.

We are surrounded by voices that seek to speak fear into our lives. Politicians and the media specialize in this. We are constantly made aware of the latest threat to our safety and well being. I clearly remember as a child the constant warnings of a possible nuclear attack from Russia, and all the grade school exercises we had in order to prepare for such. Then there was all the racial and political unrest of the 60's, the AIDS epidemic of the 80's, and of course, all the Y2K fears of 2000. Then it became the growing social, political, and economic instability that we've witnessed throughout the 2000's. Now it is threat of the coranavirus. Reasons to fear are everywhere. The reason not to fear is found in only One; Jesus Christ.

There is an element of truth in every one of these threats. There always is. There is also that element of truth in those things that the enemy assaults your and my mind with, oftentimes on a moment by moment basis. Into that truth, he mixes his lies. It's not that there isn't some degree of truth in the things to be feared. It's that he seeks to take our eyes and heart away from the One who is Truth itself. The One who comes to us in every place of danger and simply speaks, "Fear not. I am with you." Fear cannot exist where Christ is. The spirit of fear cannot control when we are kept in the power of His Holy Spirit.

Wherever your fears may be found, whether they're in such as this virus, or simply in whether your job will be there next month. Or whether you can pay your mortgage or rent, or keep your children safe and away from the endless temptations surrounding them. In all of them, He is there. In all of them, He speaks, "Fear not. I am with you." As Tiegreen says, it's His nature to save. We are not at the mercy of our fears. As Tiegreen says, "A firm belief in both His goodness and His sovereignty over our every circumstance yields an incredibly relaxing trust."

We can live in our fears, or we can live in our faith. The first discounts Christ. The latter stands upon Him. Where are you and I living right now?

Blessings,
Pastor O