Read Online 21 Ways to Finding Peace and Happiness by Joyce Meyer - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Joyce Meyer
Tags: REL012000
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people who, in reality, deserve punishment. His mercy is new every morning. I have always said that God makes a new batch of mercy daily because we used up all of yesterday’s supply.
Study the character of God (I have a tape series available on the subject); it will increase your faith and help you not to worry or be fearful. Remember that fear is a demon spirit Satan sends out from hell to hinder our progress. Fear stops us and even drives us backward. It causes us to shrink back. Hebrews 10:38 says, “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him” (KJV).
The Amplified translation of that verse says if we draw back and shrink in fear, God has “no delight or pleasure” in us. This simply means that God is not delighted when, through fear, we are cheated out of what Jesus died for us to have and enjoy. We must keep going forward in God’s plan and never fall back. Satan hates progress, and more than anything, he uses fear to prevent it.
I believe fear is the master spirit Satan uses to control people. It seems that so many of our problems are rooted in fear. The only answer to fear is to face it with courage. Courage is not the absence of fear—it is going forward in the face of it. Courage overrides fear; it refuses to bow its knee to it. The only acceptable attitude toward fear is: I will not fear!
To fear is to take flight or to run away. We are truly afraid if we run from what God wants us to confront. When the Israelites were afraid of Pharaoh and his army, God told Moses to tell them to “fear not; stand still and see the salvation of the Lord” (see Exodus 14:13).
We will never see or experience God’s delivering power if we run from things in fear. Stand still, and see what God will do for you. Trust Him; give Him a chance to prove His faithfulness and goodness to you.
When fear knocks on the door, send faith to answer. Don’t speak your fears; speak faith. Say what God would say in your situation— say what His Word says, not what you think or feel. The book of Mark relates an account of a woman who had been bleeding for twelve long years. She heard of Jesus and believed that He could help her. “For she kept saying, If I only touch His garments, I shall be restored to health” (Mark 5:28).
The very next verse says, “And immediately her flow of blood was dried up . . . and [suddenly] she felt in her body that she was healed.” This woman received her miracle because of faith, but notice that her faith said something.
Whatever is in our hearts will come out of our mouths. Are you speaking fear or faith? Both can produce results. Faith produces positive results, and fear produces negative ones. Did the woman sense any fear? I believe she did. The Bible records that the crowds were so heavy that people pressed Jesus from all sides. I am sure the woman looked at those people and thought, How am I ever going to get to Jesus? What if I cannot press through to Him? The devil offers fearful thoughts of that nature.
But the woman made a choice: In the presence of fear telling her she wouldn’t make it, she pressed on! She did not shrink back in fear, she pressed on, and that is exactly what God wants all of us to do. She pushed forward and kept speaking her faith, and she got her miracle.
Jesus told the disciples that if they had “faith [that is living] like a grain of mustard seed,” they would say to the mountain, “Move,” and it would move. He further said that with faith, nothing would be impossible to them (see Matthew 17:20).
We see that once again Jesus told us that faith says something. I ask again, what are you saying in your situation? When trouble comes, are you able to keep a good confession?
In Matthew 21:21, we find Jesus saying basically the same thing to the same group of men. He was reminding them that if they had faith and did not doubt, even if they said to the mountain, “Be cast into the sea,” it would be done. The
Study the character of God (I have a tape series available on the subject); it will increase your faith and help you not to worry or be fearful. Remember that fear is a demon spirit Satan sends out from hell to hinder our progress. Fear stops us and even drives us backward. It causes us to shrink back. Hebrews 10:38 says, “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him” (KJV).
The Amplified translation of that verse says if we draw back and shrink in fear, God has “no delight or pleasure” in us. This simply means that God is not delighted when, through fear, we are cheated out of what Jesus died for us to have and enjoy. We must keep going forward in God’s plan and never fall back. Satan hates progress, and more than anything, he uses fear to prevent it.
I believe fear is the master spirit Satan uses to control people. It seems that so many of our problems are rooted in fear. The only answer to fear is to face it with courage. Courage is not the absence of fear—it is going forward in the face of it. Courage overrides fear; it refuses to bow its knee to it. The only acceptable attitude toward fear is: I will not fear!
To fear is to take flight or to run away. We are truly afraid if we run from what God wants us to confront. When the Israelites were afraid of Pharaoh and his army, God told Moses to tell them to “fear not; stand still and see the salvation of the Lord” (see Exodus 14:13).
We will never see or experience God’s delivering power if we run from things in fear. Stand still, and see what God will do for you. Trust Him; give Him a chance to prove His faithfulness and goodness to you.
When fear knocks on the door, send faith to answer. Don’t speak your fears; speak faith. Say what God would say in your situation— say what His Word says, not what you think or feel. The book of Mark relates an account of a woman who had been bleeding for twelve long years. She heard of Jesus and believed that He could help her. “For she kept saying, If I only touch His garments, I shall be restored to health” (Mark 5:28).
The very next verse says, “And immediately her flow of blood was dried up . . . and [suddenly] she felt in her body that she was healed.” This woman received her miracle because of faith, but notice that her faith said something.
Whatever is in our hearts will come out of our mouths. Are you speaking fear or faith? Both can produce results. Faith produces positive results, and fear produces negative ones. Did the woman sense any fear? I believe she did. The Bible records that the crowds were so heavy that people pressed Jesus from all sides. I am sure the woman looked at those people and thought, How am I ever going to get to Jesus? What if I cannot press through to Him? The devil offers fearful thoughts of that nature.
But the woman made a choice: In the presence of fear telling her she wouldn’t make it, she pressed on! She did not shrink back in fear, she pressed on, and that is exactly what God wants all of us to do. She pushed forward and kept speaking her faith, and she got her miracle.
Jesus told the disciples that if they had “faith [that is living] like a grain of mustard seed,” they would say to the mountain, “Move,” and it would move. He further said that with faith, nothing would be impossible to them (see Matthew 17:20).
We see that once again Jesus told us that faith says something. I ask again, what are you saying in your situation? When trouble comes, are you able to keep a good confession?
In Matthew 21:21, we find Jesus saying basically the same thing to the same group of men. He was reminding them that if they had faith and did not doubt, even if they said to the mountain, “Be cast into the sea,” it would be done. The
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