“I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you.” 2 Kings 20:5
Isn’t it good to know that He hears our prayers and sees our tears. I can’t tell you how many gallons of tears I’ve cried out of fear, but God could. He keeps them in a bottle, that’s how precious they are to Him. (Psalm 56:8 ESV) And yet I don’t feel like those tears were for nothing; because they brought me to a new place.
In Deuteronomy 30 we find Moses reviewing the Law, blessings and curses with the people of Israel. He says to them, “the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. … I call heaven and earth as witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,” (verses 14-15 & 19-20)
Today, every day, life and death, blessing and curse, Faith and Fear are set before us to choose. And we must choose one or the other, we can’t have both.
I have been writing now for over 4 years. And in that time my readership has steadily grown. However Satan has continued to try to blind me to this reality. One of my greatest frustrations has been the feeling that “no one is listening to me”. Yet none of that is the Truth, it’s all a lie. A lie I was believing. But my friend Jesus would have none of that! So He had a reader I’ve never met email me, and then another and another. He had old friends and new friends contact me for speaking engagements and book signings. Each time my sinking heart would soar like an eagle. Like Mary I treasure those things in my heart. (Luke 2:19) The mission God created me for is being done. But not without a fight! While Jesus lives to bring us Life; Satan comes only to steal Hope, kill Joy and destroy our Faith in our God who saves. Satan will stop at nothing to snatch those treasured moments from our hearts and replace them with Fear, Disappointment and Doubt. And he does all this with words.
Words have TREMENDOUS power!
In the beginning God spoke this world into existence, and we His beloved children have that very same power living and breathing within us. His word is close to us, it is in our mouths! He surrounds us with it like the guards surrounding the child-king Joash (2 Kings 11). Every day when you take the time to “think about these things” we’re reading you’re storing them up like treasures in your heart as speech – good fruit. Fruit that will fill the belly of your soul with good things. As children of Life we have been given the power of Life and Death through our speech! We have the ability to speak blessing (or curses), Faith (or Fear) into our own lives and the lives of others! When we choose to feed our Faith, through the word of God, Fear will flee!
Jesus gave us His Holy Spirit to teach us and guide us into all Truth. As we read the Bible daily the words of Jesus are being spoken into our lives through our teacher the Holy Spirit. Situations, words, negative people, anything that conflicts with those words are Satan’s lies! Therefore, we must wield the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, to battle those lies. We must buckle the belt of His Truth and pick up our shield of faith with which we can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Psalm 91:4 tells us that God “will cover us with His pinions, and under His wings we will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and buckler.”
In this verse, whose faithfulness is it that protects you like a shield? Is it your faithfulness to God or is it His faithfulness to you? The answer to this question is absolutely critical to not just the rest of this study, but the rest of your life my friend! This Truth is a life saver and a Faith Feeder so I want you to really sink into this like you sink into your bed at night after a long day.
Your faithfulness to Him is NOT what saves you and shields you from Satan’s ploys against you. Your faithfulness is human, it’s frail and will crumble just like Peter on the night of Jesus’ betrayal. Our faithfulness to Jesus is faulty at its best. BUT, His faithfulness to you will NEVER FAIL.
That’s so sweet on my tongue I’ve just GOT to say it again!
While our faithfulness to Jesus is faulty at its best, His faithfulness to you will NEVER FAIL!!!!!
OK, maybe just one more time.
No matter how faithful you are to Him, at some point you will fail Him, but HE WILL NEVER FAIL YOU!!!!!
Mmmmm! That is good stuff right there!!!!!
Today I challenge you to annihilate Fear, start speaking words of Faith! Feed your Faith with the good fruit of God’s Word of the Day for you today. Ask the Holy Spirit to come and teach you, to lead you into His Truth, the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth so help you God! HE IS FAITHFUL and HE WILL DO THIS FOR YOU. He hears and answers you when you call. Jesus is that friend who never hits the “ignore” button when your name pops up on the caller ID. He is speaking to you today through His Holy Spirit about Fear. He is calling you to, like Jehu, annihilate your worst enemy, Fear.
In 2 Kings 6:24-7:2 the people of Samaria have become desperate to the point of cannibalism and as evidenced in the captains statement they’ve lost all hope in God saving them. “If the LORD…”
That word “if” packs quite the punch doesn’t it? In that one tiny word, Doubt is born and starts spreading like wildfire. Over the next few days pay attention to your “if statements”. Are you speaking out of Fear or from a point of Faith? Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, ask the Holy Spirit for His help, He is willing to aid you in this transformation from Fear to Faith.
Psalm 18:20-21 says “From the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach is satisfied; he is satisfied by the yield of his lips. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.”
Jesus tells us in Luke 6:45 “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
Paul tells us, in Philippians, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” (verses 8-9)
Tamar Knochel 