Living Abundantly
According to God's Word
Believing: Faith and Fear
Read Time: 9 Minutes
Believing is a law and there are two types: positive and negative. Positive believing is
faith, negative believing is fear. It is important
that we understand both kinds for we live according to our believing.
Our believing is the rudder on our ship. If we are believing positively; if
we are believing that God will supply all our need, then we will go in that direction.
If we are afraid that we will lose our livelihood or experience some calamity we
will go down that river. Believing is a law that we see mentioned in God's Word
in several places. God set this up so that we could receive His promises; all we need to do is believe His Word and act like we've got.
If we are not believing God's promises and afraid we will be defeated. The
one primary thing that defeats a Believer is fear. God has told us that we are
more than conquerors, have all spiritual blessing, have all our needs met, will
prosper, etc., but if we are afraid, which is negative believing, we cannot reap
those benefits. We cannot tap the resources that God has provided for us in His
Word if we are not believing them. If we are believing the world: if we eat this
you will get that, if we do this you will experience that, we will receive what we
believe. We are where we are today because of our believing. We will be where we
will be tomorrow because of our believing.
"Fear is the believer's only enemy. Fear is sand in the machinery of
life" (Wierwille, 1979, pp. 37). You can see this all around us. There are
some people who just live their lives with all their needs met and all going
well with them and they have these great attitudes. On the other hand, there are
those that all you ever see is defeat in their lives and that all they ever talk
about is what dreadful thing happened to them yesterday or last week. They seem
to be afraid of a variety of things. Instead of their lives running smoothly
their lives progress like gears encrusted with sand.
We see in John 9 how fear binds people and encases them so that they do not
act on God's Word.
John 9
:1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his
birth.
:2 And his disciples asked him, saying,
Master, who did sin,
this
man,
or his
parents,
that he was born blind?
:3 Jesus answered,
Neither hath this man sinned,
nor his
parents:
but that the works of God should be
made manifest in him.
:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it
is day:
the night cometh, when no man can
work.
:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
:6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground,
and made clay of the spittle,
and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,
:7 And said unto him,
Go, wash in the pool of
Siloam,
(which is
by interpretation, Sent.)
He went his way therefore,
and washed,
and came seeing.
:8 The neighbours therefore,
and they which before had seen him
that he was blind,
said,
Is not this he that sat and begged?
This man had never had use of his eyes before. Stop and imagine what that
would be like if you were born without sight and then had your eyes healed.
Consider the parents; I would think they would be jumping for joy and
proclaiming the great miracle performed on their son. After all, parents want
the best for their children, right? However, the pressure that the
Pharisees put on the people influenced their decision. This healing caused quite
a stir among the neighbors and they brought the man that was born blind to the Pharisees (:13).
:18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him,
that he had been blind,
and received his sight,
until they called the parents of him that had received his
sight.
:19 And they asked them, saying,
Is this your son,
who ye say
was born blind?
how then doth he now see?
:20 His parents answered them and said,
We know that this is our son,
and that he
was born blind:
:21 But by what means he now
seeth, we know not;
or who hath
opened his eyes, we know not:
he is of age; ask him:
he shall speak for himself.
:22 These words spake his parents, because
they feared the Jews:
for the Jews had agreed
already,
that if any
man did confess that he was Christ,
he should
be put out of the synagogue.
:23 Therefore said his parents,
He is of age; ask him.
They wouldn't say who healed their son because they were afraid they would be
cast out of the synagogue. In America we don't think much about being ostracized
from our church because the next one is ready to take us in but this is not the
situation in Judah at this time. If you were cast out of the synagogue you
couldn't buy or sell, people wouldn't talk to you and you could no longer
attend the synagogue. You would be a social outcast and financially ruined. Fear
binds people, imprisons people and enslaves them.
The disciples who walked with Jesus and were there when he did the miracles
and healings were also affected by fear.
John 20
:19 Then the same day at evening,
being the first day of the
week,
when the doors were shut
where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews,
came Jesus
and stood in the midst,
and saith unto them,
Peace be unto you.
This is the same day that Jesus was raised from the dead. The first day of
the week being mentioned here is the Sunday after Passover which occurred on
Thursday this particular year (Wierwille, 1981, pp. 303). These same men were
shut up behind closed doors for fear of the Jews. They let fear imprison them.
God has more to say about fear:
Proverbs 29
:25 The fear of man bringeth a snare:
but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.
Fear ensnares people, binds them up.
Isaiah 8
:12 . . .neither fear ye their fear,
nor be afraid
Judah was being enslaved by unbelievers and succumbing to their rule. God was
telling them to not fear their fear nor be afraid. Fear, which is unbelief, defeats the
promises of God.
Jeremiah 49
:24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee,
and fear hath seized on her:
anguish and sorrows have taken her,
as a woman in travail.
Fear had seized the people of Damascus. When an engine seizes the parts no
longer move inside, it is bound up tightly, it no longer functions. Damascus was incapable of action due
to fear and consequently had waxed feeble, had become weak. People with phobias
experience this kind of fear. They are immobilized by their fear.
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.
Job had received what he was afraid of. He had great wealth and a large
family but he was afraid that his sons were not doing the Word and reverencing
God. He was afraid he would suffer the consequences of their disobedience (for
the Old Testament times). Fear is believing in reverse,
negative believing. It was Job's enemy and caused the destruction of all that he
had except his wife and his life.
Where does fear come from?
II Timothy 1
:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;
but of power,
and of love,
and of a sound mind.
Fear doesn't come from God. It is contrary to God's promises. It must come
from another source for God has not given us the spirit of fear, but on the
contrary: power, love and a sound mind. Fear is negative believing, fear is
wrong believing. We have an adversary, the devil, but greater is he that is in
us than he that is in the world.
I Peter 5
:8 Be sober,
be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil,
as a roaring lion, [which freezes
its prey]
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
I John 4
:4 Ye are of God, little children,
and have overcome them:
because greater is he that is in you,
than he that is in the world.
How do we eradicate our fear? How do we eliminate fear in our lives so that
we can tap the resources of the more than abundant life?
Remember the disciples were behind closed doors because they were afraid of
the Jews? They didn't remain encased in fear.
Acts 2
:14 But Peter,
standing up with the eleven,
lifted up his voice, and said unto them,
Ye men of Judaea,
and all ye
that dwell at Jerusalem,
be this known unto you,
and hearken to my words:
This is Peter talking in the synagogue at Jerusalem after they had just
received the holy spirit, the comforter, that Jesus Christ had told them about.
They had just spoke in tongues, glorifying God and speaking the wonderful works
of God. Here is Peter standing up in the Synagogue talking to the men of Judea.
He then goes on to accuse them of the murder of Jesus Christ, ". . .ye have
taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain" (Acts 2:23). Is this
the same Peter that was behind closed doors for fear of the Jews 50 day ago?
What changed this man? People don't generally change this drastically in 50
days. The power of the holy spirit, the gift from God, the comforter (Acts 2:4)
changed Peter and the eleven. Later in chapter 4 of Acts they are thrown in jail for
speaking the Word. After they are let out they pray for more boldness so they can continue. They
are no longer encased in fear and enslaved. They now have holy spirit and
believe God's promises that they are to be witnesses unto the uttermost parts of
the earth (Acts 1:8). Since God gave them this promise don't you think He would
help them fulfill it?
Unbelief is a result of fear. Fear starts as a thought contrary to the Word
of God and then it is harbored and builds unbelief. That is why fear defeats the
promises of God.
Who do you believe Jesus Christ is? Who you believe he is will determine what
you receive from God. In Galilee they thought Jesus was a bastard child because
Mary was pregnant before she married Joseph.
Matthew 13:
:57 And they were offended in him.
But Jesus said unto them,
A prophet is not without honour,
save in his own country,
and in his
own house.
:58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
They could not receive deliverance because of their unbelief. God uses
a double negative here to get your attention. If you cancel out the double
negative it is easier to understand: "A prophet is not without honour
(is honored), save (except) in his own country". A prophet is honored
everywhere except in his own country.
Believing is a law that works like gravity. If you drop something that is
supposed to fall, it will fall. If you have faith or fear you will receive
it. You either have confidence or doubt. You either trust His Word or worry
about the things of the world. You either have faith or fear. Doubt leads to
worry which issues in fear which is unbelief. negative believing. Reading the
Word of God builds confidence, confidence leads to trust and trusting God is
believing Him which is having faith.
| Positive Believing |
Vs. |
Negative Believing |
| Confidence |
|
Doubt |
| Trust |
|
Worry |
| Faith |
|
Fear |
Learn His Word and have confidence in it, trust Him (He is willing and able) and have
faith by believing His Word.
_________________
Wierwille, Dr. Victor Paul. Power For Abundant Living. American Christian
Press: New Knoxville, OH, 1979.
Wierwille, Dr. Victor Paul. Jesus Christ Our Passover. American
Christian Press: New Knoxville, OH, 1981.
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