The Bible is clear: “For the thing which I greatly feared has happened to me, and that which I dreaded has come to me” (Job 3:25).
“According to your faith, let it be done for you” (Matt. (29).
Fear is faith operating in reverse. Fear is believing something bad is going to happen to me.
Job said, “What I fear comes upon me.” Fear is a magnet which draws to you exactly what you fear, just as faith draws to you exactly what you are believing for.
God honors faith. Satan honors fear, as it opens the door for him to attack. Fear decimates my immune system. Fear turns off all my healing genes and turns on all my inflammatory genes.
Job was living in God’s blessings, but fear gave Satan a legal right to attack, and attack he did. Satan’s attack destroyed the blessings God had given to Job.
It is all too easy to look at the world around us that seems to be out of control and see nothing but sickness, death and lack. If that is what we see and focus on, of course we will be afraid! But if we give in to that fear and allow it to control our thoughts and our actions, we give Satan the authority to steal not only the joy of all the Lord’s blessings to us, but the blessings themselves as well.
All because we believed a lie.
—The world isn’t out of control: “the Most High rules over the kingdom of men” (Dan. 4:17b).
—Sickness is not our portion: “He said, ‘If you diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will not afflict you with any of the diseases … For I am the Lord who heals you'” (Ex. 15:26).
—And if disease comes upon us, it has no power to destroy us: “By His stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5c; see 1 Pet. 2:24)
—God’s will is that we do not lack anything we need: “I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor their offspring begging bread” (Ps. 37:25). “But my God shall supply your every need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19).
Where is your focus? What voices have you been listening to? Have you been allowing what you fear to come upon you and steal the joy of all the blessings the Lord has given you and the manifestation of the blessings He still wants to give you?
If so, remember that that is not the end of Job’s story. When he repented, God restored double all that Satan had taken! And He will do the same for you, if you will wholeheartedly put your faith only in His words. Here are some steps for coming out of agreement with the lies of Satan. Repentance restores freedom and restores God’s blessings in our lives.
I love to repent because it gets me out of the miserable prison demons I have built and frees me to walk in a new victory of obedience and the power of the Spirit. Repentance for me is not a negative word. Repentance means “change your mind.”
I love changing my mind and coming into agreement with that which God has spoken. I love freedom in the Holy Spirit. I hate bondage to sin, Satan and his demons.
So celebrate repentance. Celebrate freedom. Ask God to create a new heart within you, to cut out the old heart of fear and sinfulness and grant you a new heart of faith and obedience. He will answer this prayer, and you will feel a shift inside. It is the fun celebration of the Christian experience. Jesus makes us new on the inside. He circumcises our hearts; He does a miracle of heart surgery. What a wonderful gift! Thank You, Jesus.
So let’s not let fear control our lives. God has said to isolate and wash under running water to avoid spreading contagious diseases. Do that. Ask God for His protective shield.
Listen to His voice so He can guide and protect you from infection. He will. You will feel that nudge inside concerning what you are to do. Honor it. Follow it. Do it. Let God protect you.
Steps You Can Take
—Ask for the regenerating, strengthening power of the Holy Spirit to apply the healing Jesus purchased for us on the cross. “By His stripes I am healed.”
—Fast, and your health will spring forth speedily.
—Here are 19 things you can do to build your immune system so it can ward off infectious diseases.
—Facts are also nice things which can counter fear. The governor of Florida, the state in which I live, recently shared a powerful PowerPoint presentation concerning the reopening of our state. In it, he has a section titled “Facts vs. Fear.” You can view this amazing, enlightening, easy-to-understand PowerPoint presentation here. If you take the time to review it, it will encourage you greatly. {eoa)
Mark Virkler, Ph.D., has authored more than 50 books in the areas of hearing God’s voice and spiritual growth. He is the founder of Communion With God Ministries and Christian Leadership University (cluonline.com), where the voice of God is at the center of every learning experience. Mark has taught on developing intimacy with God and spiritual healing for 30-plus years on six continents. The message has been translated into over 40 languages, and he has helped to establish more than 250 church-centered Bible schools around the world.
For the original article, visit cwgministries.org.