FEARFUL OR FAITHFUL

Posted on Aug 16, 2022 by Shane W. Roessiger | Comments (0)

“Beloved, believe not on every spirit...” 1 John 4. The devil is spirit. Try every spirit to see if they are of God. The spirit of fear makes you fear, which means it is not of God. The spirit of anti-Christ is the spirit of this age, of the world. Most of our problems come from fear because fear has its rooted in pride. Because it is all about you, it is pride. When it is about Him, there is no fear. He did not say “greater is you”; the Word says, “Greater is HE that is in you!” Test the spirits if they are of faith or of fear. This chapter of 1 John 4 talks about the anti-Christ spirit and about testing the spirits. But it also talks about false prophets which makes it very interesting because that means that these spirits are speaking through these vessels. This exposure makes it much easier to expose or catch. We can now look at the vessels and see the fruits or the lack thereof. But what about when this spirit is speaking using the spiritual realm, through thoughts, worry, or mediation that starts to suck out the faith in us, making us go from faithful and full of faith to being fearful and fearing things? This is the biggest battle most of us face, but the enemy will make us think we are the only ones going through it. We know fear births torment.

Therefore, Paul is speaking in another letter, in 2 Corinthians 10:5, about casting imagination and every high thought down. If you are of God, you will believe in all that He says. We don’t want our eyes to see what the flesh is doing. Flesh will magnify fear instead of faith! Those that are of the world will speak things of the world because they are vessels of darkness! The whole world is based in fear because it is run by the devil; the kingdom of God is based on faith because it is run by the Holy Spirit. Those of the world hear them, obey them, and follow them who are of the world. The spirit of truth speaks using faith. The spirit of error speaks using fear. When we are in faith, we can love everybody. When we are in fear, we can’t love because we are very concerned about our own self. So, this is why we are to be hidden in Christ and put on Christ, and we need to have the mind of Christ. This way we die to fear and live in faith in Him and in His kingdom. We must believe the love that God has for us above anything else. God loves you when you stumble and when you do right. We must overcome the world by believing the truth of the Word of God and by believing in the love of God for us! Greater is He, greater is the love of God in you. The Word says in 1 John that God is love so we must believe that greater is that love in us than all the hateful things in the world, than the anti-god things and the anti-love (Greater is God in us than hate in the world; remember, God is LOVE!). They will change the truth into lies. The devil will do the same to you if you let him. Do not go by performance but by His Word. So, remember, greater is He in you than the spirit of fear in the world. Unshakable people are the ones that believe no matter what. There is no fear in love and perfect love will cast out fear. Perfect love believes in His love for us and that casts out fear. Fear has torment; love does not. Be filled with faith to believe what the Word says is true.

Faith is essential. The devil wants to try to make you have faith in YOU! That faith is based on people around us and on circumstances and not on Him. They are work orientated. For them, it is all about perfection and performance. He said, "Greater is He that is in you,” and NOT “greater is YOU that is in you.” No. We have a God that is full of faith and is faithful. We must put our faith in Him. Fear has to die. The trial of our faith works patience (1 Peter 1:7). We must remove the “what-ifs” out of our lives or we will be dying because of fear: What if I fail? What if I fall? What if we lose everything? What if God does not move on our behalf? What if no one likes it? What if I was wrong? What if I was right? What if no one shows up? What if I screw up? Get over your own self! God does not care if you blow it. Just do it. He loves you anyhow. Don’t be faithful in you. Be faithful in Him and in His Word. He moves on faith, not on perfection or performance. Love is unconditional. We must believe that, or satan will move into works based on fear.

That land mentioned in Numbers 13 is now us! The strongholds that we must take are now in our own minds! Some say, “I believe,” but believers move. Unbelievers stay stuck in the wilderness. God told them to go and spy out the land that He had already given to them. Very important key. He already gave them! He said, “Go into the land that I have given you!” We must believe that we got it and work out what we believe. God just needed a report from them, not their opinion about it, or He was just testing their faith and their belief in Him. He did not ask them to do anything else. Just do what He has told you. To live in the promised land, we must have faith.

Milk, honey: it is all for us. But the moment we look at our own selves, we start leaving that land because of strongholds in our minds. We are looking at the wrong thing which is our own self. Sometimes we are eating from those delicious fruits but unbelief pulls us right back. Our milk and honey are joy, peace, and righteousness, a place without torment, a place with rest and no worry, a place full of faith. If we do not live in this place, we are not overcoming, and the enemy will start overcoming us. God gives it to you, the promised land, but you need to take it! The enemy made them believe that the devil is stronger than them. “Greater is He that is in you.” They did not believe that God is stronger. We need to stop magnifying the obstacles, the strongholds, or anything that the enemy may be trying to make us see. He is not that big! We are! We are overcomers by the blood of the lamb, and not by you! A lot of people want to overcome by having faith in themselves. It will not work that way. David also came in the name of the Lord when he faced the giant, not in His ability or own name. Now we must believe and not let unbelief creep in and make us go back with a bad report.

After spying out the land, they brought up an evil report. Every time we say something that does not have faith, that is an evil report. The enemy will paralyze you when you believe in that evil report. David could have been paralyzed when he saw that giant, Goliath, but he was full of faith in the one that was greater than him. God was not asking them if they could take the land. He was just saying go and see the land that He has for them despite the giants. God was telling them, “You did not part the Red Sea. I did. You did not send down manna from heaven. I did.” Get your eyes off the evil report. Our insurance must be the power of God. We are not part of the statistics. Why have faith in your own self and lose faith in Him? Let God be the author and finisher of your faith. Because if He is not, the author of your faith will be you. You will surely fall, but if He is the one then He will do it.

I rather die in faith in the promised land sucking on a grape than die in the wilderness or Egypt. Look how fear opens the door (Numbers 14:1-9). It affects everybody else. Fear will make you desire to go back to Egypt. What bothered God was not their weakness but their lack of faith. If I die with one grape in my mouth, I will die in faith.

When it is all about “you, you, you,” God starts getting smaller, smaller, and smaller. When greater is you in you than Him in you, then we won’t be able to take it. Faith opens the door to the more. Fear opens the door to nothing. How do you get rid of fear?

Stop looking at you and start looking at God! “If the Lord delights, He will give to us a land that flows with milk and honey...” they said, but the Lord had already given it to them. Fear them not! If we do not have it in our possession, it is still ours because He said that He has given it to us. Take it by force! By faith!

Behold your God (Isaiah 35:3-5)! He will come and deliver you. He will come and strengthen you. God will drop whatever He is doing for someone who is stepping out in faith. Don’t let your heart faint (Luke 21:26). “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). Fear not and do not tremble because of them (Deuteronomy 20:3-4). If fear is in you, love cannot be in you. If love is in you, faith is in you. If you break the word faithFULL or fearFULL, that second part of it means FULL. If you are full of something, you will reproduce that thing that you are full of. If you are faithFULL, you will reproduce FAITH. If you are fearFULL, you will reproduce FEAR. God is the author and finisher of faith and not of fear. He sees it, He feels it, He is pleased only with faith. It is impossible to please Him any other way. It is by faith only, not by works without faith – that is dead works. Faith with works produces life and possesses that which is already given. If you, do it in faith – being led by Him or not – He will delight in you anyhow because you are acting upon something. At least, you are doing something. You are not frozen. We are a faithful bride. We are faithful people. David did not consider himself a professional rock slinger or marksman. He said, “I come in the name of the Lord” (I Samuel 17:45). Don’t go or come in your own name or strength. Don’t be frozen either. Keep your eyes on Him – who is the greater in YOU.

“God, you saved me. I did not do this to myself. I called on you, and you brought me to your arms and breathed life in me. I will trust you, not in performance or perfection, but in faith and through you. I will live in this peace with you.

And if I die, I die! It is all forward march because there is an awesomeness from this point on. You called me and I am a new creation. All and new things are coming to pass. We are a people full of FAITH, and not FEAR. Amen.”

FEARFUL OR FAITHFUL

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