The condition of our heart is one of our greatest priorities. If the heart is filled with cares or overburdened with stress we cannot believe effectively. Receiving from God requires that our heart is guarded against the things that can choke the Word.
Jesus gave us specific instruction that must be taken seriously.
Do not let your hearts be troubled (distressed, agitated). You believe in and adhere to and trust in and rely on God; believe in and adhere to and trust in and rely also on Me. (John 14:1 AMPC)
The power to obey this commandment is contained in the command. Jesus told us not to allow, permit, or let our hearts be agitated. We can take that command into our heart and release from our mouth the faith to walk in it! “I will not allow my heart to be troubled! I believe!”
He reveals the correct spiritual flow in His next sentence. “Believe, trust and rely in Me! Faith is the correct flow of the heart. If we have our heart anchored in trusting the Lord, the temptation to fear or worry is easily resisted.
#1 Decide to trust the Lord no matter what may come.
By [the help of] God I will praise His word; on God I lean, rely, and confidently put my trust; I will not fear. What can man, who is flesh, do to me? (Psalm 56:4 AMPC)
The putting or placing of our trust is the foundation to make the declaration, “I will not fear.” When we choose in advance to have our trust securely fastened in the Lord, we are positioned for victory regardless of what may happen in days to come.
This is a choice, an act of the will. We choose to trust. We choose to believe God and His Word.
In God have I put my trust and confident reliance; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? Psalm 56:11
#2 Declare your trust in Him.
I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust! (Psalm 91:2 AMPC)
Your situation needs to hear you declare it. Your emotions need to hear you say it. The adversary needs to hear you say it. Most importantly, the declaration is the legal voice authorization in the arena of the spirit. When you say it, you are activating all of the protection that is yours as a child of God.
This is the reason the Lord has verbally declared His promises and even given us the written record of what was declared. He wants us to believe and speak in line with His established will for our lives.
Living free from all fear, worry, anxiety, and care is His perfect will!
…for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless, nor forsake, nor let [you] down, (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]
So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do to me? (Hebrews 13:5-6 AMPC)
#3 Diligently maintain your flow of faith!
The New Testament is full of instructions that direct us to “hold fast our profession of faith, continue in the Word, and to contend earnestly for the faith…” Why is this exhortation threaded throughout God’s Word?
It is because we live in a world that is operating under the curse with fear as a normal flow of life. This world is built on fear-based principles. Worry and anxiety are acceptable as a part of life in this society. Also, we have an adversary who is constant in his attack of pressure and difficulty.
But Jesus gave us the answer in advance!
Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.] (John 14:27 AMPC)
The peace that Jesus has provided is a supernatural flow that elevates us above the worldly, fear-based flow. His peace will protect our heart and our mind against the corruption that worry will cause.
And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours]. (Philippians 4:7 AMP)
Peace is supplied by the Lord Himself to act as a supernatural guard to protect the heart. Without His peace in place, the heart will be vulnerable to attack and the mind will be wide open to receive whatever report the problem may bring.
When the peace of God is in operation, our heart can maintain the Word production that Jesus described in the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4). We can bring forth the harvest of the Word with thirty, sixty, and an hundred-fold capacity in our lives!
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