Callers tell me they have saved this column. Some send it to others in times of trouble. To those who have never seen this column, I pray it will help you as well.
In fact, a reader called last week, upset that her newspaper containing this column had been destroyed accidentally. She saved this column for years, reading it, and holding on to it for herself and for others. It begins with this scripture: But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” – Luke 2:10-11.
What great things could happen in our lives if we would continue to stand on these promises today? What was the first thing the angel told the shepherd? “Do not be afraid.” This command is still valid today. We are charged to not be afraid. Fear is faith in reverse. Fear opens the door to our enemy.
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. — 2 Timothy 1:7.
God didn’t create us with a “fear gene.” Fear didn’t enter into the garden until sin entered. Fear is from the enemy, pure and simple. The first time we find fear in the Bible is after Adam and Eve ate the apple. Suddenly, when they heard God walking through the garden, they had communed with Him daily before, yet now they hid themselves because they were ashamed and afraid.
When fear is in action, one has decided you cannot have whatever it is you want; you see the goal going in the other direction. Your goal moves away from you when you have fear. Fear and faith cannot and will not operate simultaneously. The minute you begin to feel fear, your goal moves backward. That’s your nonbelief at work.
When you say you can’t believe you got this job, you are offering up some negativity, and you may forfeit it.
We must practice speaking in the positive rather than the negative. Another example is when someone is planning an event, and as you’re planning you say something like “We can’t have an empty room; we’ve really got to get some people out to this event.” Death and life are in the power of the tongue. — Proverbs 18:21.
Well the “empty room” part of your comment will attract exactly what it is you’re saying. If instead you would say “The room will be filled for this event” and begin to be thankful for a filled room, then you’d be speaking life into your event. You will be speaking for a point of faith rather than fear.
When you examine your level of faith, all you need to do is look at your crop, what is it that you’ve been able to produce. “Makes you look at who planted the crop,” doesn’t it?
All you need to do is look in the mirror. It was you. It’s the truth that tells the mind what is really wrong. It’s not the economy; not elected officials; not the government. It’s me!
Like the old Negro spiritual. ‘It’s me, it’s me, It’s me, Oh Lord, Standing in the need of prayer; Not my mother, not my father; But it’s me, oh Lord; Standing in the need of prayer.”
It’s not what’s going on outside that’s the problem, it’s what’s going on within. Each of you must press toward the mark, but as you do so, keep your eyes toward your future; faith is the unseen. Scripture says “faith is the substance of things hoped for, and it is the evidence of things not seen.” Don’t put your faith in reverse!
Lyndia Grant is an author, inspirational and motivational speaker, radio talk show host and columnist. She can be contacted at 202-263-4621 and via email at lyndiagrant@gmail.com. Visit her new website at www.lyndiagrant.com and hear previous radio shows on https://soundcloud.com/pro/purchased/pro. Listen Fridays at 6 p.m. to her talk show on WYCB (1340 AM), a Radio One station.