The Fear Factory
The wrong meditations can cause us to have the wrong beliefs. The enemy wants us to think on loss. Many are concerned about losing their jobs, money, health, relationships, etc. Loss gets us to be afraid.
In this Scripture passage, we have the story to Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. When He received word that Lazarus was ill, He delayed going to Bethany. The last time He was there, the people tried to take His life. His disciples went with Him, convinced they were all about to die. The Jewish people believed that the soul of a dead person did not depart until the fourth day. It's possible they were expecting Jesus to show up between the first and third day. (Note: This is not scriptural. It was their belief.)
Jesus finally gets to the outskirts of Bethany, and Martha meets Him. She tells Him if He'd been there, her brother would not have died. She points to the future resurrection, but there's a thinly veiled question behind her words. "Why didn't you come?"
The enemy wants to get in our thinking and get us to:
1) Doubt the intentions of others.
2) Distrust the actions of others.
3) Assume a wrong conclusion.
4) Discuss these with like minded people.
5) Act in a negative way toward others.
Martha gets Mary and tells her Jesus is here. She hastens to meet Him and says almost the same thing her sister said. When two witnesses say almost the exact same thing, investigators know the story has been rehearsed. Martha and Mary have been discussing why Jesus delayed. Faith people can be pulled down by doubters. It's obvious Mary is disappointed.
How do we keep doubt from being produced in our lives? Proverbs 4:3 tells us to keep our hearts with all diligence. For out of our hearts spring the issues of life.
1) If we meditate on wrong things, fear, turmoil, and doubt will be produced. Identify Good and Bad sources. When we're with family, friends, people in ministry, our guard is down, and we can be infected with negative thinking.
2) Guard against negative meditations. Going over thoughts, ideas, words will lead to belief and eventually result in actions.
3) When we meditate on the Word of God and refuse to allow the enemy to drag us down, we'll develop belief, come to the conclusion it's truth, and be ready for production (saying creative words).
We invite you to hear the entire message at our website by clicking on the Listen Tab. You can also download it to your MP3 player or podcast. This blog post is a brief snippet of the overall message.
If you're visiting in the area or looking for a church home, our Sunday morning service begins at 10:00 AM. Zoe Christian Fellowship is located at 1111 Easton Rd. (Route 611), in Warrington, PA.
Exciting News! Two new classes are meeting after church on Sunday at 1:00 PM. They're alternating weeks, so you can attend both if you wish. One is Good Foundations taught by Pastor Mike Perea. Pastor Steve Hecht is teaching End Times.
No comments:
Post a Comment