(2nd Corinthians 5:7 KJV) For we walk by faith, not by sight.
I trust you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Thanksgiving is a great holiday, because it somewhat forces us to think about all the things we have to be thankful for. I am extremely thankful and I pray you are as well.
This morning we continue our series entitled, “Re-Energizing Your Prayer Life,” by continuing with our teaching on “The Fear Factor” and reasons why not to fear. The second reason I gave you is that “Fear is not of God!” Since God never gave you fear He does not expect you to walk it in. Fear is from the enemy and it was never designed to be part of the life of the believer.
Now let’s look at reason #3 why not to fear, “Because you should not be overly emotional.” A person who is dominated by fear is governed by their emotions. It was never God’s design that we be ruled by our emotions. On the contrary, we are supposed to rule over them. Think about it. Do you think successful believers don’t have bad feelings? Of course they do, but they don’t allow their feelings to rule their life. There are many days that I don’t “feel” like getting up early to send out Today’s Word; but I don’t care how I feel, I make the decision to get up, get before God, and do it. I run into people all the time that tell me how they don’t “feel” saved anymore, or how they don’t “feel” God like they used to. I ask them, “Have you repented of your sin?” “Yes,” they reply. Then they say, “But I still don’t feel right.” Guess what? You don’t have to feel right to be right. Faith is a choice not a feeling!
The job of your feelings is to amplify your thoughts. If you sit back and think of the goodness of God, of all He has done for you, and of how much He loves you, before you know it, you will feel good! You might even throw up your hands and worship God for His goodness and mercy. Now, if you sit back and think about all the negative things in your life, and how bad things are, and how bad this is or that is, before you know it you will feel bad. If you do it too long you might even delve into depression. However, in both cases your feelings are doing their job; they are amplifying your thoughts. If you change the way you think you will change the way you feel, but that being the case, it still has nothing to do with your right standing with God. You may feel unrighteous, but that has nothing to do with the fact that Jesus has made you the righteousness of God. If you are a Born-Again believer then Jesus died to make your righteous and you are righteous in Him, whether you feel like it or not.
Four times in the Bible (Hab 2:4, Rom 1:17, Gal 3:11, Heb 10:38) God tells us that just – those of us who have been declared righteous – are to live by faith! In our focus text Paul tells us to walk by faith and not by sight. Our life is supposed to be lived by faith, not feelings. Listen, there will be times when you don’t feel like you should feel, but on those occasions you can tell your feelings that you will do whatever you are supposed to do anyway. To walk by sight is to walk by your senses. This is not God’s will, because what you see will fluctuate. If you live your life by what you see your life will be unstable. However, if you live your life by faith, rooted and grounded in the Word of God (which never changes), you will live a strong, stable, and secure life; and you will be able to pray with unshakable confidence.
So what does this mean to you today? It means that God does not want you to live your life by what you see, because what you see will change. Base your life on His Word, because His Word never changes. Walk by faith no matter how you feel! Taking the stand to rule over your emotions will help you pray, even when you don’t feel like praying, and when you do, you will exit the prayer encounter feeling much better than you entered it. If you make this a routine you will eventually rule over your emotions and not allow them to rule you!
Closing Confession: Father, I live my life by what I know, not what I see. I live my life based upon the reality of Your Word and Your love towards me. I realize that I may not always feel right, but I am right. Jesus made me right. I will speak, believe, pray and live by what You say, even when I don’t feel like it. I refuse to allow unstable emotions to dominate me. I will live my life by faith, standing on Your immutable Word. By living this way I position myself to live a strong, stable, and secure life! In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
