Faith or Fear: Blessing or Cursing Part One

Fresh Manna© by Pastor Tim Burt
http://www.freshmanna.org

Acts 3:25 “You are the children of those prophets, and you are included in the covenant God promised to your ancestors. For God said to Abraham, ‘Through your descendants all the families on earth will be blessed.”

As I have written before, I gave my life to the Lord at the age of 24 years old. Prior to that, I did not know the Lord as I do today. I knew Him as a story but not personally or intimately. He was up there and I was down here. Consequently, I was not living my life for the Lord and did mostly whatever I felt like doing. Life was about getting stuff, having fun, and being reasonably nice in the process.

As a teenager I found myself occasionally jealous of others which I’m sure was my own self esteem problem at that time. I was also like many of the people I hung out with at that time in that we thought it was normal to connive or lie or cheat or even occasionally steal to get what we wanted. We thought everyone did. Actually surveys have shown that most people do. It has been a problem for God from the beginning and why the first flood came. Genesis 6:5 “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

I stole in different ways such as calling in sick for work and getting paid for it when I wasn’t sick. So many people do that today that companies now call them personal days so they don’t have to listen to people’s lies. I am too embarrassed to tell of the little ways I might have connived, cheated, lied, or even stole back then. I just wrote it off in my mind as something everyone did and as normal.

Jesus changed my life and perspective helping me to see that He didn’t look at it that way. His Holy Spirit began to expose my deception by illuminating His truths to me. Eph. 4:28 says, “If you are a thief, stop stealing. Begin using your hands for honest work and then give generously to others in need.” When I first saw that instruction from God, those words were like a punch in the stomach they hit me with great force. I could also see my sins in Proverbs 6:18 “a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil.” It wasn’t that I was a big schemer or majorly evil, but I did see levels of wrong imaginations and scheming in my life to get what I wanted. His Word purged that from my life.

All of these sins in my life were a part of a bigger problem – fear! I would have never recognized that without the illumination of Gods Word. I knew nothing about the promises of God. I figured you had to go out and get what you wanted no matter what it took and regardless of whom you hurt. I was fearful I’d never have enough and it led me to imagine and carry out evil and scheming thoughts. Over time I discovered that everything good comes from God. It also comes without our earning it. We are supposed to be good and do good but we will always fall short. God gave us His love when we did not deserve it. He forgave our sins when we did not deserve it. Psalm 103:10 says, “He has not punished us for all our sins, nor does He deal with us as we deserve.”

Instead He gives us His precious promises when we trust Him by faith rather than leaning on our own ability alone. 2 Peter 1:4 says, “…He has given us all of His rich and wonderful promises. He has promised that you will escape the decadence all around you caused by evil desires and that you will share in His divine nature.” Do we deserve His supernatural help? Do we deserve His supernatural protection? Do we deserve His all His promises of blessing? No but He has given them to those who will trust and believe. That and only that is what keeps people from lying, cheating, scheming, and conniving to meet their needs when times seem impossibly tough.

Lying, cheating, scheming, conniving – they all may be Satan’s plan to get a head but it is not God’s plan. What is God’s plan? He wants honesty, integrity, faithfulness, diligence to work hard, kindness, the fruit of the spirit, and great faith in Him – putting full trust in God’s love and promises to you!

Jacob cheated his brother Easu out of His blessing. Why? Maybe He was jealous or afraid that his brother would get it all and he had a fear of getting nothing. Jacob knew of God. He knew Gods’ power and ways yet he let fear prevail over faith and lied, connived and cheated his brother. Genesis 27:41 shows Esau’s hatred for his brother saying, “Esau hated Jacob because he had stolen his blessing, and he said to himself, “My father will soon be dead and gone. Then I will kill Jacob.” Jacob’s unbelief and trust in God caused him many problems and stole much of the peace God wanted him to have.

God wants you to have great faith in Him not fear over what faces you daily that causes anxiety and temptation to compromise godliness. He does want His blessing upon your life. When you see to what degree next week, it will positively astound you. Here is a glimpse – today’s Fresh Manna verse and one other:

Gen 49:25 “…25 By the God of your father who will help you, And by the Almighty who will bless you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.” Acts 3:25 “You are the children of those prophets, and you are included in the covenant God promised to your ancestors. For God said to Abraham, ‘Through your descendants all the families on earth will be blessed.”

In His love,
Pastor Tim Burt
http://www.freshmanna.org