Maybe you are stressed or frustrated and you dont know why… ‘you just don’t feel yourself,’ you are short with people and easily irritated.
If you can relate then you need to ask yourself this question…
Are your thoughts positive or negative?
If most of your thoughts are negative? Worrying about the virus, about your family, friends work etc. Then the negative thoughts will soon wear away your faith. Soon you will start talking negatively and not have much hope for the future.
Many people look to you for encouragement its important that you stay strong for those people.
So, how can you do this?
Well, a good starting point is, you must purposely do the things each day that gives you the most enjoyment. If you enjoy painting, paint. If you enjoy reading, read. Running, run. Sounds simple but often it’s the simple things that we overlook. Choosing instead to put our attention on the wrong things, and when you’re surrounded by negativity its impossible to be positive.
So instead of looking at the news or going on social media first thing int the morning, wait until lunch. Make sure you go for a walk each day or get some sort of exercise. As exercise has so many benefits:
Improve your memory and brain function (all age groups).
Protect against many chronic diseases.
Aid in weightmanagement.
Lower blood pressure and improve heart health.
Improve your quality of sleep.
Reduce feelings of anxiety and depression.
Combat cancer-related fatigue.
Improve joint pain and stiffness.
With so much fear on media networks and all-over social media, we must also actively feed our minds with faith. We must seek out positive information to lift us up and make us feel better.
When you arise in the morning, I recommend, investing the first hour in yourself, take a walk in nature, spend some time in the garden, start your day with prayer. You will be amazed at the difference in the way you feel and in the results you will get. You will gradually transform your thinking about yourself and what is possible for you. You will become healthier in both mind and body and your faith will grow.
To help ignite your flame of faith today I would like to offer you the chance to get my new book for FREE. Lord, Light My Path, is now available on Amazon. Click on image below.
At the moment, the world is in a panic because of an invisible enemy. But there is an even bigger threat that I see.
It’s the infection of doubt.
And if you haven’t caught it, you probably will.
Where ever you go you can see it on peoples faces; they look at you like a rabbit in headlights.
Doubt is not just a Christian experience.
It is a human experience.
So, the issue isn’t whether or not we’re going to catch the infection.
The issue is what do you do once you’ve got it.
How do you prevent this infection from ravaging your faith?
WHAT IS DOUBT?
Many people think that doubt is the opposite of faith. But it’s not. That’s a common misconception. The opposite of faith is unbelief. And there’s a big difference between unbelief and doubt.
Unbelief is a willful refusal to believe. It’s a deliberate decision to deny God. It’s making either a conscious or subconscious decision not to have faith.
But that’s not what doubt is.
Doubt is to be indecisive.
It’s to be caught between two lines of thought.
You want to believe that you won’t get coronavirus, but a little question rattles around your head, “but what if I do?”
Doubt will erode your faith. And very soon all your actions will be based on fear
A great biblical example of how doubt can affect you is in the story of John the Baptist.
He’s the man who pointed at Jesus and said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” This is the man who baptized Jesus, and he saw the heavens open up and heard the voice of God say, “This is My Son, in whom I’m well pleased.”
He had incredible faith. But what happened?
He gets arrested.
He gets thrown into jail.
There he comes down with the infection of doubt.
Now he’s not so sure.
Now he’s uncertain.
“Is Jesus really who He claims to be? Or should we be looking for someone else?”
Which is very like most people today.
4-5 months ago, they had a strong faith, but now that faith has been shaken. Church’s are closed. Without guidance, a lot of believers are lost.
To resolve his doubt, John sent two of his friends to go check Jesus out and ask Him point blank the question,
“Are you the Messiah? Are You the one we’ve been waiting for to rescue the world? Or should we look elsewhere?”
So, his two friends go.
They track Jesus down, and they ask Jesus that question.
“And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard. The blind receive sight. The lame walk. The lepers are cleansed. The deaf hear. The dead are raised up. And the poor have the gospel preached to them’.” (Luke 7:22)
In other words, Jesus is saying, “Go back and tell John about the evidence you have seen with your own eyes that authenticate My claim to being the one and only Son of God and that will renew his confidence and will bolster back up his faith.”
That’s what we must do also. Go back and look at all the times that God helped you in the past.
Them times when He made a way where there was no way. .
It’s human nature to have doubts but when we do we can’t let them doubts into our spirit. We must direct our attention to God and ask for him to strengthen our faith.
To help direct us through the storms in our lives.
Open up to God.
‘Lord these are the doubts I have.’
‘These are the questions I have.’
‘This is what I wrestle with, this is the area that I am struggling with at this time.’
In return He will reach out to you helping you come to a resolution and bolster your faith just as He bolstered the faith of John the Baptist.”
Some People Have A Faith That Is Built on Feelings
They prayed for something in the past and received it. Maybe it was a job, a loving relationship, or financial security. Resulting in them feeling good.
They thank God and are happy.
Everything goes well for them for many years.
They praise God for all they have achieved.
Then this global pandemic hits, and they go from living a life of luxury to being in debt in 3-4 months. They are distraught, but their first thought is not to turn to God in prayer. Asking him for help again. No, their first thoughts are of panic, feelings of anger. They want to find someone to blame.
Of course, some people will say— but look at all I lost. I had a beautiful house, three cars, two-holiday homes. Now I’m on the verge of losing it all?
Honestly, I don’t know the answer; I can only speak for myself.
When life is going well for me, I can get complacent, I overstretch. I go for that new loan when I know I’m already living beyond my means.Materialism has a way of taking our attention off God. It can become more important to impress our neighbours than God. Who gave us all that we have in the first place.
Going forward
There is nothing wrong with having feelings of doubt or fear at this time, but you mustn’t give them thoughts a foothold. You must learn from any mistakes that you have made.
Everywhere you go now people are wearing masks and gloves for protection from a deadly enemy. Can I advise you to also have a guard up for an infection even more deadly, the infection of doubt? Some people have it bad; the only problem is you don’t need to be near them to catch it.
That friend that calls you every day telling you how the current outbreak is getting worse and worse.
They have it bad.
You must make them aware that you don’t need any more fear in your life. If they don’t respect your choice, I advise that you limit your time with them. Too many negative conversations and soon you will be thinking like them, doubting that God will protect and provide for you.
We need to feed our faith, not our fear.
Pray every day.
Connect with those that raise you up, that make you smile, that inspire you. That make you laugh.
We will all get through this difficult time.
And we will all be different on the other side.
Now is your time to mould the type of person that you will be.
The power is within your hands.
Be that voice of faith with those around you, and on social media. You may be, the only voice of hope and wisdom that someone hears all week.
Falling deeper into fear during this Global Pandemic will not bring us closer to health. Nor will it make us feel safer.
On the contrary, it will only lower our immune system, cause our body to get sick, and damage our brain’s ability to think clearly and find creative solutions.
Fear is the most deadly virus in the world. And under fear, there is no health, no safety, and no peace: only darkness, panic, and suffering.
Speak words of faith every day, not only to yourself but to family and friends.
Jesus said: whoever says to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them’ (vv 23-24 NKJV).
Now, Jesus didn’t relocate any physical mountains during His ministry, so what was he talking about here?
The problems we face in life! And notice something important: He talked only once about our need for ‘faith’ — and three times about our need to ‘speak’ His Word. Why? Because if you don’t have enough faith to move your mouth and speak God’s word, you won’t have enough faith to move your mountain!
The bible says, ‘faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God’ (Romans 10:17 NKJV). Something wonderful happens when you verbalise Gods Word. Your ears listen to it, your mind is renewed, your focus is changed, and the thing that God responds to – faith – rises up within you.
And when you hold that position of faith, refuse to budge, and keep speaking God word, the mountain in your life starts to shift. As long as you keep saying what you think and feel in your natural mind, the mountain will keep standing like an immovable object.
But when you stand on God’s promise and declare, ‘I may not know how or when, but I know that you are coming down in the name of Jesus, ‘your mountain will move.
Has God promised you something and humanly speaking you see no way it can come to pass?
Are you having A hard time waiting? Read this scripture, “if it seems slow wait patiently for it will surely take place.”
God does things on schedule, and your appointment is still on his calendar. Be assured that nothing the enemy does can pre-empt the plan for God for your life.
When he gives you a promise, it’s like a seed. First, you must fall into the fertile soil of faith and be given time to grow.
Then you must be watered regularly through prayer and the word of God.
It won’t come to pass because you push and try to manipulate; “it’s…. not by might nor by power but by my spirit, saith the Lord” (Zachariah 4:6 KJV).
If God has promised you something, stand on his word and remind yourself, “my life can’t end before this comes to pass.”
The story of Joseph‘s life could be summed up in this scripture; “until the time that this word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him” (Psalm 105:19 NKJV)
Why test something? To reveal its strength; to see if it holds up or falls apart under pressure.
What has God promised you? Do you believe him? How strong is your faith? If it’s weak, God will put you back into the school of faith so you can learn the lessons, pass the tests, and graduate.
‘Without faith, it is impossible to please God for he who comes to God must believe that he is a rewarder’ (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV)
The word for you today is keep believing God, and it will happen.
Wait patiently, for it will surely take place
Habakkuk 2:3
2 Timothy 2:3 NKJV
Endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
There are two types of criticism: constructive criticism and destructive criticism. One builds you up the other tears you down. Be wise in how you respond to unfounded criticism and gossip.
When your critic wants to remain anonymous, they’re not worthy of your response.
The story told of a pastor who received a letter that contained one word — FOOL! Next Sunday he held it up and said to the congregation, I received the strangest letter this past week. He read the one-word text and said, ‘Somebody wrote it and forgot to sign it!
You say, but they are attempting to hurt my reputation. D.L. Moody said, if I take care of my character, God will take care of my reputation’ (see Isaiah 54:17) Any time you’re involved in a worthy cause, people will not only try to beat you down, but keep you down.
In training Timothy for ministry, Paul told him ‘endure hardship like a good soldier of Jesus Christ’.
Difficult people are placed in our path not to defeat us, but to develop us. Leaders know this, so they stay and finish the job regardless of the cost. Just like the captain goes down with the ship, the true leader stays until the work is done.
You say, ‘Then how should I respond? By praying for them! Jesus said, ‘Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you…and you will be sons of the Most-High’ (Luke 6:28, 35 NKJV).
Live Today With Faith 