In our present times, it’s so easy to get depressed and discouraged about our circumstances. Pandemic associated side affects such as social distancing, sickness and death or fear of dying, government mandates and loss of personal freedoms. Then there is unrest in our society and smiling faces that tell lies. What are you supposed to believe? Unbelief in what God has promised in His Word is a hard thing to rid your mind of under these harsh situations.
If we could remember and take time to look carefully at where these negative feelings are coming from, we could better identify the lies and let go of the worries surrounding them. The negative feelings just described are in our minds. They aren’t there without a cause, but none the less, they are the feelings that our minds have conjured up with the worse case scenario of today’s challenges. It may not necessarily be based on our own experience but by what we hear during the storm.
When a storm brings strong gusting winds or a freezing cold that seeps through our windows, it’s hard to ignore the physical ramifications of such harsh times. If we hear the wind blowing we are affected in our minds, but if the freezing cold is penetrating our homes, our bodies are in need of warmth and we need to bundle up. Reading the Holy Bible is the warm clothes that we can store in our hearts to pull out when it gets cold.
When we receive salvation through Jesus Christ, we are eligible to receive every promise that God has made. If you don’t know Jesus, ask Him to be your savior and to guide you in your studies of the Bible. Once we know a few of God’s promises, they will well up like life giving waters from our hearts and like a great flood wash away fear brought on by lies or keep us clothed in the cold.
In our battle with the satan (the accuser), our mind sends thoughts of doubt and fear to our hearts to push down the springs of hope that’s in God’s promise…our very faith. When this happens, just keep repeating the promise you learned in the Bible.
Chances are in the beginning the promise is in your mind and may take a little time to sink down to your heart where the real belief happens. This is when we stop borrowing the warm clothes and own them. And then when a knock on the door with the very thing you are needing shows up, you know it is the promise and not a coincidence.
…in the world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world!
John 16:33
It is reading the truth that will enable us to identify and dismiss the lies. What are we supposed to believe? We are supposed to believe the truth. The word of God is truth!
Make them holy in the truth. Your word is truth.
John 17