Fear VS. Faith - Pastor Jeff Schreve - From His Heart Ministries

[Music] there is a battle that we all have every day pitting our fear against our faith how are you doing in that fight today on from his heart pastor Jeff Shri will encourage you as he shares the victories that you'll experience in a life governed by faith the message today fear versus faith [Music] [Music] [Music] that was in my early 30s I was working at a job that paid really well I was doing really well in it selling specialty chemicals had a beautiful wife three kids I had a really good Church in Houston and I taught a Bible study class and we had a really good class and it was growing and from the outside looking in everything was going great for me but I was Restless inside and I I kept thinking of my life and looking at my life and especially where I was going in my career and thought I don't I don't want to do this for the rest of my life I don't want to be 70 years old and say well you know I just stayed at this chemical company because it paid well and it was comfortable and it had good benefits and it was good for my family and and God just began to create as Henry Blackaby says a holy restlessness inside of me and I started to think about what I would really like to do with my life and what I really wanted to do was preach I wanted to go in the ministry but I didn't think the Lord had called me in the ministry and so I was praying and praying and praying about that decision and in July of 1995 God called me very clearly and I was powerful in my life but I was struggling with one major thing fear fear how was I going to do this a little bit of fear when I got off my knees to tell Debbie hey got some news for you because she wasn't going for that at all so you didn't want to go into ministry or dad was a pastor and she didn't she didn't want that for herself she didn't want that for the girls but that was very minor the big fear was how am I going to leave my job and go into the ministry how am I gonna leave my job and go to seminary how am I gonna pay for everything I have people depending upon me and I was really dealing with fear and the Lord had to really impress upon my heart Jeff you can trust me you can get out of the boat and you can step on my promises and step on my word and step on my call and I will meet your needs and that's what we did I left my job in June of 1996 and we got out of the boat Debbie and me and the girls in tow and we got another boat to walk on the water with Jesus and and we went and I didn't have a job we went to North Carolina moved from Houston to North Carolina no job just trusting God and it was exhilarating but it was scary all at the same time now we've been talking about fear in this series fear no evil as David said even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil because you are with me and here's the thing about fear fear is something that the devil uses fear is not of God scripture says God hasn't given us a spirit of fear but of power and love and discipline the devil uses fear and the way the devil uses fear is he uses it to keep us from getting out of the boat and walking on the water with Jesus he uses it to keep us from trusting God he uses it to keep us from really living the exhilarating life of faith now one of the things that I learned that was so helpful and I'm still learning and I'm still reminding myself of this often is this truth fear is okay as long as your faith is greater than your fear see if you wait - for all the fear to go before you take a step of faith you'll never take a step of faith because the devil will use the fear and the fear will play on your emotions and you'll always feel some fear fears okay as long your faith is greater than you fear I've entitled the message today fear versus faith because I think that that really takes place in so many hearts in believers hearts Christian's hearts they struggle with fear and they have faith and they have fear and these things are almost battling it out and as we talked last week what happens when fear wins well in Abraham's life the father of all who believed the man who is known for his faith he let fear take control and he made terrible decisions that really really cost him so today we want to look at what happens when fear is defeated by faith and how can you build up your faith so that your faith is greater than your fear now listen God knows that we fear that's why he says so much in his word do not fear do not fear do not fear do not fear God doesn't really get mad at us for fearing he speaks to us to comfort us and to give us assurance in our fears God wants our faith to be greater than our fear the scripture says in Romans 10:17 so then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God and today we're going to look at the great passage in Isaiah 43 where the Lord speaks to his people directly concerning their fears and gives them assurances concerning their fears Isaiah 43 I'll begin reading in verse 1 but now thus says the Lord Yahweh your Creator o Jacob and he who formed you o Israel do not fear for I have redeemed you I have called you by name you are mine when you pass through the waters I will be with you and through the rivers they will not overflow you when you walk through the fire you will not be scorched nor will the flame burn you for I am the Lord your God the one of Israel your savior I have given each IFFT as your ransom cush and Seba in your place since you're precious in my sight since you're honored and I love you I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life do not fear for I am with you God's answer to our fears God's word to help our faith defeat our fears because fear is out there and all of us deal with fear and if you're getting ready to really take a step of faith just know that fear is going to be there but fears okay as long as your faith is greater so what does the Lord say to us to help us conquer our fears three assurances from God's Word straight from God's voice thus says the Lord scripture here to help us deal with our fears first of all thus says the Lord do not fear for I have redeemed you God's Word to his ancient people now the Book of Isaiah was written obviously during the ministry of Isaiah Isaiah ministered from 739 BC to 681 BC he was a prophet in Judah he oversaw spiritually what was going on in in Israel wasn't good the nation had already split and it was ten tribes to the north and two tribes to the south he was part of the two tribes to the south who with Jerusalem as its capital city and that that tribe the two tribes the Judah tribe that was the more faithful tribe to the Lord the ten tribes called Ephraim called Samaria they had different names for them mostly just called Israel because it was the big chunk they had fallen away from God and they had been taken captive in 722 BC by the Assyrians and they were wiped out you never really heard from them anymore but the two tribes the tribe of juda that was still intact but they they were going in the direction of their their brothers to the north they were they were stepping out on God and getting away from God and so when Isaiah gave his prophecy the first 39 chapters of Isaiah judgment judgment judgment judgment judgment and then in chapter 40 it changes and the theme is not judgment the theme is Redemption Isaiah 40 verse 1 Comfort Oh comfort my people and so when we read in Isaiah 43 we read about God's comfort we read about God's promises we read about God's assurance do not fear for I have redeemed you he says in verse 1 now when he used the word redeemed I've redeemed you there to the Jews that would that would set off an alarm that would be ring bells that would be like okay redeemed I know what that is I know what that reminds me of that reminds me of Egypt because our fathers were slaves in Egypt for over 400 years and then the Lord heard their cries the Lord raised up two deliverer named Moses and the Lord brought our forefathers out of Egypt he redeemed them from Egypt the word redeemed means to buy back he bought them back and delivered them from Egypt and brought them into the Promised Land now that was really significant they were never to forget what happened in Egypt it says in Deuteronomy chapter 24 verse 18 but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there they were never to forget that now if you remember the how that came about when God showed up and showed out against Pharaoh who was king in Egypt the Lord broke the back of Pharaoh and he did it through plagues a series of plagues and the tenth plague was the most notable plague that was the plague of the Death Angel and God said I'm going to i'ma kill every firstborn in the land of Egypt but this is what you need to do Moses you need to tell the people that they take a lamb an unblemished lamb and they sacrifice that lamb and they take the blood of that lamb and put it in hyssop which is like a that's a plant that's kinda like a sponge and you put that blood on the doorposts and on the lentil the top part of the door and God says when the Death Angel comes and when I come through when I see the Blood I will pass over you it's known as the Passover they were to celebrate that every year the Passover the feast of Passover and remember what happened when God delivered them from Egypt do not fear the Lord says for I have redeemed you now those people were redeemed through the blood of the Lamb so important because it's it's the Old Testament picture of the New Testament reality when Jesus comes on the scene and John the Baptist says behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and we are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb do not fear for I have redeemed you and you and I are purchased with a great price the blood of God's own son Peter says knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers but with precious blood as of lamb unblemished and spotless the blood of Christ acts 20:28 says that the Lord purchased the Church of God with his own blood what was the payment for your Redemption for my Redemption for our Redemption what was the payment the blood of God the blood of God they can't get any more precious than the blood of God that's why it says you weren't redeemed with with silver and gold those are perishable things that's nothing for God to to shell out silver and gold he says in the book ibaka uh uh Haggai all the silver all the gold belongs to me so it's nothing for God to give silver and gold but for God to give blood Wow and when you think about the the sacrifice of the son he shed his blood the sacrifice of the father he gave his son it would be harder for me as the dad to give my daughters than to give my blood because I love them so much and God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son and Jesus so loved you and so loved me that He gave His life on the cross hey you're purchased with a great price do not fear for I have redeemed you he said I have called you by name and you are mine now Paul says in Colossians chapter 1 that we should be joyously giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints and light for he delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us through the bud of the lamb into the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have Redemption the forgiveness of sins just like they were taken out of Egypt and redeemed from Egypt and brought through the red sea brought into the promised land the Lord has delivered us from the domain of darkness from under the thumb of Satan from being a child of Wrath and he has delivered us through the blood of the Lamb and his deliverer and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son and now we experience the wonderful truth of being his I've called you my name you are mine says in first Corinthians chapter 6 what do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you whom you have from God and that you are not your own for you have been bought with a price therefore glorify God in your bodies you belong to him you're his I've called you by name you are mine you know in January of 1980 that was the day the month I got saved is on a Monday night in January of 1980 and so many wonderful things happened the night I prayed to receive Christ and hi although I didn't understand it at the time I was delivered from the domain of darkness and the Lord transferred me into the kingdom of his beloved son and I went from being a child of the devil to a child of God just like that and he came to live inside of me and my life became a temple of the holy spirit who was in me the one that God gave and gifts to every believer ought to be the Lord's is so wonderful and here's the thing do not fear for I have redeemed you when the Lord redeems you and you become his he's going to take care of what is his my kids especially when they were little they knew dad takes care of us dad takes care of us we don't need to to worry when dad's around because dad's picking up the tab dad's gonna take care of us and if we have needs we just look to dad because you know little three little girls I don't have anything they don't have anything but they know call on dad they call on mom sometimes and mom says no and then they call on dad because dad is not good at telling his daughters no and they were pretty good to not abuse the system but but they knew that why because they belonged to me and they knew that I would take care of them do not fear the Lord says because I have redeemed you now you know when it says he's called you by name it's pretty cool to think that God knows your name God knows everything about you but he knows your name says in John chapter 10 my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me when I prayed in January of 1980 to receive Christ as my savior and Lord when I gave my life to him you know what he did he gave his spirit to me he gave his life to me he transferred me from the domain of darkness and delivered me into the kingdom of his beloved son and he also wrote my name in the Lamb's Book of Life and my name is there is your name there but you know what your name is not only as a believer your name's not only in the Lamb's Book of Life you know where else your name is the scripture says in Isaiah 49 the people were saying Oh God has forgotten us God has he's abandoned us and the Lord says can a woman forget her nursing child or have no compassion on the son of her womb even these may forget but I will not forget you behold I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands I've written your name on the palms of my hands on the palms of the Lord's hands or nail stars the price of your Redemption and my Redemption oh do not fear for I have redeemed you have called you by name you are mine not only does the Lord say do not fear for I have redeemed you assurance number 2 the Lord says do not fear for I am with you he says in verse 2 when you pass through the waters I will be with you and through the rivers they will not overflow you when you walk through the fire you will not be scorched nor will the flame burn you for I am the Lord your God the Holy One of Israel your Saviour I've given cush is your ransom or Egypt as you ransom cush and Seba in your place cush was the son of ham Noah's three boys ham Shem and Japheth the Jews came from Shem ham was the father of cush cush was the father of Seba and they populated Egypt and Ethiopia in down south he says I've given cushion Seba in your place and then he says in verse five do not fear for I am with you do not fear for I am with you now verse two a favorite of many when you pass through the waters I will be with you and through the rivers they will not overflow you when you walk through the fire you're not be scorching with a flame burn you you think about that waters and rivers and fire and flame those are all disaster things those are bad things those are trials and problems and tremendous difficulties and he says win not if he doesn't say if you ever pass through the water so I'll be with you noises when you pass through the waters I'll be with you when you're in the fire I will be with you every one of us will face the difficulties of life there's just no getting around the difficulties of life there's no getting around the water so there's no getting around the rivers there's no getting around the fire there's no getting around the flame you're gonna face that and when you pass through the waters the word waters is a Hebrew word maíam now it can be used to describe floods flood waters and that's what we think of when we pass through the waters there flood waters and many of us have probably had the experience of being in a flash flood living in Houston we would experience flash floods flash floods just come upon you like that that's why you see sometimes on the news people get stranded on the freeway and low spots on the freeway and they can't go and that water just comes in and overruns the storm drain and it just floods the area and floods their cars they're caught up in that I've been caught in those things and it's scary and storm waters are frightening situations but you know another word for maíam interesting word it's it's a word that means waste water not just storm waters but waste water you say what do you mean by waste water well like when you drink too much coffee and you gotta go get rid of it that kind of water and if you look up in the Hebrew lexicon you'll find that that is one of the definitions for this word my am not to be grosser graphic but it's a euphemism in the Hebrew language for urine and I thought about that and I thought you know that really kind of describes life doesn't it I mean in in life you face some waters that are difficult and scary and come up out of nowhere and life can change on a dime but then you also face some difficulties that are just this is I just don't like this Lord this is just awful Lord and it's scary but it just hurts and I I don't want to go through this maybe you have seen the movie The Shawshank Redemption in the movie The Shawshank Redemption the main character Andy Dufresne he was framed for a crime he didn't commit and he ends up escaping from prison and do you remember how he did it he went through a sewer pipe and it was a stormy night he got out of his cell II dug out of his cell and he goes and he he's in the back bowels of the prison and then he is banging on this old sewer pipe as the storm was outside and the thunder and lightning and he would bang on there with a rock and finally the pipe burst and he climbed in a sewer pipe and he in the story had to crawl five hundred yards in the sewer pipe to get to freedom and I thought about that and I thought you know that describes what lots of people go through they go through the pain of loss and they go through and the Lord says hey we got to go through this situation we got to go through this water and you're like I don't want to go through that water Lord but that's part of life and everyone has to face some of that I like what it says in psalm 66 verse 12 we went through fire and through water we went through fire when we went through maíam same Hebrew word yet you brought us out into a place of abundance hey you're gonna face difficulties in life I'm gonna face difficulties in life that's part of the deals a deal and there are scary things and our fiery things and there are foul things that come to your life and to mine but the Lord says do not fear for I am with you God will never desert you in your difficulties he's never going to desert you in your storm in your water in your fire in your sewer pipe he's never going to leave you because he's promised I will never leave you nor will I ever desert you nor will I ever forsake you many of us know that verse Hebrews 13:5 we know it in maybe the King James Version or maybe the new American Standard Version but my favorite version for Hebrews 13:5 I will never leave you nor forsake you is in the amplified version because the amplified brings out the richness of the Greek text for he has said I will never under any circumstances desert you nor give you up nor leave you without support nor will I in any degree leave you helpless nor will I forsake you or let you down or relax my hold on you assuredly not that's what God has said so maybe you're here today and you're going through a flood maybe you're going through the fire maybe you're going through the junk of life that you don't like it all and it's awful for you and the Lord says I'm gonna be with you every step of the way and when you pass through the waters you don't need to fear for I am with you and did you notice that it said when you pass through the waters I'll be when you pass through the rivers they will not over follow you when you walk through the fire you will not be scorched through through through listen the Lord difficulties come to every life and the Lord says I'm gonna be with you through those differ in those difficulties and we are going through them together I'm not gonna let you face this alone but I didn't bring you through into this difficulty to have you out here we're going through it that's why it says in Psalm 23 verse 4 even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil because you are with me God brings us through he takes us by the hand and says alright we're going to going to go through this together and I'm never going to leave you or forsake you listen it's important when you go through the storms when you go through the fire it's important to keep moving to keep moving to not get stuck there to not get stuck in grief to get stuck in loss to get stuck in reversal and then you just I can't move from here you got to keep moving forward now when I think of when you pass through the waters I'll be with you and through the rivers they will not overflow you when you walk through the fire you will not be scorched nor will the flame burn you you know Isaiah lived and wrote about 80 or so years before Babylon came and took captives you know Nebuchadnezzar who was king of Babylon he came into Jerusalem in 605 BC and he took back captives he slapped Jerusalem around defeated them and put them under his thumb and says hey I'm the boss around here and he took back captives he took back three or four that we know of Daniel and his three friends Hananiah Mishael and Azariah we don't know him that way we know him this way Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and we read about Daniel chapter 3 when Nebuchadnezzar has this big gathering and wants everybody to bow down to his golden statue that he made and he said if you don't bow down I'm gonna throw you in the furnace and fire I'm gonna throw you in the fiery furnace and what God is there who can deliver you from my hand and Shadrach Meshach in a minute minute ago they wouldn't bow down and so Nebuchadnezzar got mad he threw them into the fire tied him up threw them into the fire and then he looks in the fire and he says did we not throw three men into the fire and all his little sycophants said certainly Oh King and he said but I see four men loose and walking about and one is like the Son of God who is in the fiery furnace Jesus Christ was in the fiery furnace he'll be in your fiery furnace he'll never leave you who never forsake you no matter what's going on no matter what you're going through no matter the waters or the floods the rivers the sewer pipes of like he's gonna be with you and he says don't be afraid and we're going through it together do not fear for I have redeemed you do not fear for I am with you and thirdly the Lord says do not fear for I love you I love you look at verse 4 since you're precious in my sight since you're honored and I love you I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life since you're honored since you're precious the word precious means highly valued costly prized the word honored is an interesting Hebrew word the Hebrew word kavadi Avadh kab ad but it's pronounced the Bea's pronounced like a V cavada that means to be heavy to be weighty that word is used of God to express his glory Lord show me your Colada Moses prayed you wait the splendor of who you are Lord don't just put a toe on the scale put yourself on the scale let me experience the weight of who you are and God uses that same word about his people you're precious in my sight you are honored you have weight with me and carry weight with me you're a heavy hitter in my book and I love you that's amazing that God says that I mean he's speaking to disobedient people here these are people for the first thirty nine chapters he says judgments coming judgments coming judgments coming but he also said to them come now and let us reason together though your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool come to me if you consent and obey you'll eat the finest of the land but if you refuse in Rebell you'll be devoured by the sword truly the mouth of the Lord has spoken Isaiah 1:18 and 19 so even in judgment God was giving an invitation to come to me and then he shifts gears and he says listen you got to remember something you don't need to be afraid because I love you you're precious to me and you're honored in my sight listen you may not feel this way but this is true and truth is not what you think or what you feel truth is what God says and faith is believing what God says how do you defeat fear you defeat fear with faith and how do you get faith faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God and believing God and that's how you defeat the fear well this is what God says you are valuable and precious to me you may not feel like that but that's true you're valuable and precious to God you carry weight with God first Peter 5:7 says that we're to cast all our anxiety upon him why because he cares for us literally because it matters to him concerning you can you imagine that think about that you matter to God you're talking about the king of kings and Lord of lords you matter to God and he thinks about you all the time he's got your picture on his refrigerator I mean God just he just loves he's got your picture in his wallet and then we get that from Jobe the Lord says to Satan have you considered my servant job Wow job is such a special guy just love Joe you know I think that the Lord is like that in heaven he's got your picture in his wallet and you know God still he's not using the iPad yet and he's got it your picture and his wallet and he's all the time looking for an opportunity to get one of the engine ain't come over it Gabriel Michael come over here have I shown you a picture of my son Larry Sims I just love him so much what's that Gabriel no that's not a bad picture that's what he looks like and he just God just like he loves his kids don't you love your kids you're precious to him you're valuable to him you matter to him and when you're hurting he cares and here's the thing you're not valuable or God doesn't love you because you're valuable you're valuable because God loves you and God has chosen to love you you know it says in Deuteronomy why did God choose the Jews he said I didn't choose you because you were more numerous than any other nations it's because I chose to love you that's why it's just God's choice he chose to love you he chose to love us when Debbie and I first got married she made a cross-stitch we had it on our wall choose your love love your choice well God has chosen his love you me and he loves this choice and even when you and I mess up royally and we do terrible things and we act like the prodigal son and we leave the love of the Father and we go off on our own to find happiness and thrills and end up I always end up in the same spot you end up in the pigsty God still loves you even at the pigsty and you're still valuable to him even at the pigsty you are valuable and precious to God and you will always be valuable and precious to God no matter what the Lord says do not fear why God for I've redeemed you do not fear why God because I'm with you do not fear because I love you that is God's Word to you and to me and here's the question what's your response to him some of you may never put your faith and trust in him you you're still in Egypt so to speak because you've never cried out to him you've never taken the blood of the lamb and applied it to your sins sick life you need to do that today and if you will do that today and confess your sins to him he'll deliver you he'll come into your life he'll deliver you and you will become his he will never leave you never forsake you write your name in the Lamb's Book of Life and he will love you and change you and make you the person he wants you to be we've been talking about fear today you know a lot of people have a fear of dying because they're not sure where they're going when they die are you sure do you know for certain that you've turned from your sin turn to the Savior and given your life to Christ hey do you really know him or do you just know about him is he all just in your head listen it's not an accident that you're watching today the Lord is calling those who are far from him to come home and if that's you and if you want Jesus to be real in your life pray this prayer with me or Jesus I need you I know that I'm a sinner and I'm lost and I can't save myself but Jesus I believe your God in the flesh I believe that you died on the cross and rose again from the dead for my sins and right now Jesus I ask you to forgive me I open my heart to you I ask you to come and live inside of me be my Lord and be my Savior I surrender my all to you my friend if you'll pray that kind of prayer and mean it the Lord will come in and your life will never be the same I would love to hear from you to know that you're watching to know that God is using this broadcast to make a difference in your life to know that you just prayed that prayer to receive Christ as Savior and Lord please take the time to call that toll-free number write me email me let me know what's going on and how we can pray for you you really are important to God and you're important to us and we're here for you from his heart is the viewer supported broadcast ministry of dr. Jeff Shrieve who believes that no matter how badly you may have messed up in life God still loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life find out more about that just go to from his heart dot o-r-g [Music]

Channel: From His Heart Ministries

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Id: Xf4o_t9VNY0

Length: 39min 29sec (2369 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 29 2017