“The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.'”
Romans 8:15
One of the greatest obstacles to our spiritual development as Christians is fear. It is like a giant who gets in our way, blocks our path and stops us from pursuing our God-given purpose. The spirit of fear will try to put all kinds of negative thoughts into your heart in order to weaken the spirit of conquest that is in you. Fear will try to discourage you in every way possible so that you will not develop in the important areas in your life. Fear is one of the greatest enemies that we encounter in our journey on this Earth.
Fear makes us see difficult circumstances with natural eyes and not with God’s eyes. Ten of the twelve men who went to go out and spy the land of Canaan had not developed their spiritual eyesight. For this reason they saw everything through the limitations of their physical eyes. The walls looked bigger to them than they really were, and they saw the people that lived there as impossible giants to defeat. They felt so insignificant that they saw themselves as grasshoppers next to the inhabitants of the Promised Land. This caused them to drop their guard and give up the fight (Numbers 13:28-33).
Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who did not think like the others because they had a strong anointing and grace on their lives. They were zealous for God and stood against the tide of discouragement that was flowing out of the mouths of their comrades. They kept trying to remind them that God was with them and that by His great power, they could overcome the enemy, However, when it came to persuading the people of this truth they weren’t able to because the of flood of negative words that had been spoken by the other ten men. Their words were like fountains of fear gushing over everybody and destroying their hope. This closed off that generation’s opportunity to enter into the Promised Land.
Solomon said, “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe” (Proverbs 29:25). Joshua and Caleb were free from fear and did not even allow the smallest possibility for such thoughts to enter their minds. They knew that fear was contrary to faith. Also, as servants of God, they could not permit any one of those thoughts to settle in their minds, even for a moment. These two men were of a different spirit, and were forever honored by God in His Word. They were also given the privilege to be the only ones from their generation to enter the Promised Land while the rest of the people who were negative, cowardly, and fearful perished in the desert.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
“When I got married at the age of thirty-three, I really wanted to have a child. I got pregnant a year later, but suffered a miscarriage after just a month. This was very traumatic for me. Two years later, I got pregnant again, but after a month and a half I had another miscarriage. It was as if I had a curse on my life. Then I remembered that the same thing had happened to my mother. In November of 2004, while seeking God in prayer, He spoke to my heart and said, “About this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms” (2 Kings 4:16). I firmly believed this promise was for me, and I got pregnant again in February of 2005. Even though there was the threat of miscarriage, the pregnancy continued. The following months were my time to wrestle in the spiritual realm. Although God had already given me the seed that was in my womb, I had to be in prayer day and night for several months. Although I anointed myself, interceded and spoke out the promise He had given me, I still felt fear because later that year my daughter Sofia was in my arms.” (Marta Mora)
TODAY’S DECLARATION
“Since I found grace in the eyes of the Lord, He is at my side to deliver me from all fear.”
Today’s post is an excerpt from Pastor Cesar Castellanos’ book, Declarations of Power for 365 Days of the Year: Volume One.
TODAY’S BIBLE READING
Our Bible Reading Plan gives 25 daily readings per month. There is no scheduled reading for today. You can use this time to catch up on any readings you may have missed, or read through previous passages again.
