I want to start this blog off by saying that I by no means think that the 3 things I am about to write about are the only 3 things that can block a person's faith. However, these are the 3 things that I felt God put on my heart today that someone needed to hear about. And it is always my prayer the He gives me something, and I write about it. So before I even begin, let me ask you this question. Have you ever felt like your faith goes so far and then it just seems to either stop or just feels like it gets weak? Why is that?
One of the 3 things that can block your faith is unforgiveness in your heart. How God feels about unforgiveness can be found in several verses in the bible....Mark 11:25-26, Ephesians 4:26-27, Matthew 6:14-15 and Ephesians 4:32 are just a few. However, the verses I want to really focus on are Mark 11:25-26, where we are clearly instructed that if we go to God with unforgiveness in our heart then we are to stop right there and forgive that person before we approach God any further. Now this does not mean we can't pray to God if we are struggling with forgiveness with someone. Actually, I would highly suggest taking that to God and asking for His help. But what it does mean is that until you have this cleared up in your own heart, the Lord can see it's there and He is going to continue to work on it with you until you have forgiven. One reason I believe God wants us to clear unforgiveness up is also so the enemy cannot use it against us. God is wise, and He knows that when we need to ask for forgiveness for something we have done, then the first thing the enemy is going to do to us is say "how can you dare ask for forgivenss when you haven't forgiven that person". Do not give the enemy that kind of power over you. Give it to God, choose to forgive and leave it with Him. Do not worry about justice, things being fair or who is right or wrong. Just let God know you forgive them and you trust Him with the situation. And then let go of it.....
The 2nd thing that will block your faith is the need to control. God knows that as long as you have the need to be in control you will never allow Him to be fully in control. And the need to be in control is really just a lack of trust in God's control. Proverbs 3:5 tells us "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding." When we have the need to be in control it is because we are looking at only the things we can see and we are basing all of our decisions, all of our choices, off of those things. We cannot see all that God can see, so we are not having faith that His ways are wiser and better than our ways. We are placing all trust in the circumstances around us and reacting based on those things. Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord....". It does not say "you know the plans I have for you". God says, forget the situation you see, forget the circumstances around you, I see so much more than you and you just have to trust me. You just have to have faith that I've got this....
The 3rd thing that God pressed on my heart that will block someone's faith is fear. And fear will come after you every single time you are supposed to act in faith. Fear says "don't go into the unknown, it's not safe there". Faith says step out and see that you have nothing to fear. They go directly against each other and every single time you will give into one. But you can beat fear. And I don't mean you can beat it once...I mean you can beat it forever! Psalms 56:3-4 says "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?" This kind of peace only comes from one place....faith in your salvation through Jesus Christ. Faith in your salvation says "what can this world do to me?'. Like Paul said in Philippians 1:21 "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." This means, if I live then everything I am, everything I do, will be for the glory of Christ...and if I die, then I will be with Him. So it's a win win situation. There is no fear in that statement. It is a statement of pure faith! But it goes even further than that. Because God wants us to trust Him because we KNOW that He loves us and wants only the best for us. 1 John 4:18 states "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear...", which is saying "trust God's love". Put your faith in the fact that in His love there is nothing to fear...
We may not alway understand God's ways. And so many times I am so glad for that. I don't want to serve a God I can "figure out". I want to serve a God who is so much bigger than that. And I do. Many times, "in the moment", I had no idea where God was going to take me in a situation. Some of that was because I stepped in too much on my own, and now He had a lot of "my doing" to "undo". And faithfully He always has and always will when I release it to Him in FAITH!
God, You amaze me! Your so faithful and worthy of our praise. Thank You that today You want us to know that our faith in You can help us overcome anything in our lives. Please God help us get past the unforgivenss in our hearts, the fear the enemy wants to put inside us and the need to be in control, so that we can SEE what You can do when we fully release things over to you and trust you. I love you, I praise you and I honor you today! In Jesus name, Amen
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