Like everyone else, I am living within this new temporary reality of social distancing. Like everyone else, I am hoping for a quick resolution to the coronavirus and restoration of normal social non-distancing.

Like everyone else, I have also watched as first toilet paper and face masks and then food items were quickly bought out by those who were operating in fear of the unknown. The unknown can be frightening.

But as believers in Yeshua (Jesus), we don’t operate in the unknown. We operate within the known. We have promises made to us by the unchanging G-D who cannot lie. We should be walking in faith, not in doubt.

If the Bible contains answers for every situation, and I believe it does, then what does the Bible teach us about faith during a quarantine? Please consider the following and take this to heart as we travel the next few weeks, months or years of our coronavirus experience together.

First, I want to remind you that Psalms 37:25 (TLV) says, “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous one forsaken, nor his children begging for bread.”

The psalmist wrote then, and I am reminding you today: G-D always provides for His people. Don’t fear and hoard. Believe and bless. G-D is always faithful.

As I said above, the Bible does have an answer to every situation. When it comes to quarantines, food shortages and how we should respond, the Bible actually provides direct instructions for us.

Let’s learn this lesson from a group of quarantined men in the Bible. In 2 Kings 7, we find four lepers who have been quarantined; they believe they are going to die, so they enter the camp of their enemy. They, like so many of us today, initially responded in fear to their situation. But let’s read on about what takes place.

“When these men with tza’arat came to the edge of the camp, they entered into one tent, ate and drank, and took from there silver, gold, and clothes, then went and hid them. Then they returned and went into another tent, and took from there too, and went and hid them. Then they said to each other, ‘It’s not right, what we’re doing. This day is a day of good news, and we’re keeping silent! If we wait till the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go now and report to the king’s household'” (2 Kings 7:8-9).

When these quarantined men found an abundance of food, at first they ate and drank and were going to hoard the food for themselves. But then, they said to each other, “This day is a day of good news, and we’re keeping silent!”
Once again, please take this message to heart. Today is a day of Good News. We know the Good News of Messiah Yeshua. Are we keeping silent? Or will we decide as these four quarantined men did?

We should not hoard food and other items out of fear, but rather, share our blessings with others. Will we shout out with words and actions, “This is a day of Good News,” or will we be silent? {eoa}

Eric Tokajer is author of With Me in Paradise, Transient Singularity, OY! How Did I Get Here?: Thirty-One Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before Entering Ministry, #ManWisdom: With Eric Tokajer, Jesus Is to Christianity as Pasta Is to Italians and Galatians in Context.

As a Jewish young man in 1978, Kirt Schneider felt isolated, unfulfilled and lost. Of course, he had no concept of who Jesus was at the time.

Then one night, suddenly, he was awakened from his sleep with a vision of Jesus on the cross. It was at that moment he realized Jesus was the answer he had been searching for. Since then, God has used prophetic dreams mightily in Schneider’s ministry.

As a Messianic rabbi, Schneider has committed his life to a passionate pursuit of Jesus and being used by God for His purpose as an evangelist.

“I can say to you, with total 100% conviction, that dreams have been such an important part of my walk with God,” Schneider told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “I say to you that to disregard your dreams is to disregard God. I can’t say it strongly enough.

“God’s voice is an expression of who He is. And so, if we don’t pay attention to His voice … when we do a survey in Scripture, beginning with Genesis all the way through the Bible, we find that one of the most predominant ways that the Lord has spoken to His people, from the very beginning, is through their dreams.

“I don’t know how often the Lord is going to speak to you through your dreams … maybe even once a year. It could be once a week or once a month. But it will happen, so don’t give up. Just show God that you’re serious about hearing from Him, that you’re going to take this seriously. When you get up, write it down. If you do, I believe that He’s going to open up people’s ears to hear, and He will guide them to their calling.”

For more about Rabbi Kirt Schneider and prophetic dreams, listen to the entire podcast.

For the true Christian, death is not the end to life but the transition to the next!

We are eternal beings. The Scriptures not only teach the immortality of the soul but also of the body—in a resurrected, glorified form.

It is this unique doctrine of the Resurrection that Christians reaffirm every Easter and that I would like to pursue with you in a series of teachings from 1 Corinthians 15. There may be some other emphases as we endure the pandemic-pandemonium around us. But, by and large, I plan to remind us of some Resurrection realities as taught by the apostle Paul.

You might like to read ahead, in this basic outline of thought. Maybe use a modern translation or paraphrase to shake loose from years of Sunday school lessons or pastoral preaching on this familiar theme.

—The Importance of the Resurrection (15:1-11).

—The Necessity of the Resurrection (15:12-19).

—The Assurance of the Resurrection (15:20-28).

—The Nature of the Resurrected Body (15:35-58).

Resurrection Reality No. 1: The Importance of the Resurrection

As I’ve said, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the cornerstone of Christianity. The Christian faith is not based primarily on the teachings of Jesus, the life of Jesus, the miracles of Jesus, the promises of Jesus or even the death of Jesus.

The Christian faith is based on all of these, culminating in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Paul taught that our belief in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is essential to salvation. He told the Romans, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9).

Further evidence of the importance of the resurrection of Christ is that it is mentioned more than 100 times in the New Testament. It is the most profound and prominent point in the apostolic preaching in the primitive church (see Acts 2:22-24, 32; 3:14-15; 4:8-12; 5;27-32; 10:34-43; 13:26-39).

The Gospel in a Nutshell

At first, the Resurrection was the focal point in the verbal proclamation of the gospel—for a quarter-century. As the Jewish Messianic congregations grew in size and number and the Gentiles were evangelized in their cultural settings, the apostles preached these prominent truths as the gospel, or Good News of Jesus, the anointed one from Nazareth, in Galilee.

Paul reminded the Corinthians in writing of his teaching about the importance of the resurrection of Jesus.

“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: how Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4).

Paul said that these fundamental truths about our Lord’s death, burial and Resurrection are the very grounds of their (and our) salvation. They are the essence of the Good News of Jesus Christ—the gospel in a nutshell. Furthermore, “you are saved if you hold fast that word which I preached to you” (1 Cor. 15:2b, NKJV).

The gospel is about more than the forgiveness of sins, which is affirmed by the Resurrection of our Lord and evidenced by a transformed lifestyle of godly obedience (Rom. 12:1-2). Ultimately, the gospel includes the subsequent renewal of all creation, in the world to come, in God’s eternal kingdom!

The doctrine of the Resurrection of the body was contrary to the teachings of the pagan intellectuals of Corinth (and this 21st-century thereafter). Their Greek mindset allowed for an afterlife for the spirit of man, but not for the body. For them, the body was corrupt and subject to disease and decay, and we had no further use for it after we die. They scoffed at the thought of living forever in a resurrected, glorified body.

The Proof of the Resurrection

After stressing the prominence of the Resurrection in the Christian’s belief system, Paul underscored the proof of the Resurrection: eyewitnesses! For over 40 days after His resurrection, Jesus revealed himself to Cephas (Peter), then the 12 and over 500 believing brethren at once.

He was also seen by his half-brother James and the other apostles (1 Cor. 15:5-7). For some reason, Paul did not mention the very first eyewitness, Mary Magdalene, in the garden at the empty tomb (John 20:11-18).

Those post-Resurrection appearances all occurred before our Lord’s ascension to heaven (see Acts 1:9-11). There was one important appearance that occurred afterward—that was to Saul of Tarsus, later named Paul (see Acts 9 and 1 Cor. 15:8-10).

Paul told the Corinthians that he was “born out of due time” (v. 8b), which is an expression meaning he was born as an aborted fetus, incapable of sustaining life. Such a humble view of oneself gives a genuine appreciation of God’s grace (v. 10) and an honest appreciation for all who preach the gospel and see souls saved (v. 11).

Private Reflections From Resurrection Realities

I will close this first Lenten lesson from 1 Corinthians 15 by asking you a few questions, drawn from these last verses of the apostle’s private reflection:

—How do you feel about your “past”—before you became a believer?

—Is it possible you may currently see some subtle pride in your life?

—If so, is it growing or diminishing? Read James 4:7-10.

—Do you daily acknowledge God’s grace (unmerited favor) in your life?

—Can you name three things for which you are thankful this Lenten season?

—How can you improve in showing honest appreciation for the work or ministry of others?

These are important reflections on the importance of our Lord’s Resurrection! See you next time, to review together 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 and the necessity of the Resurrection.

Ordained to the ministry in 1969, Gary Curtis is a graduate of LIFE Bible College at Los Angeles (soon to become Life Pacific University at San Dimas, California). He has taken graduate courses at Trinity College in Deerfield, Illinois, and Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California. Gary served as part of the pastoral staff of The Church on The Way, the First Foursquare Church of Van Nuys, California, for 27 years (1988-2015); and served for the last 13 years as the vice president of Life on The Way Communications Inc., the church’s not-for-profit media outreach. Now retired, Gary and his wife have been married for 50 years and live in Southern California. They have two married daughters and five grandchildren.

Schools are closing. The stock market is crashing. Economies are staggering. Hospitals are preparing. People are panicking. Stores are emptying.

The coronavirus pandemic, or COVID-19, is taking a global toll. For many, it looks dire.

However, the Bible is full of examples of God’s miraculous deliverance during hopeless situations. At this moment, the world needs a confident church amid uncertainty. Through yielded vessels, God’s authority and peace will prevail to bring hope and change to a stunned world.

I’m grateful that President Donald Trump called for a National Day of Prayer on March 15. Prayer is not an addendum to our faith; prayer breathes from communion with God and moves mountains. In times of crisis, the Bible and history record the result of united prayer against common enemies.

Impossibility Creates an Atmosphere for a Miracle

Do you believe in miracles? I do. God is a God of miracles—the same today, yesterday and forever. I love to read Bible accounts and church history where God makes a miraculous intervention for His people. To me, it’s the Lord’s invitation to believe He will do it again!

I’d look to look at a wonderful story of miracle deliverance from a common enemy in 2 Chronicles 20 with you today (I encourage you to read this entire story in 2 Chr. 20:1-30).

“After that, the Moabites and the Ammonites, together with some Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. And some came and declared this to Jehoshaphat, ‘A large multitude is coming against you from across the Dead Sea from Edom; and observe, they are in Hazezon Tamar’ (that is, En Gedi)” (2 Chr. 20:1-2).

King Jehoshaphat was in power. If you’ll remember, King Jehoshaphat came to reign at a young age; he was a righteous king who revered the Lord. During his time in power, you can read back in Chapter 18, he removed the high places and groves (that were in God’s land), which were used for idol worship. He sent his army into these places and tore them down.

This is a wise thing to seek to do in our lives; we should aim to tear down the old areas of our lives that were not dedicated to the Lord. However, Jehoshaphat didn’t stop there. Having torn down the high places, he sent teachers and brought in the principles of the Word of God.

You see, it’s not enough to simply remove the negative in our lives—we must rebuild on the Word. We must refill that empty place with God and His Spirit.

A Common Enemy

What happened to King Jehoshaphat after he removed the enemy territory and rededicated it to the Lord? The enemy surrounded him, ready to attack the nation. Historians have said they were outnumbered 60 to 1. It was an impossible situation.

See what happens in verses 3-4:

“Then Jehoshaphat was fearful and set himself to seek the Lord, and he called for a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah was assembled to seek the Lord; even from all the cities of Judah, they came to obtain aid from the Lord.”

Notice Jehoshaphat’s initial reaction: he feared! It’s easy to become fearful when dire events loom. The coronavirus is real; there is nothing fake about it. The science reveals it spreads twice as fast as the flu and has a much higher mortality rate. However, faith doesn’t deny the facts of a situation, but trusts God for help and deliverance—in this case from a pestilence called coronavirus.

The psalmist wrote:

“You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that strikes at you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling, there shall be no evil befall you, neither shall any plague come near your tent” (Ps. 91:-6, 9-10).

The prophet told Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah:

“And he said, ‘Pay attention all Judah, and those dwelling in Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not fear, nor be dismayed because of this great army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s”” (2 Chr. 20:15).

Did you catch that? Do not be afraid! Why? The battle is God’s!

We believe in science and our medical community. We don’t disregard their models and pandemic practice. We support their efforts. We pray for leaders and the medical community to have divine wisdom and protection. But as a faith community, we also know God still answers prayer, stops pandemics and changes dire situations quickly. It’s who He is!

Jehoshaphat turned his fear into action: he sought the Lord with prayer and fasting in the land.

Jehoshaphat prayed in verses 5-12:

And Jehoshaphat stood in the midst of the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new courtyard, and he said:

“O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in the heavens? And do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? In Your hand are strength and might, and there is no one who can oppose You. Did You not, our God, drive out those who lived in this land before Your people Israel, and You gave it perpetually to the descendants of Abraham, who was in covenant love with You. And they have dwelled in it and have built in it for You a sanctuary for Your name saying, ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, or judgment, or pestilence, or famine, then we will stand before this temple and before You because Your name is in this temple. And we will cry out to You in our distress, and You will hear and deliver.’

“Now here are the sons of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom You did not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, when they turned away from them and did not destroy them. See how they are rewarding us by coming to drive us out of Your possession, which You have given us to inherit. O our God, will You not render judgment on them? For we have not strength enough to stand before this great army that is coming against us. And we do not know what we should do, but our eyes are on You” (2 Chr. 20:5-12).

Out of this prayer, three prayer principles emerge.

1. We pray because of who God is: First, we pray on the basis of who God is. Jehoshaphat begins his prayer not with the need, but with God Himself—God’s character. If you begin with your need, your focus is wrong.

Prayer isn’t reminding God how serious the situation is. Can you see God wringing His hands?! We must cultivate a relationship with God to really know who He is, what He is like, what His character demonstrates.

Jehoshaphat turns his back on the armies of the enemy. He fills his heart and mind with the greatness of God. God is big enough to orchestrate all of the pieces in our lives. Whatever the situation may be, God can bring the right people, the right provision into place and so on.. It’s who He is.

2. We pray because of what God has done. Jehoshaphat is standing in the land that God has promised them. “You drove out the inhabitants … We were an unorganized people, but God you did it supernaturally … if we are going to stay here, it will be supernatural!”

He’s essentially saying, “God, You did something supernatural back then, and we put our eyes on You. We put our feet down and say, ‘The very God who helped us across the Red Sea and across the Jordan is going to move now and keep this in our hands!'”

Can you remember a time when God helped you? Do you have any covenant history with God? Pray based on what He has done for you and others in the past. It’s an invitation to the miraculous!

3. We pray because of what God has said. King Jehoshaphat prays on the basis of who God is, what God has done and finally on the basis of what God has said.

It’s a good thing he knew what God had said. If he hadn’t known what God had spoken, and prayed, holding that word up to God and against the enemy, the enemy would have taken their inheritance.

What does this look like? “God, you said, ‘by His stripes we are healed.’ God, you said, ‘Seek Me first and all these things will be given to you.'”

God loves it when you and I stand on His Word.

You see, many believers get a victory based on the sovereignty of God, but if they don’t know what is in their covenant contract with God, the enemy will come and take it away from them, whether it is healing, financial breakthrough, their God-given destiny and more.

Someone might say, “Well, I guess it wasn’t God’s will, or I guess it was just my imagination.” No! Do you know what He has promised you? If you don’t know what God has promised you, that which is in His covenant policy, you’ll make no claim on it.

Jehoshaphat knew that the enemy had no right. “Right here, Lord, it says in your covenant this land is ours forever!” Therefore, enemy, you can try and send 60 to 1, but God said! I put my feet down on the solid rock of the Word.

Hide His Word in your heart, make your claim and stand on it!

Final Thoughts

How do you pray when all hell has broken loose? You go to God alone.

If our eyes are on the great multitude coming against us, we become discouraged. But when they are on God, on His throne, all things become possible. Our world needs the church to stand in the gap and pray. This is not a time to panic like many in the world, but rather to keep our eyes on Him and trust Him amid this storm. We will get through this—nothing is impossible for God!

Are your eyes on Him? Are you trusting in who He is, what He has done and what He has promised?

Make a demand today based on who God is, what He has done and what He has said. God is for us!

Bob Sawvelle is the founding and senior leader of Passion Church in Tucson, Arizona. Passion Church is a vibrant, kingdom-minded church in the heart of Tucson that values God’s love and presence. He is a doctor of ministry doctoral mentor for the Randy Clark Scholars cohort at United Theological Seminary (UTS), an adjunct professor teaching master’s-level classes in evangelism, discipleship and church planting with the Global Awakening Theological Seminary (GATS) and an online course facilitator for Global Awakening’s Christian Healing Certification Program (CHCP) and Christian Prophetic Certification Program (CPCP).

Having lived under a former communist regime in Romania, Dr. Rodica Malos is quite familiar with the concepts of fear, depression and anxiety. It was a way of life for many years for her.

But Jesus and the Bible were also a way of life for her. When she and her husband escaped to the United States during the Romanian Revolution in the early 1990s, she found freedom and the peace of God she had longed for. She also discovered that anxiety and fear could be conquered supernaturally.

“During my formal medical education, I took some specific classes for health promotion and disease prevention, so I already had that in my brain. Back in the communist country, I had to fight all the time against depression, fear and anxiety,” Malos told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “I had to memorize verses all the time and they were consolidated in my brain cortex and my memory storage.

“So, verses in the Bible came back in my conscious mind and they were like supernatural solutions—like prescriptions. So, deep in my heart, I said we have prescriptions written 3,400 years ago. So, I saw that there was a powerful correlation between God’s promises and the modern scientific brain research related to stress management from excessive fear and anxiety.

“One verse that was so specific and came to my mind was the verse that said banish emotional stress from your mind and put away pain from your body. Like now, we’re talking about the coronavirus and people are panicking, they are afraid. Their stress level is going up so much and causes mental problems, emotional problems and physical problems. So, what do we do?

“We must pray all the time and trust God. We need to recite verses from the Bible that God will never leave us or forsake us. God will not leave us lonely and we must trust Him and have faith in Him that He will make all things possible for us. God opened doors for me, and we must all have faith, patience and perseverance that He will do the same for you.”

For more about supernatural solutions to fear and stress, listen to the entire podcast.

Curt Landry is well aware of the havoc the coronavirus COVID-19 has caused worldwide. But, Landry says, God will bring hope to the world soon, and Landry says to expect miracles during the week of Passover in April.

The founder of Curt Landry Ministries, who travels the world extensively to teach about the Jewish roots of the Christian faith, says God has heard the prayers of His people concerning the coronavirus and will respond.

“Right now, the enemy is ratcheting up,” Landry told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “They’ve closed restaurants and bars and even cities. Everything is closing down.

“April 8 is when the blood of the Lamb overtakes the curse of death. I believe on April 8, starting the week of Passover all the way through Easter on April 12, you’re going to see miraculous healing and miraculous deliverance in Israel and the United States of America in regards to a turnaround with this virus.

“I believe what you’re going to see … [I’m] not saying right on the 8th, but in that week—[is] a solemn, sanctified, sovereign turnaround of the Lord’s hand. He’s going to show the world and believers that, guess what, it isn’t time. This isn’t the apocalyptic end. This is a wake-up call. And I know this is a dangerous virus … but we’re going to find out that with the prayers of the saints, and the alignment of the nations with Israel and with God, this virus is going to have to bend its knee to the blood of Jesus.”

For more of Curt Landry’s thoughts on miracles happening at Passover, listen to the entire podcast.

I, like most of you, have been listening to and reading articles and blogs comparing our current worldwide situation with the plagues and disasters we read about in the Bible. I know that, for many people, there is a great deal of uncertainty in the air and uncertainty can lead us, if we are not careful, into the realm of fear.

So, this week in my blog, I want to direct our attention to the end of the story, so to speak. In a few weeks, the Jewish people and a growing number of Christians all around the world will be celebrating Passover. As most of you know, Passover is the commemoration of the Exodus of Israel from Egypt.

The way Passover is celebrated is by families gathering around their table having a meal called a seder meal. The word Seder is a Hebrew word that means “order.” The meal is called a seder because the meal’s order is designed to tell the entire Passover story. Each element of the meal leads the family through the Scriptures from Israel’s entrance into Egypt through their miraculous deliverance.

As believers in Yeshua (Jesus), these elements not only tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt, but they also tell the story of Yeshua’s life, death, burial and Resurrection in a powerfully unique way. In future blogs, I will dig into some of these elements because I know they will bless each of you and deepen your understanding of the prophetic power of G-D’s Word.

However, for today, I want to focus only on the wine of the seder. During the Passover meal, the family will drink four cups of wine. Each cup has meaning and represents a promise G-D gave to Israel.

The first cup is the cup of sanctification, which represents the first promise: “I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”

The second cup is the cup of judgment, which tells us of the second promise: “I will rid you of their bondage.”

The third cup is the cup of redemption, which shares the third promise: “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.”

The final cup, the fourth cup, is the cup of praise, reminding us of the fourth promise that G-D would take us as His people and He would be our G-D.

I am sure that as you read these four promises, you could easily connect these promises that were fulfilled in the Exodus from Egypt with each promise being fulfilled in Yeshua, that is, until we get to the fourth cup: “I will take you …” The reason for that is that the fourth promise of “I will” has not yet been fulfilled in Yeshua, but it will be.

Let’s look at Matthew 26:29 and Luke 22:18:

“But I say to you, I will never drink of this fruit of the vine from now on, until that day when I drink it anew with you in My Father’s kingdom” (Matt. 26:29, TLV).

“For I tell you that I will never drink of the fruit of the vine from now on, until the kingdom of God comes” (Luke 22:18)

Yeshua spoke these words to His disciples at His Passover seder as they partook of the third cup, the cup of redemption. After drinking the cup of redemption, Yeshua says that He will not drink wine again until the day He drinks with us in His Father’s kingdom.

What an amazing prophetic promise that Yeshua shared with His disciples during that seder. His promise was not only for those sitting at the table with Him that evening. It still speaks to us today. Yeshua made sure that His disciples throughout history would know that He is coming back to “take us to where He has prepared” and “make us His people forever” and that He would always be our G-D.

In the book of Luke, right after Yeshua says He would not drink the wine again until He comes to take us to the place He has prepared, He tells us to continue having seders in remembrance of Him. This is why I believe it is so important for all believers to participate in Passover seders each and every year. It is because Yeshua specifically told us to do this in remembrance of Him. Why? So that each and every believer would be reminded, and look forward to a glass of wine.

So, let me encourage you in the next few weeks to find a Messianic Passover seder that you can participate in, or you can join me at mine with my family as I livestream it on my synagogue’s Facebook page. Just look for Brit Ahm Messianic Synagogue. {eoa}

Eric Tokajer is author of With Me in Paradise, Transient Singularity, OY! How Did I Get Here?: Thirty-One Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before Entering Ministry, #ManWisdom: With Eric Tokajer, Jesus Is to Christianity as Pasta Is to Italians and Galatians in Context.

The word “fear” appears no less than 400 times in the King James Version of the Bible. Therefore, I believe it is safe to assume that the Scriptures have something vital to say concerning this basic human emotion.

I strongly believe that we can easily discern what God’s will is concerning fear if we extract our information from His Word.

Fear is not a hidden subject in the Scriptures; God addresses it often, and the Holy Spirit gives us a healthy prescription for dealing with it. First of all, let’s define “fear,” and then we will deal with it according to the Word of God.

One definition of fear is “a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil or pain, whether the threat is real or imagined.”

When the soul is dealing with fear, it is in an intense state of stress, whether that fear is merely imagined or springs from a valid source. Fear rears its ugly head when a person believes something bad is about to happen, either to himself or herself, or to someone he or she loves.

When the snowflakes of fear begin to fall in a person’s soul, they obstruct an accurate view of what is ahead. Fear causes a blizzard-like whiteout in people’s grasp of reality, and those who are dealing with an agonizing stress of fear may lose their way on the road toward the truth.

Whenever you deal with the emotion of fear—whenever you are afraid of having cancer, of your children leaving home, of the stability of the economy, of the political climate, of some type of disaster occurring or of a thousand other alarming possibilities in life—you must instantly go to the Word of God.

Immediately default to the truth and the promises found in the Scriptures. Do not allow fear to have the last word in your life; let the Word have the last word! You need to remind yourself of who God is and what He has promised to those who love Him.

The Bible is filled with the promises of God’s divine intervention. You must discover what the Bible has to say about fear and what the Holy Spirit’s opinion is concerning this ferocious emotion.

“God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7, NKJV).

As you are dealing with the stress of human fear, remind yourself that fear is a soul-induced reaction and not a Spirit-led response. Fear does not come from the Father, and therefore, it cannot reside in our spirits. The fear that haunts you day and night, robs you of your joy and leaves you sick to your stomach is not from God. And, if it is not from Him, guess who planted it in your mind? There is only one option regarding its source—it comes from old Mr. Deceiver himself. The return address on the envelope of fear is labeled “The Pits of Hell.”

Fear has an uncanny ability to turn a thriving believer into a weakling who is unable to accomplish great things for the kingdom of God. The things of which you are afraid become monstrous giants in your life. Satan desperately desires to scare the future right out of you and endeavors to convince you to see all of your tomorrows from his dastardly perspective.

However, remind yourself that Satan is the father of lies! He is public deceiver No. 1, and he wants to convince you not to guard your heart. He tries to trick you into giving your heart to a spirit of fear. God, the greatest Comforter in all of eternity, desires for you to guard your heart against any spirit of fear and to trust Him completely. The fabulous result of choosing to guard your heart is that fear will never again be allowed into your well-protected fortress. You will be a fear-free believer!

Christians already possess the powerful weapons that will refuse to allow fear to enter into the boundaries of their hearts. The weapons that God has given us to fight off the enemy’s advances in the realm of fear are power, love and a sound mind. Fear may be a basic human emotion, but you are no longer a basic human! You are a child of God and are filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is never afraid of anything, so refuse fear and get on with your abundant life. {eoa}

Carol McLeod is an author and popular speaker at women’s conferences and retreats, where she teaches the Word of God with great joy and enthusiasm. Carol encourages and empowers women with passionate and practical, biblical messages mixed with her own special brand of hope and humor. Carol has written 11 books, including Significant, StormProof and Guide Your Mind, Guard Your Heart, Grace Your Tongue. Her teaching DVD The Rooms of a Woman’s Heart won the Telly Award, a prestigious industry award for excellence in religious programming.

During a regular Sunday night service at his church in February 2015, Pastor James Levesque received an intense but very real vision from the Lord. It was one, Levesque says, that changed his life and ministry forever.

“In this service, worship was so intense and I saw the Lord standing in front of me, and He said that He was going to ignite the fires of awakening again,” Levesque told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “And He said this time, it’s not going to go out. It’s going to burn in this nation. The Lord kept saying to me, ‘My fire is going to burn in the streets and it will not go out.’

“We experienced miracles that night. A guy that was supposed to get his legs amputated got healed. I mean, we saw very powerful moves of God. After the service, I was in my office praying and we heard an explosion. A transformer blew in our city, and that hadn’t happened in many, many years. The word I got was transformation. There was fire burning in our city streets that night. That night, the Lord gave me 13 principles on how you and I can walk in our own personal revival as we’re about to step into the greatest awakening the world has ever seen.”

One of those principles, Levesque says, is especially pertinent today considering the cultural upheaval and the recent outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

“One of those principles I wrote about is about boldness and courage,” Levesque says. “If there is ever a day that you and I need to have boldness and courage, it’s today. Here’s how I define that. Boldness is a place where you do not feel fear. You step out in the Word of the Lord and do exactly what the Bible said we are supposed to do. Ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to lay hands on the sick and see them recover. We’re going to speak in tongues, we’re going to boldly declare the Word of the Lord. And we’re going to believe all that we’ve been given, all power over sickness and disease.”

For more about Levesque’s ministry, listen to his podcast Engaging Heaven Today on the Charisma Podcast Network. Click here to listen to this entire Greenelines podcast.

If America is going to see any of revival or Great Awakening in the near future, author R.T. Kendall says, the church needs to emulate the Cane Ridge Revival in Kentucky in 1801. But, Kendall says, it’s nothing that any one man can inspire.

Like at Cane Ridge, there must be a convergence between God’s Word and the Holy Spirit for massive revival to hit this country.

“All great revivals are something that came from above. No man can cause it,” Kendall told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “It’s a sovereign work of God.

“At Cane Ridge, one Sunday morning, a Methodist preacher stood on the top of a fallen tree and 15,000 people came in. That preacher said we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give account of things done in the body, good or bad. As he preached, people began to fall over. Nobody prayed for them. Nobody pushed them. They just fell. For four days, there were never fewer than 500 people there. On the ground, Word and Spirit revival came.

“There’s a reason there’s a Bible Belt today throughout the South. All we can do is get on our knees and ask God in mercy to send revival because that’s what we need today more than anything in the world.”

Kendall says there’s another element that is necessary—forgiveness—something that is in short supply in this country these days. It’s especially crucial within the church.

“It’s the Holy Spirit that enables you,” Kendall says. “It’s the Holy Spirit that convicts you and makes you see. If the Holy Spirit doesn’t show you the need, there’s no hope. If you can get the leadership to forgive, and then get deacons on the church board to speak to each other and pastors to speak to each other—not to mention husbands and wives—then this is the most life-changing word there is.”

For more of R.T. Kendall’s thoughts on revival in America today, listen to the entire podcast.