Today there are so many areas of life fraught with danger and deception, that it can make one feel overwhelmed to say the least. This is not happening by accident. Those who seek to take control of our world intend to overwhelm the average person to such a degree that they stop being diligent. They want us to bury our heads “in the sand” and vainly hope it will all go away. It is the strategy of attrition! Only the diligent will survive as overcomers.
It is very easy when feeling overwhelmed to overreact. When that happens, our reaction can become a greater problem than the issue that prompted our reactions. Have no fear! I’m going to share a few very simple principles that will help you stand strong against this barrage of fiery arrows while keeping your heart healthy and your faith strong.
In fact, the repeated warning about the times wherein we live is: guard against deception. When we are being hit on all sides by the greatest powers on earth, it is easy to become overwhelmed. It can seem impossible to know what to do. But you can! The most common mistake diligent people make is getting distracted by the problem. When that happens, we focus our attention on the problem and take it away from the solution. Keep your focus on Jesus!
While preaching a crusade in Honduras, a group of witch doctors came to disrupt the meeting. Directly behind the platform where I was speaking, there was a small hill. On the top of that hill, about six witch doctors with full regalia lined up and began to chant curses at my team and me. I didn’t notice them because I was facing the crowd who had come to hear the gospel message.
My interpreter, a few members of our crusade team, and the entire crowd stopped listening to the message and became fixated on this fearful-looking sight. They suggested that I stop preaching and we focus our attention on the witch doctors to stop their attacks. I quickly replied, “We are not giving them one minute of attention; we need to show these people how completely powerless the devil really is.” So, while the witch doctors did their demonic routine, which was so frightening for the local people, my bold team and I just kept preaching.
While they chanted curses, several thousand people were born again, many were baptized in the Holy Spirit, and every imaginable healing and miracle occurred. In one night, this group of people who had feared the devil all their lives realized he is nothing and has no power against us unless we give it to him! By focusing on Jesus (the solution) instead of the devil (the distraction) we scored a major victory!
Here’s the “take-away” from that night’s Life Lesson! Never take your eyes off Jesus, no matter how frightening the opposition appears! Never give your attention to the distraction; when you do, you depart from your source of life and power!
Where we place our attention determines what we think and the emotions we experience. This is called wavering! Wavering is when we shift our attention from one position to another, from faith to fear, and then back to faith. When we waver, we cannot receive (take hold) of anything God offers, James 1:6-7. KEEP YOUR ATTENTION ON JESUS AND HIS FINISHED WORK AT ALL TIMES!
Sometimes we let fear drive our reaction to a threatening situation, convincing ourselves that it is faith. When this happens, we abandon confidence and forfeit peace. I have seen many people go into a hyper-aggressive, fear-driven activity that does nothing but create more fear and exacerbate the problem!
Back in the 70s, there was a predominance of what I called “demon chasers.” When they felt they were under attack, they would go into fear-driven religious antics, thinking it was spiritual warfare. It was sad to watch as these sincere people destroyed their faith and drove reasonable believers away from them. They developed what I called a “fighting spirit.”
The fighting spirit appears noble and even logical as a reaction to being under attack. However, our walk with Jesus is not reactionary but proactive, as we are led by the Spirit. Reactionary behavior usually blinds people to the bigger picture. They become one-dimensional in their thinking and experience diminished perception.
At the base of our brain stem is the reticular activating system, which facilitates or restricts messages from the heart from reaching our brain. When we are at peace, the gate is open, and when we are stressed or fearful, it is closed! Since God speaks in our heart this means that when this is closed, we cannot hear the blocked messages from the heart. We are reduced to our mental prowess as we unintentionally abandon the power of God.
Perception is not a static capability. With the human eye, the more we focus on one thing, the less we perceive the larger picture. This “hard-focus” reduces our perception to a very small field. The same thing happens in our hearts. If we focus too much on one small area, we lose sight of everything else. In times of fear or stress, we tend to “hard-focus” on one facet of life, thereby blocking all else.
With our perception minimized and the inability to hear the voice of God in our hearts, we will miss the leadership the Holy Spirit is attempting to provide. We don’t see the serendipitous wealth of resources lying in our path. Then we think God is not doing His part, which causes our fear and desperation to grow even more.
Those who develop the fighting spirit get so focused on the evil that they lose sight of the good that is available through Jesus. The problem, rather than the solution, dominates their life! In the end, the thing that destroys this person is not the problem on which they have become focused; it is abandoning our connection with God.
We can see the effects of the “fighting spirit” in the epistle Jesus sent to the church at Ephesus. He commended them for being diligent in rejecting error, but in the process, they became so obsessed with what they were against that they forgot what they were for!
He acknowledged them for this: “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. (Revelation 2:2-4)
This is a glowing acknowledgment. But the problem is, focusing on what we’re against doesn’t guard our hearts; it doesn’t protect our relationship with God; it doesn’t increase our faith, but it does cause us to move away from the love of God. We forget what is important! Once our intimate connection with God is weakened, we stop giving our lives to God and that which He loves… other people!
In His warning, He reminds them: Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works. (Revelation 2:4-5)
Jesus warns that in these days, as lawlessness abounds, love will grow cold. This will not only negatively affect our love for God, but it will also destroy our love for our fellow man. When this happens, we abandon our first works. We stop serving others in the gospel. We stop walking in love. We close ourselves off from the world, hoping to protect ourselves from pain.
Do everything you can to keep your heart open and pliable before God. Free yourself from everything that holds you back or consumes your attention. Stay connected to your first love. But, also, continue to do your first works.
I have had so many tell me they had to quit watching the news. They had to separate themselves from dogmatic, argumentative people. They had to stop listening to negative messages and negative ministers. In other words, they had to guard their hearts in every way possible.
For most of us, our first works involved sharing the love of God with others. When you’re passionate about God, it flows out of your life. You minister to others. It is the flow of God through you to the world!
But staying in the peace of God, walking in love, and nurturing your relationship with God will protect you from the fiery darts more than anything you can do. You can never notice all the destructive things that are flying toward you. But you can do this one thing: when anything negatively affects your confidence in God, you immediately take action to restore the connection. Recover your peace, and you’ll immediately know the next step.
You take care of your heart, and together we will continue to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. We will keep training leaders around the world and starting new Bible Schools. We will continue with Operation One Billion in our attempt to raise up one-billion disciples of the Lord Jesus. We will continue to develop high-quality programs and materials to help you in your personal walk with Jesus. Together we will continue in our first works of reaching the world and whatever else God leads, and
together we will continue to change the way the world sees God!
Please check these great testimonies:
The Essential Heart Physics program has been transformative in helping me learn how to truly relax while teaching my body how to breathe deeply, allowing for a peaceful, safe environment to uncover my innermost heart beliefs.
In my safe place with Jesus, I’ve been able to become aware of heart beliefs that have been holding me back from experiencing all that Jesus has for me. While in my chosen secret place, I’ve been able to replace old heart beliefs (through meditation) with the truth of God’s best for my life! Jesus said to him, “All things are possible for the one who believes and trusts in me“ (Mark 9:23, AMP).
This will continue to bring freedom, peace, and joy not only to me but also to ALL those connected to me, a true ripple effect!!
I’m incredibly grateful to Dr. Jim Richards for developing this program that has brought so much freedom to me and so many others!!
– S.G.
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The photos below are from one of our seven prison Bible Schools currently in operation in Zambia. We have established Bible Schools in four men’s prisons, two women’s prisons, and one school specifically for prison military officers with approximately 500 students enrolled. Several more schools will be launched when Nate returns to Zambia next month.
The director of one of our schools shared this wonderful testimony with us:
A young man on death row for murder, now serving a life sentence, had tried many times to follow the Lord, but kept falling back into the same mistakes and thought patterns. Since starting Bible School and learning the truth about God, he has been able to change his life and get what he believes to work in him.
Thank you for helping us make this possible!