Choose Faith Over Fear

Current Teaching Series Daring Faith: The Key to Miracles

Choose Faith Over Fear By Rick Warren — Jan 6, 2018   “Many of the people scolded him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ ” (Mark 10:48 GNT). If you’re going to make a fresh start with faith in your life, you have to face your fears. Don’t let them control you! Fear has an incredible ability to paralyze our potential, to keep us from launching out, to keep us from having faith in our lives. When we choose fear over faith, it makes us skeptical — we’re afraid of trying anything new when we’re afraid. It makes us selfish — we’re afraid to commit to God and to others. It makes us shortsighted — we focus on the past and not on the future. Bartimaeus, the blind man Jesus encountered in Mark 10, faced a fear that is familiar to many of us: the fear of rejection. He knew that to shout out at Jesus in that crowd wasn’t the right thing to do. He knew that people would look down on him for it, but he was desperate. And he knew that Jesus Christ was the only one who could help him. And look what happened: When he shouted out to Jesus, everyone around him told him, “Don’t do that. Be quiet. Don’t make a scene. Surely Jesus Christ isn’t interested in you. He has more important things to do.” The Devil whispers things like that to a lot of us. When that opportunity for faith comes into our heart, thoughts like “God surely wouldn’t be interested in you” and “Don’t make a scene” and “What would people think of you?” keep us from having faith. When you see an opportunity to change, there are all kinds of shouts from inside and around you that tell you not to rock the boat. But God is asking you to do something greater than you’ve ever done before: He’s asking you to depend on him completely. That may seem a bit scary? But when God asks something of us, you and I have a choice: We can fall back on our fears and stay the way we are? Or we can move past our fears and step forward in faith? God is always waiting to meet us on the other side of any take a step of faith. PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk About It Whose disapproval do you fear the most, and why? Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of human opinion disables; trusting in God protects you from that” (The Message). Ask God to help you to trust him and his opinion of you more than what anyone else says. How can fear stop you from depending on God completely?

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Complete Audio Series (Purchase) Includes 10 full-length teaching CD's from Pastor Rick's series Daring Faith: The Key to Miracles. LEARN MORE

Series Summary Session 1: What Happens When You Have Faith Session 2: How to Get Ready for a Miracle Session 3: Daring to Believe Session 4: Daring to Imagine Session 5: Daring to Give God My Best Session 6: Daring to Plant in Faith Session 7: Daring to Commit Session 8: Daring to be Generous Session 9: Daring to Wait on God Session 10: Daring to Go in Faith PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST

Pastor Rick Warren

Enjoy today's Devotional? Listen instantly to the full radio message at Daily Hope Radio. Did someone forward this devotional to you? Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional. This devotional is based on the current Daily Hope radio series at pastorrick.com. Rick Warren has helped people live with hope and on purpose for more than 40 years. He’s the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California and author of several books, including The Purpose Driven Church and The Purpose Driven Life, which has been translated into 137 languages and sold more than 50 million copies in all formats. He created the PEACE Plan (plant churches of reconciliation, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, educate the next generation), which is used by churches in 196 countries. His radio teaching and daily devotional, Daily Hope, is offered around the world. This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission. You can unsubscribe at any time by changing your e-mail preferences. Update your preferences  |  Unsubscribe