Immune to Fear Week 4预览

 Stand on the Solid Rock 

  We are commonly told today to keep an open mind about our beliefs and how we interpret the word of God. We are told to never be dogmatic. Some have no problem cherry picking the scriptures or changing the meaning or validity of it all together! There has been a practice of using the word of God only when it’s agreeable or relatable to the listening audience. This is totally perverted! It’s a liberal view that means, “you can never be sure,” and worse, “if you don’t like it, you can change it.” What use is the word of God if it can be changed? What use is faith in the truth if truth is variable? 

The word of God is meant to assure us about both God and our future. If we keep an open mind about it, we brush aside all of Christ’s wonderful promises and enjoy nothing at all of what He guarantees. True Christians do not keep an open mind. Keeping an open mind regarding God or His Word is just an excuse for sin and unbelief. Christians embrace the entire word of God! We embrace the positive blessings of Christ. Our minds are settled, not open! 

Some people act as if believing nothing for sure is a virtue! It certainly is not a virtue in an airplane pilot! How many would board an aircraft if the pilot decided to keep an open mind about how to fly, the destination, and how to get there? Passengers want a very dogmatic pilot! He must be certain they will not end up dead! Keeping an open mind about our journey through life is equally perilous. What is our destination? We must know! 

The Bible does not encourage anybody to be dogmatic, but its language is always that of a sure and certain hope. “We know” is a typical New Testament expression. Being sure is not being presumptuous or arrogant. Being sure that the sun will rise tomorrow makes us neither dogmatic nor overconfident. And such surety is the simple attitude of Christians, who are confident of tomorrow and of God. What He has done, He will do, and what He is, He will be! 

The common Christian testimony is that of the apostle Paul: “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Timothy 1:12), or the day when Christ comes. That kind of certainty is no more than we would expect from any God worth calling God! An open mind is a mind susceptible to the attack of the enemy. An open mind is an open door to doubt, fear, and unbelief. We are to have a sound mind! “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Our belief in Christ is our sure foundation! Jesus is a solid rock to stand on! He is the peace of a settled mind fixed on Him. He is the anchor of hope for the blood bought soul! He is the everlasting rock for those who fear Him! And those who put their trust in Him will not be shaken! Psalm 18:2 says, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” 

There’s nothing wishy-washy about Jesus or His word. We must trust in the Lord wholeheartedly without any doubt, “for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that He will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6-8).

We can choose to have a settled mind! We can choose to take every thought captive to obey Christ! (2 Corinthians 10:5.) We can stand unwavering on the word of God, because God Himself backs it up!

Source: (Faith: The Link with God's Power. Part 3, Faith and Knowing.)