“But straightway Jesus spoke unto them, saying, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid” (Matt. 14:27).
God never comes with a message of fear. You can start in the Old Testament and trace all the way down through the New, and you will see that every time God manifested Himself to people, or sent angels or Jesus Himself, they always came with the message, “Be not afraid! Fear not!”
Fear doesn’t come from God. It comes from the Devil. And Christians, including preachers and teachers, have no business going around putting fear into people.
We hear so much fear preached: Fear of sickness and disease; fear of what’s going to happen in the world; and fear of the Devil. The way some people preach about demons causes people to be afraid.
I preach about the Devil and demons, too, but I preach that we’ve got authority over them. I preach that we should always remember, in all our encounters with the Devil, that He’s a defeated foe.
Fear is not the message of the Church. Faith is the message of the Church. Good cheer is the message of the Church. “Be not afraid” is the message of the Church.
Confession: I am of good cheer. I am not afraid. I fear not. That is the message of God my Father to my heart. It is also His message to others. Therefore, my message to others is: Faith and good cheer. Be not afraid. Fear not!
(Taken by permission from RHEMA Bible Church , aka Kenneth Hagin Ministries , Tulsa , OK , USA. www.rhema.org )
