From His Heart

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If fear is ruling the roost in your life, some wise advice today from God's Word. Here's Pastor Jeff Shreve.

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Well, you're in a tough spot today. Perhaps you say, hey, I can relate to the children of Israel. I got Pharaoh and his armies nipping at my heels, and I got the Red Sea in front of me. I got nowhere to go. I am sunk.

What are you looking at? What are you focusing in on? Are you focusing in on your problems? Are you focusing in on the problem solver? Lift up your eyes to the Lord.

If you focus on your problems, you will always have fear. Focusing on your problems always produces fear every single time.

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There is tremendous truth. There is blessed love. There is hope that you always dream. Love. He can heal every scarlet love. Real hope.

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Welcome to From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve today and the message when fear meets Faith. You see, that preceding statement by Pastor Jeff you just heard is true. When we focus on our fears, they grow larger. When we focus on our faith in God, our fears shrink. That hope comes in the form of the miraculous work of God.

Of course, you do remember that he healed the sick, he raised the dead, he turned water into wine, and he calmed the seas. And on and on and on. Today, Pastor Jeff will highlight that miracle that occurred when he parted the Red Sea for people of faith who were running scared.

The message is entitled When Fear Meets Faith, and it's from his series called Believing Expecting Miracles. Right now, let's learn about what often happens and what ought to happen to you and me when our fear meets our faith. Open your Bible to Exodus, chapter 14. Here again is Pastor Jeff Shreve.

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We all struggle with fear. So you know what? God puts stories in the Bible to help us, to help calm our fears and increase our faith. See, because when your faith is strong, your fear starts to go away because you start to trust God and believe God. And over and over and over again in the Bible, God says, don't be afraid. Do not fear. Do not fear. Do not fear.

And there's a story we want to study today. It's a story that will help you and help me. As we struggle with fear, as we struggle with letting go of the branch and doing all that God wants us to do and really believing Him, it's the greatest miracle in all of the Old Testament. It's the parting of the Red Sea and God's deliverance for his people from Egypt.

Now, here's our question today. How can we overcome our fears and step out in faith to really believe God and experience his miracles? Three essentials.

Essential number one, you must remember that God has a plan. Now, when you study about the children of Israel coming out of Egypt, you know, God led them out with a mighty hand—the ten plagues that God put upon the Egyptians. And finally, Pharaoh said, you people go worship your God. Get out of here. And they were excited as they left Egypt.

But now God didn't lead them from Egypt straight into the promised land. He had promised them the land. He told Moses that's where they were going eventually. But he didn't lead them there directly. The shortest distance from Egypt to the promised land is to come up by the coast by the Mediterranean Sea. But the Philistines lived there. And the Lord knew that if I bring my people up that way, that's going to be a problem because the Philistines were a warfaring people. They will see war, and my people will see war, and they'll get scared and they'll turn back. And so God didn't lead them that way. The Lord led them another way. The Lord had a plan, and the Lord has a plan for you. You mark it down. God knows how much you can take, and God knows what is too much for you.

Essential number two. Not only do you remember that God has a plan, but you must keep your eyes on the Lord. Now, look at this. This is really interesting. Chapter 13, verse 21 says this: "And the Lord was going before them, before the children of Israel, in a pillar, literally a column of cloud, by day, to lead them on the way. And in a column of fire, a pillar of fire by night, to give them light that they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people."

Now, that was a visible representation of the presence of God among his people. And here is the picture. You have the pillar of fire by night, the pillar of cloud by day—something that you can look at to lift up your eyes and to look. And then you have behind you Pharaoh with blood in his eye and his chariots and his armies. And you have a choice. What am I going to look at? What am I going to focus my attention on? God, the great God, or this great problem? That makes all the difference in the world.

Hey, what are you looking at today? Well, you're in a tough spot today. Perhaps you say, "Hey, I can relate to the children of Israel. I got Pharaoh and his armies nipping at my heels, and I got the Red Sea in front of me. I'm sunk. I got nowhere to go." What are you looking at? What are you focusing in on? Are you focusing in on your problems? Are you focusing in on the problem solver? Lift up your eyes to the Lord. It makes all the difference in the world.

But our eyes, Jehoshaphat said, are on. You can choose what you focus on. And if you focus on your problems, you will always have fear. Focusing on your problems always produces fear every single time. And that's what God's people did. They focused on their problems, and they were very frightened. They were full of fear.

Now, if you're here today and you're full of fear about something in your life—the test result that you're waiting on, the report that you got back from the doctor this past week that says you have cancer, that says we're going to have to do more tests, we found a lump—oh, and you're so afraid. I promise you, you're focusing in on that report. You're focusing in on all the negatives in that situation. You need to get your eyes on the Lord.

And if you're here today and you have fear, one thing is for certain: it's not from God. Second Timothy, chapter one and verse seven says, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and discipline." Hey, if fear doesn't come from God, where does it come from? It comes from the devil. The devil uses fear to get you to not walk by faith and to steal from you your peace, steal your joy, steal your power, steal your hope.

Fear. And you know what fear is? Maybe you've heard it before.

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Fear.

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F, E A R. It's false evidence appearing real. And every time we get afraid, we focus in on that false evidence. We believe the devil, who's a liar and the father of lies, and we believe his lies about this situation is going to sink me.

When I was in college, I remember conversing with my roommate one evening. I think it was on a Friday night, it was about 11:15 or so. We were talking and going to sleep. I fell asleep. I'd been asleep for about 30 or 45 minutes. And you know how when you've only been asleep a short time, you're kind of in between state. You know, if somebody wakes you up after about 45 minutes, you're really groggy because you just kind of didn't get in the deep sleep. You're kind of in that middle state.

Well, after about 45 minutes, I was in that middle state of sleep and I heard this on my wall. My wall was right next to the bathroom, just bamboo so loud. And then I heard this. Scared me to death. And then I heard all sorts of splashing around in the toilet.

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And I thought, what is that?

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And then it dawned on me. I know what it is. Someone has broken in. They're attacking my roommate Mark. They're drowning him in the toilet. And I'm next. I just knew I was next. I'm not kidding. I was paralyzed with fear. I couldn't move. I was just in my bed like this, thinking, well, if I don't move, maybe they won't think I'm here. And I was just sitting there like this. I couldn't move. And all I could do was say, help. And I said it in such a weak little voice. Just said, help. Just like that. Help.

Well, finally, my roommate Mark, who had gotten some kind of a stomach virus and was vomiting, vomiting all over, stopped his vomit and came to my bed. Help. And he said, "Shreve, what are you doing?" And then I realized, nobody's killing him. I wanted to kill him at that point, but nobody was killing him. And then I had to save face, you know, because big tough guy. Help. Can't move. Help. You know, I just felt like such an idiot. I said, "Ah, nothing. Just not doing anything. Just go back to throwing up. I'm going to go to sleep now." It was so embarrassing. He told all my friends that. Now I'm telling all you that. But it was a long time ago, so I've gotten over it. But it was false evidence appearing real. I thought it was so real, but it wasn't.

Now, when God's people began to look to the back to see Pharaoh behind them, to see the Red Sea in front of them, what went through their mind that produced all that fear? We're dead. That's a lie. That's a lie. They weren't dead. I mean, hopefully, you know this story; this is probably not a new story. You know, I let you in on a little secret. The sea is going to open up. They're going to go through. They weren't dead. What was another lie going through their mind? The fire of God is no match for the Pharaoh of Egypt. That's a lie. That's a lie. God can do anything. What's another lie? They believe the situation is hopeless. That's a lie. That's a lie. Because where God is concerned, miracles happen. And God can make a way where there seems to be no way. And you can be in between a rock and a hard place. And God can split the rock, and God can split the sea. And God can do anything. So get your eyes on the Lord.

I love what one commentator that I read when I studied for this sermon said. He said, "The difference between faith and unbelief is this: faith brings God into your situation and unbelief keeps him out." Man, when you bring God in, then the sky's the limit on what can happen in your life and in your problem. Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered, and nobody was there. Keep your eyes on the Lord.

And essential number three: you must take that step of faith. That's how you conquer fear. You gotta take that dreaded step of faith. Well, the people are freaking out. But Moses has faith. And look what he says in verse 13. Moses said to the people, "Do not fear. Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians, whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent."

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch your hand out over the sea and divide it. And the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land. And as for me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so they will go in after them. And I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians will know," he says it again, "that I am the Lord when I'm honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen."

The people are faithless. Moses is a man of faith. Moses believes God. And see, Moses had real faith. And real faith believes God, regardless of the circumstances, regardless of what's going on around you. Real faith looks to the Lord and believes God can make a way. See, God had told Moses that he was going to lead them out of Egypt by a mighty hand and that they were going to end up in the Promised Land. They were going to first go to Mount Sinai and worship the Lord there. And then God was going to bring them into the land that he had promised to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob. God is good on his promises. It's impossible for God to lie.

So Moses had that promise from God. This is what God is going to do. God didn't say that, "Hey, he's leading us out of Egypt and we're going to die at Pi Hahiroth by the Egyptians." God never said that. So Moses just believed God, regardless of the circumstances. And the Scripture says in Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 1, "Now, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Conviction of things not seen. Moses, with his physical eyes, didn't see how God was going to deliver. He didn't know how God was going to deliver, but he saw it in his heart. He saw it in his spirit. He saw that God was going to bring about salvation and deliverance for his people, but he didn't know how. He didn't know what God was going to do. He just knew that God was going to do.

And the question in your situation, you don't have to figure it all out. You don't have to know what God is going to do. You don't have to know what. You just have to know who. And the who is God, and he is the God of all flesh, and there is nothing too difficult for him. And so faith just sees that which can't be seen and just says, "I trust God more than I believe my circumstances." Because my God, who saved me, my God who has delivered me from sin, my God, who has brought the plagues and brought me out of Egypt, he didn't bring me this far to drop me in the grease. And I believe God. I believe God. That's what Moses said in his heart.

Real faith believes God. Real faith obeys God. This is critical. Then the Lord said to Moses, verse 15, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward." Mmm, go forward. Here I am at Pi Hahiroth. Forward is drowning in the Red Sea. And go forward. Where is it? Will, Lord? Build a bridge, Lord, get us a big boat. I mean, we heard about Noah. Noah had a big boat. Lord, maybe you could bring that boat by and we could all get in. I mean, what are we going to do? How are we going to go forward? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward.

And as they go forward, Moses, this is what you do. You take the staff and you stretch it out over the waters. I'm going to part the waters. You need to do that. The people need to go forward, and you need to take your staff and stretch it out over the waters. As for you, that's what you need to do. And then God says, "And as for me, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to cause Pharaoh to come in after you, and I'm going to destroy him in the waters. I'm going to bring about a great deliverance. This place is called Pi Hahiroth, the place of liberty. And I'm bringing about liberty today."

In your worst situation, that's what God was going to do. But see, real faith, not only does real faith believe God regardless of the circumstances, but real faith then says, "All right, Lord, I'll do what you say." If you want me to go forward, I'll go forward. And as they went forward, then God parted the sea. He didn't part the sea until they started to move forward. See, they crossed through by faith. And as one commentator said on this passage, he believes that God didn't just part the sea all at once. You know, the Lord sent an east wind and parted the sea. He believes God parted the sea as they went. Almost like you unzip a coat and it just parts as you unzip. And as they begin to take steps on that dry ground, God began to create more dry ground. And God began to open up the sea more and more and more. And it was just a wall on either side, a wall of water.

You know why some of you today, you don't ever see God do any miracle? You say, "Where are the miracles of God? I never see him do anything. I hear about him doing miracles in this life, in this life, in this life. People on television to hear about miracles. But where are the miracles for me?" The miracles don't come until you go forward, until you take a step of faith, that dreaded step of faith. You feel the fear and you do it anyway. Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. Real faith obeys God regardless of what he says.

Hey, if you're having difficulty in your life today and you say, "My life is so messed up," then you need to back up and say, "Listen, am I obeying God in my life? Are there things in my life God wants me to do that I have refused to do? Am I not going forward with the Lord?" That's the solution to many people's problems. Start going forward, start obeying the Lord, start doing what he says, and he'll create a highway in the Red Sea for you.

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In a moment, Pastor Jeff will explain how God went beyond just delivering the children of Israel from a deadly enemy on the shores of the Red Sea because their faith produced a miracle and their fears faded. Someone has well said that there are 365 fear nots in the Bible. One for every day of the year. In any and every frightening circumstance, God tells us, fear not, my child. I am able in this situation. Just trust me.

Does fear run your life? For many, it is debilitating and it squashes their faith. Today we're listening to part two of the Message When Fear Meets Faith. And it's from his eight message series, Believing, Expecting Miracles. You can find out more about how to get this series when you go to fromisheart.org or call 86640 Bible. It's available in multiple formats.

Now, here's the important conclusion to Pastor Jeff's message today on When Fear Meets Faith.

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Real faith obeys God, and real faith experiences His power. As they went forward, the Red Sea began to open up. If that had been all that God did—just open up the Red Sea and let them cross, and then close it behind them— that would have been a great deliverance. But God didn't do that because He wanted to be honored. God wanted to turn Pharaoh, who was so filled with pride and arrogance and thought he was so big and so bad, and shook his puny little fist in the face of God. God said, "I'm going to show you, boy."

So God kept those seas open. He kept that passageway open and had the Egyptians follow after them. When they got to the middle of the sea, God began to swerve their chariot wheels and caused them to come off. They said, "Oh no, the Lord is fighting for these people. We need to turn back." But it was too late; they were in the midst of the sea. Then God said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand, Moses." And those waters came back together. The Egyptian army, the mightiest army in the world at that time, was gone in an instant; they were turned to fish food. He who exalts himself shall be humbled, and God humbled Egypt because of the hardness of their heart.

The Scripture says in verse 31, "And when Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and they believed in the Lord and in His servant, Moses." You know why this story is in the Bible? You know why this story is repeated so often in the Bible, talked about by the prophets, and mentioned in the Psalms? It’s to show you that no matter what is going on in your life, no matter how bad the situation is, God is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that you can ask or think. God is able.

So you just need to trust Him and take a step of faith. Keep your eyes on the Lord and take a step of faith. David said in the Psalms, "Why are you in despair, O my soul, and why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God." Hope in the Lord. Trust in the Lord. No matter what you're facing today, keep your eyes on Him and keep moving forward.

I promise you, on the authority of the Word of God, that God will make a way for you where there seems to be no way. Be it done to you according to your faith.

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Today's message was called "When Fear Meets Faith" from Pastor Jeff's series "Believe in God Expecting Miracles." You can find out how to get this series when you go to fromisheart.org. As we move through this month, we have been telling you about an eye-opening study that we aired earlier from the Book of Exodus called "Faithful and Introducing the One and Only God."

The Book of Exodus is a book of rescue, with God coming to deliver His people enslaved in Egypt for centuries. In this great and miraculous deliverance, God reveals Himself as faithful and true, the One and Only God. This powerful series on the Exodus from Egypt reminds us afresh that we serve a God who is able and who always, always keeps His Word.

This series is our special gift of thanks to you for your support to From His Heart this month of any amount. You will receive 8 messages on CDs, DVDs, USB flash drive, or an immediate MP3 download for your gift of any amount. We'd like to send you "Faithful and True: Introducing the One and Only God." Call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-BIBLE) or go to fromisheart.org to make that gift.

Well, our time is gone for today. I'm Larry Nobles inviting you to join us next time when Pastor Jeff will open God's Word and share real truth, real love, and real hope. From His Heart.

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There is tremendous truth. There is hope that you always dream of. He can heal every scar from his heart.

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From His Heart is the listener-supported broadcast ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve, speaking the truth in love to a lost and hurting world.

Remember, no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

Find out more at fromhisheart.org.