“For as he (a man) thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7).
How many times have you heard someone say, “I sure do wish God would do something for me”? The rest of the statement hangs unspoken in the air: “but He probably won’t.”
That’s not faith. That’s unbelief. But it works the same way faith works—only backward. Fear is actually faith going the wrong way. Fear is faith in the negative dimension. It’s faith in failure, danger or harm. When someone is meditating on negative thoughts or “worrying,” as we call it, he or she is developing inner pictures. Not pictures of hope, but pictures of despair.
Just as fear is the flip side of faith, despair is the flip side of hope. It’s an inner image of failure, sickness, poverty or whatever else the devil wants to inject into you. Despair is actually hope in the negative, and fear, like faith, brings it to pass.
Do you see how powerful this process is that controls the course of your life? These inner images, whether they be of hope or despair, become the blueprint for your faith or fear, and ultimately control your destiny.
What you must do is dig into the Word and begin building your hope. Start developing God’s pictures within you. As long as you have an image of your own defeat on the inside of you, you’re destined to be defeated on the outside as well. But change that inner image with the Word of God and no demon in hell will be able to hold you down.
Jesus came to change the inner man. “If ye continue in my word,” He told us, “then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).
Get that truth working on the inside of you. Put it in there until hope begins to paint new pictures in your heart. Then hang on to those pictures relentlessly. Don’t ever let them go. Eventually, inevitably, faith will make those pictures as real on the outside as they are on the inside.
“For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he….” It’s the pictures inside you that determine your destiny. Paint some new pictures. God’s Word is full of them. The question is—are you?
Speak the Word: As I think in my heart, so am I. (Prov. 23:7)
For Further Study: Titus 3:4-7
Daily Scripture Reading: Ezek. 19-20; Ps. 102
Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc.
aka: Kenneth Copeland Ministries
For the last 50 years Kenneth and Gloria Copeland have been passionately teaching Christians all over the world how to apply the principles of faith found in God's WORD to their lives.
They have seven ministry offices around the world: United States, Canada, Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Ukraine and Latin America. Their God-given directive is to preach and teach the uncompromised WORD of God on every available voice, which is being accomplished through a variety of channels, including our Believer's Voice of Victory TV and radio broadcasts, podcast and magazine; Believers' Conventions, Victory Campaigns and Living Victory meetings; published books, website, and social media channels, to name a few.
With the expansion of technology, they have more work to do now than ever. They are determined to let the world know Jesus is LORD, and they are not slowing down anytime soon!