This is “Choosing Faith Over Fear.” Faith is not denial. Faith is facing the problem, but focusing on God. The most important thing you can do right now is choose to have faith over fear. This is unprecedented times we are facing, but God is unchanging. The commandment given most often in the Bible is “Fear not,” and it’s coupled with the promise, “For I am with you.” In this message with Jentezen Franklin, find the courage you need to face tomorrow with faith and keep your eyes on God.

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connection we’ve never seen before and

I’m standing today in our auditorium in

Gainesville Georgia it’s just a bunch of

empty seats and like thousands and

thousands of places of worship

synagogues and churches and and all

kinds of places where people are

worshiping they’re not there the people

are not there all that’s here are empty

seats because the building and the seats

are not the church the people are the

church in the Old Testament God had a

temple for his people but in the New

Testament God has a people for his

temple and he said I’ll live in you and

your body will be my temple and today

there’s no need for panic but we must

make a choice you have to choose faith

over fear

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praise the mighty name of Jesus I feel

the presence of God and that’s what

heals and that’s what helps and that’s

what lives and that’s what encourages

and I want to talk to you for a few

moments today from the book of Mark

chapter 5 it’s an amazing story there

that I speak that I think speaks to the

times that we’re in I want to get a

little phrase in your spirit and in your

heart so that when you feel worried when

you feel fear when you feel panicked

when you feel the the anxiety of the

times that this would rise up in your

spirit what I’m going to teach you would

rise up in your mind and your attitude

in your heart as a defense against the

attack of fear in Mark chapter 5 there

was a girl who had died it was a tragedy

she was 12 years of age and Jesus walked

into that house where death had come we

don’t know what killed her but it was

some disease and he had taken her life

and then Jesus says something so strange

and I like the King James Version of

this particular verse it says in verse

38 when he came into the house they were

weeping and they were wailing loudly

crying and understandably so and when he

came in he said to them why do you make

this ado and we that’s a strange

terminology why do you make this big ado

about this situation what Jesus was

really saying was what Shakespeare got

ahold of he heard that verse where Jesus

said one translation says why are you

making much ado about nothing and

Shakespeare took that phrase and he

wrote a whole

play and it became one of his famous

plays and of course it was called much

ado about nothing he took it from that

verse where Jesus said why are you

making so much ado about this situation

now let me underscore something very

important what Jesus was saying was he

was not under playing the danger he was

not under playing the tragedy he was not

playing down as though it

he was unaffected by the sorrow and the

weeping and the tragedy that the people

were going through in that house but

what he was saying was even in the

darkest moments even in the darkest days

choose faith over fear what he was

saying was I am here I’m in your house

and he said don’t make much ado about

nothing certainly I’m not preaching that

the plague is nothing that the

coronavirus is nothing it’s deadly it’s

dangerous

God gave us common sense to deal with in

every way that we can but when you

compare it to the God who is on your

side when you compare it because Jesus

was standing in the same house where the

plague had come and and when you compare

it to our God it’s much ado about

nothing because he doesn’t fail and he

is with us and he is for us we believe

today that the spirit of fear is loose

in our nation and around the world and

he wants to do everything that it can to

get us to worry to feel anxious to feel

stressed out to feel as though

everything’s over and we’re coming to an

end we’re not coming to an end

God’s not through blessing this nation

it’s not too late for America it’s not

too late for you it’s not too late for

your marriage for your home or your

family you’ve got to learn to take the

Word of God and when you feel the fear

and the worry and the anxiety and the

stress that word

comes up in you like a defense when I

read it this week it’s like the Lord

just seemed to whisper to me not in an

audible voice but just in my mind in my

heart I kept hearing those words don’t

make much ado about nothing

don’t let worry make you go into just

panic Jesus said I am with you in your

home I am where you are I know your

address I know all about you I have not

forgotten about you I am with you no

matter what comes our way our first

reaction should be faith that overcomes

the fear choose faith over fear choose

faith over panic and over being

petrified and crying it’s much ado about

nothing when you stack it up and compare

it to the healing miraculous powerful

God that we serve well what about this

virus we will survive we’re more than

conquerors through Christ no weapon

formed against us will prosper and then

he said that nothing can separate us

from the love of God we’re being

dominated right now in our culture in

our culture by fear we need to go from

fear-based living to faith-based living

listen to me carefully over the last few

decades the life expectancy has more

than doubled the capacity of life

expectancy over the last few decades has

increased tremendously let’s not make

much ado about nothing as though that

everybody is going to die we’re actually

living longer and healthier than any

time in human history choose faith over

fear we have more health than any other

generation we have more long life than

any other generation we have more cures

more medicine more technology more

science than we’ve ever had and yet many

people are living in fear even

we’re living twice as long and more

healthy than we ever have in human

history in our lifetime and in our

generations and yet the generation that

is more healthier than ever is more

worried and more fearful I’m not saying

we shouldn’t be afraid but I should I’m

saying that we shouldn’t make much ado

about nothing when we remember that our

times are in God’s hands that that the

power of life and death he holds the

keys the devil is so defeated death is

so defeated it doesn’t even have the

keys to its own house because jesus said

I have the keys it’s amazing that we’re

living longer and healthier than we’ve

ever lived before you see every time you

turn the TV on you’re gonna have to

choose faith over fear and I want that

word to come up in your spirit much ado

about nothing God is with me God is for

me God is in me God is blessing my

family keeping my family he can be

trusted I can trust him choose faith

over fear don’t let the fear flew get

you you know the 10 spies in the Book of

Numbers they call the fear flew and only

two of them said we’re well able to take

it 10 of them said oh no the Giants are

great the problems are great

everything’s gonna overtake us but two

of them who didn’t catch the fear flew

came back and they said we’re well label

you know what happened to them they got

vaccinated with faith that’s what needs

to happen to America today you need to

get vaccinated with faith that gives you

the power to choose faith over fear

faith in the Lord Jesus Christ faith in

the name above every name faith in the

power of the cross and the blood of the

Lamb faith that the blood of the Lamb on

your household on your doorpost

spiritually on your heart and your

family can cause death to pass over and

that God can heal by His stripes the

diseases and the afflictions of man

people who study genes and genetics

scientists they have identified a

certain gene recently it’s called gene

SLG 6 8 4 and you know what they labeled

it is called the worry gene it’s a

medical fact now what you listen to me

carefully

and the people who have the short

version of s the gene SL g 6 8 4 are pre

position they say and more prone to

worry than people who have the long

version of this particular gene and what

I read that I felt to myself oh god do I

have the short version or the you know

you’re just just reading that I just

immediately went to worry and I I

remembered this text much ado about

nothing I’m with you I’ll never forsake

you I’ll never leave you I’ll never

abandon you I’m telling you today that

God does not want us to live in chronic

fear fear is usually the result of

increased vulnerability and that’s what

we’re feeling in our nation and around

the world we feel vulnerable we don’t

have any way to protect ourselves but we

have the protection of Psalms 91 and if

you don’t even read the Bible by the way

I was notified today that many of the

rabbi’s and synagogues are reading the

protection Psalms out of the Book of

Psalms over their people and they’re

asking them to take those Psalms they

believe that there is supernatural power

in Psalms like Psalms 91 that when you

speak those words that he’ll give his

angels charge over you that he’ll

protect you that that he will keep you

and it you abide under the shadow of the

almighty read Psalms 91 when you’re

afraid choose faith over fear read the

Word of God if you’ll read the Bible the

Bible to read you and it’ll detect that

fear and then it will feed your faith

Isaiah 43 and two needs to be spoken

over our nation today when you pass the

the water I will be with you when you go

through the rivers they will not

overflow you when you walk through the

fire it will not burn you neither shall

the flame be kindled against you and

then he goes on to say later that you

are precious in my sight and I love you

and I will give people for your life and

the person that he gave for my life was

Jesus Christ he carried my sorrow he

carried my sickness he carried my death

in his body on the cross and he did you

don’t allow faith to cause you to go

into denial when people become dominated

by fear they begin to move into denial

and and this is so important because

they don’t want to deal with the issue

so if during this crisis that we’re

facing something comes up if you begin

to get the symptoms don’t go into denial

faith is not denial faith is not

pretending like you know that you have

faith so great that that you don’t have

any issues everybody has problems

everybody gets sick everybody goes

through issues here’s what I tell people

everything is better with Jesus in crew

including trouble so fear wants to cause

us to go into denial to not deal with

the issues listen to this face the

problem but focus on God choose faith

over fear that’s why a lot of folks

don’t get checkups they don’t go to

doctors they don’t they haven’t had a

physical and so long because they’re

afraid they’re dominated with fear and

the truth is this is no time to be

dominated with fear and this is a time

when we don’t need to be living in

denial secondly fear causes us to become

people a procrastination you see fear

makes you begin to procrastinate and you

should confront something you should

confront someone but because of fear you

just you just put it off and you put it

off and you put it off and you put it

off and lastly fear causes us to enter

into a place of indecision somebody said

when you’re when you’re caught between a

yes sir and a no sir you got to make a

big decision you don’t know if you

should go with yes sir or no sir

you get an ulcer and a lot of people are

in the valley of decision God told

Elijah he said tell the people why do

you honk between two opinions why are

you why are you not making a decision

because fear causes us to move into into

a place of indecision when God tells us

to not fear he’s saying you don’t he’s

not saying you don’t have to ever have

the emotion of fear what he’s saying is

trust me even though you are afraid

trust me and choose faith over fear

compared to our God who is on our side

listen let it get in your spirit it’s

much ado about nothing get faith first

not fear first face it and fight it God

said and I’ll be with you that’s what

we’re doing as a nation that’s why we’re

not a symbol today we’re facing the fact

that we’re dealing with the problem

we’re facing the problem but we’re

focusing on God the president has called

the nation to prayer and to praise and

the most often given commandment is fear

not for I am with you and I want to

conclude as they’re coming back to the

music that God delights listen and

courageous people and people who are

strong and courageous who when they face

challenges they don’t buckle and they

don’t fear and they don’t fall many are

afraid now of the fear of failure of

their business and their finances I

believe this fear is very real to many

of you you know in our ministry here

across all of our campuses we have

decided to this next week to ask our

employees to just all of them that can

and and of course if they have any

symptoms of sickness not to come to work

but beyond that

any corporations and many people are

doing this across the nation and we

decided to do it just to stay home

because children are out of school and

so on and so we want families together

and we said just do work from your

computer do work at home but the fear of

failure of business in the stock market

and finances in the economy can cause

people to tremble in fear and oh no

but Jesus said I’ll take care of you

it’s much ado about nothing if I feed

the sparrows I’m gonna feed you if I

take care of all of nature I’m gonna

take care of you but what if this

happens what if that happens when you’re

down to nothing God’s up to something

God’s up to something in America you

would have stayed right where you were

but maybe this this divine shutdown is

is it’s what God is wanting to do it’s

what he did with your hose the fat in

the Old Testament they reached a problem

where they were outnumbered out

resourced and out of options and he

lifted up his eyes to heaven and he said

God we don’t know what to do

second chronicles 20 we don’t know what

to do but our eyes are upon you and God

is saying I brought America to a divine

shutdown so that you will look up and

say God our eyes are upon you this is

the moment of divine destiny and don’t

you know that our God is bigger than the

shutdown

our God is bigger than the coronavirus

our God is bigger than the financial

needs and the stock market issues and

all of the things we will see

restoration and a resurrection in

America but it must begin on our knees

it must begin with my people which are

called by my name humbling themselves

and calling on God and pray and I’m

going to pray for you in conclusion

today but I want you to get it into your

spirit that when you watch the news when

you see this and you see that not that

we don’t take these times serious and

these issues and heed all of the health

warnings that we’re hearing constantly

absolutely but I pray that this little

word will get in your spirit much ado

about nothing you know there’s been so

many times in this ministry where I

worried I worried about this I’m worried

about that I worried and I’d have the

Lord come along and give me this little

phrase much ado about nothing trust me

trust me God is teaching us in the

middle of this shutdown in the middle of

this crisis to depend on him faith is

dependency on God it’s time right there

in your home right where you are

in that office wherever you are I want

to ask you to receive the peace the

forgiveness the healing the comfort

replace panic with praise replace worry

with worship there are some problems

that are so severe if you don’t attack

them with worship they’ll attack you

with worry pray with me right where you

are everybody repeat these words behind

me just me and the worship team but just

say Lord Jesus I give you my life my

family my future I believe what you did

on the cross was your love manifests for

me receive salvation forgiveness

cleansing and protection by the blood of

Jesus Christ I am forgiven and I choose

faith over fear in the mighty name of

Jesus oh praise God we would love to

hear from you go online dial the number

on the screen if they’ve got one we

would love to hear from you we want to

help you and your new walk with God

in our closing moments I want to share

with you one of the unprecedented

opportunities that God has opened up for

this ministry over the last several

years the work that we’re doing in

Israel is absolutely critical

the Eshkol region borders the Gaza Strip

and it’s plagued by near-constant

rockets and chaos and here we’re

building the ESCO region trauma center

we broken ground on it and it’s under

construction as I speak I believe that

we are fulfilling the Biblical prophecy

of Isaiah that he spoke about in the

fortieth chapter when he said comfort me

comfort me my people I’m only going to

ask you to seek the Lord and see what he

would have you do with your help we will

finish this in just a few months and

have a grand dedication there in the

Holy Land and you’ll have a memorial for

your family in the Holy Land that says

to God I have loved the nation of Israel

I believe God will pour out blessings on

you like you’ve never seen before

please do your very best we need your

help on this project here’s my announcer

to tell you how you can be apart from

the imaginary shapes the clouds form to

the mysterious blue hue for most

children the sky is a place of wonder

and beauty but there’s a place where

that is not the case in Nashville Israel

the sky is a place of terror and trauma

for children that live in this war-torn

territory terrorists rockets kites and

helium-filled and Cindy Airy balloons

fill the sky with fear but thanks to

your support we are more than halfway to

our 1 million dollar commitment to build

the Asheville region playschool kingdom

here children will be able to play in a

safe environment without fear of attack

they will also be able to receive

counseling services to assist them in

coping with ongoing trauma caused by

these terrorist attacks from the Gaza

Strip as a thank you for your support in

our initiative to comfort God’s people

we would like to send you the Holy Week

collection for your gift of one

dollars or more this month you’ll have

your name inscribed on the comfort my

people wall of recognition in Israel

pure gift of 300 dollars or more this

month you may request the Holy Week gift

set with a beautifully crafted communion

set with your gift of $50 or more we

will send you the Holy Week bundle

including Jenson Franklin’s just

released book acres of diamonds and with

your gift of any amount we’ll send you a

copy of the devotion 8 days to change

the world your gift and prayers are

making a difference and bringing comfort

to God’s people in Israel visit us

online today

well Charisse and I are so excited about

the 2020 trip to Israel the Holy Land

tour this is going to be the most

special trip that we’ve ever had when

you go on trips like this it’s a form of

blessing Israel it’s a form of saying

I’m blessing you God and I’m blessing

your land and I’m blessing the people

and when you do that there’s a blessing

that comes back spiritually and in every

other way can’t wait to see you get on

the bus let’s go this program has been

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you