The Power of Right Believing: 7 Keys to Freedom from Fear, Guilt, and Addiction Read Online Free PDF Page A

discover what the “right beliefs” are, based on the solid foundation of God’s Word. We can’t base our beliefs on feelings, circumstances, human conjectures, or what we may have heard someone say about God. We have to go to the source!
    To get our believing right, we need to first discover what the “right beliefs” are, based on the solid foundation of God’s Word.
    If you heard a rumor that someone you knew was saying horrible and negative things about you, don’t believe it immediately. Go to the source first. Ask this person if this is what he or she really said or if this is what he or she really meant. Many people allow precious friendships and relationships to become fractured because they believe the rumors. They become bitter, angry, and disappointed without ever verifying with the person if he or she had actually said those nasty things.
    In the same way, in the world we live in, there are all kinds of wrong beliefs perpetuated about God: “God is angry at you.” “He is disappointed with you.” “God is allowing all these negative things to happen to you because He’s punishing you for your past sins.”
    Please do NOT believe all this baseless gossip about God! Such impressions of God have damaged many people’s relationships with Him, and they live with a distorted perspective of who God really is. Instead of receiving His love, grace, and forgiveness, they become afraid, distant, and fearful of Him. Instead of allowing Jesus to come into their situations, they live their life running away, avoiding and hiding from Him. Come on, let’s honor God and go to the source.
    So what does the Bible—God’s own Word—say about Him? Let me quote from one of my favorite psalms of David:
The L ORD
is
merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy… He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to ouriniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west,
so
far has He removed our transgressions from us.
    —Psalm 103:8, 10–12
    Isn’t this a beautiful psalm? Don’t be thrown off by the phrase, “toward those who fear Him.” Jesus defined the word “fear” as “worship” (see Deut. 6:13 and Matt. 4:10). So “those who fear Him” speaks of those who reverence and honor God in their lives. It is
not
the practice of being fearful or afraid of God. The whole context of this passage is about who and what God really is—gracious and merciful. And I strongly encourage you to memorize verse 10 if you can: “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.”
    God Abounds in Mercy toward You
    Let’s get back to your earlier question: Is God disappointed and angry with you for your failures, mistakes, and sins? No! Read the above Scriptures again. The point here is that as a child of God, all your failures, mistakes, and sins have
already
been judged and punished on the body of Jesus at the cross! That’s why God is no longer angry with you for your sins and He doesn’t deal with you according to your sins. No, because of the cross, He deals with you according to His bountiful mercy and grace.
    Just in case you missed it, the psalm repeatedly stresses thatGod is merciful. It tells us that “the L ORD is merciful” and goes on, almost immediately, to say again that He is “abounding in mercy.” In the King James Version of the Bible, it says that God is “plenteous in mercy.” I like the word “plenteous.” It speaks of abundance, excess, and lavishness. His mercy toward you and me is plenteous. He abounds in mercy toward us!
    My friend, God has exhausted His anger toward all your sins at the cross. The cross is an act of His love. If you ever doubt or question God’s love for you, just turn your eyes to the cross. If God wants to deal with us and punish us according to our sins, He wouldn’t have sent His Son to be