Fear NOT!

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." II Timothy 1:7

This time of year usually brings out all kinds of festive decorations for October, including pumpkins, scarecrows, black cats, and yes we see other types of decorations that are very disturbing in terms of death, mutilation and disgusting themes. People pay money to go to amusement parks to be scared; others decorate their front lawns with scary apparitions and fearful scenarios for those who pass by when trick or treating. I personally do NOT enjoy the feeling of fear. It is not entertaining, amusing or fun for me. God created us with a variety of emotions, and God also knows that we have the ability to be afraid. It is not a sin to become afraid, but it is not necessary for Christians to remain afraid or live in fear. This is not what God desires for His children. As a parent, when my children came to me in the night when they were afraid… did I ignore them? Or encourage them to stay afraid? Did I punish them for being fearful? Did I leave them alone to “get over it”? Did I try to make them more afraid by playing tricks on them when they were scared?, BY NO MEANS! I did everything I could to comfort them, ease their fear, show them that they were safe and LOVE them into a calm and peaceful place. Our heavenly Father is exactly the same when His children are fearful. He wants us to be comforted, and to not remain in fear. The Bible has a lot to say about overcoming fear, specifically why we should not fear. Throughout the Bible, God commanded His people to "fear not" by assuring them of His presence and help on their behalf. In times of fearful circumstance, we must remember to trust in the constant presence and love of God, and STAND on His Word and His promises. Here are just a few of my favorites:

"After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I Am your shield, your very great reward'"
(Genesis 15:1)

“ When you go to war against your enemy and see horses and chariots and soldiers far outnumbering you, do not recoil in fear of them; God, your God, who brought you up out of Egypt is with you. When the battle is about to begin, let the priest come forward and speak to the troops. He'll say, "Attention, Israel. In a few minutes you're going to do battle with your enemies. Don't waver in resolve. Don't fear. Don't hesitate. Don't panic. God, your God, is right there with you, fighting with you against your enemies, fighting to win." (Deuteronomy 20:1-4).

Fear not, for I Am with you; be not dismayed, for I Am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.Isaiah 41:13 For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I Am the one who helps you.” (Isaiah 41:10, 13)

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me" (Psalms 23:4).

“Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.” (Proverbs 3:25,26)

One of the main causes of fear is our lack of control over events in our life. Please realize that NOTHING that happens to you is a surprise to God. God wants us to know and be assured that as long as He is with us, we need not be afraid. Your peace must not depend on circumstances because those change as often as the direction of the wind. Paul reminds us in Romans 8:35-39, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Are you convinced? Is your security in Christ a settled matter? Do you KNOW that there is NOTHING natural OR supernatural that can separate you from the Love and protection of Abba Father? If so, then do not fear. If not, then spend some time and talk with God about this, ask Him to show you His Power and Presence in those times that can bring fear to your doorstep. We need not fear any danger from anything natural or supernatural, small or great. It is the love of God that overshadows us and gives us victory in and over all these things. The Lord knew that we, as humans, would find ourselves overcome by fear from time to time, but it is important to remember that when those times happen that we need to not run or hide, but stand firm in the truth of God’s Word.

Do you know how a lion captures its prey in the wild? It is a very fast animal, but not as fast as a gazelle or a zebra. The lion will ROAR in the direction of the animal it seeks to overcome, and the animal is parallelized with fear and stops running, just long enough for the lion to overtake it. I believe this is why Paul warned us in I Peter 5:8 that our adversary, the devil, is just like a lion in this respect: “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” If the devil can paralyze your spiritual walk with his tactics of intimidation and fear, he can overtake you and assault your peace of mind and your ability to move forward in Victory. Satan is the father of lies and will do whatever he can to keep us from walking in the powerful life of Christ. One of the weapons he uses against us is fear. When we are driven by a spirit of fear, we act out the antithesis of power, love and a sound mind. We become weak, unable to freely love, and our minds are overwhelmed and not operating in rational ways. We hide, we cower, we fail to move out, and we are frozen in the fear, which is what the devil wants us to be: immobilized. My beloved brothers and sisters, this is NOT how God intended us to live our lives. The fruits of the Spirit (Who resides in every believer) are LOVE, JOY, PEACE, and none of these give room for fear. Since God’s Spirit is in us, God says we do not have to be afraid. The Spirit that He has given us is not cowardly or timid, is not lacking in love, and is not confused and unstable. It is a Spirit of power, love and a sound mind. No matter what we are going through, or how weak our human spirit feels- we have power already on the inside of us. When we feel like we can not put up with another person or when we don’t like anyone- much less love them, we have love on the inside of us. When we feel life is too much, that there are too many decisions to be made and we feel like we are losing our minds, we must remember we have a sound mind right on the inside of us! That is something to get excited about!!!

Fear NOT!

Shalom, Sister, Lahoma

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