What we fear will control our lives. Fear is a hard taskmaster. Fear is an aspect of our perceived position and an attitude affecting what and how we hear. The presence of fear affects what we receive or hear others do or say. It is an attitude that changes the meaning of words and gestures others use in speaking to us. It hears from a predisposed state of insecurity and worry. Fear devaluates us, cause us to always think someone is putting us down. All the words, gestures, stances and tones of communication that comes our way are strained through the sieve of worry and fear. It causes us to feel we never are good enough or adequate in others presence. Fear becomes a habit and we react to the truth with fear when we have lived long enough with its habits of doubt and worry. No matter what comes at us, when we live in worry and fear, it taints our conversations, decisions and choices. Because each decision/choice changes the future, the choices that come to us, when our living is based on fear, are seen differently and are different than ones we would have if we lived without fear.
The biggest enemy of Faith is fear. Fear has many faces, and the foundation of most of what we call fear is pride, insecurity or the habit of believing a lie rather than the truth. We may fall to many of what I call the faces of fear like: fear of looking foolish, rejection, being wrong, not pleasing men, not being good enough, failure, accolades, fear of dishonoring God, etc because of it’s strong delusions that sound to us like prudent reasoning.
There are so many lies that produce fears which keep us from hearing the voice of God or hearing Him correctly. What would our hearing be like without fear? What would our living be like without doubt and worry which are forms of fear? What would God be able to speak to us about and have us do if we had no fear of rejection or of having no value?
We will never hear what we want to hear until we are willing to hear what we refuse to, or don’t want to hear. WE cannot continue to fear the truth because of the lies we have accepted and lived with, that keep us from all that God has paid a price for us to be.
Unfortunately in the future there will be more reason to fear—in the world without Christ—than in the past. Even in Christ, persecution, rejection and reasons to succumb to fear will be more prevalent than ever as we near the end of the age. Yet, the Word says that fear is not to be a part of our living.
Proverbs 28:1, The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
2 Tim 1:7 (NKJV) 7For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Phil 1:27 – Phil 1:28 (NKJV) 27Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, 28and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God.
Could fear be what holds us back or causes us not to be what we are called be? What is it that you fear? What lie has taken on more authority in your life than the truth? Would you recognize fear if it were in your life or is it disguised as an attribute like “caution or discernment”. If we are to let our conduct be worthy of the Gospel we must not operate out of fear. We cannot stand in one spirit and one mind and strive together if we have fear of any kind. Fear that separates us looks a lot like good reasoning for not trusting someone else’s spirit or what Christ says.
Worry about what the outcome of prayer or and act of obedience to Father will accomplish is a type of fear. Phil.1:28 says that we are not to be terrified in any way. That literally means to fear absolutely nothing that anyone could do to you or what could happen as a result of your obedience to Christ. Nothing! Remember;
Prov 28:1 (NKJV)
1The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion.
We are the righteous of Christ if we are in Christ though sometimes we act like the wicked worrying and fearing ‘whatever’. We seem to be running from enemies we perceive exist out of fear more often than we stand in boldness with Jesus. (I believe this is the result of not “knowing” (having a close, dynamic, rich fellowship with) Jesus in reality and that we know not who we are!.
Peter and Paul were men of boldness, faithful and true. I have wanted to be like them for years —I always thought that has to do with being fearless. They had a perseverance and Love for the Lord that astounds me continually as I read their writings still.
I am not sure that they were never faced with fear, but the relationship they had with Jesus through Holy Spirit triumphed over the opportunities to fear they faced… I have been in India and other places that have a lot of persecution, and I find there some men, who I admire, seem to walk in boldness, and seem to fear nothing but failing Jesus.. Over the ages there have been men who lived like that, not giving in to fear.
The option to fear or to surrender to fear has been around since the garden with Adam and Eve. Fear is present in the world, it is ever present to try to destroy what God creates that would produce life.
The question becomes; “Is it possible to walk without giving in to fear?” I believe The Word speaks plainly to us on not having fear so, we should. The question for us must become how, not is it possible?
There is something we need to understand before we can defeat fear, and that is the need to recognize fear for what it is. It is hard to face what we cannot understand or ‘puta face to’. An unknown adversary is tough to defeat. Someone once said that you can only have victory or authority over the storms you can sleep through. If you do not know the nature of storms and have the assurance of them passing after they rumble and roar through our lives, they can be quite intimidating. Fear can seem to be a fairly good-sized storm, and when we are in the midst of it, it can appear to be able to destroy life and last forever. Remember Jesus in the boat with His disciples and the fear that came on them, (even though He was with them they still buckled to what they were seeing)? What did Jesus say to them? (See Mt. 8:23-27) Having fear iss related to having, “very little faith”.
Sometimes we wonder why we do not see what the apostles or others have seen? We ask where is the power of the Gospel? The world says, ” Show us the power, give us a reason to walk with this God you profess”. Could fear (that does not look like fear) be the stone that most of us stumble over? Why do we listen to people or voices that tell us we have no power? Why do we feel we must compromise scripture rather than be offensive in any way?
We all know that the “Word of His Power” is our only hope? Did the Gospel of Power end with Jesus’ death or the apostles? They were the beginning, not the end! How has tradition and the world gained such control over us? We are crying out for the power yet we do not see it. We live in fear of the enemies we face without the Power of the Gospel, yet we make excuses and blame others for what is not happening. The world has used the “fear of rejection and not being love” to control us, demean Christ and talk us into living without faith.
(What is it that impedes the Lord from working through us? What is it that allows Jesus authority to appear so “insignificant” in the face of life today? Could it be fear of failure, rejection by men or the thought that we are unworthy? Could it be fear by any name? Could we be giving satan too big a place?)
If we are not seeing what we know is in the Bible and what we long for, why do we continue to do the same things we have done for years. The habit of fear.
I have heard some people teach a hard word about going to hell if we don’t repent and change or receive Jesus as our savior. This message is true, but do we bring people to Jesus through fear tactics? Or is there something to do that would speak louder than fear? Paul says that the Gospel that He preached is “not without power”. Ours shouldn’t be either. Naturally-supernatural Love should always overcome fear!
1 Cor 2:4 – 1 Cor 2:5 (NKJV) 4And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
1 Cor 4:20 (NKJV) 20For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.
Our FAITH, not our fear, should be in Christ and the truth of His presence and power.
Faith is said to be the opposite of fear. How do we demonstrate fear? How should we demonstrate faith? Did you realize that faith is energized through relationship?
Heb 11:2 – Heb 11:2 (NKJV) 1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
What do we hope for? What is it we haven’t seen? Where is the evidence of our faith? It says that faith causes you to have a good testimony. What is our testimony of faith? Faith seems to be such an illusive thing. Sometimes we feel we have it and sometimes it seems to be nowhere to be found. Maybe our faith is bound up in our fear at times.
We must come back to this little four-letter word –fear, face it and defeat it. Maybe we should find out more about how faith really works because the faith of a few at times, have destroyed the fear of the multitudes. If you read the rest of the 11th chapter of Hebrews you will see what faith has done. It takes away the fear of many when someone is seen walking in faith.
So if faith is the key to fear being destroyed how does faith work.
Gal 5:6 (NKJV) 6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor un-circumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. (emphasis mine)
Faith works through Love. Such an easy answer yet most of us don’t even know what God’s love is much less how to walk in it. We only know how we have been loved so we are at a loss at understanding God’s love. In this last verse that I quoted we see that our works mean nothing, they don’t produce faith. We also see that faith is manifest or seen working through love.
1 John 4:8 (NKJV) 8He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
1 John 4:16 (NKJV) 16And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
Now that is a very powerful statement that we pass over as being soft and gentle. God’s love is naturally supernatural and changes what cannot be changed!
If God is Love then the characteristics of God must be the definition of Love. IF we walk in the characteristics of God, would that be a demonstration of faith? Does God, who dwells in us, have any fear? Would He not know who He is?
Is He big enough to handle whatever comes? Maybe the key to faith is finding God within us and trusting who He is and who we are IN HIM. It God is for us who can truly stand against us? Those thoughts might change the fear factor that seems to rule His Church a little!!
Psa 23:1 – Psa 23:6 (NKJV) A Psalm of David.
1The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 4Yea, 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. 5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. 6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
These are Words of someone who has found Love, and lost succumbing to fear, Words of a man who found God to be true above all else. The fear factor can be overcame if we will find intimacy ( a close, dynamic, powerful, bold relationship) with the one who is and was and will ever be….Whom shall I fear, of what shall I be afraid, You are with me and abide in me. I am your child and I shall be saved—Made safe from my enemies.
Psa 27:1 (NKJV)
The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
Psa 118:6 (NKJV)
6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?
Heb 13:5 – Heb 13:6 (NKJV)
5Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
If we were to Judge ourselves we won’t have to be judged. The judgment He is talking about here is nothing more than an honest truthful evaluation of ourselves. Are our reactions to this statement about judging ourselves out of some kind of fear? Do we really recognize our thoughts for what they are? How can we face them?
Have we really died to all fear.
1 John 4:18 (NKJV) 18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
I want to wake up looking like Jesus. I want to be a place where He can show forth His Glory. I want to be a vessel of Love, and a blessing to all of those around me. Maybe I will have to give up being afraid of not getting all I deserve or trying to control the future, Maybe I should stop being offended at how people treat me because I “don’t deserve” this kind of treatment. What am I afraid of? How far does my pride reach? Does insecurity and worry control my thinking and living?
I want to wake up looking like Jesus. I want to be a place where He can show forth His Glory through. I want to be a vessel of Love, and a blessing to all those around me. Maybe I will have to give up being afraid of not getting all I deserve, and not deserving all that I am getting.
Fear is the illusion that doubt and worry brings. By our not “knowing” Him, we receive doubt or we worry and that leads to fear controlling our future and the future of others we live with.
Fearlessness is not something you can chant your way into, or pray enough to get. It is not something that you can stand and pound your chest and yell to become. You can do these things and gain a boldness and fierceness to walk through fear into battle or into an action that overcomes fear, but fearlessness is something else. To be without fear is a place that can only be found in the knowing of who you are. It is a place of confidence that doesn’t need to boast or show it’s muscle. It is a place of knowing, without thought for consequences, where your actions don’t even have to be premeditated. You just do what needs to be done. Failure, torment, risk, these things just can’t interfere with your thoughts or actions that need to be done. Fearlessness does not deny the presence of fear but is a place of position and power that breeds confidence and assurance that walks through fear. So many times we only find we were without fear after we have went through some incident, without stopping to see what we were about to do, and are looking back at what we did or what happened see the missed option to fear… Ha– His presence in us overlooked fear through the eyes of faith that works by love.
Being fearless (not reacting to the presence of fear) is a part of relationships. It is found in deep intimacies and places of great trust. Fearlessness never walks alone; it is always in the company of Love and intimacy. Fearlessness (not surrendering to fear) shows itself in many ways in relations, friendships and intimacies. It allows the expression of love without the fear of rejection. God truly is fearless in the expression of His Love. He knows His Love will not fail. Fear cannot overcome us in the presence of such assurance and confidence. God knows that love will never fail because He is Love and He never quits being Himself. Fear does not exist in God, only in man. Intimacy destroys it’s right to exist or prevail.
The only fear that is clean, pure, and sweet is to fear God from whom all things existence. We will never impact our communities with God’s Love if our lives are founded in the “habit of fear”. Love never fails!
Our first step is to acknowledge and recognize fear as being a sin and to pray:
Acts 4:28 –Acts 4:31 (NKJV)
Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”
And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
