|
OVERCOMING FEAR
8/24/02
Hi Loved Ones,
I just sent to you a Word from Paul
Keith Davis who shared a vision given to Bob Jones about
overcoming Goliath. In his vision, Goliath was fear. It
was quickened to me to share some pointers the Lord has
personally taught me about overcoming fear.
FEARING LOSS
Usually when people battle fear, it
is because they fear loss. Whether it be their health,
their loved ones, their self image, their reputations,
their ministries, their lifestyles, their finances,
their dreams, their homes, their jobs, their confidence,
their unknown futures, their faith, their promises, even
their very lives… People fear when they are faced with
the possibility they will lose something that is
precious to them.
FEARING CHANGE
In all these above examples there
are common threads. One of these is the fear of loss.
Another is the fear of change. If we lose something, it
causes change. The very nature of change requires
flexibility and that can touch our fixed foundations and
make us feel insecure and shaky.
The lack of change (inflexibility)
is a false security that brings some stability from the
wrong sources. The Lord has given us many good and
wonderful gifts, but He has not intended them to be our
source of security.
FEAR IS A CONTROL ISSUE
I believe the bottom line of
fearing anything is answering the question, "Who is in
control?" If we think that our circumstances are in
control, or people, nations, demons, principalities,
genes, darkness, etc, then we have a weak God Who
started the whole thing, but stands by and only watches
to see what will happen. At the very bottom line of our
faith, we have to decide Who is in control. Usually if
we fear something, it also means we fear because we have
lost control. If we fear losing control over our lives,
perhaps it is time to give control over what we fear to
the Lord. He cares, He loves, He is our loving Papa and
He wants to be intimately involved in every detail of
our lives.
Along with His harvest for souls,
the Lord’s last day agenda is for His bride to overcome
darkness, place it under her feet and come out of a
polluted world without spot or wrinkle. Now that is
quite an agenda when we are nothing but specks of dust
and hunks of clay. It is simply not in our own strength,
skill or might that we will accomplish anything of God’s
agenda while on earth. It is only in companioning with
Him and His intimate involvement in every detail of our
lives that we can do anything of worth.
TURNING FEAR INTO FAITH
So, the only way we face our fears,
overcome dark plans and get clean in the process is to
yield the control over what we fear, to the Lord.
Consider the following two scriptures and see Who is in
control over our overcoming giants.
Deut 7:21-23 NKJV
You shall not be terrified of them;
for the LORD your God, the great and awesome God, is
among you. And the LORD your God will drive out those
nations before you little by little; you will be unable
to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field
become too numerous for you.
Josh 11:20 KJV
For it was of the LORD to harden
their hearts, that they should come against Israel in
battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that
they might have no favour, but that he might destroy
them, as the LORD commanded Moses.
It was the Lord’s agenda for His
people to move out of Egypt into their promised place.
They had to overcome the giants occupying their promises
in order to do so. He was the One Who told them to
overcome these giants little by little. He was the One
Who hardened the giant’s hearts at the right time, the
right place and the right season when it was time for
them to be destroyed. It was all allotted warfare, one
step at a time under the careful attention of a Mighty
God Who rules and reigns.
Rev 19:6 NKJV
And I heard, as it were, the voice
of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as
the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! For
the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!
FEAR OF DEATH
When the Lord is in control, does
He allow casualties? Does He allow death? Does He allow
loss? Yes He does. That is why our faith in a loving God
outshines any evil plot the enemy can generate. It is a
real war with real threats and real fatalities. Losses
do occur, but our loving God cries with us, and He also
restores, replenishes, redeems and rewards us for
everything we suffer. (1 Cor 15:25-27, Rom 8:18, I John
3:2)
The very heart of His last day
events in overcoming the enemy is found in the following
scripture:
Rev 12:10-11 KJV
And I heard a loud voice saying in
heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the
kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the
accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them
before our God day and night. And they overcame him by
the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their
testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the
death.
The enemy is overcome first by
Jesus’ blood. Jesus paid the price with His own life so
that we can appropriate His blood into our lives and
overcome the enemy even as Jesus did. (Rom 8:29)
The second way we overcome the
enemy is in what we say about our TESTings. In order to
have a TESTimony, we have to have tests.
The last way we overcome is
yielding our lives. There are many kinds of death, along
with martyrdom. Whenever we suffer loss to any degree,
it is death. When we offer control to the Lord over what
we fear losing, and He allows it to be taken away, we
are going through death to self.
Matt 10:38-39 NLT
If you refuse to take up your cross
and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you
cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it
up for me, you will find it.
LAYING IT DOWN FOR A FRIEND
Jesus said:
John 15:13-14 NKJV
Greater love has no one than this,
than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are My
friends if you do whatever I command you.
We have no greater love, no greater
gift to give the Lord then to lay down our lives for
Him. When we give Him something that we treasure and ask
Him to keep it in His loving care, and yet we suffer
loss, we have given that treasure to Him, our Friend. He
is our Beloved Whose face is moist with tears as He
receives our gifts and feels our pain.
WE HAVE A FUTURE AND A HOPE
Jer 29:10-12 NKJV
For I know the thoughts that I
think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and
not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Regardless of what our
circumstances tell us about the loving God we serve, we
must believe that He has given us a future and a hope.
We have Christ in us, the hope of glory. We will walk as
Jesus walked on earth. We will place darkness under our
feet and all hell will tremble with each step. We will
overcome little by little, and He will call us FRIENDS.
(Col 1:27, Rom 16:20)
PERFECT LOVE CASTS OUT ALL FEAR
Lord we ask that above all
spiritual gifts, above all ambitions and pursuits, that
we know You and Your love. We are nothing without Your
love. We have nothing without Your love. We are not even
able to love without Your love, for You first loved us.
We are not able to overcome the enemy unless we trust in
Your love. It is in the power of Your love that brings
darkness its greatest defeat. And so we ask that You
will grant us Your love, and then grant us creative ways
to stand upon that love and practice that love, until
little by little, we overcome our greatest fears.
1 John 4:18-19 NKJV
There 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. We love Him because He first loved us.
Lovingly,
Sandy
CLICK HERE FOR OTHER ARTICLES ON OVERCOMING FEAR
|
