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Friday, March 13, 2015

Weapons to Destroy Fear



For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV).

In the summer of 2013 our pastor taught a great series entitled “How to Handled Troublesome Emotions”. He dealt with the difficult emotions that can wreck havoc in a Christian's life. If these troublesome emotions are not brought under the control of the Holy Spirit, they can render you helpless. One of the most difficult emotions to control is fear. It rares its ugly head when you least expect it.

Fear convinces you that God is not going to take care of the concerns of your heart. Fear informs you that your life is always going to be the same, and that God will not rescue you. Fear convinces you that you can't hear God. Fear fills your heart with dread that your financial loss will starve you. Fear makes you believe that your broken family will never be restored. Fear convinces you of problems that will come in the future, and lies to you about the results of what you are going through presently. The list can be endless, but it doesn't have to be. That list can be empty.

God has not given you a spirit of fear, but He has given you a spirit of power, love, and the self-control (2 Timothy 1:7). Both faith and fear are rock-solid beliefs about what is coming in the future. Faith and fear are not just emotional. They are beliefs controlled by totally opposite spiritual forces. Faith is controlled by God, and fear is controlled by the enemy. Faith believes that God will always do the best for His children. Fear believes He never will. But God has given you powerful weapons to fight the emotional battle that fear imposes. He has given you love, power, and self-control. Without these alive, exercised, and applied in your life, you cannot defeat fear. But with His perfect love, His power, and self-control alive and well in your life, you can walk in faith free from the bondage of fear.

Your weapon of love: There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18, NIV). If God's love is not perfected in your life, then you will have fear. Being perfected in His love means you must be molded and stretched. That means letting go and accepting His will. When God's love is perfected in your life, you know that He will do anything for you‒like give His life for you. You do not have to fear.

Your weapon of power: Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power” (Ephesians 6:10, NIV). His power is real for your life. The battle you fight is not your own, but when you try to fight it by yourself, you are defeated. Submit to the Lord, and allow Him to fight what you cannot win on your own. Allow Him to have control of what you have been struggling to handle. His power comes with your submission.

Your weapon of self-control: The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). You have God's divine power within you to defeat fear. Take captive the thoughts of fear when they rise up. Train your mind to think on what is good and on God's power instead of your weakness. Give each fearful thought to Him with trust that He will handle it.

His Love, His power, and self-control. Against these no weapon of fear can prosper.

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