“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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