November 1, 2007

"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

FEAR.

Satan has many weapons in his arsenal designed to slay or at the very least, to disarm the Christian. When he finds it an effective weapon on an individual, he will use it again and again. He is merciless.

Fear paralyzes. Fear cripples. Fear robs you of your joy. Fear diminishes your faith. According to the above verse, fear is NOT from the Lord!

Do you want to know what fear REALLY is? Fear is :


F alse

E xpectations

A ppearing

R eal



Isn't it interesting that the first word is "false"? Why? Because Satan is the father of lies! Lying to us is his specialty. That is how he works on us. He whispers lies in our ears, causing us to fear.

"Appearing" means it looks like...not that it IS! How many things have you worried about in your life that actually happened?! I know that I have wasted countless hours worrying over things that....thankfully....never came to be. If we are focusing our attention on our fears, we have taken our focus off of Jesus and that is just exactly what Satan wants.

Fear robs us of our joy. It causes us to forget how awesome our God is! It causes us to forget how faithful He is, how much He loves us and that we can trust Him. It is an insidious weapon that wraps its tentacles around our minds and our hearts and grips us til we cannot function at all.

But, dear friend, be of good cheer! God has an arsenal that is bigger and better than anything Satan could ever hope to have. It is the Word of God! It is sharper than a two edged sword and it is available to each of us 24/7! For me, the most effective of those weapons is found in the book of Psalms. I camp there with David often. Listen to what David has to say :

"Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer. Preserve my life from fear....Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked [Satan and his demons]...Psalm 64:1

"Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." Psalm 61: 1,2

"My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him" Psalm 62: 5 [Our expectation is to be from the Lord...not from man or any other source.]

"Trust him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge to us." Psalm 61: 8

Listen in this Psalm at how David begins in fear and ends seeking the Lord:

"Give ear to my prayer, O God and hide not thyself from my supplication.....My heart is sore pained within me and the terrors of death are fallen upon me [Saul is pursing him to kill him]. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me and horror hath overwhelmed me.....As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me. Evening, morning and at noon shall I pray and cry aloud and he shall hear my voice." [David found the prescription for his fear...he prayed!] Psalm 55: 1,2; 3,5; 16, 17.

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. THEREFORE....we will NOT fear though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea!" Psalm 46: 1,2


Today, if you find yourself gripped with fear, call upon the Lord. Turn your face toward Him and away from the fears that are plaguing you. Ask God to take captive all those fearful thoughts. Go to the Word and submurge yourself in it. Put on a worship CD or turn on the radio to a Christian station and turn your focus from whatever is worrying you to the God who has all the answers, to the One who loves you with an unquenchable love. He will set you free from the chains that bind you!!!!!!!!!!!!!