Fear Not



Fear is the strongest emotion of 21 century.

What is fear?

Fear is an apprehension of sufferings and losses
Fear is an emotion over something unpleasant which may occur in future.

Suffering of pain – hunger, sickness, torture, dishonor etc.
Loss of - property, income, time, health, honour, power, life itself etc.

Fear is caused by the existence of another personality/power that is against our life.
It may be:

Evil people
Evil supernatural powers

It may have its base in our past life or the life of other people.

The cause of fear is always an unexpected or unwelcome incident.
So whether it may happen or not, we tend to fear.

What are you afraid of?

1. Losing Your Freedom
2. The Unknown
3. Pain
4. Disappointment
5. Misery
6. Loneliness
7. Ridicule
8. Rejection
9. Death
10. Failure

Some Results of Fear

Fear is one of the greatest tools that the devil uses to destroy both the unbeliever and the Believer.

1. Fear immobilizes.
2. Fear leads us to sin.
3. Fear causes various physical problems.
4. Fear opens the door for the work of the devil.
5. Fear brings confusion.
6. Fear causes us to hide.
7. Fear causes us to abandon our love for others.
8. Fear keeps us from serving God.
9. Fear causes us to flee when we should stand.

Positive Effect of Fear

Fear has positive side too
It causes self restraint on us.
Since we are afraid of suffering and loss, we try to avoid thoughts, words and action that may cause suffering and loss to us.

How to Escape from Fear

Fear as a negative emotion always has an enemy on the other side.
It tells us always that we will be proven impotent against the enemy at any time in our life.

So we try to keep away the fearsome suffering and loss.

1.      By trying to please the enemy/fear
2.      Entering into a compromise/treaty with the enemy
3.      By avoiding a confrontation with the enemy
4.      By joining hands with a more powerful personality

The first three methods are that are of a coward.
You are acknowledging that you are afraid of the enemy
You are ready to acknowledge:

His existence
His power to harm you
Your inability to stand against him.

It means you agree to remain subservient to fear.

That is what the Moorish proverb says.

"He who is afraid of a thing gives it power over him." The Moors were the medieval Muslim inhabitants of Morocco, Western Algeria, Western Sahara, Mauritania, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta.

You are giving power and authority over you to fear.
Hence fear rules over you.

Why do lions roar? The roaring sound of the lion sends a chill into the heart of weaker animals. The roar of lions announces their presence in and around. The bigger the sound nearer they are.

Fear has many arrows in his quiver to keep us servile.
Once we have subdued to him, it is difficult to escape. He is a relentless enemy who follows us to the grave.
He will never bless us. But he will try to ruin those who are disobedient to his authority.

He will teach us that:

We have no authority or no free will over our life
Everything in our life is controlled by fate or an insensible supernatural power
Everything is predestined and it will happen whatever we may do
We are destined to live in fear of fear.

Join With a More Powerful Personality

The last option to escape the unexpected suffering and loss caused by fear is to join the other more powerful personality.
He is called GOD.
He is Almighty, Omnipotent and Omnipresent.

Those who have joined hands with God have decided to fight against fear.
They believe that:

God is almighty – more powerful than the enemy
God is beneficent
God does not want us to live in subservience
With God we can overcome all enemies

Their decision is to:

Fight against fear
Defeat fear
Live a life of victory


The only option available to those who wish to live a life of victory is to fight and defeat fear.

Fear is a Choice

Even though fear is an emotion, we do not have to let it rule our minds.
As Christians, we have the mind of Christ.

LIVING IN FEAR IS A CHOICE.
Living in unbelief and lack of faith is a CHOICE.

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” (Acts 16:31 – NIV) is also a divine imperative, a COMMAND.

Why Should We Not Fear?

Almost every book in the Bible has a "fear not" in it. 
The enemy uses fear, but God would have us to have faith in Him. 

Although Job was a righteous man and would not speak evil, he opened the door through thoughts of fear for the enemy to work in his life.  

Job 3:25-26
25   What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.
26   I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil. (NIV)

With each COMMAND to fear not, God gives a little promise of:

His presence
Help
Power
Provision
Direction for us to focus on

Fear Not

Genesis 15:1     After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. (NIV)

To all our fears, God says, "I am your shield."
We should not think of a small shield that covers only the chest area, but rather of a shield that stretches from head to toe and completely protects every part of the soldier’s body.
Such a shield offers complete protection from every attack of the enemy.

God does not say, “I will give you a shield,” but “I am your shield.”
The very God of heaven says that he will be our shield, which means we have a shield that is omnipotent, universal, eternal. 
That shield cannot be defeated. It is as strong as God himself.
We could not be in a better position.
The great message is certainly clear. If God is your shield, fear not!

A Christian is immortal until his work on earth is done.

Nothing can harm you without God’s permission.
Not cancer
Not AIDS
Not bankruptcy
Not theft                                                       
Not physical disability
Not the loss of your job
Not a terrible accident
Not the death of a child
Not any of a thousand other sorrows that afflict the children of God.

Christians aren’t immune to sadness.
What happens to others also happens to us.
Our sorrow is different precisely because we hope in God.  
The difference is this. 

1 Thessalonians 4:13  Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. (NIV)

Deuteronomy 4:19 - And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.

Exodus 15:3: The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. (NIV)


Balaam and Balak
                                                                                                 
Numbers 23:7-10

7     Then Balaam spoke his message: “Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.’
8     How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced?
9     From the rocky peaks I see them, from the heights I view them. I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations.
10   Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my final end be like theirs!” (NIV)

Numbers 23:20-24

20   I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it.
21“No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them.
22   God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox.
23   There is no divination against Jacob, no evil omens against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!’
24   The people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion that does not rest till it devours its prey and drinks the blood of its victims.” (NIV)

Conclusion

If you are afraid of fear, you live:

A defeated live
Subservient to fear

Those who live a victorious life over fear, live a life:

Resisting, fighting against fear
Overcoming and defeating fear
______________________

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