“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)
There are two major types of fear: real fear and imagined fear. Real fear occurs when there is a genuine reason to be afraid, for example if one is just diagnosed to have a terminal ailment. Imagined fear is when the fear exists in the mind and imagination of the victim, and when there is no genuine reason to fear. Imagined fear is False Evidence Appearing Real (FEAR). Many people who fear have imagined fears!
There are different kinds of fear: The fear of death, fear of Satan and demons, fear of man, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of the future, fear of judgment of wrong deeds done in the past, fear of heights, fear of cockroaches, fear of doctor’s report, etc
Fear is dangerous because it has the capacity to produce what is being feared. Job said: “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me” (Job 3:25). A former USA President, Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “the only thing to fear is fear itself”. Fear is not just a disturbing emotion, it is also the spiritual force that governs the kingdom of darkness. It is the opposite of faith. Just like faith is the force of the Kingdom of God that attracts God’s blessings, fear is a force that attracts Satan’s curses and woes. The passage above identifies fear has a spirit, in other words, there are evil beings peddling and spreading fear in the world. The Bible says in 1 John 4:18 that fear has torment, afflicting its victim with pain and even death. The story was told of a man who was to be initiated into a cult, part of the initiation was to blindfold and tie him on a rail track. As he heard the sound of the train approaching, this man cried out to his friends to untie him, unknown to him, he was tied to a different rail track from the approaching train. Finally, as the train passed and his friends went to untie him, they found him stone dead. He had died of heart attack.
There are three major forces that help us combat and overcome fear when we realize we are inundated by it. These forces are love, power and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7):
Love: The love of God is given to believers of Christ when they hand over their lives to Him as Lord and Savior (Romans 5:5). This love of God is perfect and should not ideally co-exist with fear in the heart of the believer (1 John 4:18). Apostle Paul prayed that believers will be well secured in the love of God which has the ability to remove every form of fear in the mind of the believer (Ephesians 3:18-19).
Power: Human beings are afraid because we feel powerless and helpless. When people lack control of a situation or circumstance, they feel powerless and are prone to be afraid of negative outcomes. Jesus came to give us control and power for living, and the Holy Spirit resident in the believer places him/her on a platform over and above satanic powers, sicknesses and destructions (Luke 10:19). The believer through a dynamic walk with God can operate as Christ did when He was here on earth.
Sound Mind: A sound mind is a mind that is anchored in the Word of God. A sound mind is stable even through the vicissitudes of life. Isaiah 26:3-4 says, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock.” A sound mind is a mind full of courage, confidence, peace, hope and faith in God. It is the product of constant meditation and reflection on the word of God (Romans 10:17).
CONCLUSION: Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). The only way to live fearlessly is to genuinely fear God. Once the fear of God is in place, there is nothing else to fear again.
Have a blessed new month and second half of 2011.
Ade(Gboyega) ESAN
www.rccgpittsburgh.net
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