20th March: Fear Not!

Although I did do my Bible study this morning, I thought I would use today's blog to take notes as I listen to a series from the Plymouth Christian Centre podcasts http://www.plymouthchristiancentre.org/messages.shtml on fear. Fear is something which has plagued me for as long as I can remember, so I am using this day off of work to spend some extra time seeking God on the subject.


2 Timothy 1:7 God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and a sound mind


False
Expectations
Appearing
Real

Fearfulness can come in numerous ways:

1)Personality - some people are naturally timid and fearful
2)Induced by people - those around you rub off on you
3)Trauma- bad incidents which make us afraid
4)Satanic - satan is the author of fear

Wherever fear comes from it is not from God!


Types Of Fear Found in the Bible

Fear of death is a big fear in the Bible, which Jesus came to break.
Fear of exposure - being discovered
Fear of disease - anxiety about becoming ill
Fear of the night e.g. being burgled
Fear of being attacked
Fear of other people
Fear of failure

Fear is a tormentor. Perfect love casts out fear.

There was a lurking fear in the life of Job: "what I always feared has happened to me". Even in the good times, Job had a fear things would go wrong. God was with him and he was prosperous, BUT he still felt bad was on its way.

So what do we do when we have these fears that attack our soul and keep on reoccurring?

1) Remind yourself that God did not give you a spirit of fear
2) Face the fear - name what you are afraid of. Speak to the mountain and cast it into the sea.
3) Believe in the love of God for you; there is no fear in God's love. Fear has to do with torment and punishment, and God has not given us a spirit of fear.

KEY VERSES:

Psalm 139:16 All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.


If God has not given us a spirit of fear, then what HAS he given us? Power, love and a sound mind!

'Be anxious for nothing, but in everything... make your requests known to God'.

When we become Christians, the spirit of God comes into us a seed which needs to grow.

God has given us a spirit of power:

1)Power in the presence of God e.g. praying in tongues defeats evil
2)Power in believing prayer e.g. Elijah is described as being a man like you and I, but he prayed. There is power in persistent prayer - ask and it will be given to you, is actually from the Greek, the continuous 'keep asking'. Those who prayed for Peter prayed through the night and he was saved- persist in prayer.
3)Power in praise e.g. remember what God has done for us,answered our prayers and brought us through. Magnify the Lord.
4)The power of proclamation e.g.speak it out, claim the scripture, build yourself and others up.

God has given us a spirit of love:
1) To love God back
2) To love other Christians - don't major on minor differences, just love them!
3) To love our enemies - do good to those who hate us and pray for those who ill-treat us!

God has given us a spirit of a sound mind:
From the greek 'a safe mind, good judgement, disciplined thought patterns, including self control and self discipline'. What we think about is important.

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, right, lovely, admirable, excellent and praise-worthy, think about such things!