I have thoroughly been enjoying this series. The personal
study that I have been in to bring you a challenging, encouraging, and biblical
word has been exciting for me. And the next three weeks are going be just as
powerful. So let's get started.
1.
Funny fears: A moment on the lips, a
lifetime on the hips.
2.
We tell our kids, "the spider is
smaller than you, they say, "well yeah so is a grenade."
3.
I'm not afraid of heights I'm afraid
of falling.
1.
Fear
is the single most insidious thing keeping you from_____________.
2.
An amazing retirement plan.
3.
A house full of children who love and
respect you.
4.
A beneficial career path.
5.
A passionate, successful, smokin hot
marriage.
6.
An unforgettable vacation getaway!
7.
Forgiveness.
8.
That new relationship that could be
the one.
9.
Courage.
10.Losing that
weight, losing that bitterness, losing that attitude, or losing that
pride.
11.That uncharted,
untamed, unstoppable, unrelenting, white hot relationship with God.
1.
Sometimes our greatest motivation is
fear.
1.
I once worked for a Pastor that I
feared.
2.
They expected their team to work
tirelessly without making mistakes or needing positive feedback. They took
whatever we were willing to give and gave nothing in return, aside from the
occasional silent glare as evidence that I'd disappointed them. Despite all
this or perhaps because of it, I desperately wanted to please them. I gave that
opportunity all my energy, creative juices, and best efforts. But I was really
giving it all to them as if it were an offering, hoping they’d notice, approve,
and at the same time hoping I’d avoid their wrath. However, because fear was the ultimate
motivation for our work, we grew to hate the call of God I had otherwise loved,
I became bitter, angry, fearful and confused. I didn’t realize it at
the time but my relationship with my employer was a telling the tale of my
relationship with God. I feared God, not in a biblical way but in the same way
I feared my harsh employer. I worked hard and then worked harder. I gave them
my best efforts, but almost as a request I was sure would be denied: Please
love me. Please approve of me. Please reward me for what I’ve done for you.
God seemed as distant, disengaged, and disapproving as my boss had. I couldn’t understand why
I felt so trapped or how to break free from the cycle of pride and
self-condemnation. All I knew is that I wanted to please this God that I
feared, but I never felt that I could get it quite right. I began soaking my
thoughts and beliefs in Scripture and a load of dirt rose to the surface. I’d always feared
God, but I hadn’t
always understood His love for me. As a matter of fact I’d pushed it away
because I felt unworthy. God's love finally broke through and I realized just
how far He’d
gone for me, that He’d
not only taken care of my sin but taken care of my sanctification too. By
giving me the indwelling Spirit, He’s given me everything I need for life and Godliness. That’s the explosive,
comprehensive nature of His grace. That fear had shouted so many lies to me,
that I’d
never be enough, what I did was never enough, that I’d never be loved
by God, that I was failure. That fear had me running a race to nowhere trying
to earn what God had given me all along. God’s love brings
freedom. He’s
freed me from feeling as if I have something to prove. Instead I’ve discovered His
love meticulously, and miraculously, now my service is not motivated by fear
but passion. Completely grateful to Him for His love.
2.
Perfect love casts out all fear.
1 John 4:15,17-18 NLT [15] "All who declare that Jesus
is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. [17] And as we
live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day
of judgment, but we can face Him with confidence because we live like Jesus
here in this world. [18] Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all
fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we
have not fully experienced His perfect love."
1.
Expels-It
forces fear to leave that place, forces fear out or ejects fear from the
equation.
1.
What we fear most is usually what we
need to do most.
1.
Talking about Christianity.
1.
Prayer.
2.
Bible reading.
3.
Discipleship.
4.
Fasting.
5.
Worship.
6.
Serving.
7.
Giving.
8.
Attending.
2.
Now, apply that to daily life?
1.
Hearing.
1.
Paying such close attention that we
know we got it. Listening.
2.
Applying.
1.
Making those things a part of our life
structure and discipline.
3.
Practice.
4.
Studying.
5.
Work.
6.
Sacrifice.
7.
Saving.
8.
Growing.
9.
Discipline.
1.
Fear destroys.
2.
Fear corrupts.
3.
Fear motivates some and paralyzes
others.
1.
Overcoming fear is something we all
face when we endeavor to do new things, such as take a new job, fall in love,
create something, or start a new business.
1.
For example, when we consider where
to invest money, we must face the fear of failure.
2.
When you choose a college path there
is no guarantee that there will be a job waiting for you on the other side of
education.
3.
In marriage you put your all on the
line fearfully hoping it won't be rejected.
1.
There can be no progress in life
without taking risks.
2.
You cannot succeed if you give in to
fear.
3.
Afraid to try?
1.
I heard of a guy who couldn't speak
English. He was terrified of trying because he did not want to fail. So he
found an English teacher and asked him to teach him how to order a meal in a
restaurant in English. The teacher taught him how to say four words: hamburger,
french fries, Coke. Every day after that, The man went to order his hamburger,
french fries, and Coke. He soon grew tired of eating the same thing every day.
So he asked English teacher to teach him how to order something else to eat.
The teacher taught him to say eggs, toast, and juice. So the man went happily
to the restaurant to order eggs, toast and juice but when the waiter asked,
"how do you want your eggs?" the guy stared back blankly. Then the
waiter asked, "what kind of toast do you want? And would you like orange
juice or apple juice?" The guy stared helplessly at the waiter for a moment
and then said, "hamburger, french fries, Coke."
4.
A lot of people live a "hamburger,
french fries, Coke" life because they are not willing to do something
imperfectly, try something different or do something new.
1.
They don't want to face-off with their
fears and risk failure.
2.
You cannot please God by playing it
safe, and you cannot succeed without taking some risks.
1.
Faith without works is dead.
1.
Faith is an action and a belief.
2.
A lot of people do that with their
life potential.
3.
We experience crazy fears.
1.
Poverty.
2.
Sickness.
3.
Criticism.
4.
Loss of a loved one.
5.
Old age.
6.
Youth.
4.
Choose to just play it safe, your
potential for success becomes a barren wasteland.
5.
If fear rules your life, you will not
dare step out in faith to fulfill your destiny in God.
1.
I believe it's better to risk failure
to do what God wants you to do than to do nothing.
3. Don't let your fear be more
powerful than your fight.
1 Peter 5:8 NLT [8] "Stay alert! Watch out for your
great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for
someone to devour."
1.
Scripture commands us to be cautious
focused, as the enemy seeks, in fierce hunger, someone to pounce, seize upon
and devour.
1.
Implying his violent, insatiable
thirst and desire for prey as a hungry lion.
2.
This is the way he treats every
victim, he doesn't have a merciful moment.
2.
Fear operates in the life of every
person.
3.
God is so much more powerful than any
voice in the darkness, than any voice in the shadows, and than any voice in my
head.
1.
God is greater than any voice of the
past, present, or the future.
2.
God is greater than fear and through
Jesus Christ I can command it to go!
3.
The enemy engages paralysis with only
a roar.
1.
He speaks and it's a roar into our
ear canals.
2.
It's a roar of fear, it's a roar of
unbelief, it's a roar of debt, its a roar of frustration, its a roar of
weakness, its a roar of destruction.
3.
It's a roar of lies, it's a roar of
inability.
4.
He wants to devour with a roar, is
that all you've got?
1.
Is that all that we're up against?
1.
No sir, no it's not but many of us
can't even get past that first fierce roar of our enemy as he stops us dead in
our tracks every time.
5.
He destroys our fight with a roar!
1.
There are some he can’t devour!
2 Timothy 1:7 KJV [7] "For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
6.
Fear is like a land-mine.
1.
We don't have to take counsel from
our feelings.
1.
We walk by faith and not by sight.
2.
One fearful thought leads to another
and before we know it the momentum has overtaken us.
1.
Allow the promises of God to be our
foundation.
7.
If you're looking for it you will
find it, the land-mine of fear.
1.
Those who love deeply and
passionately are easy to see and those that fear are also easy to see.
1.
Fear has a damaging nature.
1.
The playlist, tape recorder, or
record is set on repeat, we begin to hear the enemy of our soul speaking and
immediately we connect.
2.
That programming is not from God.
8.
We have to hear the voice of God.
1.
If there is anyone that can swallow
up all that fear it's God.
9.
Fear simply stated, does not belong
in the life of the child of God.
1.
We fear our future because we are
still looking in the rear view mirror of our past.
2.
When your trust is crushed your love
is crushed.
3.
Fear will mess with you.
4.
Fear lives in the heart of
confrontation.
1.
General Robert E. Lee said "I never took counsel from
my fear every time I entered the battlefield."
5.
Fear can work in our imagination.
6.
There are consequences to fear.
7.
We can not give in to the tyranny of
fear.
8.
Fear will undermine your self
confidence.
1.
It will undermine our God mission.
2.
Faith is about releasing everything
into the hands of God.
1.
Fear can take what was valuable to
you and trample on it.
9.
You can be free from fear, step out
into faith.
1.
God requires faith before the
miracle.
1.
When you can't track Him, trace Him,
or see Him you can still trust Him.
Isaiah 41:10 NLT [10] "Don't be afraid, for I am with
you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help
you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand."
10.Hebrews 4:12 tells
us that God's word pierces and divides what is truth and what is imagination.
Hebrews 13:5 "He will never leave you or forsake
you."
1.
There is not one thing, one moment,
or life experience that is not tied, connected, or runs in conjunction with
fear.
1.
But know this God's voice shatters
the darkness, and overcomes every enemy!
