Daily Bible Reading - Nehemiah 12, Amos 4, 2 Timothy 1
Fear
Fear is one of the enemies number 1 weapons when it comes to attacking believers. Fear keeps us from walking in the fullness of God and from fulfilling our destiny. I heard this acronym of fear one time; false evidence appearing real. That is exactly what the enemy wants to do to us. He wants us to see things that are not true and believe that they are. This is why it says in 2 Corinthians 5:7, "...we walk by faith, not by sight". Fear is what the enemy would like us to walk in but faith is what God intends for us to walk by.
2 Timothy 1:7 says, "for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control". The passage starts off by saying what God has not given us, fear and then goes into 3 descriptive words of what God has given us, power, love and self-control. Since faith is the opposite of fear it is safe to say that this scripture is telling us that faith produces power, love and self-control. Since fear is the opposite of faith then fear produces weakness, hatred/bitterness and lack of control. When the enemy comes in with the weapon of fear it causes us to live frivolous, weak lives full of bitterness and un-forgiveness. Fear drains you from all energy and keeps you from fulfilling your purpose.
When we experience these things in our lives we must understand that we are not in the will of God but we are succumbing to the enemies weapon. The beginning of 2 Timothy 1:7 states that God is not the one who has given us a spirit of fear but rather God has given us the power to overcome the enemy, the love we need to walk forgiveness with others and self control to keep from making bad choices and mistakes. All of these great things God has given us as a result of a faith. The ability to walk in love, to make great choices to have power to overcome the enemy, all of these an overwhelming security and benefit of living in faith rather than fear.
Fear comes in and robs so many of joyful healthy lives. Fear of lacking financially, or of losing a loved one. Fear of failure or ridicule so we do not step out and live the dream that is in our heart. Fear; false evidence appearing real is all around us BUT, God has given us Faith! Faith to rise above all these things and live the dream that He has for us. We can rise above all the fear that the enemy tries to throw at us. We rise above as we get more faith in our life and we get more faith in our life as we go to the word. Romans 10:17, "...faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ". As we read more of the word and concentrate less on our circumstances we walk in faith and we begin to realize that God has not given us false evidences that appear real.
What things have you frustrated and not making good decisions today? Its time to stop giving into fear and start walking in power, love and self control.
Tomorrows Bible Reading - Nehemiah 13, Amos 5, 2 Timothy 2
Dream Big
Ben
|
Monday, November 23, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
That is one of my favorite scriptures that I often pray when I am feeling fearful. I don't watch scary movies or shows involving child abductions because I know that the only thing that it will produce in my life is fear. For some it may not affect them, but for me it does. I think it is important to recognize those "False Evidences that Appear Real" in our lives so we can guard and protect ourselves.
Post a Comment