Tuesday 28 July 2020

The Power of Fear

Scripture: Job 3 v 25: "For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me."

We are living in a time where fear is everywhere.  Every day carries uncertainty because there is a deadly virus stalking the world without a cure.  It has hamstrung the world's economy, and caused many to lose their jobs.

It happened to Job.  He lost everything.  His children, land, income, wealth, health and there was nothing left except his own life.  He realised that all his fears had now been realised and that he had been blinded by them.

He changed his mind about fear and restored his absolute faith in God Almighty.  No matter how bad things were, the constant harassment from his friends that He should give up his belief in God and die, Job never wavered.  He kept his eyes on the Lord.

2 Timothy 1 v 7: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

We need to memorize the above verse so we have strong faith in the power of God to deal with our fears.  The power of fear puts us in constant jeopardy like Job, but the power of God fills us with faith.

The Lord said the words Fear Not 365 times in the Bible, meaning that we would have faith in Him all year round.  We live by faith, therefore what we see, hear, feel, taste must be subjected to that Faith.

So, do not go by what you sense, but go by what you know.  Or Who you know.  The One who will never leave you, who will do unbelievable things to protect you.  Things you cannot see but the result is perfect.

I am reminded of a day when an African lady wanted to do some domestic work for me.  I did not know her but I was amazed at how wonderfully she cleaned house, windows, speedily and excellently.  I was in the kitchen loading the washing machine when she came into the room.

All of a sudden I felt fear.  I looked at her and her face was full of hate.  She was quite large and I did not think I could overcome her.  I started to pray softly in tongues.  I notice something behind my right shoulder, a golden light.  She must have seen it too because she gave a strangled cry and ran out of the kitchen door, and never looked back.  Never got paid either.   She saw Jesus standing there and whatever was in her panicked and fled.

I was rather new at seeing miracles and feeling protected but that day was a turning point.  Fear had left the building with that woman.  She had all her fear plus took mine with her.  I had a super clean house for free as a bonus. God is good all the time.

Fear is a power that the enemy uses to blackmail us into doing sinful things.  Sin has consequences.  The Bible says the wages of sin is death.  It may be sudden or distant, but it is not just dying here, its being lost forever if you don't repent.  So Satan uses fear to trap and force you to do his evil bidding.

If we let him do it once he has his hooks in and all sorts of silly fears start to plague you.  So when those temptations come James says Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee.  Resist that fear and whatever sin he tries on you.  He will flee.

I saw it happen and I did not yet know that verse!  So by praying in tongues I was submitting to God.  He did the rest.  Whatever that woman had planned to do to me, and it could have been murder, fled out the door.  The Word of God is true, tried and tested.  Jesus has proven Himself able in every circumstance.  Faith in Jesus is never misplaced.

The enemy has a whole range of fears, plus levels from mild to manic, uncomfy to panic.  He plays mind games with our fears.  Certain colours can bring fear, stormy weather and lightning too.  Fear of death, darkness, abandonment, spiders, snakes, falling, walking under ladders.  

I have often written of the Six Days Realm where Satan kept us hostage and brainwashed us (like the Manchurian Candidate) giving us false memories.  Fear of spiders is one prime example Jesus showed me.  If we see a small spider some people go into a complete panic.  They could kill it with one swat or step on it but they are helpless with fear.  Why?

Because in that Realm before Earth was prepared for human existence, we were tormented by creatures resembling spiders which were huge, life threatening monsters, pursuing us, biting us, killing us, scaring us senseless.  This information is stored in our subconscious minds and memories so when we see a small spider now the memory is an alert for extreme danger.

All our fears come from this same source and are exaggerated to produce every phobia that makes humans miserable, and some doctors rich.  If we turn the tables on the enemy and submit to God, call on Jesus, and say no to the fear, return it to sender by express, that fear will diminish like a popped balloon.

If we continue in fear we become a magnet attracting it and helpless to fight it.  This war zone we live in called Battlefield Earth, can be overcome by our faith in God's ability because Jesus conquered it on the Cross.  He gave us authority over Satan and all his evil demons.

If we choose not to believe that that's what's wrong with this planet today, then fear is all that's left to us.  If we have faith to believe that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world, then we will conquer our fears and sing

     Because He lives I can face tomorrow
     Because He lives all fear is gone
     Because I know, yes I know, He holds the future
     Life is worth the living just because He lives.

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us a sound mind so that the evil spirit of fear cannot twist us into frightened people.  Help us to use the authority of Jesus, against the enemy of our souls, to overcome all sin and fear.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.