God has not given us a spirit of fear...

In this topsy turvy world and media filled with negative reports one could easily get caught up with what is being reported allowing fear to permeate our thoughts and attitude. But, as Christians, we have a better report to look to.

In Jeremiah 29:11 we read: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declared the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” As we set our eyes upon God's Word and Him Who is the Living Word, Christ Jesus, we come to understand that God's plans for us are good. Even our Lord Jesus encouraged us in this same way when He said, "...I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly" (John 10:10b). God does not want to harm us in this world nor in His Kingdom. He gave us His Word so that we could understand His plans and His heart. Jesus sent for the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us along the way and draw us closer to our Lord Jesus Christ. God has provided all we need to have a victories life. It is at our disposal. The thing is, will we access it?

Jesus never promised us that we would not have trials in our lives. As a matter of fact, we can be assured that they will come our way. What He has promised us is the ability to overcome them as we look to Him to be our strength. The first part of John 10:10 read, "The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy..." so we can know that we do have an enemy coming against us, whether we be believers in Christ Jesus or not. Just as God allows it to rain on the just and unjust, granting blessings to the believer and non-believer alike so does the enemy seek to destroy mankind - whether they believe in our Lord or not for God create all of us in His image.

The difference between the believer and a non-believer is that we have been given promises from our heavenly Father and through our Lord Jesus Christ. While the non-believer in Christ might look at the situation that is going on in the world and lose heart and hope, we can be assured that "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind(2 Timothy 1:7)." Whenever we are striving to walk with the Lord and fear tries to overtake us we can be pretty confident that it is coming from the enemy's camp. God's Spirit brings forth correction; satan and his minions bring forth condemnation. There is a definate difference. If fear comes because of the wrong things we are doing against God then we can come before Him with a contrite heart and confess our sins, seeking His help to sin no more and know that He is quick to forgive. If fear comes against us because of the things we hear going on in the world and we can't seem to shake ourselves free of this fear, we can safely assume that the enemy is trying to bring us down.

God has not given us this spirit of fear. It comes from the enemy. Satan wants us to get our eyes off of Jesus and on to the situations that are happening around us. He wants us to lose hope in the promises we have been given through our Lord, Jesus Christ. But, remember, not only has God notgiven us the spirit of fear, He has given us the Spirit of power for we have God in Christ in us and the Holy Spirit to empower us from on high.Praise be to God! When we are weak we look to Him Who is strong and mighty and it is His power in us that lets us know that we are overcomers through Him who loves us. Hallelujah!!! That surely is wonderful news, wouldn't you say?

Our Lord has also given us a spirit of love, His Spirit which is Love! In this way we can love those who spitefully use us and whose plans are against us. Does that mean that we are to love satan and his minions? NO WAY!!! Their fate has already been sealed when they turned their backs on the One True God. We can love those that satan has influenced to come against God's people though. But that is a topic onto itself. Love covers a multitude of sin and I am fully convinced that the more we allow God's love to flow through us, the more hits the enemy's camp is receiving. Remember, the thief (satan)comes to steal, kill and destroy. These are all negative actions, hurtful and evil. God's love brings restoration, life and healing, the opposite of what the enemy brings. What a good and awesome heavenly Father we have. Praise Him for He is worthy!

Through Christ Jesus we have not only received a spirit of power and of love but also of a sound mind. Many of us might confess that we don't feel we have a sound mind. Well, neither is that power or love coming from us. It is His power and love that God has given us access to! In same manner it is His mind that is given and made available to us through Jesus. We are to allow God's Spiirt to move in us, changing us daily. We are to be reading His Word and communing with Him that we might be transformed into the image of His Son, confident in our heavenly Father's love for us and His good plans for our lives.

Dear ones, if fear should come upon you, shake it off in the name of Jesus! Stand firm in Him who is our all in all. We live in this world for such a short time. But eternity is ours forever and we can dwell with that eternal thinking as we live on the earth, anxiously and expectantly waiting for His kingdom to come, on earth as it is in heaven. Glory!!! That should brighten any of our days!!!

God bless you and keep you. May your eyes and hearts be open to His Divine Truth and Love and may you find strength in Him who has given us the victory over all things, fear included. Hallelujah! Glory to God, amen!

Quote

God has not given us this spirit of fear. It comes from the enemy. Satan wants us to get our eyes off of Jesus and on to the situations that are happening around us.

Boy, you can say that again.

Song
"Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full into His wonderful face,
and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glorious Face.

The spirit of fear is obviously not from God, but something that is extremely hard to battle. In life, we sometimes face things that cause so much fear in us that we cannot get rid of it. I know that that is the truth for me. At times it is so hard to get rid of the fear that it is more comfortable to live with it. That probably makes no sense at all, but it is reality. The fear is kind of a defense mechanism. Once that fear is gone, one may believe that they are letting their guard down and are putting themselves into a more vulnerable state. There has to be a way that you let yourself go from the fear but yet still are protecting yourself. Of course, we know that God will protect us, but we also know that people have free will and can still harm us. There has to be a point of comfort where we are not living in fear.

Naja, I understand what you meant when you said, "At times it is so hard to get rid of the fear that it is more comfortable to live with it." Not only is fear a defense mechanism, it is also familiar, something you know how to deal with. To let go of the fear could open up something unfamiliar, a situation that you do not know the outcome of.

Honey, we all have to get to the place where we trust God no matte what. Once we recognize that people can, and, very likely will, hurt or disappoint us but we can be sure that the Lord will see us through the disappoint and hurt, then will we being willing to make ourselves vulnerable. Yes, we will be hurt in life. Yes, we will be disappoint by those we think we can count on. We will not find one perfect person living on this earth, including ourselves. We all fall short. But even in our pain, our trials, our disappointments, we are assured that we have One who stands with us, thicker than a brother or friend yet being that to us. Jesus showed His faithfulness and love towards us on the cross. We are to be like Him, which means we also will suffer in this lifetime. Once we find peace in that truth, then we can go on because we know Him who will see us through each situation in life.

Why live as a prisoner of fear when we have been set free by Him Who loves us and is faithful to us? Let us live as the victors He's called us to be and be an example to others that need Him, amen? Amen.

I agree with you when you say that we will not find one perfect person. What I am saying though is that the spirit of fear is not going to leave...knowing that there is no one that we can trust is going to cause that spirit of fear to remain within us. Yes, we know that the fear does not relate to God, because we know that He is not going to hurt us, but we do know that this world is going to hurt us. And, we do not want to get hurt so we remain in that tension of fear. Yes, He may see us through every situation, but we know in our minds that those situations are going to be painful and we dont want to have to deal with them. That is just my thinking on it and how I processed it..

Jen, I believe God will always provide someone for us to lean upon in the natural as we look to Him in the spiritual to be our all in all and to strengthen us in times of need and times of thanksgiving. But even that person will not meet all that we need for He alone is the one who can do that.

As far as not wanting to get hurt, well, we may as well get over that because there is no way to avoid that! We will get hurt in this life and the more we try to protect ourselves from hurt the more we put ourselves in a posted to be hurt. People are people. We are not perfect. Our own actions hurt others just as theirs hurt us. Hurting people hurt people. But God is asking us to rise above ourselves and seek to serve Him. Jesus suffered greatly when He was upon the earth. The very people He had come to save had mocked and cried out for Him to be crucified! Ouch!!! That had to hurt big time! Those He taught and worked signs, miracles and wonders with had turned their back on Him, even denying that that knew Him. Its one thing when a stranger hurts you but the hurt is even deeper when someone you love does it to you, ya know. Well, God is asking us to be like His Son, to love others even though they hurt us. Jesus,upon the cross with His body whipped and in deep pain cried out to His Father, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." So, unless we are hurt more than Jesus was hurt, even unto death, are we not respond the same as He did? Now that might sound like a tall order to fill, to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, but when He sent the Holy Spirit to us He was telling us that the Comforter would supply all that we needed to be overcomers and that He would direct us to the Lord to remind us and to draw strength from Him. Naja, we are not left alone and though we might suffer hurt and disappointment in this world if our eyes are on Christ Jesus we will move beyond the pain and into His will for our lives knowing that what awaits us beyond this life is far greater and wonderful than anything this world has to offer. The rewards that await us in heaven far exceed any trials or pains here.

Close the door to fear in your heart. Get it out and don't allow it to enter in. Face what life has to give you knowing Jesus is by your side and the Holy Spirit is waiting for you to seek His guidance and to show you how to be an overcomer. Feel the embrace of your heavenly Father's love and know how much you are loved and how much He wants the best for you. Truly, His love is amazing and fear has no place in it!