VictoryOverFear

FearisoneofSatansgreatestweapons. Morepeoplearehindered,anddestroyedbyfearthanjustabout anythingelseinthislife. Anyonewhowantstosucceedinanyway,mustovercometheproblemoffear. Thisistruewhetheryouareintheworld,orinGodskingdom. Risktakingalwaysinvolvesfear,andnothing canbeaccomplishedwithouttakingrisks. FearisaGodgivenemotion. Godbuilttheabilitytofeelfearinto uswhenHecreatedus. Sometypesoffeararegood. Forexample,GodsWordsays,ThefearoftheLord isthebeginningofwisdom. (Proverbs1:7) Fearhelpsusavoiddanger,forinstance. Weteachour childrentolookbothwaysbeforetheycrossastreet. Wewantthemtohaveahealthyfearofgettingrun overbyacar. But,toomanytimesfearstopsusfromdoingwhatGodwantsustodo. Fearistheenemyof faith. Allfaithinvolvestakingrisks,trustingthatGodwilldowhatHesays. ItisimpossibletopleaseGod withoutfaith.GodsWordhasalottosayaboutfear. LetusfirstlookatwhattheLordhastosayaboutfear, andthenwewilllookatthewaystodealwithit.

MosesMyservantisdead. Nowtherefore,arise,gooverthisJordan,youandallthispeople,to the land which I am giving them . . . Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritancethe land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you do not look turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper whereveryougo...HaveInotcommandedyou? Bestrongandofgoodcouragedonotbeafraid, norbedismayed,fortheLordyourGodiswithyouwhereveryougo. Joshua1:29

Ifeveranyonehadgoodreasontobeafraid,itwasJoshua. Foryears,Joshuaworkedundertheleadership ofMoses. Now,allatonce,JoshuadidnothaveMosestoturntoanymore. Joshuawasresponsiblefor morethanone millionpeople! Hewastoleadthemintothepromisedland,butthatwasntgoingtobe easy. Yousee,everyman,women,andchild,inthatlanddirectlyworshippedandserveddemonspirits! Themostpowerfulwitchcraftoftodayprobablydoesntcomeneartowhatthosepeoplepracticed. Thats whytheLorddemandedthatthewholepopulationofthelandbekilled. Theiriniquitywasfull. Therewas nohopeforthem. ButtheypossessedweaponsandarmiesfarsuperiortoanythingJoshuahadavailableto him.

InthisfirstchapterofJoshua,GodgivesJoshuatheplanastohowhecanbevictorious. Ihavefound,in readingtheBiblethatGodrarelyrepeatsHimself,andwhenHedoeswewoulddowelltositupandpay attention. Here,withinamere9verses,GoddirectlyrepeatsHimselfthreetimes. Bestrongandofgood courage. Whatiscourage,anyway? Ifyouhavecourage,doesthatmeanthatyouareneverafraid? NO. Courage means functioning in spite of fear! Websters Dictionary defines courage as: Mental or moral strengthtoventure,persevere,andwithstanddanger,fear,ordifficulty

ThewholekeytoJoshuassuccesswastobefoundinhisabilitytohandlefear! IfJoshuahadgiveninto fear, he and all the nation of Israel would have been defeated. Has God called you to step out and do somethingforHim? Hehasdonesoinmanypeopleslives,buttheyhavesatathomewaitingforGodto provideeverythingtheyneedaheadoftime. Theywanttoremaincomfortable. TheywantGodtogivethem amilliondollarstogetstarted. Goddoesntworkthatway! TheveryfirstbattleJoshuafacedwasagainst Jericho,whichwasacityandanarmymuchstrongerthananythingJoshuahad. Ihavenodoubtatallthat thedemonswerebusyputtingallkindsofthoughtsintoJoshuasmind. Youcanttakedownthatcity! Just lookhowhighitswallsare. Lookathowthicktheyare! Whoareyoutothinkyoucanwinagainstthatcity withyourlittlearmy? JoshuahadtofightallthesethoughtsandstandonthewordGodhadgiventohim. Nomanshallbeabletostandbeforeyou... (Josh1:5)

Interestingly,GodHimselfusedfearasaweaponagainstthepeopleinJericho. Lookatwhattheprostitute RahabtoldthespieswhowentintoJericho: IknowthattheLordhasgivenyoutheland,thattheterrorof youhasfallenonus,andthatalltheinhabitantsofthelandarefaintheartedbecauseofyou. (Josh2:9) Allowingfeartotakeyouoveristhefirststeptodefeat.

Jesustalkedaboutfearaswell. HerearejustafewthingsHehadtosaywhileHewashereonearth.

Adiscipleisnotabovehisteacher,noraservantabovehismaster. Itisenoughforadisciplethat he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub,howmuchmorewilltheycallthoseofhishousehold! Thereforedonotfearthem. For thereisnothingcoveredthatwillnotberevealed,andhiddenthatwillnotbeknown. WhateverItell youinthedarknessspeakinthelightandwhatyouhearintheear,preachonthehousetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroybothsoulandbodyinhell. Arenottwosparrowssoldforacoppercoin? Andnotoneof them falls to the ground apart from your Fathers will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Donotfearthereforeyouareofmorevaluethanmanysparrows. Matthew10:2431

AssoonasJesusheardthewordthatwasspoken,Hesaidtotherulerofthesynagogue,Donot beafraidonlybelieve. Mark5:36

Donotfear,littleflock,foritisyourFathersgoodpleasuretogiveyouthekingdom. Luke12:32

PeaceIleavewithyou,MypeaceIgivetoyounotastheworldgivesdoIgivetoyou. Letnotyour heartbetroubled,neitherletitbeafraid. John14:27

Clearly,Jesusunderstoodthatweallfacefear,butHealsotoldusthatwemustnotallowfeartocontrolus.

ThefinalwordsonfearareinthebookofRevelation. Theselastscripturesshouldshowyouwithoutany doubtjusthowseriouslyGodregardsthewholesubject.

Donotfearanyofthosethingswhichyouareabouttosuffer. Indeed,thedevilisabouttothrow someofyouintoprison,thatyoumaybetested,andyouwillhavetribulationtendays. Befaithful untildeath,andIwillgiveyouthecrownoflife. Revelation2:10

He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the BookofLifebutIwillconfesshisnamebeforeMyFatherandbeforeHisangels. Revelation3:5

Fearkeepsusfromovercoming. Ifweallowfeartocontrolus,wewillnotobeyGod. Ifwedonotobeyand overcome,thenJesustellsusclearlythatHewillblotournameoutoftheBookofLife. Fromour understandingofthings,ifournameisintheBookofLife,wewillgetintoheaven. IfitisnotintheBookof Life,thenwewillspendaneternityinhell.

NOTE: Dealingwithfearisnotanoption,itisarequirementifwewanttogetintoheaven.

ThatisexactlywhatJesussaidinRev.3:5whichwequotedabove.

Letslookatanotherscripture:

Hewhoovercomesshallinheritallthings,andIwillbehisGodandheshallbeMyson. Butthe cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in thelake which burns withfire and brimstone, which is the second death. Revelation21:78

Verse 8 lists those that will not make it into heaven. What is number one on the list? The cowardly! Cowardsarepeoplewhoallowtheirfeartocontroltheiractions. Wefinditveryinterestingthatcowardsare listedevenbeforemurderers! ItisobviousthatGodcannotstandacoward. Sodontdeceiveyourselfby thinking God will understand your weakness, that you just cannot control your fear. God doesnt understandyourrefusaltodealwithyourfear. Hecondemnsit. Why? BecauseJesuspaidthepricefor yourfearsonthecross. YouCANcontrolyourfear,becauseGodiswillingtohelpyoudoit.

NOTE: IcandoallthingsthroughChristwhostrengthensme. Phil.4:13

HowtoDealWithFear

There are two different kinds of fear: natural human fear, and demonic fear. Please remember, demon spiritscan,fromoutsideyou,injectfearintoyou. Theycandothisinasplitsecondoftime. Youcanbeat peace one moment, and an instant later be completely consumed with fear! Usually, demonic fear is irrationalandalloutofproportiontowhatisgoingon. Forexample,sometimespeoplewillwakeupatnight in a cold sweat, in total terror. That is demonic fear. Maybe you have to go out of the house for some reason after dark. Suddenly, you are engulfed in fear. Without being directly threatened by someone or something,youhavenoreasontobeafraid. Onceagain,thisisanexampleofdemonicfear.

Demonic fear is the easiest type of fearto deal with. Simply rebuke it in the name of Jesus. Remember Luke 10:19 and Mark16:17. You have complete authorityover demonicfear inthe name of Jesus. You simply open your mouth and speak out loud and say, Fear! Get off my back right now in the name of Jesus! Getoutofhereandawayfromme! Iwonthaveyou. Fear,begoneinthenameofJesus! You mayhavetorepeatsomethinglikethismorethanonce,butyoumustdirectlyaddressfearandcommandit toleaveyouinthenameofJesus.Exertallyourwillagainstitasyourebukeit,andyouwillhavethevictory overit. TurnyourmindthentoscriptureandthepromisesofGodforyou.

Natural humanfear is something very different to deal with. I, Rebecca, was born into a family that was completely controlled by fear. My fathers father died when he was just 17 years old. There were five children inhisfamily. They lived on a farm, and hisfather had just heavilymortgaged the farm to buy a tractorandsomeequipmentastractorswerejustbecomingwidelyavailable. Shortlyafterhisfathersdeath, thegreatdepressionofthe1920sstruck. Myfatherworkedthreejobstokeepthefarmgoingandfoodon thetableforthefamily. Hisconstantfearwasthattheywouldloseeverythingandallstarvetodeath. My father never got overthatfear. He never went into debt on anything after that, and never took anyrisks whatsoever.

My mother,likewise, came froma family full of fear. She was afraid ofjust about everything. I grew up surroundedbyfear.

ThereligiousgroupinwhichIwasraisedusedfearasatooltokeepeveryoneinlineandobedienttothe rulesofthegroup. Weweretoldthatifweeverleftthegroupwewouldloseoursalvationandweredoomed tohell. Wewereboundbysomanyridiculousrulesandlawsthatwereconstantlychangingbythewhimof the leaders of the group. I obeyed the rules growing up because Ilovedmyparents and did not wantto causethemgriefandtrouble. IneverreallyrealizedhowmuchfearwasinmylifeuntilIpulledoutofthe groupforthefirsttimewhenIwas26yearsoldandhadlefthometoattendmedicalschool. AfterImade JesustheMasterofmylife,oneofthefirstthingsHebegantodealwithwasmyfear.

AsIbegantogrowintheLordandlearntohearHimspeaktome,theHolySpiritwasquicktoshowmethat ifIdisobeyedtheLordbecauseIwasafraidtodosomething,IhaddeniedChrist! Iquicklylearnedtogo and do things bymyself, learning totrustGod to protectme. But Godsfinal dealing with fear inmy life didntcomeuntilmanyyearslater.

The final lesson came a year after Daniel and I were married. I wrote of this in Unbroken Curses, and StandingOnTheRock. DanielsfamilyroseupagainstusandaccusedDanielofcrimeshedidnotcommit. Inonenightwelosteverythingwehad,ourhome,allofourbelongings,ourvehiclesandourfinances. We wereleftwithnothingbuttheclothesonourbacksandthevehicleweweredriving. ShortlyafterthatDaniel wasarrestedandthrowninjail. Wehadtradedourcarforaricketylittlemotorhomethatleakedwhenit rained. Thatwasmyhome,suchasitwas. Thatwasamostterribletimeinmylife. Mybelovedhusband was taken from me and I was not even permitted to see him but once a week, and then only through a glass. Icouldnteventouchhim!

Everyfriendwehadturnedagainstusexceptonecouple. Ilivedinastateofpureterror. IdidnotthinkI wouldeverbebackwithhimagain. Shortly,hewastransferredoutofthecitywewere in,toanotherprison. The prison officials would not tell me where he had been transferred to. I had to wait several days until Danielcouldgettoaphoneandcallourfriends. Itookoffinourlittlemotorhome,alone,anddroveallthe

wayacrosstheU.S.towhereDanielwas. AssoonasIgotalawyerwhostartedtomakeinquiries,Daniel wastransferredoutofthatprisonclearacrossthecountry. OnceagainIwastoldbytheprisonofficialsthat hehadbeentransferred,buttheywouldnottellmewhere. IhadtowaitnearlyaweekbeforeDanielcould gottoaphone. Thishappenedoverandoveragainforaperiodof40days. Ihavenowordstodescribethe terroranddespairandagonyofthosedays! Ilost40poundsin40days,thatshowseverethestresswas. ItwasclosetotheendofthattimethattheLorddealtwithmeontheissueoffear.

IwasdrivingthroughtheRockMountainsonenightwhenItookawrongturnandgotlost. Itwasdarkand stormyandIcouldnotfindanyroadsigns. ItseemedlikeallatonceIwasinthemiddleofnowherewithno ideawhichwaytogo. BythemiddleofthenightthewindhadbecomesoseverethatIknewitwasntsafe todriveanyfurther. Amotorhomeisnotsafeinhighwinds. Ifthewindhitsitbroadside,itcanprettyeasily beblownover. Ifoundaclearspotandpulledoffonthesideoftheroad. Ihadtochangethedirectionof the motor home every half hour or so to keep it facing into the wind. As the wind changed direction, it rockedseverely,andIwasafraiditwouldblowover. Ireachedthebottomthatnight. IndesperationIcried outtotheLord,Father,please,whatdoyouwantmetolearnthroughallofthis?! Yousee,Iknewvery wellbythenthatifyouareinavalley,thequickestwaytogetoutofthevalleyistolearnwhateverlessons Godwantsyoutolearninthevalley. Ifreelyadmit,IwantedoutofthesituationIwasin. Mymotivesfor thatprayerwerepurelyselfish,butGodgraciouslyansweredmeanyway.

TheLordansweredmeclearlyandquickly. YourfearofMeissin!

Iwassurprised. AsIthoughtaboutit,Ididnotunderstand. Ireplied,ButLord,Yourwordsaysthatthefear ofGodisthebeginningofwisdom. Idontunderstand. (Proverbs1:7)

YoudonotfearMeinthatway. ThatscripturemeansareverentaweofMe. YouareafraidofwhatImight permittocomeintoyourlife,wasHisanswer.

Gods response was so direct and correct, that it opened the floodgates of my emotions. I have always believedinbeinghonestwithGodbecauseHeknowshowwefeelanyway. Wecannothideanythingfrom Him. IwassoupsetIbeganyelling:

Afraid? AFRAID!! You bet Im afraid!! And with good reason I might add! Just look at what You have permittedtocomeintomylife!!!

Istormedandcriedandpacedbackandforthinthemotorhome. ButallGodwouldsaywas,Yourfearis sin.

Finally I settled down and said, O.K. Lord, I know You never lie, if You say it is sin, then it is sin. But please,tellme,howcanIdealwiththisfear? Whatisthecureformyfear?

TheLordansweredwithoneword: TRUST...TrustthatIhaveareasongoodenoughforwhatIhave permittedtohappeninyourlife,evenifyouneverknowwhat thatreasonis.

Ithoughtaboutthatforawhile. IdidntwanttoacceptwhatGodhadallowedinmylifebecauseitwasmore painfulthanIthoughtIcouldbear. However,therewasnoescapingthesituation. Ihadtogetthroughit somehow. Finally,withadeepsighIcametoadecision. O.K.Lord,Iacceptthat. Inowmakeafreewill choicetotrustYouinthissituation. ItrustthatYourreasonisgoodenough,Itrustyouwithallmymindand heart. But,Lord,Ihavetobehonest,mygutdoesnttrustyou! Mystomachisinknots,andIcantcontrol mygutnomatterwhatIdo. Howcanthisnaturalhumanfearbecontrolled?

ThatkindoffearcanbestoppedonlyifIdoapurelysupernaturalworkinyourlife. Whenanyhumanbeing isintorturousorlifethreateningcircumstances,theonlywaytheycanbecompletelywithoutfearisifIdoa supernaturalworkintheirlives,Heresponded.

So,Iasked,willyoudothisforme,Lord?

No,Iwillnot, wasthereply.

Butwhynot?Iasked,frustrated.

Becauseyoudonothaveenoughtrust,wasHispromptresponse.

Iwasgettingreallyfrustratedbythen. ButLord,IhavedecidedtotrustYouwithallofmymindandallof myheart. Icantdoanymorethanthat.

YoustilldonttrustMeenough,wasthesteadyreply.

ButhowcanIgainenoughtrustsothatyouwilldothissupernaturalworkinmylife?Iqueried.

Onewayonlyinthefire! Iamgoingtoallowyoutowalkthroughthefireagainandagain. Eachtimeyour trust will grow. I will let you walk through the fire over and over again until you can walk through literal flamesandtheywillnottouchyou.

ThatwasnotwhatIwantedtohear! OhLord,Iexclaimed,Idohopethatwasntawordofprophesy,Iwill bedeadofaheartattacklongbeforethen!

Mypointexactly,theLordanswered. Iamdeterminedthatyourtrustwillgrow,andasitdoesyourfear willdecrease. IKNOWwhatIamdoinginyourlife.

ThatwastheendoftheLordscommunicationtomeatthatpoint. Iwasdissatisfied,butIknewIhadno choicebuttobowmyhead,acceptGodswill,andwalkthroughthevalleyasbestIcould. Thescripturethat keptgoingthroughmyheadduringthosedayswas:

ThereforehumbleyourselvesunderthemightyhandofGod,thatHemayexaltyouinduetime... 1Peter5:6

Ihadlearnedavitallessonthatnight. Someofyoureadingthisaregoingthroughthefirerightnow. Maybe Godispermittingitsoyourtrustwillgrow. Donotbediscouraged,GodISincontrolofyourlife. Dont forgetthelastpartoftheverseIjustquoted:

...castingallyourcareuponHim,forHecaresforyou. 1Peter5:7

Godiswantingtoraiseupanarmyofwarriorstodogreatexploitsintheselastanddifficultdays. Doyou wanttobeapartofthatarmy? Thenyoumustlearntocontrolfear. YourtrustinGodmustgrowandgrow. Why? Becausegreatexploitsareonlydoneunderthemostdifficultofcircumstances! Notduringgood times.

Thenexttimeyouhavefear,firstrebukeanydemonspiritstryingtoputfearontoyouinthenameofJesus, andthenmakeaconsciousdecisiontotrustGod!

Bemercifultome,OGod,formanwouldswallowmeup Fightingalldayheoppressesme, Myenemieswouldhoundmeallday, Fortherearemanywhofightagainstme,OMostHigh.

WheneverIamafraid, IwilltrustinYou. InGod(IwillpraiseHisword), InGodIhaveputmytrust Iwillnotfear. Whatcanfleshdotome? Psalm56:14

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