Thursday, March 14, 2013

Overcoming Fear Part 3 - Overcoming Fear


“but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

a.      With Power

                                                              i.      God has all power

We have a powerful God. He is able to overcome any fear that we have.

Psalm 147:5, “Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.”

Jeremiah 32:17, “Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:”



                                                            ii.      The One who has all power is with us

Matthew 28:18, 20 “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth…and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

Hebrews 13:5, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

                                                          iii.      He gives us power

God has given us the power to the weary to help them through their trials.

Isaiah 40:29-31, “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

We must rely on God’s power not our own, as the disciples failed to do.

II Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”

b.      With Love

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the love Christ has for us. It is just so far beyond our comprehension.

Recently, I was reading the story of the rich young ruler and one of the verses jumped out at me.

Mark 10:17, “And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.”

Jesus knew that the young man would not be willing to sacrifice his possessions to follow Him. The one thing the young man lacked, was loving God with all his heart. Jesus knowing this still chose to love him.

Jesus also chose to love Judas knowing that he would one day betray Him. I could not imagine this kind of love. If I knew someone was going to betray me, the last thing I would think of doing would be to love him.

I have also been pondering a great deal on the Crucifixion. I think we make this so much lesser than it really was. When you see pictures of Jesus after His resurrection, you see red marks on His hands from the nails. Jesus had large spikes driven through His hands. Those holes will be in His hands for all of eternity. I think that they will serve as a continually reminder of what Christ did for us.

How does love tie in with fear?

I John 4:18 answers this question, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”

We can find peace and security in the great love that Christ has for us. Just as a child finds security in the arms of their parent, we can find security be resting in the arms of Christ.

c.      With Sound Mind

                        “Sound mind” here is referring to moderation and self-control. How does self-control tie 
                          in with fear?

I think that many times fear starts out with our mind. We start doubting and worrying, instead of turning to God in faith. By bringing every thought captive into the obedience of Christ, we can conquer our fears with the Lord’s strength.

II Corinthians 10:3, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.”

By meditating on God’s Word, our thoughts will be turned to the Lord instead of our fears and worries. If you are struggling with fear, I would suggest to you to find some verses to memorize and meditate on.

Charles Spurgeon said, “The worst evils of life are those which do not exist except in our imagination. If we had no troubles but real troubles, we should not have a tenth part of our present sorrows.    

If we want the Word of God to have authority in our life, there is only one way - obey it. If we want the Holy Spirit to have authority in our life, there is only one way - Obey Him. If we always obey impulses of fear or doubt or resentment, what will have authority over our minds? Fear, and doubt and resentment.”  (Tom Marshall)

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