Fear is not welcomed here

Have you ever noticed how often in the Bible we are commanded not to fear? Like pride, fear is so sneaky that we often don’t realize we are afraid until we are neck deep in a spiral of lies that we have believed. You see, fear is never ever from God.

“For God didn't give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control”  2 Timothy 1:7

“Fear is a powerful enemy of faith, because it paralyzes us into inaction, reduces our effectiveness for the kingdom. Often it seems that the more we do for the kingdom of God, the more we find our stuff confronted with fear.”

Natalie tells us “There was once a time when I was tempted to throw up my hands and proclaim I wasn’t going to do anything for God and just fly under the radar because things have become so difficult. However, I was led to a scripture that reminded me of the power of God I serve”

Those scriptures were - 1 John 4:16-19 (NIV)

16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them? 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the Day of Judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us.

❓How does this passage describe God?

❓What does it tell us about those who live in love?

❓what does perfect love do?

“If God is love and perfect love expels all fear, then we can logically conclude that God expels all fear. When we experience God‘s love, we have no reason to fear. The deeper our relationship with the Lord, the more we are filled with his perfect love, which then spilled out onto others. This love has no room for fear.”

“Unfortunately, we live in a fear-based culture. Just watch or read the news, and it’s easy to be gripped by fear as we hear about the frightening event and read devastating headlines. Unspeakable tragedies occur every day, and we must remain sensitive and compassionate, praying and doing what we can as God calls us into action. However, we must be careful not to succumb to fear mongering. We need to be wise about who we allowed to control our fear-o-meter! Fear-based news gets better ratings than peaceful news.”

“Fear is also deceptively sneaky because we don’t always know when we’re scared. It also has the power to take away our true selves and replaced with a false self-who we become when we are fearful. Those who are preoccupied with outward appearance are scared of being revealed as imperfect. Those with anxiety are scared of the unknown. People who are always tough and wearing armor or often petrified of showing vulnerability because they think it’s a weakness. Those who won’t accept help and insist on doing everything themselves or fearful of relinquishing control and cannot humble themselves enough to ask for help. Those who must always be the center of attention or often scared of being rejected and feeling is that they must perform to be loved”

There are so many negative emotions that trace back to fear. And all the fear traces back to pride

Does this sound familiar: 

“I am not superwoman, and the only person who expects me to be is me. I have left got out of the equation, allowed my Martha tendencies to surface, and handed over control to fear instead of to faith.”

Let’s let the healing begin to learn how to operate in the truth, redeemed selves we were created to be. There will be days in which we forget, and that’s OK-if God gives us grace surely we can give ourselves grace too.

From a Facebook Devotional posted HERE