Power Thought #3

I Will Not Live in Fear.

[Unlabeled quotes are taken from the book Power Thoughts, by Joyce Meyer.]

“There are many ways Satan uses fear to steal from us.  For example, the fear that we will not be accepted as we are causes us to develop phony personalities that stifle our true selves and hide who God has made us to be.  The fear of failure prevents us from ever trying new things or stretching ourselves to do more than we feel comfortable doing.  The fear of the future can cause us not to enjoy today…[Fear] can absolutely paralyze us and in its more advance stages can drive us to do things that are completely irrational.”

There are all kinds of fears – “fear of pain, fear of discomfort, fear of lack, fear of sacrifice, fear that life is going to be too hard, fear of losing friends, fear of being alone, fear of losing your reputation, fear that no one will understand you, fear that you’re missing God, and on and on.  Fear is the enemy’s perversion of faith.  He says, ‘Believe what I’m telling you.  This is not going to work.  Your prayers aren’t any good…you are a failure.’  Fear always tells you what you’re not, what you don’t have, what you can’t do, and what you’ll never be. But Romans 8:15 says, [changed translation to NKJV] ‘For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."’ You do not have to live in bondage to fear or allow fear to control your life.  You can be bold, courageous, and adventurous.”

Disclaimer…when fear is being talked about here, it is not referring to the proper fear of God that we all should have or the kinds of fear that God has given us for our good such as being afraid to lean over the edge of a cliff without restraints.  She is talking about the kind of fear that God means when He says repeatedly in the Scriptures to “fear not” because He is with us… those fears are kind of like roadblocks along the path He has called us to walk for His glory that need to be overcome by faith in Him.

So what does she recommend we do?

• She encourages her readers to “catch it early.”  Choose a “fighter verse”, a sword to pull out the instant you begin to feel afraid.  Meditate on various fighter verses and stories God has given us that relate to courage and overcoming fear when you are NOT afraid so you will be more prepared to stand against it when it comes.
•  She talks about “power twins” to help defeat the spirit of fear.  They are “I pray” and “I say.”  The idea here is that as soon as you begin to be fearful, pray and ask God to help you overcome by faith in Him.  And say “I will not fear!” or whatever verse you’ve committed to memory to move beyond fear to faithfulness. 
• She also talks tells us to “Do it afraid.”  “When the Bible says, ‘God has not given us a spirit of fear,’ it does not mean we will never feel fear.  As a matter of fact, when God said to so many people in the Bible, ‘Fear not,’ He was basically telling them, ‘Fear is going to come after you.  You are going to have to deal with it.’…Courage is not the absence of fear, it is progress in its presence.”  

Here are some related passages from the Scriptures:

Rom. 8:15

Rom 8:31-32

Ps 118:6

2 Tim 1:7

Acts 20:22-24

Acts 21:13-14

Heb 2:14-18

Isa 41:10

Isa 43:1-3a

All of 1 Sam 17, especially 17:40-47

Thanks for stopping by,

Connie