“The fear of man bringeth a snare: but
whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.” Proverbs 29:25
Our adversary is only
as good as the fear he has created.
When we
decide to hold on to this fear, we become a victim of bondage. We eventually
are held behind invisible bars. Accepting a Spirit of Fear is not worth ruining
or losing your life over. It is not worth lying awake at night wondering: if
you are going to get sick, lose that job, if your mate is running around or if
people will like you.
We can manufacture all kinds of things
to worry about and worry is FEAR.
If this Spirit can control your mind
through worry, then he has you right where he wants you.
We have all worried, about the
aggravating and frustrating things:
·
The bills
·
Our job
·
Our mates
·
Our weight
·
Being accepted or
rejected
·
Our children
·
Our lab tests – other’s
lab tests
·
Our age
·
Whether we will ever get
married
·
Whether they will ever
get married
·
Whether we will stay
married
·
Whether they will stay
married
·
Our health – other’s
health
·
We worry that we worry
The opposite of fear is love. “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.” 1John 4:18
Did you catch that? Fear has torment. The
word torment actually means:
Penal infliction
I looked it up to see what a good
Dictionary would say:
World English Dictionary
|
penal (ˈpiːn ə l)
|
|
|
|
|
|
— adj
|
|
|
1.
|
of, relating to, constituting, or prescribing punishment
|
|
2.
|
payable as a penalty: a penal sum
|
|
3.
|
used or designated as a place of punishment: a penal institution
|
|
|
|
|
[C15: from Late Latin poenālis concerning punishment, from poena penalty]
|
|
|
|
|
|
'penally
|
|
|
|
|
|
— adv
|
|
And the word Infliction means:
in·flic·tion (ĭn-flĭk′shən)
n.
1. The act or process of imposing or meting out something
unpleasant.
2. Something, such as punishment, that
is inflicted.
and
in•flic•tion (ɪnˈflɪk
ʃən)
n.
n.
1. the act of inflicting.
2. something inflicted, as punishment or suffering.
[1525–35; < Late
Latin]
When we agree in fear, it is safe to
say that we are then placed in a place of torment or punishment, by our own
doing; because we are not trusting in God’s love in faith.
Our minds are set on re-run and we play
the tape over and over again. Every time we “listen” to the hurting words or
what we experienced; we set the timer to re-wind again. Our minds are something
like a computer. When we “go there” again; the brain cells assume, that is
where he is headed so; I’ll just “fill in the blanks.” Our mind is a wonderful
muscle, but we have to take control of our thinking processes for obedience
towards God, our health and love for others.
A great example of this is when we make
a deliberate decision not to forgive. When we make such a decision, it is like
signing a legal binding agreement of the consequences, with a Spirit of
Fear. I have heard statements such as:
“He (or no one) will never hurt me again.” Another statement I have heard is: “You just
do not know or understand what they have done to me.” This is true, but is that any reason to put
your hands in handcuffs and walk willingly into a prison to be inflicted with
torment? Unbeknown to you, it is ALL fear on your part. Please think about the consequences of
unforgiving.
Un-forgiveness
is a Spirit of Fear working in fullness in an individual.
Un-forgiveness = Fear = Torment = Penal
Infliction
The Bible says that we are to forgive
or we will not be forgiven. In other words, if you have been hurt in a
relationship; we have no choice but to forgive. This does not mean that you go
back into a damaging abusive relationship, but we must forgive. For Christians,
holding un-forgiveness is not an option in their lives. Usually when we have
been burnt we have enough wisdom to not repeat what took us into that situation
in the first place.
I believe it is important to see the
connection, that un-forgiveness comes from fear. Fear that the incident might happen again.
Fear of losing what is over. Fear of the past repeating itself. Fear of being
hurt again. The thoughts are, “Why should I open myself up again when I cannot
trust him (or her)?”
If you think the offender cannot be trusted, that could be wisdom; but you still are required to forgive. There is a difference between not
trusting man and not forgiving man. Man will always mess up, because we are not
gods. This is one reason why we must forgive them. To forgive them; is to allow
forgiveness for ourselves. We forgive others so we can continue on in the peace of God and so we can receive
forgiveness. We extend mercy, so we can receive mercy.
Holding on to fear means, we hold on to
un-forgiveness. When we hang onto
un-forgiveness it turns into anger. When we hang onto the anger, we will find
ourselves bitter and depressed.
The Spirit of Fear works with a Lying
Spirit and a Spirit of Heaviness.
The writer of Hebrews says,
“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no
man shall see the Lord. Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of
God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby
many be defiled; “ He. 12:14, 15.
If I could draw an example of how a
reaction of fear of man takes over it might go something like this:
Picture a woman at work. She was
feeling pretty good about herself until she walked into the break room and saw
a few heads turn towards her and one even kept staring.
“What are they staring at, she
wondered?” “Why is he glaring at me?” “What did I do?”
Can you see the fear? Fear always lies
to manipulate and intimidate your soul. Our lady’s response was to go and put
on her “cloak of fear” as she walked out of the door.
How does she know that the people in
the break room may just glanced at who walked through the door. Perhaps the gentleman who was “glaring” at her
thought she was attractive. The truth is, in that sort of situation; we do not
know. Why assume? Fear always thinks the
worse. Love always thinks best. Did you
take note how fear attacks and accuses?
Listening to a Spirit of Fear will
bring untrue accusations.
The main goal of a Spirit of Fear is to
render the “victim” helpless to: rob, steal and destroy everything that you
have.
One of the favorite phrases of a Spirit
of Fear is: “What if?”
What if, he doesn’t come home?
What if he gets into an accident?
What if she gets sick?
If you would like to see a Spirit of
Fear in prime action, just turn on the television and watch the pharmaceutical
advertisements. First they tell you the wonders of the drug, then; they tell
you in a very casual tone, with happy music surrounded by a country setting; all of the deadly side effects. All
commercials manipulate and prey on fear. Remember the commercial of the lady who fell and
says, “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.” Fear! What if!
Yes, things do happen and it is best to be prepared; but most of the
time things work out and we are fine.
Another commercial “What if something
happened to him? You need to be ready for the unexpected to happen.” Fear.
They are trying to sell life insurance. The love of money uses fear for their
greed. We are all going to passover unless we are caught up. In the end; it will be where our hearts
are spiritually that really counts.
Note again on television all of the
programs about killing. I won’t begin to list them as there are too many. There
is even a program entitled: “Kids that Kill.” If you did not believe in demons
before, the very title should convince anyone there is a dark side that is in
control of this earth. It is horrifying to see the blatant exposure of these
spirits and every year they go a little bit further to gain more ground for
their agenda. Why? Because they are
allowed to and Jesus said all this would come to pass.
Questions for you to ask yourself:
What type of words are you speaking
into the airwaves?
Paul said:
It is written: "I
believed; therefore I have spoken." Since we have that same spirit of faith,
we also believe and therefore speak,” 2Co. 4:13 NIV
We all speak what we
believe, whether it is right or wrong. Paul spoke faith. He wrestled with
things too, but he stood on God’s promises. He could not deny the gift of grace
that was given to him.
We are to speak faith and speak the
word:
“Have faith in God, “ Jesus answered.
Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, Go throw
yourself into the sea’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes what
they say will happen, it will be done for them.’
‘Therefore, I tell you, whatever you
ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.’
“And, when you stand praying, if you
hold anything against anyone forgive them; so that your Father in heaven may
forgive you your sins.” Mark 11:22-25 NIV
Those verses are powerful!
If you need more faith, then; you need
to study God’s word. Remember, “Faith comes by hearing, hearing the Word of
God.”
What are the words you speak, promoting
in your life; for you today? Are they projecting: Fear or love and faith? We
all are either walking in one or the other.
Ask yourself, “Am I a victor or a
victim?”
Stand up to that Spirit of fear today
and tell it to jump into the sea! Replace it with the Holy Spirit.
“In
all these things we are more than Conquerors through him who loved us. For I am
convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the
present or the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything
else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is
in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ro. 8:37-39
We are more than
Conquerors. Whatever you are wrestling with can be dealt with in Christ. Can
you believe this?
Say this small prayer today with me:
Heavenly Father,
There are times when I feel so
helpless, because I keep repeating the same things over again. By your power I
choose to break this cycle in the name of Jesus. I am more than a Conquer and I
move in your strength. I will speak life and not speak death. I forgive those
who have offended me. Forgive me Father for doubting your love and power.
Thank you in Jesus we agree and pray. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment