What is your irrational fear? Where did it come from?
1) Virtually all fear is learned
We are born with only 2 fears: the fear of falling, and the fear of loud noises….the rest is
learned.
The problem with fear is that it drives us to make decisions based on our own flawed wisdom,
not God’s….and the results are always bad when that happens.
Many examples in Scripture of fears that kept people from doing what God wanted them to do.
(Jonah, Saul, for example) .
God doesn’t want us to live in fear… He wants us to turn to Him knowing that He alone is greater
than all fears we might have.
2 Timothy 1:7-- 7For God has not given us a spirit[a] of fearfulness,(A) but one of power,(B) love,(C) and sound judgment.
2) Faith is unlearning the senseless worries and misguided beliefs that keep us
captive
It is far more complex than simply modifying behavior.
Romans 12:2--- 2 Do not be conformed(C)to this age,(D) but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind,(E) so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will(F) of God.
We need to replace the corrupt thoughts in our minds with uncorrupt ones.
How do we do this? Read/memorize Scripture. We replace our corrupt thoughts with God’s
perfect ones.
3) When God’s thoughts replace our thoughts, our faith outweighs our fear.
This is when becoming a lion chaser moves from being a nice concept to becoming who you are
as a person. It becomes part of your DNA.
Does that mean all fear is gone? No! But our faith allows us to overcome our fear because we
know God is greater than anything that crosses our path.
Matthew 14:22-33-Peter’s faith was overcome by fear because he was relying on his own logic
and not God’s.
Closing Thought: The old Jedi adage says “Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to
suffering.” While that’s just a quote from a movie, the first and last parts of it are definitely true: fear
leads to suffering. It may or may not be physical suffering, but it will definitely lead to mental anguish, spiritual turmoil, and can have disastrous physical consequences. So why do we put ourselves through this? It all comes back to what our focus is on. Is our focus on our circumstances? Our ability to get the job done? The unknown road ahead of us? When we focus on anything but who God is and his Word, fear and doubt overtakes us and we sink just like Peter. But when our focus is on Him, our faith becomes real and God will take us to heights we could never have imagined. Remember, it’s a process. You don’t unlearn fear in just a night, because you don’t memorize all of Scripture in just one night. But if you commit to working at it, allowing God to seep into your mind and replace your thoughts with His, then He will change you, and your faith will grow like never before. So the question is, are you committed to doing that, knowing that God promises a life of victory? Or are you willing to accept a life of fear and defeat?
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