Fear Is A Liar Archives

September 13, 2023September 13, 2023

Remain Faithful In The Silence

¹⁵Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. ¹⁶The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. ¹⁷When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “There is the sound of war in the camp.” ¹⁸Moses replied: “It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing that I hear.” ¹⁹When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. ~ Exodus 32:17-19^NIV

Joshua was chosen to lead God’s people after Moses. Maybe it was because he hadn’t been defiled by the Golden Calf. Maybe it was because he never lost faith and was waiting outside the camp for Moses, while everyone else allowed their own fears to take over and cause them so that they sinned. Joshua seemed to never lose faith in the LORD regardless of how others around him acted and/or reacted.

It’s so easy to fall into the traps and snares of Fear when you’re going through a season of dwelling in the unknown. See, Joshua knew where Moses was. He was on the mountain. Joshua knew what Moses was doing. He was speaking to God, receiving the commands. Joshua even knew what he was supposed to be doing. He was to remain waiting for Moses to come down from the mountain. Nevertheless, he didn’t know how long that would take. He didn’t know the time Moses would return.

If they all knew the time Moses was going to come down the mountain, then they wouldn’t have been so frightened because they had a set time and place as comfort for them. The thing is, God doesn’t always work in the comfort of the known. Sometimes, He only gives you enough that you’re in a place where you have to whole-heartedly without any reservations trust in Him. Many of us are right here. We know that we have to wait, but what do we do while we wait? We pray.

Moses was a type of Christ. He was a deliverer. If we’re in the same position as Joshua, which we all are because we are all awaiting the return of Christ, whose exact date of His return is unknown, what do we do while we wait? We win souls. We preach and teach the Gospel. We stay awake. We cry out, ‘Come, Jesus, come.’ Some of us are waiting for Moses to come down off the mountain in a specific area of our call. It’s a season of waiting for a response that we don’t know when it will come. What do we do? We teach and preach the Gospel. We make disciples of all nations. We seek the face of God. We fulfill the requirements of the call that is plain to us. We pray for the answer to come.

Dear LORD, when You remain silent during a season of our lives, help me to remain at the foot of the mountain. Help me to remain worshipping in Your presence, or at the very least, as close as I can get to Your presence. Help me to not be defeated or be afraid. Help me to not be overwhelmed or overcome by Fear; instead, help me to be perfected in Your perfect love so that Fear has no hold on me. Help me to remain faithful in the silence. Help me to remain faithful regardless of what season I’m in. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Silence Fear

¹ Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, ² and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her. ~ Genesis 20:1-2^NIV

Abraham’s fears often influenced his decisions. Twice he was deceitful about his wife Sarah being his sister and never mentioning that she was his wife. It was in those times of fear that Abraham forgot the promise of God. See, God promised Abraham and made a covenant with him that he would have not only a son but descendants more numerous than the sand of the seas and stars of the heavens. Because Abraham believed this promise, it was counted to him as righteousness, yet, there were days when fear shook his belief and caused him to fall short.

Abraham was afraid that they would kill him if he claimed Sarah as his wife because she was so beautiful. Abraham didn’t take into consideration that he had a direct promise from God that he would have an uncountable multitude of offspring and the whole world would be blessed through him. He didn’t consider that God was with him, and he had a call on his life, so he had nothing to fear. That’s us today. We allow fear to yell louder than the call and promises of God. If God has promised you something, don’t allow fear to take it from you. What God has for you, someone, or something else can take it from you. Jesus warned the Church in Philadelphia to be careful not to let anyone take their crown (Revelation 3:11).

The enemy is a roaring lion on the prowl, seeking someone to devour. We have to be on guard. We have to fight against fear. We have to quiet his lies and silence his threats. We have to cling to the promises and call of God on our lives. We have to stand up and fight for what God has for us. This life is a race. It has obstacles, hurdles, and other runners. We can’t let any of them stop us from receiving all God has in store for us.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Silence Fear.

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Be Not Offended By Jesus

¹⁵ Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. ~ Matthew 7:15-20

In today’s Church, we’re afraid to say anything that may offend someone. I was recently at a Church where the pastor from the platform was explaining his childhood. Specifically, the legalism of the Oneness Holiness Pentecostal Church he got saved in and the dead catholic church he grew up in. There was really no critiquing of the churches. Simply that, one was legalistic and the other dead. He then quickly defended himself with, ‘There’s good people in both churches. I’m not trying to critique anyone. I just want to tell you my experience.’

Why has the Church become like this? Why are we so afraid to offend people by speaking Truth? Sin isn’t to be tolerated. It’s not to be overlooked. Its feelings aren’t to be taken care of. It’s to be called out. It’s to be corrected. There’s not a time when we should try to protect the feelings of sin by quieting the Truth. No. Jesus said blessed are those who are not offended by Him. Jesus is Truth. We can’t quiet the Truth in order to make sin feel more comfortable.

We’re the body of Christ. The Temple of the Living God. Sin should never be comfortable around us. Sin should never feel safe around us. In the Spirit should be a big sign that reads “No Safe Zone Here” right over our heads. That’s what we should drive for. God’s Spirit should be so strong within us that sin flees from our presence because it’s afraid to be in the presence of God shining through us.

Dear LORD, please shine through me. Help me to remove all sorts of fear from me. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that I might be a mighty vessel for You to use for Your Kingdom. Fill me with a Spirit of Discernment so that I might discern between right and wrong. My thoughts and Your thoughts. Darkness and Light. Teach me Your ways and fill me with strength and courage. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.

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Be Courageous When Facing Assyria

⁶ He appointed military officers over the people and assembled them before him in the square at the city gate and encouraged them with these words: ⁷ “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him.” ~ 2 Chronicles 32:6-7

Judah was being threatened by Assyria, and yes, they were the leading world power. Yes, they had a large, mighty, experienced, and well-funded army. But Hezekiah reminded them of the God factor. And today, you may be facing your Assyria. Maybe you’re being bullied at work or at school. Maybe it’s a health issue or a problem only God knows about, and it’s overwhelming. Or maybe you just need to be reminded today of the greater power that dwells in you. For greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Don’t be afraid; you are an overcomer because you are a child of God. Be strong; you can do all things because Christ strengthens you. You are blessed and highly favored because you are a creation and child of God.

Heavenly Father, pour out Your love today on Your people. Encourage hearts and strengthen minds. We are Your people and the sheep of Your pastures. Cover and provide for each household that reads and believes this message this morning. In the name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

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Lean If Needed

¹⁸There 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. ~ 1 John 4:18

⁸Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. ~ Leviticus 26:8

I remember several years back, we were visiting someone in their home, and the owner of the house was seeing 3 black forms with long straggly black hair. My wife also saw the apparitions. Not long after our visit, the owner actually died in the house.

I went back to the house and was praying and worshipping in the house all day until evening. When the night started to come on, I heard a voice, not audibly, but I heard it in my head, and to me, it was very clear. It said, “The night is coming. Soon it will be dark, and he is coming. If he finds you here, they will have to carry you out also.”

I’m not gonna lie to you; it shook me up a little. Okay, it shook me a lot. But in defiance of that voice, I still stayed right where I was for about another 30 or 40 seconds, maybe less, but about another, at the very least, 20 seconds, and then I got out there.

The hair on the back of my neck started to stand up. I felt like my only exit out of there was being blocked, and I would have no way out. In that moment, without even thinking about it, I second-guessed God coming to my defense.

You see, you cannot cast out or drive out what you fear! Fear is a form of weakness that leads to distrust. We have to trust God because He will never leave us, nor will He forsake us. If we don’t fully trust God, we can’t operate in power. Why? We can’t operate in power when we walk in fear. Likewise, we cannot operate in fear if we walk in love.

My family and I went back to the house after that, and we began praying and casting out any evil that was in that home. We went from room to room in the confidence of the love of God. And to make sure fear didn’t have a foothold in our hearts as we prayed, we went at night and left all of the lights in the house off. You cannot cast out what you fear. And if you aren’t filled and surrounded with enough love to face fear alone, take someone (or someones) with you that will believe and stand in faith and love with you. A three-strand cord is not easily broken. One can put a thousand to flight, but two can put ten thousand to flight. Therefore, lean on your brother(s) or sister(s) in Christ when you aren’t strong enough to stand alone.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Lean If Needed.

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Expel It Entirely

¹¹But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. ¹²When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. ¹³As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions?” ~ Galatians 2:11-14^NLT

Peter, like all of us, was human. He wasn’t perfect. There was only ever one perfect person, and that was Jesus. Peter was like us. He had flaws, hiccups, and he made mistakes. He even had to be corrected by someone who had received salvation long after he had. Peter had been saved for years before Paul, yet it wasn’t the number of years that counted but what they did in those years.

See, Peter was only saved from his sinful nature; he never persecuted the Church. Yes, he denied Christ three times, but Christ forgave him physically on earth after the resurrection. Paul, on the other hand, wasn’t just saved from a sinful nature; he was saved from persecuting and executing the Church. He was there from the stoning of Stephen onward until that day on the road to Damascus. Paul was, arguably, saved from a much greater sin and, as Jesus put it, therefore, loved more. The more you love, the less you fear. Peter feared the reaction of those in the Church. He was afraid of being criticized and rejected by those he was comfortable around, and in doing so, he sinned.

The same spirit of Fear that made him flee in the garden when Jesus was arrested and made him deny Jesus in the courts of the High Priest caused him to fall into sin once again. See, Fear isn’t an easy spirit to overcome. Fear doesn’t just leave because you preach the Gospel or you’ve been saved a long time. Fear is something you have to completely remove from its roots and entirely expel out of your life. And when it comes knocking at your door again, you can’t answer it. You can’t give it any kind of foothold into your life again. Why? Because it’s a controlling spirit. It’s a dominating spirit that demands you to bow to it.

But if you do, LORD forbid, fall into the grasp of Fear again and sin, God will always send you help, just as He sent to Peter. Peter, as stated earlier, was saved long before Paul, but it took a man that had no fear to confront Peter in person and correct, with Scripture, his faults. Peter wasn’t above correction because he walked and talked with the LORD. He wasn’t above correction because he was given the keys of the kingdom. Why? Because Peter was human, just as we all are. So, when someone shows you the inaccuracies of your beliefs, actions, or statements in Scripture, don’t be angry. Don’t become defensive. Accept that correction so that the LORD might redeem you from the place you have fallen and might continue to use you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Expel It Entirely.

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Live Without Regret

²⁶I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault, ²⁷for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know. ~ Acts 20:26-27^NLT

Paul was confident that he had done all he could do. He lived his life with no regrets. How many of us can say the same? Today’s Church is silent because of Fear. We’re afraid of being ostracized, persecuted, taunted, fired, or hurting someone else’s feelings. The Truth has been silenced, and where it isn’t completely silenced, it’s perverted. We take bits and pieces of the Scripture and preach a cherry-picked message that will tickle the ears of our listeners. But what good are we truly doing? The saint is still asleep, and the sinner is still lost.

I heard about a man who would get up all hours of the morning to pray for his congregation. Why? Because according to him, “I have 8,000 souls I must give an account for, and I know not their condition.” How many of us take the people put into our lives as seriously as this man? Each person we come in contact with is a soul that we have the chance to save. A soul that we have the chance to plant a seed in or to harvest.

If we look back on our lives, can we truly say that we’ve done all we could have done to witness, guide, lead, disciple, and pray for the souls we’ve come in contact with? If we are to give an account of all that we did on that final day, what’s more important: Speaking the Truth and making disciples of every nation or bowing down to Fear and remaining silent? Don’t let Fear keep you from spreading the Word. When we give into Fear, Fear then takes control and takes us farther than we wanna go. The silence of the Church only breeds darkness in the world. Light can only be shown by those who have the Light living within them. Therefore, shine the Light of the world into the world. Be like Paul and live your life with a clear conscience.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Live Without Regret.

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Not Given A Spirit of Fear

⁷ for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. ~ 2 Timothy 1:7

Anxiety is a crippling disease. It claims you from the inside out. It demands full and complete control over you, your life, and all of your actions. They say the average teenage/young adult has the anxiety levels of a psychiatric patient in the 1950s. Why? What happened in our society that has brought this amount of anxiety upon our young people? I believe it can be summed up in a single word, fear.

The Spirit of Fear has been unleashed upon our generation. Fear of failure, inferiority, rejection, imperfection. Fear is running rampant. Why? Because the love has dwindled. James tells us that the only thing that overcomes fear isn’t faith, it isn’t pride, it isn’t courage, it’s love. Perfect love casts out all fear. The love of God has left our societies.

I don’t mean that God has stopped loving us. This issue isn’t a problem on His end. It’s a problem on our end. Our love for Him has grown cold. Our hearts seek after and desire anything and everything except for Him. We refuse to remain in Him. Why? Because of distractions. Laziness. Rebellion. And apathy. We don’t care because it doesn’t seem that important. Anything and everything is more important than spending time with the LORD. Now is the time to live; tomorrow, we’ll get saved. No. Today is the day of Salvation; tomorrow is promised to no one.

If anxiety is crippling you, you lack the love of God. Your love for Him is being overrun and overpowered by fear. The only way to overcome fear is to face it. Face it with the Word of God. Speak verses that remind you of God’s love for you. Verses that remind you of His goodness. Spend time daily in prayer about your fear. Place it on the altar at His feet and ask Him to intervene. Speak boldly and with all confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit within you to the Spirit of Fear and cast him out. Fear is NOT a feeling. Fear is a person. A person that is no longer welcome in our lives, homes, societies, and nations.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Do Not Adhere To The Spirit of Fear.

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The LORD My Stronghold

¹ The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? ~ Psalms 27:1

There will be situations that come up in your life that will invite the spirit of fear in your life, but fear not for the LORD Himself is a shield round about you. Though the world might seem dark and gloomy, He is the light of your salvation. Though the wicked threaten and rage against you, the LORD God Almighty is the stronghold in your life.

The word stronghold means a place or a means of safety. In other words, He is your protection. Now understand that God thinks in terms of eternity because He is eternal, infinite, and dwells outside of time. We live bound to time, so it’s hard for us to understand the concept with our finite minds.

But know this, though the people rage, though the enemy attacks you, though the situation seems hopeless, God is your strength, your protection, and He will deliver you. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t be caught up in your surroundings. Focus on God. Focus on His promises. Focus on who He is and who you are in Him. For greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.

Heavenly Father, thank You for being a wall and a shield around me. Teach me to lean on and depend on You. No matter the circumstances, or even the outcome, let my love for You never diminish. But rather, let me keep my eyes, thoughts, and hope turned toward eternity. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Do Not Fear Death

¹⁴Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. ~ Hebrews 2:14-15

Jesus didn’t just come down as God. Jesus came down as a man. He came down as flesh and blood. He was tempted in every way we are so that we could, in turn, overcome every sin through Him. He took our punishment upon Himself and paid the price for our sins.

Therefore, we have nothing to fear, especially not death, for to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Why? Because if we are crucified with Christ, then we will also rise with Christ. How is this possible? Because Jesus isn’t dead in the grave. No. Jesus is alive and well. He seated in honor and majesty at the right hand of the Father, full of grace and Truth.

Therefore, because Jesus lives, all who follow Him shall live as well. So, do not fear death. Do not fear the afterlife, for that is where our great reward will be. The things of this world will fade, but eternity and all of its rewards and riches will last forever.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Do Not Fear Death.

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