Is Fear Ruining Your Life?
“Don’t be afraid.” ~Jesus
See Matthew 14:27
For so many years I lived in fear, and fear, when not confronted and pushed back, will ruin your life. If you don’t FINALLY stand up to what, or who, causes you so much fear, then you will be a slave to fear your entire life.
Fear comes in two forms:
- A FEELING. I say it all the time, but feelings are fickle. They come and go, ebb and flow. You can’t help how you feel, but you can choose to allow Christ to help you with your feelings. You do not have to agree with how you feel! So when you feel fear, recognize that it’s just a feeling (unless you’re doing something that the Holy Spirit is telling you not to do, that’s a healthy fear). You must also understand that whatever physical manifestations ensue, such as shaking, sweating, stammering, stuttering, or even wanting to run away from people who need to be confronted—those feelings and physical symptoms, you can’t always help. So you must learn to not get upset about anything you can’t stop or change physically. Instead, move forward despite these things. This is called courage. Courage is not the absence of fear, but instead, moving forward while still feeling fear. “We do it anyway. No matter our feelings.” And when you know Who lives in you, there is nothing to stop you from moving forward!
- A SPIRIT. We are a spirit. Yes, we are flesh (what you can see) but we are also spirit (what you can’t see). There is a spiritual realm, another dimension where activity is taking place just like in this physical realm. You’ll have complete access to the spiritual realm once your physical body dies. However, your spirit is everlasting. It does not die. And because you are a spirit, evil spirits can accuse you and lie to you, causing fear. As Christians, no demonic force can possess us because Christ has already possessed us—but they can still pester us. This is why Paul told Timothy, “God did not give you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind” (see 2 Timothy 1:7)—that’s the Holy Spirit—THE VERY SPIRIT WHO LIVES IN US!
It really doesn’t matter if you are feeling fear, or if you are being pestered spiritually, you have a choice to make: “Will I stand up to this fear, or will I keep giving in to this fear?”
If you don’t stand up to what or who keeps causing you fear, you will not be able to enjoy your life. Instead, you will base all of your choices on making sure you don’t feel that particular fear any longer. Then, the enemy has you where he wants you as he convinces you to slip into a sin pattern to help you “cope” with that fear! You must stand up and fight back!
Ask yourself, “What or who causes me fear, and why?” and then bring that to Jesus to get your weapons for battle! (See Ephesians 6).
Maybe you’re in a relationship which was completely built on fear. Fear of that person leaving you for someone else. Fear of them taking the kids away. Fear of ruining you financially, or socially. Fear of nobody else loving you because this person has taken advantage of you and verbally abused you for so long that you think you’re not worth anything. This person whom you are afraid of, has spoken bad about you to anyone and everyone who would listen, spreading lies to keep you manipulated and fearful.
They’ve done their very best to destroy your reputation, in order to keep you bound and shackled, so that you’ll continue to do as they please. You could be very afraid of this person, and you don’t have to be! Stand up and push through this fear! HAVE COURAGE! Stop accepting unacceptable behavior as normal! Stop being codependent! God will work everything else out, just stand up to them! STAND UP!
Maybe you have a fear of giving up an addiction. First of all, that addiction is nothing more than a way to endure your fear, by changing your feelings. JESUS WANTS IT GONE! I drank for years because of fear, and my fear was compounded because I just sat back and refused to stand up to people and situations that were not okay. So I know how it feels!
YOU GOTTA STAND UP FOR YOURSELF! You gotta stop giving in to fear! You gotta rattle the cage! BUT—you must do this how Christ in you wants you to. My friend, fear will cause you to want to reach out for your addiction every single time you feel it. Demonic lies will tell you, “You’re never gonna beat this addiction. You need it for your strength!”
SO STAND UP AND PUSH THROUGH! GOD’S SPIRIT GIVES YOU STRENGTH!
Or maybe you have a fear of letting Jesus live through you. This was totally me for years. For so long I listened to legalistic Christians who refused to teach me about God’s grace because they were so anti-sin. And yes, God is anti-sin as well, but it’s unfair to create fear in people by withholding their complete forgiveness in Christ hostage because you don’t want them to sin.
Once I finally understood that God loved me unconditionally (despite the sin of my flesh and my unrenewed mindsets) and that Christ paid the price for all of my sins—once—past, present, future (see Hebrews 10:10), the fear I felt was gone. Now, as God’s own child, I can’t act bad enough to make Him not love me, and I can’t be good enough to earn or sustain His love. His love has been free from day one! (See Hebrews 7:25, John 1:12, Ephesians 1:5, 2 Timothy 2:13).
So today, my friends, know this: God doesn’t want you to be fearful because fear has nothing to do with your true spiritual identity! He says it all throughout the Bible! When are you going to believe this?! What will it take? I’m here to tell you today to please stop living in fear! Yes, as you do this the world will begin to shake all around you! The people who control you with fear won’t know what to do! They will fight you! You will be tempted greatly to revert right back to fear!…But don’t do it. Be brave. God will work everything out for good as long as you stand up to your fears and push through. Do this, and everything changes—everything, for the better!
A prayer for you: Good morning Lord! Wow, how grateful I am for another day on your planet! Right now, I ask that you fill up these dear readers with confidence! Since you’ve taught me how to be confident in Christ, I want to make sure that the Christians who are living a fearful life understand there is a better way! MAKE THEM BRAVE, MAKE THEM STRONG, IN YOU! Help them to stand up to their fears today—the right way! Show them that this IS possible, through you! In Christ’s name I pray, Amen.
This devotional is from 60 Days for Jesus, Volume 1. Get your copy here!