SPIRIT OF FEAR

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Ex 8, Luke 11, Job 25-26, 1 Cor 12

2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

From our memory verse we conclude fear is a spirit. Faith is also a spirit. The difference between fear and faith is that fear is of devil and faith is of God. According to Hebrews 11:6, without faith it is impossible to please God. Fear is like a thief. John 10:10 says the thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. Fear also steals, kills and destroys.  It can either rob one of his or her peace; cause one to worry unnecessarily which might lead to the development of some terrible disease or cause one to take an irrational decision one might live to regret for life. Fear at times could lead to impatience and the price of impatience is very costly. Impatient people always live to regret their impatience. Faith on the other hand leads to peace and life.

God is not a God of fear but of faith. He does not put fear in people’s heart. God never comes with a message of fear but of courage and faith. In Acts 27:8-24, a tempestuous wind called Euroclydon rose against the ship Paul was sailing in. This wind tossed the ship everywhere; for fourteen days they neither saw the sun nor the stars. As terrible as the situation was, the first thing the angel of the Lord said when he appeared was fear not Paul. When the children of Israel found themselves in trouble and began to fear for their future, the Lord sent his word through His prophet telling them fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness, Isaiah 41:10. When you search through the Holy Scriptures, most of the time when God sends an angel or messenger to people, they will always start with ‘fear not’. While Zacharias was burning incense in the temple, angel Gabriel appeared to him and he was very troubled. The first thing angel Gabriel said to him was fear not Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard, Luke 1:12-13. When Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant with child of the Holy Ghost, he was scared and he began to consider putting her away privily. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in the dream and said ‘fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, Matthew 1:18-20. The bible says for God hath not giving us the spirit of fear but of love and sound mind. If there is any one giving you messages of fear, be wary of them. Any prophesies or messages that bring fear rebuke them because it is not of the Lord. Most of the time people use messages of fear to con you out of money. They ask you to bring money so that they can pray or fast for you to prevent something terrible from happening to you. Fear indicates the absence of love and anywhere love is missing, God is missing because God is love, 1 John 4:8. As you begin this week, do not allow fear in your heart. Do not give room to the spirit of fear. Do not entertain fear thoughts – thoughts that something terrible will happen to you; thoughts that you will not get what you want; thoughts that you will fail or suffer shame e.t.c. All these thoughts are from the devil.

KEY WORD: Fear is of the devil. In the presence of God, there is fullness of Joy not fear.