Dealing with fear.

[Diatheke]

If you have been diagnosed with a serious illness or are experiencing alarming symptoms in your body, it is very important that you learn to deal with fear. The devil will try to get you into fear over what the doctor or your body tells you. You must deal with fear. Do not entertain it. You cannot operate in faith and fear at the same time any more than you can put your car in first gear and reverse at the same time.

Fear is not of God. God wants you to be free from fear.


Luke 1:74:

That he would grant unto us [through part of Christ's work], that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,

You are delivered from fear! "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear..." (Romans 8:15). Through death Jesus destroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and delivered them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage (Heb 2:14-15).

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect is love" (1 John 4:18). So part of overcoming fear must be acknowledging the presence of your loving Father. "I will fear no evil, for thou art with me" (Psalm 23:4). "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear..." (Psalm 46:1-2). "But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil" (Proverbs 1:33). "Fear thou not, for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness" (Isaiah 41:10). "For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee" (Isaiah 41:13). "Fear not, for I am with thee" (Isaiah 43:5).


This is further amplified in Psalm 91. The following belongs to the man who "dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High" and "abides under the shadow of the Almighty" and "says of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust:" "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee." Here God tells you that you do not have to fear sickness if you abide in him, even if 11,000 people around you have just dropped dead from it.


In other words, you have heard that cancer has killed millions of people. The doctor tells you that you will probably have cancer because it runs in your family. You can confidently state that you to not have to have cancer, let alone die from it, because you abide in the secret place of the Most High.

This may run contrary to what your Christian friends will do. Some of them may panic and think that they need to hold an all-night emergency prayer meeting for you. You don't have to panic, even if you are diagnosed with a fatal illness. Even if thousands have just fallen from the same thing, you do not have to fall.

Satan loves to work you over about supposedly faith-filled Christians who died because from the same condition you have. Don't let that distract you. You can never really know someone else's heart or someone else's situation, and you will probably be in for a few surprises when you get to glory. You can still receive your healing, just as you could still get saved even if thousands of people around you go to hell unsaved.


"Do not be afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken" (Prov 3:25-26). "In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear..." (Isaiah 54:14). Note that sickness is the oppression of the devil (Acts 10:38).

Fear, like faith, is a force that changes circumstances. "The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him" (Prov 10:24). What you say and believe in your heart will come to pass. Jesus did not say that this principle only applies toward positive things!

Jesus contrasted faith and fear: "Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?" (Mark 4:40). "Why are ye so fearful, O ye of little faith?" (Matthew 8:26). Jesus told Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, "Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole" (Luke 8:50).


The most common thing that angels say seems to be, "Fear not."

It is vital that you dwell on things that will encourage you in your faith (the Word, testimonies of people who got healed of fatal illnesses by faith, etc.) instead on those things that would encourage fear (finding out how horribly Uncle John suffered before he died, ignorant books by promoters of unbelief, etc.).


The spirit of fear


2 Tim 1:7:

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

Peter's problem in walking on the water was wavering mentally, not giving in to a spirit. But here the Bible talks about "the spirit of fear." Anyone who has walked with the Lord and attempted to do anything for him has felt the opposition of the devil through the spirit of fear. The devil tries to intimidate you out of doing the will of God. When he tries this, speak to the spirit of fear and command it to leave in the name of Jesus. Power, love and a sound mind belong to you. It is the wicked, not the saints, whose hearts will faint for fear of the times (Luke 21:16).

Since there is only one verse about the spirit of fear, we should not be too quick to categorically state that the source of all fear is a spirit of fear. You can do a good job working yourself into fear without any help from the devil if your mind is not renewed with the Word of God. Jesus did not tell Peter or the others to rebuke a spirit of fear; he told them to believe instead of fearing. Faith is the antidote to fear. Trying harder not to fear is not the antidote. You don't overcome sin by trying harder not to sin; you overcome sin by believing God's Word, which in particular, tells you that you have victory over sin now.



Fear is a choice


John 14:27:

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

You can let your heart be afraid, or you can "let not your heart be afraid." It is your choice. You never have to fear. The Bible is full of commands to "Fear not." If it weren't your choice, and you couldn't do anything about it, God would be unjust to command you not to fear! Therefore, you can choose not to fear.

This does not mean that you will not feel fear, any more than you will not feel anger or jealousy at times. Between your flesh and the devil, you will feel these things and many more. But it is up to you whether you resist them and reject them or give in to them. It is not sin to be tempted to sin, and it is not sin to feel like sinning. It is only sin to actually sin!



Fear IS faith

Fear is really faith running in the wrong direction. If you are in fear, you are afraid because you believe something! You believe the wrong thing, but you still believe something. Most likely, you believe that something awful will come to pass when you have no proof that it will. If you are in strong fear, you have proved that you can operate in strong faith! You are going not by circumstances, but by what you believe your circumstances will be in the future. If you can do such a good job of acting on what you believe, even without natural proof, just turn it around and start treating God's Word the same way that you treated the bad report that got you into fear.

How many times have you lost a good night's sleep over something that never really happened? I've done it more than once. The problem was that I let contrary circumstances become more real to me than God's promises.


If you can believe that something bad will happen even though you can't prove it, surely you can believe that something good will happen instead, even though you can't prove it in the natural. Everyone believes something. What you believe will determine what you say, and what you say will determine what you receive. It works in both directions. Stop using this principle against yourself, and start using it for yourself!


The best way to beat fear

God has already given you all things pertaining to life and godliness. All things are yours. You are complete in Christ, and God has promised to take care of you. If you believe this, there is no basis for fear. All fear is rooted in ignorance or unbelief of something that God said. If you are in fear in any area, there is guaranteed to be Scripture that covers your situation. If you would believe that Scripture, you would no longer fear. You would replace your faith in the devil and the world with faith in God. God has provided all that you need to triumph in Christ in every situation. You will find your answer in his Word. Please note that it's not a case of praying on and on. It's a case of finding out what God says and choosing to believe that instead of something else.


Rather than just trying not to fear, which is really trying not to believe something, find out what to believe and believe that instead! You can't believe God's Word and believe that you're going to fail at the same time.

 

[Diatheke]

 

[Diatheke]

* Bump *

 

[Floyd20]

I understand that we are to apply the whole Bible to our whole life. It may well be true that for cancer we need not fear death too much perhaps nor love life too much and definitely not love death. But if we are saved from the inside out and we work out our salvation with fear and trembling and that a number of Psalms indicate fear of God may be eternal, then, we may need something in addition to perfect Love casting out all fear.

It may mean just saying that we do not understand the fullness of God about fear such as the possible mystery over sacrifices in the temple even after the Second Coming which may also require that we do not understand the fullness of such ceremony.

That fear means more than "awe" does seem likely. Many languages have multiple words for fear; I do not know if this applies also to Hebrew or Greek. I guess that I could check a concordance.

The "no fear" movement is difficult for me to accept. But then the "no shame" ideas in some of the recovery movement are also difficult for me to accept.

Among the "Four Freedoms" is freedom from fear. It is almost considered to be a secular right. Will there always be danger? Do we need to navigate around danger? Does being set free require that we navigate amidst danger? Does working out our salvation with fear and trembling not refer to the danger of sheep among wolves but rather teachers among little ones? Stronger among weaker? Saved among lost?

Even Satan, who may be like a ravening lion, we may resist and fear more our treating him wrongfully. I was led to understand that courage and fear go together. How can we have courage if we do not adequately understand the dangers and threats in a real emotional way. It is true that an American soldier doing good PR when asked if he were afraid answered that he was not but rather he was a bit apprehensive. Perhaps he should have been afraid of the damage he could do and not about what might happen to him from others in the world.

Plato's question: Is it better to be wronged than to do wrong? We must fear doing serious wrong and we must be ashamed when we do wrong in order that we might fully repent. We may well not let fear nor shame control us and self-control is a fruit of the Spirit (NIV). It may well be that if we do not fear God, then we cannot find a place of repentance. Perfect love casts out fear.

It may well be that we shall have fear of God until perfect Love comes and makes us holy. Maybe less and less fear as we become more and more sanctified. But fear may well be required eternally too. Perhaps in a different form though.

Just because it does not make for clear thinking does not mean it may not make for a sound mind. The whole Bible may be perspicuous but it need not be simple.

 

[Two Scoops]

Good Word! I believe a lot of times, fear is what brings on many symptoms and diseases in the first place. Another good antidote for fear is to perfect yourself in love. Perfect yourself in Jesus's perfect love. That will drive fear away.

 

[Rebecca Sue]

Good Word! I believe a lot of times, fear is what brings on many symptoms and diseases in the first place. Another good antidote for fear is to perfect yourself in love. Perfect yourself in Jesus's perfect love. That will drive fear away.

I agree with you totally! Stress and fear do cause disease, I believe that's why The Lord told us to not fear or worry (or at least one reason why).

 

[Floyd20]

Yeah, ... it may be more complicated than that. I have a friend who used to say that there are no negative emotions. Anger can arouse us to protect ourselves. Sadness can assist us in seeking or getting help. Happiness can help is celebrate good things. Fear can help us respond to signs of danger. Existential anxiety over such things as fate & death, emptiness & meaninglessness, or, guilt & condemnation (see the book "The Courage to Be" by Paul Tillich) can be faced and overcome through the Love of God in Christ Jesus. However, as long as we have a danger of doing wrong or being wrong, then our fear of God can assist us in navigating the path of faith. Some people like to distinguish between threats and warnings as the former from Satan and the latter from God; but, like the distinction between temptations from Satan and tests from God, discernment is often achieved after the fact of obeying God. We obey God because we fear Him. It is true that if we love God, then we keep His commandments. This distinction between the transformation of a part of our humanity in order to make for holiness and the casting out of a part of our humanity in order to make for holiness may also need to be distinguished and discerned. We need to be fearfully and lovingly careful about keeping the new self and casting out the old self. And we need to cast our care and anxiety on the Lord (this once and for all at least at some point). For that matter, are love and care in competition? Must we love and not care? Our identity is hid with Christ Jesus in God. We live by faith. Maybe if we find ourselves walking on water then we should have no fear of sinking and stay firmly looking into the eyes of Jesus. But we are not to pretend that there are no dangers when they are real. Fear may help us prayerfully put on the full armour of God each day. Or, love in seeking to help those in need perhaps including ourselves. We do need to watch and pray.

 

[Restoresmysoul]

Hi, I'm struggling to understand healing miracles and things like fear and depression, I believe that the scriptures can guide us into living in holiness which leads to peace, in my opinion. I believe that God will chasten us if we are not obedient, especially if we are praying for His help. But why do some preachers seem to say that if we just believe, if we just have faith, then we will have peace and joy and will be free of all depression? they seem to teach about faith from a miraculous standpoint but seem to fail in teaching about peace coming from obedience and following Gods wisdom.



If faith heals all things and if faith alone brings peace then what do these scriptures mean?

Pr 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Pr 9:11 For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.

Pr 3:1 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: Pr 3:2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.

1pe 3:10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: 1pe 3:11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. 1pe 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil

Php 4:9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.


Pr 16:23 The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips. Pr 16:24 Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

Pr 3:13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understandingPr 3:16 Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. Pr 3:17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. Pr 3:18 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

Pr 3:21 My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: Pr 3:22 So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. Pr 3:23 Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. Pr 3:24 When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.Pr 4:13 Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy LIFE

Pr 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

Heb 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Heb 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; Heb 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

 

[Floyd20]

In the 1700s in England there were deadly serious conflicts between Anglicans and Methodists. Methodists taught something to the effect of if you confess with your mouth "Jesus is Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, then you shall be saved. End of story. Anglicans believed that if you love God, then you will keep His commandments. End of story. Some of the Anglicans thought that the Methodists doctrine resulted in support atheists and perhaps worse. At that time the penalty for atheism could be capital punishment. I think that Lutherans seek to teach and proclaim both Law and Gospel. We fear God and obey the Law and we love sinners but fear becoming embroiled in sin as they are. One day every fear shall be removed but that does not seem to be today.

 

[Restoresmysoul]

In the 1700s in England there were deadly serious conflicts between Anglicans and Methodists. Methodists taught something to the effect of if you confess with your mouth "Jesus is Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, then you shall be saved. End of story. Anglicans believed that if you love God, then you will keep His commandments. End of story. Some of the Anglicans thought that the Methodists doctrine resulted in support atheists and perhaps worse. At that time the penalty for atheism could be capital punishment. I think that Lutherans seek to teach and proclaim both Law and Gospel. We fear God and obey the Law and we love sinners but fear becoming embroiled in sin as they are. One day every fear shall be removed but that does not seem to be today.

Im pondering the practical application of using Gods wisdom verses relying on miraculous healing. Many people listen to preachers who talk about being healed by faith, these preachers tell us if we just have enough faith then we can be healed, and they often teach us to sow financial seeds into their ministry. After listening to these preachers and trying to have faith for many years, we end up frustrated and confused, we end up feeling like God has forsaken us because we haven't received that healing miracle. So i'm wondering why these preachers don't instead teach us how to walk in wisdom which promises peace and joy and even long life. Im just weary from listening to preachers promise miracles, but i don't want to deny the truth. Im seeking the truth about these things.

 

[abovetheclouds]

There is a BIG difference though between a respectful awe of God and a paralysing panic that we are doomed. The former motivates us to get closer to Him and the latter causes us to shrink back from getting near Him. The latter is debilitating and drives many people to numb their pain in sin or drives them to end up in care of a Psychiatrist or doctor.

I agree with much of the OP`s post but have a problem with the bit about “supposedly faith filled Christians” who still get sick and die. Sometimes people with a genuine faith. Sometimes strong Christians DO get sick and die. It is unfair and hard hearted to imply that if a Christian gets sick it must be because they lack faith. And to imply about being surprised in Heaven as if to suggesthese people won't make it to Heaven is offensive. We saved by faith in Jesus`s Finished Work on the cross not by whether we had enough faith to stop getting sick or not. Salvation by works is a doctrine of devils. Beware

 

[Floyd20]

Psalm 116, verses 3, 8, and 15. All about death. Latter Scripture often used about the death of a saint. As for healing, Pentecostal theology books often have a separate chapter for healing as it is important to that denomination. Some people think that Hezekiah, who was delivered from death, might better have died as he opened Judah up to an attack from Babylon after he was revived. Do we have an appointment with death that it is best we do not miss? I am not speaking of suicide which is apparently the number one killer of younger people, but of the end of a life well lived. Can saints even have a good death after an apparent life shortly and poorly lived? Is fear intended not to paralyze but to empower? If fear produces bravado it is not so good. If fear leads to faith, then it might be very good. Faith need not lead to worldly success. In fact, if God indeed takes pleasure in the death of His saints, then the faith which pleases God could end in death. Jesus came to earth as an offering -- He came to die. How can we do such in a courageous and responsible way? The soul of a servant.