Overcoming Fear - Part 2 - F-E-A-R

Caption: Maggie in a non-fearful moment

F - E - A - R. It's been called "False Evidence Appearing Real." But what if the "fear" isn't "false evidence."

What if something you're dreading actually happens. When things we are "afraid" will happen actually do...we get a bad health report, we lose our job, our credit report takes a tumble, a loved one dies, whatever it is - when it happens, what can we do?

Since we can't control the event - we do something else. We control our response! And you know what? That's actually the best thing we can do. What should our response be?

1) Pray - and this is the BEST thing we can do. Prayer centers us. Prayer gets our minds off ourselves and onto God. Prayer puts our spirits in charge. Prayer brings peace.

2) Read the Word - often God will bring us peace and comfort through the reading of His holy Word. He'll tell us right where to go to get our answer. It always amazes me when I'm puzzling about something, God will quietly tell me just where to go to find peace.

3) Worship - this is also important. If we can praise the Lord for any and all circumstances in our lives, we build Him up in our hearts. Whether we sing or play an instrument or we listen to a worship CD - this is important to do on a daily basis, but especially when fear hits us.

4) Breathe in the Life of the Spirit of God - Fear comes to our minds, our emotions. If we breathe in the life of the Holy Spirit - our spirits rise up and take control of our emotions. Our spirits, because the Holy Spirit lives in us, can overcome anything. It is through our spirits, that peace comes to our minds.

5) Take thoughts captive - sometimes, I have literally said this over and over to myself out loud. When a mental attack comes after taking spiritual ground, we need to remember that we don't wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers. This also helps to calm us and helps our spirits take control of our bodies and emotions.

What fears have you had to face lately? Is it fear of the future, fear of non-provision, fear of a relationship going sour, or fear that you've missed it? Post a comment and let me know. We're discussing fear for another couple of weeks. The week of September 8th, I'm posting a book review of Max Lucado's newest book, Fearless.

Overcoming Fear - Part 1 - Revised

This is Maggie. When I got her, she was one fearful dog. She trembled every time I picked her up.

She hid behind my legs whenever young children came around. She didn't want to have anything to do with them.

It took a couple of years before she would enjoy being held or not hide behind me when she saw a child coming.

It seems that for the last several years, God has been dealing with me and my fears. This started towards the end of February 2007. At that time, He was bringing me emotional healing and showing me a new direction than the one I had been going.

The first thing He asked me to do: contact a classmate from college via ORU's Face Place, an ORU-alumni Facebook type social site. I knew this classmate wouldn't remember after all these years unless I uploaded a photo - so I did. I wasn't sure I'd hear back from him, but I did. He was nice.

The thing was - old fears of rejection were trying to come back to haunt me. What if, even after seeing my picture, he wouldn't remember me? What if he was sarcastic and didn't show any sincere feelings of good towards me?

I believe the older we get, and the more we go through - if we don't depend on the Lord, we get more fearful. I never used to think of myself as a fearful person. I may have even said that out loud - but as soon as I did - God started showing me all the different fears I had.

There's a lot we can be afraid of in this life if we let ourselves. The point is - not to let ourselves. Fear robs us of faith.

In September, a new book by Max Lucado is being released, called Fearless. To commemorate that, and to establish our book review of this book for Thomas Nelson, I'll be discussing fear, but not the book. I'll reference the book, but not review it until the week of September 8th.

In the meantime, there's plenty of fear to talk about. We can overcome it. What frightens you the most? Post a comment and let me know.

New Beginnings - Part V

Recognize last week's flowers now?

They become what's in the next picture....

Cacao pods.

New beginnings. You never know how they're going to look!

Last weekend I began a bunch of new acquaintances that I hope will become friends. I gave and received encouragement. The Lord is good and His mercy endures forever.

Take time this week to encourage someone. And receive encouragement when someone offers it to you. That's actually one of our purposes in being followers of Christ, isn't it? To strengthen feeble knees, to give a word in due season, to give words of comfort, edification and exhortation?

I believe that's one reason why we're here and why God puts us in relationships with others.

New Beginnings - Part IV

Every day is a new beginning. A new chance to start over. A new chance to say, "Lord, what do YOU want me to do today?"

This week I'm going to be doing something I've never done before. I'll tell you about it next week.

But we each have a voice, and we each have something to say. We will often find different viewpoints within our own family. But we each have a voice.

That's the 'wonderful' part about our country. It is a 'free' country where we can say what we want to. Let's all pray it stays that way for many, many more years, and that the Kingdom of God is brought from heaven to earth with miracles and signs follow those who believe, before the enemy has his chance to make a dictatorship of the world.

Look at this picture. Can you guess what it is - or rather what it is going to be? I'll tell you next week if you haven't figured it out by then.

Blessings! And remember your freedoms...