Have you ever heard a true story when the announcer would say, "The names of the characters in this program have been changed to protect the innocent." Sadly, when it comes to our own defects, the devil also changes their names. This is not to protect the innocent but to confuse the unsuspecting.
Take fear. What other names does it go by? How about terror, dread, anxiety, horror, distress, fright, panic, alarm, trepidation, apprehension, angst, concern, despair, dismay, doubt, jitters, suspicion, unease, uneasiness, worry, abhorrence, agitation, aversion, awe, consternation, cowardice, creeps, discomposure --to name a few!
When we are "up tight," we are fearful.
When we go into hiding, we are fearful.
When we withdraw, we are fearful.
Most fears are matters of the mind and have no real ground in reality outside of that. These are the fears we must learn to face and overcome if we are to find the Peace and the Freedom that we seek.
I allowed fear to cripple me at one point! Have you? Have you ever said, "I just can't feel comfortable around those people, they don’t know what I’ve been through!"? Isn't that fear?
Maybe you have called someone at the last moment, asked them to go with you to an event that evening, had been told that they already had other plans, and withdrew from them in your mind? Isn't that fear? Groundless, unreasoning fear--fear of rejection?
This might be a good time to look at those synonyms for fear and ask yourself what part they play in your life. It might be a good time to look at several failed relationships and ask yourself honestly what part your fear played in the end of a promising friendship.
It might be a good time to begin to pray every morning against fear and to examine yourself each night to see if you have given in to it by any name it may assume.
It might also be a good time to discuss what you are learning about fear with someone and to ask him or her to hold you accountable to become a person of godly Courage. Pray with me…
Dear Heavenly FATHER, I am so easily deceived and sadly it is often I who deceive myself. I have so many excuses for my fear that I confuse myself and hinder my walk. Help me to recognize fear when it approaches, to repel it, and to be a person of real, true, godly Courage as I reach out to others. Thank YOU, LORD, for YOUR Faithfulness in all YOU have provided, and continue to pour out among each one of us. I Pray to YOU, in The Name of YESHUA, JESUS The CHRIST. Amen.
Reading 2 Samuel 23:1-17…
Take fear. What other names does it go by? How about terror, dread, anxiety, horror, distress, fright, panic, alarm, trepidation, apprehension, angst, concern, despair, dismay, doubt, jitters, suspicion, unease, uneasiness, worry, abhorrence, agitation, aversion, awe, consternation, cowardice, creeps, discomposure --to name a few!
When we are "up tight," we are fearful.
When we go into hiding, we are fearful.
When we withdraw, we are fearful.
Most fears are matters of the mind and have no real ground in reality outside of that. These are the fears we must learn to face and overcome if we are to find the Peace and the Freedom that we seek.
I allowed fear to cripple me at one point! Have you? Have you ever said, "I just can't feel comfortable around those people, they don’t know what I’ve been through!"? Isn't that fear?
Maybe you have called someone at the last moment, asked them to go with you to an event that evening, had been told that they already had other plans, and withdrew from them in your mind? Isn't that fear? Groundless, unreasoning fear--fear of rejection?
This might be a good time to look at those synonyms for fear and ask yourself what part they play in your life. It might be a good time to look at several failed relationships and ask yourself honestly what part your fear played in the end of a promising friendship.
It might be a good time to begin to pray every morning against fear and to examine yourself each night to see if you have given in to it by any name it may assume.
It might also be a good time to discuss what you are learning about fear with someone and to ask him or her to hold you accountable to become a person of godly Courage. Pray with me…
Dear Heavenly FATHER, I am so easily deceived and sadly it is often I who deceive myself. I have so many excuses for my fear that I confuse myself and hinder my walk. Help me to recognize fear when it approaches, to repel it, and to be a person of real, true, godly Courage as I reach out to others. Thank YOU, LORD, for YOUR Faithfulness in all YOU have provided, and continue to pour out among each one of us. I Pray to YOU, in The Name of YESHUA, JESUS The CHRIST. Amen.
Reading 2 Samuel 23:1-17…