FREEDOM FROM FEAR - Part II

FREEDOM FROM FEAR - Part II

FEAR is the first cousin of doubt.  Therefore, it profoundly displeases God and causes us to miss out on preset appointments with divine blessings.  On the other hand, intentional and targeted FAITH consistently produces positive results.  Here’s the challenge: We human beings cannot see beyond the curves in the road.  Only GOD (positioned over and above) can clearly visualize whatever follows each bend or turn.  Nevertheless, every twist in the road is a teachable moment, a challenge which presents real life alternatives for our prayerful consideration.  Do we succumb to an innate fear of the unknown, i.e. insecurity about those things we might not readily envision?  Or, do we decide to wisely trust in His Word, those divine directives that (admittedly) we do not fully comprehend?  Carefully consider that question before moving on – for it is where the rubber meets the road for every Christian disciple.  Indeed, faith is trusting Heaven to cast the light of truth on all our dark places.  Be encouraged; JESUS CHRIST IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD!

THE faith-or-fear human dilemma reminds me of a man who was chased by a ferocious tiger.  He ran as fast as he could until he found himself trapped at the edge of a precipitous cliff.  Spying a branch growing out of the cliff wall, he jumped down and grasped the branch, mere seconds before the tiger reached him.  But he found himself in a precarious position, to say the least.  Would this weak branch hold his 187 pounds (85 kilograms) of body weight?  But oh my, just then, a rodent appeared out of a crevice in the rock and started chewing on the branch!  This panic stricken man looked up at the growling tiger, and then down at what appeared to be a drop of 1,000 feet (305 meters).

With no visible means of escape, he raised his voice and cried: “God, if you are there, please help me!  I will do anything you ask…just save me!”  Suddenly a voice boomed from Heaven, “You will do ANYTHING I ask?” the voice questioned.  The man was shocked to hear an audible reply to his prayer, but he immediately shouted back, “I will gladly do ANYTHING you ask, just save my life!”  The voice from Heaven responded, “There is only one way to save you, but it will take great courage and faith.”  Meanwhile, the branch was weakening as the mouse continually gnawed and the tiger ominously growled above.  “Please Lord, tell me quickly and I’ll do it!  Your will is my will.”  The heavenly voice responded, “All right then, just LET GO OF THE BRANCH you’re holding onto.”  The horrified man gazed downward at the 1,000 foot drop and what he deemed to be certain death.  Then he looked up toward Heaven and asked: “IS THERE ANYONE ELSE UP THERE?”

Isn’t that a clear snapshot of what I call our DOUBT-PSYCHE?  By that, I mean as long as we humans can CLEARLY SEE a positive outcome in our next steps and a favorable end-game, we are then able to apply what we construe to be FAITH.  But TRUE FAITH is always connected to KAIROS (God’s timing and manifest will), while FEAR is an intrinsic component of CHRONOS (our human sense of the ‘what’ and ‘when’ and ‘why’ in each life-situation).  LIVING FEAR-FREE is our God-given heritage.  Total trust in God, aligned with complete confidence in whatever He seeks to achieve in and through us, are both necessary.  Jesus Christ, “the author and finisher of our faith,” (Hebrews 12:2) expressed it this way: “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?  But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Fear not therefore: you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matthew 12:6-7)

Kingdom Principle Number Two: GOD’S HIGH VALUE OF US IS A SURE INDICATOR THAT WE NEED NEVER SUCCUMB TO FEAR!  Fear is a denier of faith and a destroyer of covenant.  And we were created to have total dominion over the earth.  This simply means that we are WIRED TO WIN!  That’s why Christians are winner-believers.  Temporal circumstances may never minimize, marginalize, make, or break us because we have the DNA OF VICTORY, i.e. we are intentionally created “in the image of God.” (Genesis 1:27)  Therefore, by divine design, we are BELIEVERS, RECEIVERS and ACHIEVERS!

Psalm 8:4-6
4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him?  And the son of man, that thou visitest him?
5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR.
6 Thou madest him to have DOMINION OVER THE WORKS OF THY HANDS; thou hast put ALL THINGS UNDER HIS FEET.

It is incumbent upon each of us to tune-in and turn-on to this high degree of delegated spiritual authority and awesome personal power!  Perhaps you have heard about the farmer who decided to buy a chain saw to clear a field of trees.  A lumberjack guaranteed that the power saw this farmer wanted to purchase would cut down 15 trees in a single day.  One week later, a very unhappy farmer returned to complain that the power saw was defective because it had averaged only 2 trees a day.  The foreman grabbed the saw, pulled the cord, and the saw promptly went into full power mode: “BUZZZZZZ!”  “Hey!” demanded the farmer, “what’s that noise?”  The logging foreman just shook his head in amazement and said, “Buddy, if you want it to work, you’ve got to TURN IT ON!”  Sometimes I wonder…are we just like that farmer?  Do we fail to realize how much POWER ALMIGHTY GOD has designed and endowed within us?  Ours is the simple task of faithfully activating it. (I John 5:4)  WE MUST TURN IT ON!

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING.  Maranatha!  Stay tuned…more to come tomorrow.