Fear & Worry -
All four of these attributes come back to the first one, fear. Fear begins in the form of a thought and manifests in our emotions. How do you conquer fear? Joyce Meyer gave a simple answer. "Do it afraid." What is so great about this answer is that it's a revelation that it's not in our power to conquer fear. The question was "How do YOU conquer fear." The answer was YOU "Do it afraid."
So where is our relief?
Psalm 46:1 & 2 says God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
The mind is a difficult thing to control but as the children of God it is necessary to set our thoughts on Him. If we don't the enemy is free to take advantage.
Romans 12:2 says Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.
What good will it do us to have these four nuisances masquerading in our lives? Has it benefited you to be fearful of losing your job? Have you gained anything by worrying if you're going to have the means to pay bills and feed your kids? Have you progressed in your life by being guilty of sins committed 10 years, 5 years, 1 year, 1 week, or a day ago? And further more have any years been added to your lives but being insecure of yourself and unsure of who you are in Christ?
If you said yes to any of the following questions stop reading this article, go back to your own Facebook page and ponder, as this article won't benefit you.
Matthew 6:25-31 says "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear',
Our God is an awesome God! He is not visibly accessible to us on a regular basis. He is a Spirit. Therefore His communications are spiritual. This requires our complete faith in Him. We live by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7) Let's spend more time exercising our faith.
Guilt -
We've all fallen short of the glory of God. We are commanded to repent of our sins and repent doesn't just mean your sorry. It means turn away from it. In other words quit doing it! Naturally those that have a relationship with Christ love Him and therefore don't want to hurt Him. So yes we are truly sorry and we repent.
But...
Romans 8:1 says Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
Why is it that we feel the more miserable we are about our sins the closer we are to God? Do you want to know something? You're going to mess up again. Do you want to? No! Did you mean too? I hope not. Quit worrying about sins that you've already repented of. I guarantee God knew you were going to do it. You didn't surprise Him. You didn't catch Him off guard. Now repent, turn away from it, give it to Him and trust that He will keep true to 1 Corinthians 10:13 which says
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
His grace is sufficient.
Contrary to popular belief the devil can bind us through our thoughts and we need to stop allowing him to have so much authority over them. There comes a point when we have to say, " I don't care how I feel, this is what I know." The Bible tells us that if we resist the devil he will flee from us (James 4:7).
I'm going to challenge you that when these thoughts start surfacing that you rebuke the devil out loud and command him in the name of Jesus to GO!
Insecurity -
How do you feel about yourself? Do you compare yourself to others? Do you feel belittled by people of stature? We are looking for our value in all the wrong places.
Isaiah 54:17 says No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me," Says the LORD.
Security is inherited through God. This means that as His children it belongs to us. Amen! (Time to shout)
STOP saying negative things about yourself!
Psalm 139:14 says I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
"Marvelous are your works," MARVELOUS are HIS WORKS. That's us guys!
Start talking to yourself. I encourage you to watch this video.
You're probably already one of the 5,602,486 viewers that have already seen it but watch it again. This little girl is on to something. Talk to yourself guys. How many people speak to you on a daily, weekly, monthly basis? Not to mention all the talking to enemy is doing in your ear. I don't know about you but I hear a lot of negativity myself. What's stopping you from getting your own say in?
Remind yourself that you are a child of the most high God. That you are fearfully and wonderfully made and a marvelous work of God. You're loved and created special just for Him and His glory. You're beautiful. You're blessed. You're smart. You're prosperous. Keep going...
Stop thinking of the things you don't have and start thinking about how blessed you are to have the things God has given you.
Ephesians 1:4 & 5 says just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
God loves you. Bottom line!
Inevitables -
You will do a lot of waiting in life.
Not everyone will like you.
From time to time you will be disappointed.
Not all your plans will work.
The devil hates you.
When you do what is right you will be persecuted.
God does not always say yes when you ask Him for something.
People are not perfect.
These facts are inevitable in everyone's life. "It is what it is, so deal with it." - Joyce Meyer's daughter. What good is it going to do to worry about these things or try to change any of them.
I refuse to spend my life in fear, worry, guilt & insecurity. That's not a way to live. So starting now if you want to make a change, which not everyone does. Some people are comfortable playing the victim. But if you're tired of living this way and are ready to make a change then I encourage you to do so.
When the enemy starts speaking his lies to you, rebuke him and command him to "Go, in Jesus name!" OUT LOUD!
When the inevitable happens get in the Word of God and spend time with the Lord. When it happens the way we want, Praise the Lord. When it happens the way we don't want, Praise the Lord. God is sovereign and He will sustain us.
We underestimate the power of a breath. When life happens, and I assure you again it will, stop, breathe, meditate on His Word, and lighten up!
I will leave you with one final scripture.
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