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Spiritual Bread for the Spirit Bred
"For God so loved the world that He gave His onlyh begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
(John 3:16 - NKJV)
"For God so loved the world that He gave His onlyh begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
(John 3:16 - NKJV)
SPIRIT BREAD WEEKLY
AFRAID
By Jerry D. Ousley
By Jerry D. Ousley
Afraid
By Jerry D. Ousley
Have you ever been afraid? What a stupidly dumb question; of course you have. We all have. It’s an emotion that comes to all of us when we are unsure of the outcome of the situation in which we have found ourselves. To clarify, there are some situations where being afraid can be a good thing. For instance, being afraid to touch the burner of a hot stove is good. If we touch it, we are going to get burned. Being afraid of a wild animal that is about to attack is a good thing because if it attacks us, we could be seriously or even fatally hurt. There are some things where being afraid is good.
Then there are times when our fear is unsubstantiated and even detrimental to our situation and sometimes even our lives. Timothy found himself in just such a pickle. He was serving as a pastor over the church at Ephesus, but because of his young age, he was experiencing fear. It wasn’t fear of someone wanting to take his life, or fear that the congregation was going to thrust him out. He felt unsure of his authority and because a good deal of the people he was serving were either older than he, or perhaps had more education, he feared that he was inadequate and unqualified to be in charge of those who were his elders by age. The imprisoned Apostle had spoken of this in his first letter to Timothy but somehow he knew that it was still a problem for him. In 2 Timothy 1:7, Paul wrote, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
I’ve felt like that. I know, at one time or another, we all have. Perhaps not in the same situation of being over people, but we have all experienced the dread of feeling inadequate. It is an insecurity. In many cases, it may be simply a fleeting emotion. It passes and we continue on. But in other cases it could be nearly a sickness.
But aren’t we told to fear God? Is that unhealthy? Not so, because in this instance, the word fear, refers to respect. Yes, we should have a very healthy respect for God. He may be our friend and He may be our Father, but as a holy and righteous God He demands respect. We should feel a sense of awe when we feel His presence with us. However, if you don’t know God as Father then perhaps you have a good reason to be afraid.
Eighty-one times in the Bible we are told not to fear. Most were spoken by angels who had come to people for one reason or another. Their presence caused those who had been exposed to them to feel insecurity and unsure of what to expect. Before we pass judgement on those who have had this experience, stop and think, how would we feel? I think there would be a healthy sense of “what’s going to happen next?”
Fear is one of the negative emotions in most cases. These negative emotions, when allowed to run rampant in our lives, can eventually cause physical results. That’s why it is so important to see what the Bible has to say about this form of fear. First, Jesus said in John 14:1, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.” He was telling us that instead of being troubled in our hearts, or being afraid, we can believe in Him just like we believe in God. Believing in Him can help us chase unhealthy fear from our lives.
1 John 4:18 tells us, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involved torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” John wrote a lot about love. He tells us that perfect love, but wait a minute … how can we have perfect love? We are far from perfect and following the same reasoning, how can imperfect people love perfectly? The answer is, of course, we can’t. There can only be one way – through Christ in us. When we allow Him to lead us then the love that flows from us, coming from Christ, can be a perfect love. This perfect love expels fear and the torment that haunts us in that fear.
This chain of thought would be incomplete without seeing what our fear can be replaced with. Paul said that we aren’t given the spirit (influence) of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind. Who wouldn’t want power, love and a sound mind instead of fear? But once again, those qualities can only come through Christ. In Him we have the power we need, maybe not to work miracles but certainly power to overcome being afraid. Once again, love is to be a trait in us rather than being fear. Finally, a sound mind. The ability to think clearly; to reason correctly one hundred percent of the time – a mind that is free of the clutter that the devil throws in our direction. Wouldn’t it be grand? But again, as in all of these things, only Christ can give us perfect power, perfect love, and perfect soundness of mind.
As always, we can only come to one conclusion. To overcome our fear, to calm our panic, our terror, our dread of what goes bump in the night, to chase away our tendency to be afraid – we must have Christ. We are compelled to know Him as our Savior.
Overcome your fear. But do it the right way. Do it by accepting Jesus as your Savior. Only He can completely and entirely help you to overcome your fear. It could come instantly, or it could take the rest of your life. But in Christ, you don’t be afraid!
By Jerry D. Ousley
Have you ever been afraid? What a stupidly dumb question; of course you have. We all have. It’s an emotion that comes to all of us when we are unsure of the outcome of the situation in which we have found ourselves. To clarify, there are some situations where being afraid can be a good thing. For instance, being afraid to touch the burner of a hot stove is good. If we touch it, we are going to get burned. Being afraid of a wild animal that is about to attack is a good thing because if it attacks us, we could be seriously or even fatally hurt. There are some things where being afraid is good.
Then there are times when our fear is unsubstantiated and even detrimental to our situation and sometimes even our lives. Timothy found himself in just such a pickle. He was serving as a pastor over the church at Ephesus, but because of his young age, he was experiencing fear. It wasn’t fear of someone wanting to take his life, or fear that the congregation was going to thrust him out. He felt unsure of his authority and because a good deal of the people he was serving were either older than he, or perhaps had more education, he feared that he was inadequate and unqualified to be in charge of those who were his elders by age. The imprisoned Apostle had spoken of this in his first letter to Timothy but somehow he knew that it was still a problem for him. In 2 Timothy 1:7, Paul wrote, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
I’ve felt like that. I know, at one time or another, we all have. Perhaps not in the same situation of being over people, but we have all experienced the dread of feeling inadequate. It is an insecurity. In many cases, it may be simply a fleeting emotion. It passes and we continue on. But in other cases it could be nearly a sickness.
But aren’t we told to fear God? Is that unhealthy? Not so, because in this instance, the word fear, refers to respect. Yes, we should have a very healthy respect for God. He may be our friend and He may be our Father, but as a holy and righteous God He demands respect. We should feel a sense of awe when we feel His presence with us. However, if you don’t know God as Father then perhaps you have a good reason to be afraid.
Eighty-one times in the Bible we are told not to fear. Most were spoken by angels who had come to people for one reason or another. Their presence caused those who had been exposed to them to feel insecurity and unsure of what to expect. Before we pass judgement on those who have had this experience, stop and think, how would we feel? I think there would be a healthy sense of “what’s going to happen next?”
Fear is one of the negative emotions in most cases. These negative emotions, when allowed to run rampant in our lives, can eventually cause physical results. That’s why it is so important to see what the Bible has to say about this form of fear. First, Jesus said in John 14:1, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.” He was telling us that instead of being troubled in our hearts, or being afraid, we can believe in Him just like we believe in God. Believing in Him can help us chase unhealthy fear from our lives.
1 John 4:18 tells us, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involved torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” John wrote a lot about love. He tells us that perfect love, but wait a minute … how can we have perfect love? We are far from perfect and following the same reasoning, how can imperfect people love perfectly? The answer is, of course, we can’t. There can only be one way – through Christ in us. When we allow Him to lead us then the love that flows from us, coming from Christ, can be a perfect love. This perfect love expels fear and the torment that haunts us in that fear.
This chain of thought would be incomplete without seeing what our fear can be replaced with. Paul said that we aren’t given the spirit (influence) of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind. Who wouldn’t want power, love and a sound mind instead of fear? But once again, those qualities can only come through Christ. In Him we have the power we need, maybe not to work miracles but certainly power to overcome being afraid. Once again, love is to be a trait in us rather than being fear. Finally, a sound mind. The ability to think clearly; to reason correctly one hundred percent of the time – a mind that is free of the clutter that the devil throws in our direction. Wouldn’t it be grand? But again, as in all of these things, only Christ can give us perfect power, perfect love, and perfect soundness of mind.
As always, we can only come to one conclusion. To overcome our fear, to calm our panic, our terror, our dread of what goes bump in the night, to chase away our tendency to be afraid – we must have Christ. We are compelled to know Him as our Savior.
Overcome your fear. But do it the right way. Do it by accepting Jesus as your Savior. Only He can completely and entirely help you to overcome your fear. It could come instantly, or it could take the rest of your life. But in Christ, you don’t be afraid!