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THE LAWS OF BIBLICAL PROSPERITY
Part Forty Four - The Impediment of Fear
Volume XI Number 7 July 4, 2008

In this issue

Links to FREE Articles

The Origin and Nature of Fear

Consequences of Living in Fear

How to Overcome Fear

Some Final Thoughts

Sinners' Prayer

Prayer Requests

Donations

Questions and Suggestions


 

Links to FREE Articles


Links to Special Financial Services















"Owe no man anything..."
-Romans 13:8














"...the borrower becomes the lender's slave."
-Proverbs 22:7















"...the righteous man shall live by faith."
-Romans 1:17















"...without faith it is impossible to please Him."
-Hebrews 11:6















"No one can serve two masters..."
-Matthew 6:24















"The Lord will make you abound in prosperity..."
-Deuteronomy 25:11















"...God loves a cheerful giver."
-2 Corinthians 9:7















"...the Lord... is giving you power to make wealth..."
-Deuteronomy 8:18

















Greetings in the name of Christ Jesus!

Biblical prosperity is the state of total well being where God is meeting all your needs: spirit, soul and body.

The Bible tells us that just before Jesus is to return to the earth there will be wars and rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, tribulations, murder, hatred, the emergence of false prophets and lawlessness (Matthew 24:6-12). Another account says there will be dismay among the nations, "in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves" with people "fainting from FEAR" at the expectation of the things that are coming upon the World (Luke 21:25- 26). In sum people will be terrified by their horrific environment as the earth increasingly manifests the consequences of the Curse that came from Adam's capitulation in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:17-19 and Deuteronomy 28:15-68).

Many people believe we are seeing these environmental signs today: catastrophic weather, increasing terrorism, widespread sickness and disease, wars, famines, major fires, global warming, etc. To make matters seem even more frightening, people are treated to a constant stream of sensationalized alarm and negativity through the World's media. The result is a prevailing fear and dread among the people of the earth just as the Bible prophesied.

Because of this environment, most people live in some degree of anxiety and concern for the details of life and family. They speak negatively, they worry about every physical symptom, they are concerned about financial lack, indebtedness and job security and a host of other factors that separate them from the peace they long for. But there is good news for Christians: we don't have to live in fear. In fact, except for a respectful fear of the Lord and His Word, we aren't supposed to experience fear at all because fear doesn't come from God.

"For God has NOT given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7)

The Greek word translated FEAR in this scripture means literally to be "timid." The dictionary defines fear as the alarm and agitation that are caused by danger. People who are fearful have difficulty trusting God; therefore, fear works as the opposite of faith and NEVER comes from God. Instead of fear, God has given us the basic elements that we need in order to live by faith: power (authority), love and a sound mind. In fact, Jesus told us not to let our hearts be troubled and instead to believe in God and live in peace (John 14:1, 27).Therefore, since fear does not come from God and since according to scripture fear IS a spirit, the only possible source of it is Satan.


  • The Origin and Nature of Fear
  • Friend, did you ever consider that there was no fear in the Garden when God originally created it for the man and his wife? The Garden was a complete paradise and all their needs were met in abundance. There was absolutely nothing to be afraid of or concerned about. As the familiar story goes, the Lord commanded them not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because if they did they would surely die (Genesis 2:17). They had access to all the other plants and sources of food in the Garden but their one rule was that they weren't supposed to eat from one particular tree. Eventually though Satan appeared to them and convinced them to disobey God's rule and eat the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:1-6); and immediately following that act of disobedience, the condition of fearfulness was brought up for the first time.

    3:8 "They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden."

    3:9 "Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him: "Where are you?'"

    3:10: "He said, 'I heard the sound of You in the garden, AND I WAS AFRAID because I was naked; so I hid myself.'"

    From this biblical account of Adam's fall from the plan of God, we can come to several important conclusions concerning FEAR:

    � First, it was the enemy who came and tempted the man and his wife (Genesis 3:1-5). Satan doesn't cause us to sin but he can tempt us just as he did Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:3-11). When we're tempted, we have to make a choice. When we make the wrong choice, the result is sin; therefore, SIN IS THE ROOT OF ALL FEAR.

    � When God told the man that he and his wife were not to eat the fruit from the tree of good and evil, He also told them that if they ever disobeyed they would surely die (Genesis 2:17). The Hebrew word translated "die" in this scripture also means SEPARATION in addition to describing physical death. Thus, the Lord was telling the man that the consequence of disobedience would be a spiritual disconnection from the presence, blessing and favor of God that would lead to an eventual physical death.

    � When the Lord called out to the man and said, "Where are you," it wasn't because He didn't know where he was. Certainly, God knew their exact location. Rather, it was to call their attention to the fact that for the first time in their lives they were separated from His presence and as a result He now considered them "lost."

    � When we sin, the result is a feeling of being separated from God, a belief that we're no longer worthy to fellowship with Him. It's Satan's objective to make you feel that way, to undermine your faith and have you come under fear so he can lead you around by your Flesh. Under the Old Covenant the separation was real and the only possible deliverance was to obey the Law and hope for the best. But under the New Covenant the presence of God has been permanently restored by faith and He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

    � Fear comes anytime we feel separated from the presence of God because God is love (1 John 4:16) and perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). When we walk in our carnal nature, i.e. in the Flesh, we feel cut off from the presence of God because selfishness replaces love and we then become susceptible to fear.

    � All fear flows out of the fear of death and the wages of sin is always death (Romans 6:23). Eternal life is now available through Christ and death has been defeated (1 Corinthians 15:54-55); therefore, those who remain separated from God do so by their own choice and ultimately are subject to eternal death both spiritually and physically.

    � When the man and his wife sinned in the Garden, they came under the Curse (Genesis 3:16- 19). One of the consequences of the Curse is fear (Deuteronomy 28:25).

    Yes, Satan is the one who produces a spirit of fear and we can be certain that he has a purpose for it. So, simply put his objective is to separate us from God by using fear to attack our faith. And if he is successful it will help him carry out his three-pronged program: to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10) everything in our lives that comes from God. Satan is also a deceiver and a liar which draw on fear to produce his desired results.

  • Consequences of Living in Fear
  • The Bible instructs us in a number of places not to live in fear. For example Philippians 4:6 says, "Be anxious for nothing" Matthew 6:31 tells us "do not be worried about your life " Many times in scripture angels and others said the words of reassurance, "fear not" (e.g. Luke 1:12, 30). On several occasions, Jesus told His Disciples that their fear demonstrated a lack of faith (Matthew 14:30, Mark 4:40). In sum, being fearful is something God wants us to avoid because it produces undesirable consequences.

    Did you know that many precious Christian Believers routinely live their lives in fear and dread? Anxiety attacks aren't so uncommon these days even in the Body of Christ. In fact, you may be reading this article today and be one of those Christians. Maybe you've lost sight of the fact that you don't have to live that way. The truth is many of us are fearful about our finances or an economic recession or the price of gasoline or health issues or the dangerous environment or our relationships or any number of other important matters in life because we've stopped trusting in God and have allowed ourselves to be separated from His Word by apathy and disuse. Fear is a tool of Satan that causes us to experience defeat in many important areas of life:

    � Fear robs you of your faith and without faith it's impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Faith is trusting in God; fear comes from transferring your trust from God to yourself. When you allow fear to replace your faith, you lose your ability to overcome the World (1 John 5:4). When you live in fear, you give glory to the works of the devil; when you live in faith, you give glory to God.

    � Fear robs you of your peace because peace comes by faith (Romans 5:1). The World today is longing for the peace that passes all understanding but it's only available through Christ (Acts 10:36, Romans 5:1). In fact, Jesus specifically told us not to be fearful so we would be able to receive the peace that He came to make available to us (John 14:27).

    � Fear robs you of your joy. Fear always brings concern and anxiety that displace and replace your joy. The Bible says that your joy is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10). It's a major weapon to protect you from the adversary and to bring victory over your trials. When you lose your joy, you lose your strength to successfully resist the enemy.

    � Fear makes you self absorbed. When you stop trusting in God, which is what happens when you surrender your faith, you start trusting in yourself. Fear is intensified because you sense that you'll never be capable of bringing the solutions you had hoped for. Also, when you have chosen to trust in yourself instead of the Lord, you make yourself vulnerable to the attacks of your adversary.

    � Fear makes you grouchy and subject to strife. Fear always focuses on defeat which brings disappointment and despondency and makes us hard to get along with. As long as we trust in ourselves instead of the Lord, we'll fall easily into strife because our emotions are controlling us. When we move easily into strife, our relationships suffer; fear always strains relationships.

    � Fear moves you to make unwise and expedient decisions and choices. When we're fearful, we move out ahead of God and tackle things in our own strength. There's no faith; God's not involved. An example is when we try a "get rich quick scheme" in response to the fear that God won't provide adequately. Where there's no faith, there's no wisdom because God's not in it.

    � Fear robs you of love. The Bible says in 1 John 4:18 there's no fear in love. The two can't co- exist. Therefore if fear prevails, our ability to love God and the things of God is greatly diminished. If we're unable to love, we can't fulfill the commandments of Christ. (Matthew 22:37-40). If we can't fulfill the commandments of Christ, we'll be unable to accomplish anything (John 15:1-11).

    � Fear causes us to have to experience the very things we're anxious about. This is a principle from scripture that we can see clearly in the story of Job (Job 3:25-26). Whatever he feared he was forced to experience in life and the same consequence happens to Christians who allow fear to persist in their lives instead of recognizing it for the work of Satan that it is and resisting it as scripture has instructed.

    These are but a FEW of the main consequences that come from fear. Unfortunately many Christians don't realize that we've been equipped to resist and defeat fear by trusting in God and by using His Word instead of depending on our own strength and devises. As a result Believers across the Body of Christ are operating below their potential and are letting fear block the prosperity and abundance God wants them to have. Therefore, it's in the interest of every Christian to take authority over fear, to kick it out of their lives and to resist its re-emergence with the greatest of determination.

  • How to Overcome Fear
  • Keep in mind that fear comes from Satan and that God has given us total power and authority over every work of the enemy (Luke 10:19). Let's be perfectly clear: BELIEVERS HAVE TOTAL POWER AND AUTHORITY OVER FEAR. Therefore, to get the victory we have to know what the Word of God says and then apply the principles we find there to the task of overcoming fear. In this article today we have highlighted the following major steps for overcoming this predictable work of the enemy:

    1. You must first make the decision to come into agreement with the Word which calls for you to resist fear. You must decide to exercise the authority over the enemy Christ has won for you instead of being passive.

    2. Second, you must re-energize your faith and trust. Faith comes by hearing the Word (Romans 10:17); so fear comes by NOT hearing the Word enough. Therefore, you need to get into the Word of God and start reading and studying it to cause fear to flee.

    3. Third, you must come to know who you are in Christ and start exercising your authority over the enemy the devil. Tell him to get out of your life and take his fear with him. If you resist him, he must flee (James 4:7).

    4. Fourth, you must focus on loving God and others by faith. "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). Strengthen your faith by speaking out loud about your love for God.

    5. Fifth, the Bible says that you can overcome anxiety by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Spend time with God in prayer thanking Him for what He has done in your life and His peace will return (Philippians 4:6-7).

    6. Six, there are many scriptures that connect JOY to the exercise of PRAISING the Lord. Indeed, God inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3); so by praising Him the sense of His presence is released and in His presence is the FULLNESS of joy (Psalm 16:11). The truth is if you are a born again Believer, JOY already resides within you (Galatians 5:22) and is just waiting for you to release it as a mighty weapon against fear.

    7. Seventh, another weapon against fear is speaking in tongues. By speaking in tongues you speak directly to the Lord (1 Corinthians 14:2), you EDIFY yourself (14:4), you pray out of your spirit instead of the Flesh (14:14), you build your faith (Jude 1:20) and all of these work to destroy fear.

    8. Finally, the Word tells us that we should seek first the Kingdom of God instead of worrying. (Matthew 6:31-33). Therefore, fear will depart when our priorities come into closer agreement with His Word.

    Friend, you may have difficult issues in your life but you don't have to be in fear about them. You can release your faith that God will come to the rescue and then you hope and wait for the best. If you give in to fear, then you stop trusting that the Lord will show up to deliver you from your trial. Focus on today and stop worrying about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34) because contemplating the future leads to fear.

  • Some Final Thoughts
  • Today's newsletter is largely a reprint of an article we first published in May, 2007. The reason for repeating it is that conditions in the World today are noticeably more traumatic than they were even just a little over a year ago. People are crying out all over the earth because of high gasoline prices, a mortgage crisis that threatens millions of family homes and a US economy that's apparently sinking into recession. As this paragraph is written in June 2008, parts of the US are experiencing some of the worst floods in the history of this Country and a number of other catastrophic natural disasters have killed hundreds of thousands of people in many parts of the world.

    But Friend, Christians are not OF this World. We're not subject to the conditions that traumatize unbelievers unless we choose to be or unless we fail to exercise our power and authority or unless we forget that the Cross made it possible for us to live in peace and joy. All the disasters the World faces come out of the Curse; they're not from God and Believers by faith are not subject to the Curse (Galatians 3:13). Christians have Someone to put their trust in; we have a reason to hope that all things will work out right for those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

    Remember, God has not given you a spirit of fear; rather, He's given you power (authority), love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). Therefore, resist fear and it must flee because it comes from your enemy the devil. Decide not to be passive about it because you'll never be able to enjoy the fullness of biblical prosperity in your life until you deal with your fear. So, use your power, your authority, your love, your faith, your sound mind, the Word of God, your prayer time and your determination to get rid of fear and keep it out of your life forever. Speak directly to your fears and command them to depart from your presence and they'll have to obey (James 4:7). And remember that what's happening in the World has no effect on the prosperity of FAITH- FILLED Believers because "Jesus has overcome the World" (John 16:33). Friend, "greater is He who is in you than he who is in the World" (1 John 4:4). So apprehend your power and authority in the name of Jesus and don't be hesitant to use it!

    Thanks for reading PLN today. We hope this message has blessed you and opened your understanding to the subject of FEAR. We'll be looking for you again in three weeks on July 25. In the meantime, may the Lord bless you and your family with the fullness of biblical prosperity and with every spiritual blessing.

  • Sinners' Prayer
  • If you have never invited Jesus to become the Lord of your life, you can do so today by saying the following simple prayer:

    Jesus I believe in you. I believe that you are the Son of God and that He raised you from the dead. I receive you as my Lord and Savior. Please forgive me for my sins and come into my life today.

    If you were sincere as you prayed, God has already come into your life and you are a new creation. Now ask the Lord to lead you to a good faith based bible teaching church where you can be developed to fulfill your potential in the Kingdom of God. If you're unable to find a church, give us a call and we'll help you find a good one.

  • Prayer Requests
  • Please e-mail your prayer requests to: [email protected]. We'll be honored to bring them before the Lord each Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM, Eastern Time.

  • Donations
  • If you have been blessed and edified by Prosperous Life Newsletter, please pray about making a Spirit-led love offering to support the work of the Ministry (Galatians 6:6-7). PLN is a non profit [501 (c) (3)] gift to the Body of Christ so your financial gifts should be tax deductible (please consult your tax advisor). You may mail your check or money order to Cornerstone Consulting Ministries to 10621 N. Kendall Drive, Suite 113, Miami, Florida 33176 or click on the donation tab for other payment options. May God bless you with His abundant harvest in return for sowing your precious seed into this Ministry.

  • Questions and Suggestions
  • It would bless us to have an opportunity to answer your questions concerning any of the areas covered by the ministry of PLN. We would also be happy to consider your comments and suggestions. Please feel free to e-mail them to us or give us a call anytime during normal business hours at our toll free number 1-800-357-4223.

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