40 Days of Fasting From Fear

Transcription

1 40 Days of Fasting From Fear The biggest battles are fought in our minds. We are constantly bombarded with thoughts that bring fear. The WHAT IF S can be crippling. Let us fight this battle by taking every thought captive to the Word of God. Fear not is mentioned at least 365 times in the Bible. The news, media and most information sources around us wants to bring fear. We have been redeemed and our source (God) is greater than anything we will face in this life. Each day think of scripture that will bring peace to us. Second Timothy 1:7 tells us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind. Let s run with this word today. For the next 40 days, let us reflect on the scriptures that bring life and give us hope. Come on! We can do this! List 5 Fears that you would like to overcome: Day 1 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6 Our Father in Heaven knows what we need before we ask. Many times, He'll wait until the very last second...but He always comes through. It glorifies Him when we are not anxious, because it reveals that our faith in Him is bigger than any need. Is this easy to accomplish. I think not, but just like exercising your muscles so they grow and become strong, faith grows and becomes stronger. Our faith is the only thing that pleases God because it shows Him that we do truly trust Him at His Word. 1

2 Day 2 Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. Proverbs 12:25 Worrying about problems and stressing over them will wear us out. We all know this is true. Just think about the times you ve been full of anxiety. It is not pleasant or life giving at all. It literally sucks the life out of you. The scripture says a good word makes him glad. Good news always lifts my spirit and I sure you re the same. Well you know what - you don t have to wait for a good word from someone else. Start talking to yourself and give yourself a good report. It takes no more effort to speak life into a situation. Yes, it might be more natural to gravitate towards worry, but it is all in the decision. This day, I choose life giving thoughts and cast down everything that might be causing me to doubt and worry. It s a thing called faith. I choose to believe what my Father in Heaven says about me and my situation Day 3 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 I don t know what I d do if I didn t have the peace of God in my life. There are people everyday who take their own lives because the struggles of life just overwhelm them. Others take medications to calm themselves down. I am thankful to the Lord that His Word is true. His peace truly does pass understanding (Philippians 4:7). When we rest in Him and give Him all our cares, even though we don t have a clue how things will work out, they always do. 2

3 Day 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4 I ve heard this scripture read hundreds of times at funerals, but it s really not for the dead but for the living. This life throws all sorts of things at us. I've never heard one single person say their life turned out exactly as they planned. Some have it better than they could ever imagine while many miss the mark of what they thought their life would be like. Life is not fair, but our God is good. He can turn any situation to your favor. Do you really believe that? Is He really faithful that we can put all our trust in Him? These are questions that must be answered to walk in faith. Faith overcomes fear every time if we give God equal time. Whatever we feed will become stronger. Feed your spirit with words of life. Start talking to yourself and declare life over all your situations. God is good. Give Him a chance to prove it to you. Day 5 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 Joshua was a leader who saw all the works of God and how He delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt, the most powerful nation in the world at that time. He knew that His God was bigger than any army or problem that rose in their midst. God even provided water out of a rock. He can meet any one of our needs. It may not be the way we think it should happen or the timing we want, but He is faithful. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). Tell the spirit of fear to leave. Trust in God alone. 3

4 Day 6 The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe. Proverbs 29:25 These are fearful times we live in. Many people do not trust their government. The future is uncertain. These statements are true, yet we cannot afford to let our mind dwell on these things. When we do, we allow fear to get a foot in the door. Don t allow a place for the devil to steal your joy and peace. Yes, times are definitely uncertain, but our God is sure. He will sustain us. Don t be afraid to share with your friends and coworkers how you feel and think about the upcoming change of leadership in this country. It s time to stop worrying about what people are going to think about you (fear) and speak your mind in love. And above all, pray for our nation. Don t just complain, but pray that the Lord will move and righteousness will reign. Day 7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Psalm 91:7-8 Everywhere we look, it seems there s nothing but bad news. There actually is good news, but it is never reported. We only see the bad reports and that s not good. It s a fact that if you fill your mind with negatives all day long, it s going to be difficult to have a good attitude. Whatever you feed the most becomes stronger, either the Spirit which is filled with truth or the flesh which is filled with negative images and bad reports. If the truth be known, you probably should have been done in years ago, but the Lord has protected you without you even knowing it. I remember one instance where I was late for work and sitting at an intersection in the middle lane and a big truck to my left that was blocking my view of the oncoming traffic. I was watching the yellow light on the traffic side, knowing the green light would turn any second and I could blast off and get to work. The light turned green and the split second before I hit the gas, I heard this loud NO. It startled me and immediately a car screamed passed through the intersection doing at least 80 mph. Let me tell you, I rejoiced in the faithfulness of God all that day. I 4

5 do believe 1000 will fall to my left and 10,000 on my right but it will not touch me. Our God is an Awesome God. Give Him the glory today by being faithful and not fearful. Day 8 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Isaiah 41:10 There are over 365 FEAR NOT s in the bible. That s at least one for every day. You think the Lord might be trying to tell us something? I just heard a message called the Law of Magnification. It has to do with sowing and reaping. The first thing that normally comes to mind is sin - you reap what you sow or money - give and it shall be given. How about this twist. What you sow in your mind will result in a harvest. If we sow seeds of fear, it will bear the fruit of more fear. Seed, according to God s Word, always bears fruit after its kind. So if we sow seeds of fear, we ll get more fear. If we sowseeds of love and trust in God, according to the Spirit, we will reap that harvest. Today, let us sow seeds that produce life. We all want a good harvest and to hear the words, Well done good and faithful servant. This all starts with sowing the right kinds of seed in our mind. Have a God blessed day! Day 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 Can you imagine God speaking this directly to you? That is exactly what He told Joshua. He and Caleb were the only ones of their generation to enter the Promise Land because they trusted God. All others died in the wilderness. The Lord told him not to be frightened or dismayed. I guess you could boil that down to not fearing. And God promised Joshua that He would be with him wherever he went. You know what? We have God, in the person of Holy Spirit, dwelling within us. It truly is no longer I who live, but Christ in me (Galatians 2:20). Let s dwell and meditate on that for a season. You might not think of yourself as a saint, but you are just the same if you have Christ 5

6 dwelling in your heart. As saints, let s step into this new identity and walk in a boldness instead of fear. When fear, one of our greatest enemies raises its ugly head, let s raise up a standard against him which will cause him to flee. That standard is God s Word. Declare it next time you start to be fearful. Our God is an awesome God! Day 10 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7 I just thought of another way to look at this verse. You may have already thought this, but it just came to me. It talks about humbling ourselves. We humble ourselves by our thoughts. It just occurred to me that not casting my anxieties on God is pretty arrogant, which is the opposite of humble. In reality, worrying about my situation will do no good. I do what I can and then I turn it over to God to cover the rest that I can t do. I trust Him to bring about the result I hope for because He cares for me. When I do this, I m humbling myself and when I trust God, who is perfect Love, fear leaves. Fear will not hang around if you do not entertain it. Fellowship with God and tell fear to go back to hell where it came from. Can I get an amen! Day 11 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 This scripture give me hope when I m down. I almost always have a good, positive attitude, but there are times when I just fall into the rut. I fall when I lose sight of what the Lord has done in my life. I fall when I look at temporary circumstances instead of the big picture. I have to remember that all things have and will continue to work out in my life. When I start comparing myself to others, I fall back into that rut. I hate it down there. It s not where I want to be. I must continually remind myself that everything is OK and God s working it all out for my benefit. Knowing this removes the fear and stress in my 6

7 life and gets me back on track of living the life of an overcomer. Thank You God for Your promises!!!!! Day 12 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous person runs into it and is safe. Proverbs 18:10 I hear people tell me on a regular basis that they are very concerned about everything that is happening in the world, our country and even close to home. I can definitely relate to this. It is scary, if you re paying attention. All I can say is, our Lord knows what s going on and He is our life. We must run to Him with every fear we have. None of us are strong enough to deal with it. We must run to Him and receive His comfort. Anything else we turn to is pointless. He truly is our Salvation and medication! Day 13 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10 Ok, this is the only time it s actually good to fear, but the word fear that is used here means to acknowledge and reverence the Lord above all else. Think about it. He is the Creator of everything. Nothing exists without His knowledge and will. So if you fear the Lord, you shouldn't live in fear of any evil. The great news is that He sent His Son, Jesus of Nazareth. We are actually loved by Him and He wants to have a relationship with us, His pinnacle creation. We truly are created in His image and likeness. We were separated from Him because of sin, but now are reconciled through Christ. So, the only thing to fear in this life is to miss out on a relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If you have entered into everlasting life in the Son, you have no reason to fear. 7

8 Day 14 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba! Father. Romans 8:15 This is a very powerful verse for me, because I have lived in fear all of my life. That spirit of fear I believe was passed down through generations. Notice it says the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Fear is very real and it s easy to be overwhelmed by it. It is natural to be afraid and supernatural to not be afraid. When we become sons and daughters of God, we are changed into new creations. Fear used to rule me. Now when it pops its ugly head up, I tell it where to go. It s a battle, but we've been given the weapons to be victorious, which is truth found in God s Word. It tells us who we are and we must choose to believe God s Word over the lies of the devil. Day 15 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 1 John 4:18 The Word says that God is love. We don t understand it now, but there was no other way, after the fall of Adam, to bring us back into a relationship with the Father except through the suffering, death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. God is not anxiously waiting to catch you in a sin and cast you into hell. That is simply not the truth. If we reject His offer of Salvation through Christ, then yes, hell is the final destination, but that is not the Father's heart. He desires for all to have eternal life (2 Peter 3:9). He wants fellowship with us and when we discover the depth of this truth and what has been done for us at the cross, the fear of the Lord will leave us and His love will overcome us. When this happens, His perfect love will cast out fear. The fear we were experiencing is then turned into respect and awe of this incredible God. The Creator of the universe LOVES you!!!!! 8

9 Day 16 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Philippians 2:12 We are saved only once. We step from death into life by receiving Christ as our Savior. By doing so, we agree with God that we were a sinner and there was no way we could be good enough or work hard enough to be right with God. Now when we accept Christ into our heart, we are no longer a sinner but a saint. That doesn t mean we'll never fall, because we all do. None of us are perfect. I guess what I m trying to say is this. We cannot settle for being a Sunday only Christian. It is full time thing - 24/7. Don t be fearful about falling, but don t take your walk lightly. You have been redeemed. Let s live life to its fullest! Day 17 By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil. When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Proverbs 16:4 To have respect and honor for God is truly the beginning of wisdom. This life is not all there is and to enter the Kingdom of God, we must agree with Him. The part about steadfast love and faithfulness is not talking about our faithfulness to God, but rather the Father s steadfast love and faithfulness towards us. He alone is steadfast, so we can enter the rest. When we put our trust in Him, our iniquity is atoned for because we place our faith in His faithfulness and not in our good works. This is the good news of the Kingdom. We enter eternal life here in this life when we realize we don t have the goods and we need a Savior. We simply can t make it on our own merit. When we trust Him, fear leaves. 9

10 Day 18 I got a chance to practice today what I ve been writing about. I m not going to go into any details, but there was opportunity to go into fear on several occasions. The great thing about capturing your thoughts and not allowing your mind to go wherever it wants to go is that you are actually controlling your own destiny so to speak. Fear takes on many faces and we have to be on guard when it rears its ugly head. I had a peaceful day that could have turned out very stressful. I m thankful that I can rest in knowing that my God has my back. He told me not to sweat it, so I m not going to. Day 19 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Hebrews 11:6 I encourage you to read this chapter. Everyone mentioned in this Faith Hall of Fame are pillars of faith and yet if you read each of their stories, you ll find out that they really messed up big time, moved by fear and unbelief. God looks at us differently than we view ourselves. He looks not so much at our actions but rather our hearts. He knows what is deep within us. I've walked with the Lord for 33 years and for most of them I was beating myself up for not measuring up. That thinking caused fear to rise in me because I didn t think I was good enough to please God. There is only one way to hit the mark and that is to receive Christ and let Him do a work in you. Are you going to mess up and stumble? Absolutely! Yes, we all do that. The great thing about God is that it seems He doesn t remember the mistakes we make but focuses on our faith. What an awesome God we have. He truly is a loving Father. Draw close to Him today. He s waiting for you! 10

11 Day 20 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7 You might ask how do you resist the devil? We think staying away from the big sins - lusting, fornication, drunkenness, stealing, slander and the list goes on and on. He is much more subtle than that. He ll cause you to worry about all sorts of things that are out of your control. Worry can ruin your day. Do you know that worrying about something is fear? You can turn it around and start speaking truth over the situation. I m not talking about name it / claim it theology but truly just confessing the Word over your life instead of negatives. It s also much easier on your body. Everything works better in your body when you re at peace. I pray you have a peaceful day. Day 21 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 This verse says it all. It is unbelievable how many thoughts come into our mind that are not good. I ve experienced myself the snowball effect of wrong thinking. You get a thought that is negative and instead of casting it down to the ground and grinding it into the dirt like a cigarette butt, you start thinking and looking at it from different angles. Next thing you know, that little thought becomes powerful and is all consuming. An example of this would be guessing what people might be thinking. You know what? We don t know what people are thinking. Maybe someone is looking at you with a disgusting look on their face. You might think they re displeased with you when the fact is they have a really bad case of gas! I m being funny, but you get the point. Cast down vain imaginations and take every thought captive. That s a good recipe for peace. 11

12 Day 22 And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said to them, Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? Mark 4:39-40 When the disciples were in the boat and the storm was raging, Jesus was asleep, getting some rest. The disciples, seasoned fishermen who were well acquainted with stormy seas, were totally fearful for their lives. When they woke Him, Jesus rebuked the seas and asked them why they were fearful. We all have storms in our lives. I do not know one person who is not going through a storm. Now we have a choice. We can keep freaking out over the storm and let fear overtake us OR we can look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Only He is able to calm our storm. Day 23 Matthew 14:22 tells the story of Peter walking on the water towards Jesus. As long as he kept his eyes on Jesus, he was actually doing the impossible but as soon as he started looking at the waves crashing around him, he started sinking. He had the faith to step out of the boat and do what no other man has ever done, but when fear entered his mind, he started sinking. How true this is for each of us today. The Lord spoke to me to leave the hair business and step out by faith to do only the metal business. Things were good for a while and then the economy started going south and my eyes went along with it. I was no longer watching and trusting in what The Lord told me to do but rather I was listening to the news and agreeing with it. God s Word says let God be true and every man a liar. I had stopped believing God for my needs and was listening to all the bad reports. It took me a few years to recover from that detour. Our well being is not based on the economy but on God s Word that He speaks to our heart. 12

13 Day 24 The news only gives us bad reports and they have planted fear in the multitudes. It seems like no one hardly wants to make eye contact with anyone, because you never know how someone is going to respond. How many times have I felt the urge to reach out to someone because there was this little push to do so in my Spirit but didn t act on it because of fear of rejection. There s a 50/50 chance it will go one way or another. I have found that many people are starving for affirmation and crave contact with someone, even if simply through a smile. It is amazing how many people will open up for just asking them how are they doing. People are in darkness and they need some light. We have the light of Christ in us. Let s spread it around our neighborhood. If we start with something small, there s no telling how big and how far it can go. Day 25 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Philippians 2:12 Before I knew the good news of the Gospel of Christ, I trembled at this verse because I constantly believed I could lose my salvation. Now I know that God s Word is more powerful than my actions. To work out our salvation is talking about our life walk, constantly looking to our Savior so we don t go off track, which is so easy to do in this modern day. Like a gyroscope is always recalculating positions to keep a plane on track, so we are always looking to the light of Christ to guide us through the darkness. We don t trust in our goodness but in the perfect love of Christ. Thank You Lord for Your GRACE. 13

14 Day 26 And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee. Joshua 10:8 This is an Old Testament scripture where God is telling Joshua not to fear his enemies, though they greatly outnumbered Israel. It s the same for us today. Our enemies, whether it be sickness, family issues, financial problems - the list goes on and on, can never outnumber the mercies of the Lord in our life. How many times have I thought, "This is it. I m not getting out of this one!" and then supernaturally, somehow something happens that turns the tables and the problem is fixed. We truly cannot lean on our own understanding. We must trust in our God who knows the end from the beginning. Day 27 In Matthew 6:26 Jesus said to look at the birds. They neither sow nor reap, yet are provided all they need. Being here in the country and watching nature every day, I m getting it. Look at these beautiful peach blossoms and the plants coming up in the garden. Everything happens according to what God has set in order. If He does that for birds and animals and no matter what kind of weather we have, the plant life will always come back, do you not think that He has us in mind. We are His crown creation in Christ. There is nothing in this world more important to Him than His children. We are joint heirs in Christ and He will and does take care of us. So if you are fearful of anything, take that thought captive and line it up next to the Father s love. It will disappear. Day 28 For a righteous man falleth seven times, and riseth up again; But the wicked are overthrown by calamity. Proverbs 24:16 14

15 Before I knew Jesus as my personal Savior, I was always fearful of God getting angry at me. When it talks about a righteous man, I didn t think I could ever fit in that category! Do you know that if you ve repented of your sins and received Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you are righteous? Man that is great news. Peter asked Christ how many times he needed to forgive his brother and Jesus astonished him when he answered seven times seventy. If we can do that with this carnal mind, just think of the infinite love and forgiveness the Father has for us. When we fall, we ask for forgiveness and get up and start walking this life again. We don t stay in guilt or shame for a while to make sure we ve punished ourselves enough. Jesus paid for that sin. Let Him have it, receive your forgiveness and move on with your life. This truth got me out of so much fear, guilt and shame. It set me free. God s perfect love does cast out fear. Day 29 There is a way which seems right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death. Proverbs 14:12 This is such a powerful proverb. It is so true that we have ways of thinking that don t line up with how God thinks. When we constantly worry about situations in our life, we might not realize it, but that is a spirit of fear working to undermine us and our faith in God. This is not good and actually opens us up for stress and disease. I m talking about real life here. I ve experienced this and I can tell you, if you are experiencing these things, you are not living the abundant life. We have to line up our thinking with God s Word; not just agree with it and say it's powerful and keep on thinking and operating in the same mode you ve always operated in. Fear is a spirit. You ve heard of familiar spirits.bingo! Yes we all have familiar spirits and it is up to us to tell them where to go and not carry on a conversation with them. Choose God s way and you ll experience peace, love, joy, patience and the other fruits of the Spirit. We are all wanting a peaceful life. Get rid of fear and you ll find peace. Day 30 We hear the phrase God is good all the time but do we really believe it? Adam and Eve had authority over all the earth. Satan put the thought into Eve s mind that God was holding back on them and she became fearful they were missing out. When doubt was fully manifested, she acted, Adam followed and the rest is history. She did not take that 15

16 thought captive and trust God against all odds. Because of unbelief, they gave up what was rightfully theirs. Do you know that in Christ, all has been restored that was lost in the fall. In Christ, we have once again been given all authority. It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us. (Gal. 2:20) We have the risen Christ living in us. If this is true (and it is), then let us walk like the new creations God says we are. (2 Cor. 5:17) Fear not. Day 31 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation; the old has passed away and the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 The old man is based on the law of sin and death which brings fear. The new man is righteous because of our belief in the finished work of Christ. So there really is no place in a Christian s life for fear. I've made leaps and bounds toward that goal. The closer I get, the more peace I experience. Let us all aim to achieve the abundant life (love, peace and joy) here in this life. That is the will of the Father for us. Day 32 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12 We don t have to be afraid of people. People are not the problem. The spirits that manipulate people are the problem. If we have the Holy Spirit living inside us, then greater is He who is in us than he that is in the world. (1 John 4:4) This brings peace to my soul. I know I have a purpose in this life and it will not end until I have accomplished what God has set in order for me to do. Do not fear man or what he can do to you. Know who your real enemy is and deal with him in the spirit realm. He is a defeated foe. Be at peace with God and yourself. 16

17 Day 33 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. James 1:8 This is such a true statement. I know it well because for much of my life I was double minded. I was filled with fear and never trusted God. I would pray and then continually worry if such and such would happen. I never had the faith to rest in the fact that The Lord heard my request and was in the process of answering it. I was double minded; praying and then trying to figure out what to do just in case He didn t come through for me. The Word says that man should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. The older I get and the closer I walk with Christ, I realize that He is more than able to answer all of my petitions and that He will indeed answer them. I believe I have entered the REST that God talks about. It sure beats living in fear. Day 34 Psalm 139 This whole Psalm is about how we are fearfully and wonderfully made. It tells how we were formed in our mother s womb. We were in God s mind before time and space were created. He has a plan for our life. None of us are a mistake, no matter how it came about that we were born and each of us has a purpose. When we make Jesus our Savior and Lord, our Spirit becomes aligned with His. Our Spirit lives forever, but this earthly body is for a finite period of time and it is up to us to make the most of it. Let us not fear what we see with our eyes but rather let us see in the Spirit what the Lord has for us in this life. Whatever the Lord has made, It is good! Day 35 We live in a world that is not safe. It is a far cry from the Andy Griffith show that we grew up watching. There seems to be no good news that is reported and rarely will you ever see a good story. Well I have good news to share. Jesus of Nazareth, God incarnated into a human body came and lived among us. He experienced all that we will ever go through and knows our frailties. He was victorious over this life with all its temptations 17

18 without falling into sin even once. He overcame death by rising from the dead. No power in the universe could keep Him in the grave. Every knee will bow in His presence and He will be recognized once and fall all of eternity as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. If you are His, He calls you friend. He ll move Heaven and Earth for us who have made Him Lord and Savior. We have absolutely nothing to fear. Day 36 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. Philippians 4:8 You know the saying, 'You are what you eat. Well what about the one that says YOU ARE WHAT YOU THINK. What do you dwell on? Is your mind filled with negative thoughts about your situation and about other people. This kind of thinking will not get you to a good place. It s a challenge to think positive thoughts all the time because our lives are bombarded with negatives. That s one reason I don t watch the news before I go to sleep. I believe we need to guard our hearts and minds with the good news of Christ. I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Day 37 I have gotten so many notes from people saying how they have been helped by the posts I ve written on fear. It is a big issue with many people. To tell you the truth, it is my biggest battle and I have probably been helped more than anyone with these posts. There is the saying that you have to stand up and face your biggest fear if you ever want to conquer it. Well, that s exactly what I ve done. This has helped me tremendously. Fear is so prevalent in our society and it is so very easy to succumb to it. I encourage all of you to fight the good fight and use the truth of God s Word to get victory in your lives. His Word is the only weapon we have that is able to get us that victory. 18

19 Day 38 When you read the gospels, the apostles fled in fear when Jesus was arrested. When Peter was questioned about knowing Jesus, three times he denied any association with him. Most of the apostles were concerned with saving their lives and they hid in fear. Jesus had been crucified and was buried and they thought that was the end of of the story. Later when they encountered the risen Christ, that changed everything. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and their lives were never the same. They had a boldness to preach what they had experienced and all of them except for John gave their lives for the gospel. If you have the Holy Spirit residing in you, fear really has no place, so don t allow it to get a foothold. If it has taken a place in your life, you have the authority to command that spirit of fear to leave and go to a dry place. We have been given the greatest gift to walk in victory and power in this life. I pray that we all experience this life changing transformation. To God be the glory. Day 39 This is the last post of the series I wrote on the spirit of Fear and how we can be free from it. I m reminded of the nation of Israel as they were being delivered out of slavery from Egypt. They witnessed the 10 plagues that hit Egypt but did not have any effect on them. They watched the Lord part the Red Sea for them to cross over on DRY ground and right after that, their enemies were completely destroyed as the sea engulfed the entire Egyptian army. Time after time they saw the Lord move miraculously on their behalf and they still did not trust Him. Because of this, the Lord said that they would not enter the promised land. That complete generation died in the wilderness where they went around in circles for 40 years. What could have been accomplished in a matter of just a few days took 40 years. Fear cripples us where we can t move in the destiny that God has for us. Fear is a real issue and it is up to us to deal with it. Only through the power of Holy Spirit can we overcome fear. Let us walk in the freedom that has been given us to reach our full potential and God given destiny. Day 40 Where did experience Victory? Of the 5 Fears you listed at the beginning, which fears have you overcome? 19

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