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Three More Principles of Fear
3 Three More Principles of Fear
Principle #4: The loss of God-consciousness produces fear.
The greater our God-consciousness is, the lesser our fears are, but only if our fears are the right kind. If we have an accurate God-consciousness that is based on Scripture, our fears will be few. But if our concept of God is based upon false understanding, uninformed opinion, bad theology, heresy, bad experiences, etc., our fears will be many.
We learn from the story of Adam and Eve that self-consciousness produces fear. In the same manner, other-consciousness can also produce fear. In Genesis 3, we see Adam and Eve hiding in self-conscious fear from God behind the trees of the Garden. But we also see them fearfully hiding from each other through the fig leaves they used to cover their nakedness.
Before their sin and rebellion against God, Adam and Eve “were both naked, and they felt no shame” (Genesis 2:25). In their spiritual innocence, they felt no sense of shameful self-consciousness before God or each other. But sin stripped them of that innocence! As they turned away from God, they turned away from each other. As they tried to hide from God, they tried to hide from each other. That’s because their con-
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science was stricken with guilt. So the big cover-up of marriage began. And the naked truth of marriage is that these games of hide-and-seek continue to this day to some degree in every marriage. That’s because every son of Adam and every daughter of Eve still struggles with a negative self-consciousness rooted in fear. And it colors all of our relationships in life, whether we are married or single.
There is a fascinating illustration of fear in the life of Abraham Lincoln. Like many of us as children, he had the habit of tracing the words with his finger as he read. His personal Bible has this verse worn out: “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4).
It is my prayer that by the end of this study, the Lord will do the same thing for you and that your God-consciousness will grow to overpower all other wrong, false beliefs about the true and living God. Remember, He passionately loves you unconditionally! Like He did for King David and Abraham Lincoln, He wants to “deliver you from all your fears.”
Principle #5: Believing Satan’s lies results in fear. Having faith in God’s truth results in peace.
Obviously, God is not the source of fear, as we noted earlier. Other than the normal fears He put within us through creation to protect us, the spirit of fear did not come from Him. If God is not the originator of this negative, phobic, crippling spirit of fear, then who or what is its source?
The answer is clear in the Bible. Satan is the source of all
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negative fear. Fear ultimately invades our minds when we begin to listen to the devil’s lies, just like Eve did in the Garden. While fear comes from believing the devil’s lies, faith comes from believing God’s truth. When we listen to the wrong source, fear invades our minds and displaces faith. We cannot focus our minds on both fear and faith at the same time. One always displaces and replaces the other.
That’s why there is a lifelong battle between God and Satan for your mind. While believing God results in being under the control of the spirit of faith, believing the devil results in the spirit of fear. One will always defeat the other, and the winner is always the one we give control to.
An example of this is found in the lives of the disciples. Jesus had told them to get in their boat and cross the Sea of Galilee. En route, a furious storm arose and assaulted their boat. It was so furious that these seasoned sailors were gripped by fear, while Jesus was peacefully sleeping in their boat. They finally awakened Him in their panic with these words: “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38).
In response, Jesus asked them, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (verse 40). Satan used their circumstances to cause them to lose confidence in Christ’s presence and power. He had commissioned them to go, and He was in the boat with them. Could any storm swamp the boat that Jesus was in? Could any wind blow off course the boat that Jesus was in with His disciples? Hardly! But the moment they stopped believing the words of Christ, they were gripped by a negative spirit of fear. They lost all confidence in His words. And Jesus lovingly rebuked them for their lack of faith. Therefore, when we allow fear to replace faith in
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our hearts and minds, we lose the peace of Christ’s presence in our lives.
How can you know if you have allowed the spirit of fear to take over your thinking? You can know through the presence of peace in your life. Peace is your spiritual barometer. Whenever the spirit of faith is in control of your thinking, there is spiritual, mental, and emotional peace. Isaiah stated God’s promise this way: “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust [have faith] in you” (Isaiah 26:3). That’s why Paul wrote “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” (Colossians 3:15).
Since repetition is the key to learning, let’s ask the question again: How can we know if Christ’s peace is ruling in our hearts and minds? We can know because we have peace in the midst of the storms of life. The Bible gives us God’s spiritual prescription for peace of mind:
Do not be anxious [fearful] about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6–7).
There it is! That’s the secret of having both peace of heart and mind. It is through believing God’s Word rather than believing Satan’s lies, regardless of the circumstances. We see that in the contrast Paul used between the words “anything” and “everything.” We are not to let anything cause us to lose faith in God’s Word, but in everything give thanks to God for His presence and sufficiency. It is willfully focusing our minds
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on faith rather than fear. It is believing in and looking for the best in everything. That’s why Paul goes on to exhort us:
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. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:8–9).
How many negative things are in that list? None! Does that mean, then, that we will never have negative, fear-provoking thoughts? Hardly. They are normal in our fallen state as members of Adam’s race. We all naturally have a negative mindset. That’s why Paul also exhorts us to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). You either take the thought captive, or the thought will take you captive! It’s your choice.
To summarize: Believing the devil’s lies results in fear. Believing in God’s truth through faith results in peace of heart and mind. Therefore, fear and faith cannot simultaneously control your mind. They are mutually exclusive. Spiritual, mental, and emotional peace is proof positive as to which one is in control of your life.
Don’t listen to the devil’s lies, regardless of how reasonable and logical they might seem at the time. The lies that Satan told Eve in the Garden sounded so good to her. But they were still lies, even though they were disguised in halftruths! Keep your mind focused on faith, and God’s peace, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
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Ever since the Garden of Eden, man’s fears have grown exponentially with the human population. Now the list of what strikes fear in humanity is almost endless. And it seems that each generation adds to the ever-growing list. Here are just some of the many fears or phobias that psychiatrists and psychologists have compiled:
aloneness blood change confinement death dirt disease everything fire injury night open spaces people snakes spiders strangers travel
autophobia hemophobia neophobia claustrophobia thanatophobia mysophobia pathophobia panophobia pyrophobia traumatophobia nyctophobia agoraphobia anthrophobia ophidiophobia arachnophobia xenophobia hodophobia
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As believers, we know that the only lasting antidote for fear is faith. It is because of this cardinal principle that I have entitled this book Faithing Down Your Fears as opposed to Facing Down Your Fears. One is the Christian solution to fear; the other is the worldly solution to fear. One is a God-centered approach, while the other is a man-centered approach. That fact forces the question, Which approach is most characteristic of your life?
Worldly solutions are based on some form of gritting your teeth and facing down your fears—which is often a form of faking it. But, the biblical solution is to faith down your fears through the presence and power of God’s Holy Spirit. It is my prayer that through the exhortation and encouragement of this book you will choose faith and not fear.
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