Displaying Christian Sermons by tag: Fear

Are we justified by faith and sanctified by works? - Frank Turek, Cross Examined.  We can’t lose our salvation, but Paul tells us in Philippians 2:12 to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” What’s up with that? If you’ve ever been confused by that passage, this video will help!

David Jeremiah - Sunday Sermon: Slaying the Giant of Fear - Deuteronomy 1:19-40.

What are you afraid of? Snakes? Public speaking? Dying? Fear is a natural instinct—part of God’s design for you. But left unchecked, well – as Dr. David Jeremiah explains, fear can become overwhelming, even paralyzing.

David Jeremiah - Watch Sermon: Overcoming Fear With Faith. Strong faith is a vital element of the armor of God; it is the shield by which we extinguish the fiery arrows the devil sends flying at us throughout our lives.

Joyce Meyer (February-09-2023) Daily Devotional: Freedom from Fear.

God has a good plan for our lives, but sometimes obstacles get in the way that keep us from taking the steps He’s leading us to take. If there is an area of your life where you are facing fear or anxiety, decide to give it to God and receive His grace to enable you to have faith in that area so you can keep moving forward.

Read, study, and meditate on God’s Word about being free from fear and secure in Him. His Word will renew your mind, and fear will turn to faith and courage. Take the steps of faith that God leads you to take even though you might still feel some fear, and as you go forward you will begin to sense more and more freedom.

For example, if you would love to apply for a position that would be a promotion in your company, but you’ve felt too fearful to do so, step out and try it. Even if you don’t get the position, you will have been successful in stepping out in faith, and that is the most important thing. Remember that God is always with you, and as you follow His lead, He delights in your way and busies Himself with your every step!

Prayer of the Day: Father, forgive me for the time I have wasted being fearful and fretting over things that I cannot change. Right now, I say no to worry and fear. Thank You for helping me!

Prosthetic Eye Testimony: You Are Not Disqualified - Lisa Bevere. I used to think that my prosthetic eye would disqualify me. As a little girl, I even refused public speaking because of it. But God loves to make you face what you fear. Why? Because when you face what you fear, you become FEARLESS. Lovely One, God wants to anoint the areas where you’re WEAK so that He can show Himself STRONG.

David Jeremiah (January-31-2023) Daily Devotional: Have No Fear! - Turning Point.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? - Psalm 27:1

 Recommended Reading: Psalm 27 - AN EXUBERANT DECLARATION OF FAITH - A Psalm of David.
27 The Lord is my light and my salvation;Whom shall I fear?The Lord is the strength of my life;Of whom shall I be afraid?2 When the wicked came against meTo eat up my flesh,My enemies and foes,They stumbled and fell.3 Though an army may encamp against me,My heart shall not fear;Though war may rise against me,In this I will be confident. 4 One thing I have desired of the Lord,That will I seek:That I may dwell in the house of the LordAll the days of my life,To behold the beauty of the Lord,And to inquire in His temple.5 For in the time of troubleHe shall hide me in His pavilion;In the secret place of His tabernacleHe shall hide me;He shall set me high upon a rock. 6 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. 7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.8 When You said, “Seek My face,”My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”9 Do not hide Your face from me;Do not turn Your servant away in anger;You have been my help;Do not leave me nor forsake me,O God of my salvation.10 When my father and my mother forsake me,Then the Lord will take care of me...

 
When we walk into a new situation in life, there is often some fear in our heart. Whether it’s the first day of school in a new town or the first day at a new job, venturing into the unknown can make us feel anxious and fearful. It is only when we begin to build relationships and adjust to our surroundings that the fear subsides. The unfamiliar becomes familiar.

Investing in our relationship with the Lord has the same effect. When we spend time with our Heavenly Father, the fears in our life subside. When we study His Word, we see how He protected His children from their enemies and worked miracles on their behalf. We become confident in His unchanging love and care for us.

Our God is all-powerful. He is with us no matter where we are or what we are experiencing. He alone makes the unfamiliar familiar and changes our fear into peace.

Allow these truths to settle into your heart and mind so that when fear comes, you can be confident knowing who your God is.

If the Lord be with us, we have no cause of fear. - John Newton

David Jeremiah (January-30-2023) Daily Devotional: Fear Is a Liar - Turning Point. 

Do not fear. - Deuteronomy 1:21

Recommended Reading: Deuteronomy 1:19-33 - ISRAEL’S REFUSAL TO ENTER THE LAND - 19 “So we departed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the mountains of the Amorites, as the Lord our God had commanded us. Then we came to Kadesh Barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the mountains of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. 21 Look, the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged.’22 “And every one of you came near to me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into which we shall come.’ 23 “The plan pleased me well; so I took twelve of your men, one man from each tribe. 24 And they departed and went up into the mountains, and came to the Valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. 25 They also took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought back word to us, saying, ‘It is a good land which the Lord our God is giving us.’ 26 “Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God; 27 and you complained in your tents, and said, ‘Because the Lord hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28 Where can we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our hearts, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”’

We all encounter circumstances in our life which cause us to experience fear. These could be mental, physical, or spiritual struggles. The characters in the Bible were no exception. They, too, experienced fear. Think of the disciples rowing on the Sea of Galilee or David battling against Goliath. Fear and the courage to conquer it are mentioned often in God’s Word. But it is important to remember the role of faith in conquering fear.

Joshua and Caleb were men of faith. When they and the other spies left Kadesh Barnea to enter the land of Canaan and inspect the land that God had given them, their cohorts were afraid. But not Joshua and Caleb. They didn’t let fear keep them from God’s plan for the people to enter the Promised Land. Nor did they let fear convince them to disobey His commands. While others rebelled against God, Joshua and Caleb remained steadfast in their faith in God and His promises. And they were eventually blessed because of it.

Deuteronomy 1:21, 30 says, “Do not fear or be discouraged…. The Lord your God…He will fight for you.” Reflect upon the promises found in God’s Word; they will enable you to conquer all your fears.

The only known antidote to fear is faith. - Woodrow Kroll

Joel Osteen (January-14-2023) Daily Devotional: Faith and Fear - Today's Word

Today’s Scripture: Job 3:25, AMP - For the thing which I greatly fear comes upon me, and that of which I am afraid has come upon me.

Today’s Word: Faith and fear have something in common. They both ask us to believe something that we can't see. Whichever one you get in agreement with is the one that's going to come to pass. "I'm afraid I'm not going to get well." You're using your faith in the wrong direction. Turn it around. "Father, thank You that You're restoring health to me. I believe the number of my days You will fulfill." A lot of times we don't realize it, but we're using our faith for the negative. We're expecting defeat, sickness, or trouble.

Don't go through life expecting the worst, anticipating bad breaks. "This virus is spreading everywhere. I'll probably get it too." Zip that up. Don't dwell on the negative, on the what-ifs, and let that turn into fear and doubt. You belong to the Most High God. These things may come, but they're not going to stay. Turn it around and start seeing yourself healthy and full of energy, living a long healthy life. Fear cannot stay where faith is.

Prayer for Today: Father, thank You that You are the Most High God who sees every unexpected and uncertain circumstance I will ever face. I declare that I will live from a place of peace and that my faith is firmly set in You. I expect to see good things coming my way today. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Joyce Meyer (September-25-2022) Daily Devotional: Overcome Fear with Faith.

Have you ever thought how great it would be if you could live without ever having to deal with fear?

Of course, there are healthy fears that alert you to danger in time to avoid it—and these are good because they protect you. But there are many other fears Satan tries to put on you that should not be legitimate concerns. They are False Evidence Appearing Real, and they are intended to keep you from having the power, love, and sound mind God wants you to have.

Fear is a spirit that must be confronted head on—it will not just go away. But God has given you the power to boldly confront your fear and break its hold on your life.

So, when fear knocks on your door, send faith to answer!

Prayer of the Day: Father, I come against fear in the name of Jesus. Help me walk in the faith and power that is my inheritance from You, amen.

Joyce Meyer (August-18-2022) Daily Devotional: The Good Kind of Fear. 

By the time Jehoshaphat became the king, Judah was a small nation, and the surrounding nations could easily defeat them. We learn that the king brought in many reforms. The Bible records that and then says, After this, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and with them the Meunites came against Jehoshaphat to battle (20:1 AMPC).

The most “sensible” thing would have been for the king to surrender and to forge some kind of treaty. There was no human way that such a small nation could defeat such large armies. In that context, we read that the king was afraid—and why wouldn’t he be? But he didn’t stop with fear.

I want to make this point clear. To feel fear isn’t sin or failure or disobedience. In fact, we do well to think of fear as a warning to us. It’s a shout of danger.

But then we must decide what to do with the fear. We can act; we can cringe; we can ignore it. King Jehoshaphat did the right thing: He set himself [determinedly, as his vital need] to seek the Lord (v. 3). He didn’t have answers, and he certainly wasn’t stupid enough to think that his tiny army could defeat his enemies. And that’s an important lesson for us to learn in our battles against Satan. Our enemy is powerful, and if we think we can defeat him by ourselves, we’re foolish and badly mistaken.

The king not only prayed, but he also proclaimed a fast throughout the entire land. The Bible goes on to say that he stood in the midst of the people and prayed for deliverance: For we have no might to stand against this great company that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You (v. 12).

That is exactly the prayer God wanted to hear. The people admitted they didn’t know what to do, that they couldn’t win, and that their only hope was in God’s deliverance.

Just then, the Holy Spirit came upon a man named Jahaziel. “He said, hearken, all Judah, you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you King Jehoshaphat. The Lord says this to you: Be not afraid or dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s (v. 15). He went on to say, You shall not need to fight in this battle; take your positions, stand still, and see the deliverance of the Lord [Who is] with you.... Fear not nor be dismayed (v. 17). The account goes on to say that the people began to sing praises to God. When they did that, God had warriors from Mount Seir sneak in and kill Judah’s enemies so that none escaped.

That’s the biggest secret of winning the battles against your enemy. You acknowledge your fear—you can even call it “holy fear” because it pushes you to seek God. If you’re not really afraid (or worried) and don’t see the problem as bigger than yourself, why would you call for God’s help? But when it becomes overwhelming, you realize that you need divine help. Isaiah says it this way: When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him and put him to flight [for He will come like a rushing stream which the breath of the Lord drives] (Isaiah 59:19b AMPC).

When you cry out in holy fear, God hears and races to your rescue. That’s His promise, and He never breaks His promises to His own.

Prayer Starter: God, I’ve known fear, and too often I’ve concentrated on the fear and forgotten that it’s an opportunity to call on You so I can see Your hand of deliverance in my life. Give me holy fear so that I’ll always call on You in my times of trouble. In the name of Jesus Christ, I ask this, amen.