Overcoming Fear

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Overcoming Fear
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People Have Many Fears

• Brontophobia - Fear of lightning
• Papyrophobia - Fear of paper
• Arachnophobia - Fear of spiders
• Gynophobia - Fear of women
• Cacophobia - Fear of ugliness
• Bogyphobia - Fear of the bogey man
• Aichomophobia - Fear of needles
• Bufonophobia - Fear of toads

PHOBIAS
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Identifying Fears

• Some may be confusion may exist because the
  Bible both condemns and commands fear!
• Two passages (Heb 136 Ecc 1213)
• There is certainly more than one type of fear
• There is also more than one object of our fear
• There is even multiple ways of expressing our
  fears

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Identifying Fears

• A positive fear - The Fear Of The Lord
• An emphasis on fearing God (Hebrew 1228-29)
• Involves respect, honor, reverence, a sense
  of awe
• This fear is positive because it draws us
  closer to God (Phil 212 2 Cor 71 Acts
  931)
• Ecc. 1213 Gen 2011 2 Peter 31-2
• It is possible to have an unhealthy and
  unbalanced fear of God! (1 John 415-18)

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Identifying Fears

• A negative fear
• Dread, alarm, fright, terror, apprehension,
  anxiety, perplexity, and distrust - A
  paralyzing fear!
• This type of fear is cowardly (Rev 218)
• This type of fear is faithless (Matthew
  823-27)
• Could be fearing the future, facing death,
  teaching others, standing for whats right,
  growth, etc

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The Impact Of Fear

• A failure to progress in people and churches
• Fear caused the one talent man to be useless in
  the service of his master (Mt. 2525, 30)
• Fear makes come true that which one is afraid
  of
• Keeping us from progressing in our faith by
  creating unrealistic perspectives (I Cor 1558)
• Cripples leadership into ineffectiveness

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The Impact Of Fear

• Keeps us from standing up for whats right
• Demonstrated by Pilate (John 1838, 194, 7-8,
  12)
• It takes courage to stand for the truth
  whats right regardless of consequences (1 Pet
  313-17)
• Fear stares at the cost, the effort, and the
  time and chooses to compromise instead!

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The Impact Of Fear

• Drives us into further disobedience
• As demonstrated by Israels spies (Num
  1332-144)
• Fear causes people to do things they would
  normally not do in order to avoid their fears!

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Overcoming Our Fears

• First, always remember that the Lord your God
  is with you wherever you go!
• Words that encouraged Joshua (Josh 18-9)
• God is with us, has proven His love, nothing
  will separate you from Him! (Rom 831ff)
• When you strive to live a life for Christ, you
  will never have to stand alone! (Mt 2818-20)

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Overcoming Our Fears

• Learn to overcome your past failures
• Failures in our past can immobilize us from
  taking steps forward in the future! This is
  fear!
• Everyone wants to be successful, but if you
  are afraid to fail you do not deserve to be
  successful
• Like Paul we must learn to forget those things
  that are behind and press forward! (Phil
  313-14)

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Overcoming Our Fears

• Remember Gods past providence - Whether
  directed to you personally, or impersonally
• Israels forgetfulness brought failure (Heb
  37ff)
• Jesus taught His disciples to focus on Gods
  provision to overcome the worries of life (Mt
  625-34)
• Gods past care stands as a testimony to His
  future care for us! (Psalm 3723-26)

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Overcoming Our Fears

• Continually focus on prayer
• Never fear you wont pray too much! (Luke
  181-8)
• One purpose of prayer is to release us from the
  anxieties we face (Phil 46-7)
• Trust in Gods wisdom, power, and His ever
  fervent care for you personally (Psalm 5522)
• Relinquishment of burdens and fears begins
  where adoration and worship of God become the
  occupation of the soul. Courage is fear that
  has said its prayers!

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Conclusion

• Let us not be people who are immobilized by our
  fears - But let our actions be based on faith!
  
• Many of our fears are tissue-paper thin, and a
  single courageous step would carry us clear
  through them
• Remember God is with you, forget the past,
  focus on His providence, and pray often!
• The remarkable thing about fearing God is that
  when you fear God, you fear nothing else,
  whereas if you do not fear God, you fear
  everything else!