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I read the
story of a little boy who was finally old enough to start going to school. As
the time approached, his parents noticed that he was suddenly having fears
about school. They tried to find out what he was afraid of. First they asked if
he were afraid of the teachers, but he assured them that wasn’t it. Next they
asked if it were a fear of bullies, but he told them it wasn’t that either.
Then they asked him if he didn’t want to leave his Mom and younger brother home
alone all day. But he assured them this was not the case. Finally he admitted
the reasons for his fear. He told them, "I don’t want to go to school
because I don’t want the same thing to happen to me that happened to cousin
Raymond. As soon as he started school, all his teeth began to fall out!"
If you are a believer,
quit living as if you were still shackled by fear! YOU ARE FREE!
and living the Word of God, place your trust in Him to find true success that
will last for eternity. The first step is to accept God’s love because where
God’s love is there is no fear. Why is
it that people avoid God? Because they don’t
know what He’s like. They don’t know how
much He loves them. It’s ironic to me
that when you need God’s love the most is when you tend to go the other way the
most. Guilt causes us to run from God
instead of running to God. This is as
old as Adam. Remember when Adam ate the
apple or whatever it was back in the Garden of Eden? When God asked Adam, “Where are you?” Adam said, "I was afraid and I hid myself." People
have been afraid of God and running from Him ever since. We need God’s love in
our life. But some of you say, "But you don’t know what I’ve done! I’ve blown it too much. God can never love me." Wrong. God knows what you have done and he still loves you. That is what His grace is all about! God
doesn’t give you what you deserve – punishment, he gives you what you need –
mercy.
direct way to overcome fear is to act on the very thing that you are afraid of
doing. When you take the first step of action, God gives you a boldness to take
the next step and the next and the next. Watch a baby that is just beginning to learn to walk. It is kind of
funny to watch a little one flail its arms about getting its balance. Unsure of
this walking thing, the first step is cautiously taken, and always towards the
outstretched arms of a parent. Usually after that first step something very
naturally and predictably takes place, the legs wobble and collapse and then
they fall. Never fear! They are up and at it again. Time after time this
process is repeated until one day it is a natural action, no need to think
about it, just to do it. In order to
overcome the fear you have in serving God and following his vision for you, you
must take action.
would lead you to believe that you need to read something that Dr. Phil or
Oprah has written in order to overcome your darkest fears. Others would
recommend psychotherapy or any of the head sciences. May I propose to you that
ridding yourself of fear is as simple as love. Love, a four letter word that
has been misused, unused, and thoroughly, perused. Love is a power that man
cannot contain, cannot understand, but we know it exists because we have
experienced it. The greatest form of
love that can be experienced by humans is the love of our Creator, Jehovah God.
I can love my wife more intimately and deeply because of the love of God. I can love my children with pride and joy
because of the love of God. I can love you as friend, as a fellow believer, or
as a total stranger because of the love of God. An amazing scripture because
the Bible says “This is how we
know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his
life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”[i]
[i] 1 John 3:16 (NIV)