Fear Fighters Series

Title: Fear vs. Faith – 8

“Fear Fighters”

Text: II Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

A police recruit was asked during the exam, “What would you do if you had to arrest your own mother?” He said, “Call for backup.”

This morning I am going to be talking about “Fear Fighters.” Now this message has nothing to do with being fearful of your mother. That was just a joke, honestly! We are going to finish out this year talking about Fear vs. Faith. We are going to go into 2015 with NO FEAR HERE!!! I know I have preached on this subject off and on for a few years now, but you have to understand what happens to a preacher that is so heavily impacted by a life changing truth in God’s Word. It was 7 years ago that my whole life and the lives of all my family members were transformed. We have decided as a family that we are going to fight fear on every turn. That means fear of doctor’s reports, fear of financial reports, fear of failed relationships, fear with phobias, and the list goes on and on. We have decided to not let fear into our family.

I just want to remind you all that fear is a spirit, not an emotion. The spirit of fear causes the emotion of fear to rise up within you, but the root of fear is a spirit.

I have learned a lesson over the past few years and that lesson is this: When fear comes my way, and it will come, I have a choice. My faith can fight fear. I don’t have to panic and get myself worked up in fearful and frightening situations that come against me. If I stay focused on God’s promise and allow my faith to fight my fear, then I will remain in perfect peace.

Overcoming fear is something we all face when we endeavor to do new things, such as taking on a new job, falling in love, starting up a business, anything new in our lives creates a certain level of fear, but it is very essential that we never allow that fear to dictate our decisions.

I have entitled this message “Fear Fighters,” because if we do not fight our fears, they will keep us from living the victorious life that God meant for us to live. When God asks me to do something that seems impossible for me to do, I have learned to fight my fear. When I am faced with an impossible task, when the job feels too big for me and I feel that I am out of my league, which happens sometimes, I have learned to fight my fears. I want to preach a very personal message to you this morning and tell you what I use to fight my fears with. I have overcome a lot of fears in my life and I fight them with two things, I preach two things to myself in the midst of my fears:

I. JESUS IS WITH ME

This first fear fighter is something so simple, but yet so powerful. When fears try to attack me, I have to remind myself that Jesus is with me. Paul tells the Hebrews something that encourages me every time fear tries to pop its ugly head in my life:

Hebrews 13:5-8; “For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." 6 So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" 7 Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Jesus promises us that He will never leave us nor forsake us. Why is it important to Him that you know this? We must know that Jesus is with us all the time because once we realize that He is with us, then we can say of the Lord, “He is my helper and I will not fear.” This Scripture is one Scripture that we must memorize. We must know that Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us and because we know this, we also know that we NEVER have reason to fear. The greatest weapon we have in fighting fear is knowing that Jesus is with me. So, when fear tries to pop up its ugly head in my life or in the life of my family, I remind fear (because it is a spirit) that we have no room for you in our lives or in our homes. Jesus is with me and if Jesus is with me, then I shall not fear anything in my life.