I hear the Lord saying
“To Awaken, To Warn and To Prepare”
The Fear That Disables
(see end of article for update)
"We are not to have a spirit of fear but of love, power and a sound mind"
The reason it is so vitally important that we do not
operate in fear;
the emotions are stirred up within us and when this
takes place it effectively cuts the
communication with the Holy Spirit. When we
are in that place of peace,
we simply hear the Spirit much easier and are able
to receive instruction!
Over a ten year
period, 1987 to 1997, I had three dreams / night encounters with the enemy!
I had been in
Orlando attending a service at Benny Hinn’s church and had gotten home late and
was in my bed worshipping the Lord and feeling His Spirit, all was well with my
soul Until later that same night……….
The first
dream, though I was in a
semi-state of sleep I realized something very heavy and evil was lying right on
top of me. My first instinct was just to open my eyes but quickly discovered
that I was totally paralyzed!
It took a
determined act of my will to say “To Speak” the name of “Jesus”, just thinking
the name was of no use. Little by little, verbally, I spoke out Je. Je, Jes,
Jesus when I was finally able to begin to say the name of Jesus, with each time
I spoke the name of Jesus, I gained strength. I was able to open my eyes and I
felt as though I was literally shoving a demonic being off of myself. I heard
the Lord speak to me that the enemy came for me and wanted to destroy me.
The second dream /
encounter with the enemy,
I awoke at 1:00 AM and remember looking at the clock and went back to sleep. The
next almost immediate feeling was one of great violence and force and lightning
speed and a ripping away. Someone or something had me by the nap of the neck and
my entire body went limp and again was totally paralyzed. My head was pointed
down and I saw my feet dangling below me, my bed, the open roof of the building
I was in and the entire city was disappearing below my feet! Instinctively, I
again tried to “Speak” the name of “Jesus”. Je,
Je, Jes, Jesus, Jesus and suddenly as it all began it was over.
The third dream
/ encounter with the enemy,
he had his left hand a hold of my shirt/neck and was pushing me down and with
his right hand was a hold of my belt and he had me bent over and was trying to
shove my head through the wall. I was a mere rag compared to his violent
strength and his rage. By this time the Lord had showed me his weakness and the
spoken name of “Jesus” came out of my mouth before I felt any damage to my being
or any prolonged battle.
Philippians
2:10
“That at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and those on the earth,
and of those under the earth.”
The first part
of that verse, “That at the name of” refers to the speaking out loud. The enemy
can not read our mind, that is why we must “speak” the name of “Jesus”. It is my belief that the Lord was
revealing to me, that when I began to speak the name of Jesus that the enemy
was so busy kneeling on his way out the door that it made his attack on
me very unprofitable.
The enemy’s
weapon of fear is designed primarily for one purpose, that is to paralyze the
person,
to render him incapacitated and unable to assist himself or others.
Webster’s
definition of the word “Paralyze” means: to make powerless, and ineffective,
to
bring to an end, prevent and destroy. Fear causes us to cease from functioning
normally.
Fear is many
times but not always brought on by disobedience, being out of God’s will for your life. In Gen 3:8-10,
Adam and Eve had disobeyed God and had eaten the fruit from the tree of
knowledge. The Lord was asking Adam, “Where are you?” So Adam said “I heard you
voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. So
fear came in as a result of disobedience and with fear came shame and with shame
came loss of the anointing or in this case, the ability to stand before a Holy
God.
King Saul,
chosen, appointed and anointed by God to be King over Israel, 1st
Samuel 15:3, The Lord commanded Saul through Samuel the prophet to utterly
destroy Amalek and not to take any plunder but to completely destroy everything.
Yet when the people began to take the spoils, Saul did not correct them because
he was “afraid of the people”. Saul was more afraid of man than God! As a result
he lost rule over the house of Israel, his appointment and anointing as King,
his peace and eventually his life.
What
are the fears that so easily disable us?
Fear
considering our own inadequacies? ….And
yet we have His promise!
“For You formed
my inward parts: You covered me in my mother’s womb”. “I will praise You, for I
am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul
knows very well my frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And
skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Ps 139:13-15
Fear of man?
….And yet we have His
promise!
“The fear of
man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe” Pr 29:25
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather
fear Him who is able to destroy both the soul and the body in hell. Matt
10:28
Fear
of losing material possessions
….And
yet we have His promise!
Therefore do
not worry, saying, “What shall we eat? or “what shall we drink? Or What shall we
wear?
“For our
heavenly Father knows that you need all these things, “But seek first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all of these things shall be added
unto you. Matthew 6:31-33,
Fear of the
future? ….And
yet we have His promise!
The very next
verse, V34, Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
its own things, Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Fear of
death? ….And yet we have His
promise!
“Oh Death where
is your sting? O Grave, where is your victory?” 1st Co 15:55
And We are
confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present
with the Lord”. 2nd Co 5:8
Fear of
trusting in and on God? ….And
yet we have His promise!
“Trust in
the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In
all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths”. Pr 3:5 & 6
Some are even in fear of
losing their salvation! ….And
yet we have His promise!
Looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our Faith, who for the joy that was set before
Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand
of the throne of God. Heb 12: 2
And having been
perfected, He became the
author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.
Heb 5:9
It is God’s
divine will for each of us to fulfill all that He has purposed in our lives. Yet
we have been taught and programmed to learn and act upon this emotion. For God has not
given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2nd
Timothy 1:7
We have “The
Word”, The Lord’s powerful promises to us His children, that no weapon formed
against us shall prosper! There is nothing new under the sun! The enemy has been
using the same tactics since the dawn of man but now we have been in this battle
for a season and we have strengthened and matured and know the enemy’s plan.
Beloved, think
it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some
strange thing has happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of
Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad
with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are
you, for the Spirit of glory rests upon you. 1st Peter 4:12-14
UPDATE 7-2008
The direct
command to "Fear Not"
is not for
nothing!
Fear will disconnect us from hearing the voice
of the Holy Spirit!
Really hearing the Spirit depends on us being in "the peace that passes all
understanding."
When we
display fear it also disavows Faith, all we can then do is focus on the problem.
King David was faced so many times with overwhelming obstacles yet even in his
youth, he did not focus
on
the goliaths but rather on the provision of his God!
1.
Fear of death, whether it is suffering in sickness, the process of death, the
actual death experience or the hereafter.
2.
Losing...Spouse, child, parent or friend.
3.
Loss of wealth and stuff!
4.
Loss of ability to earn wages or financial ability to take care of self and
family.
5.
Loss of integrity, honor, the intangibles we hold so close that are apart of our
character.
6.
Loss of our Salvation
We will be
brought in to the battle with each one of these threats.
The
Holy Spirit will orchestrate the circumstances to allow us engage in one of
these areas and we are made to confront each of these fears and to overcome them
one at a time.
Understanding this concept will
enable us to deal with fear and help us to find peace in the midst of
challenges.
One by one,
these adventures / victories will come, and one by one you will have to defeat
the enemy, but the Holy Spirit will assist you in knowledge and understanding of
the battle and will strengthen you.
After the Lord
had been led in to the wilderness where He fasted for 40 days, the devil came to
Him and knew He would be at one of His weakest moments. Jesus was
tempted by the
enemy. Jesus' reply was using the Scriptures but finally saying, "you have
nothing in me." Jesus had NO fear for He was in constant peace with His heavenly
Father.
After we have endured and overcame the
enemy, those thoughts of losing everything will not paralyze us,
The more resigned we are to His care, the More at peace we will be and the less
anxiety we will experience.
We will respond like the three who were threatened to be thrown in the
fiery furnace!
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
answered and said to the king,
O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to
answer thee in this matter.
If it be so, our God whom we serve
is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace,
and he will
deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
But if not,
be it known unto thee, O king, that
we will not serve thy gods (fear),
nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
Steve Grable
http://jeremiah111.org/