What is the source of our greatest fear? God or man?
Fear. Far. One letter difference. The letter E. It is the absence of the presence and authority of God in my life. In my thinking. In my my heart. And in my words. I fear w/o God's presence and without God's power. At some point, the circumstances of this present age will become larger than life. The circumstances will overcome your emotions and your actions resulting in fear and ultimately depression.
Pain, sickness, trial, poverty, hardship, and broken relationships all cause fear. Young people have yet to mature enough to separate all of these disappointments and keep from over-reaction. I have learned in almost 30 years of youth ministry that the closer I am to God, the further away fear is from me. The closer I am to God, the easier it is to combat circumstances. Here are 4 ways to overcome fear with the letter E:
Fear. Far. One letter difference. The letter E. It is the absence of the presence and authority of God in my life. In my thinking. In my my heart. And in my words. I fear w/o God's presence and without God's power. At some point, the circumstances of this present age will become larger than life. The circumstances will overcome your emotions and your actions resulting in fear and ultimately depression.
It is trust in His presence and in His authority that brings young people peace. Why? Because He is greater. Because He is.
Pain, sickness, trial, poverty, hardship, and broken relationships all cause fear. Young people have yet to mature enough to separate all of these disappointments and keep from over-reaction. I have learned in almost 30 years of youth ministry that the closer I am to God, the further away fear is from me. The closer I am to God, the easier it is to combat circumstances. Here are 4 ways to overcome fear with the letter E:
- When I Ear who God is, I will not fear anything else.To know that He is sovereign and to know that He is creator reminds me that He is sufficient. The knowledge of the holy one brings peace. There is so much demonic in the American Western culture. The Millenial generation is fed a diet of false teaching and it takes truth to overcome it. If war, enemies, and foes, or sickness, disease, and trial encamp around me, my heart does not fail because of the greatness of God (Psalm 18).
- When I Enter God's presence, I will not fear anything else. The only difference between FEAR and FAR is one letter. I know that is cheesy, but, it is easy to remember. Placing God in the momentary processes of your day will help you over come fear. The further God is from your life, the closer fear is to it. Having a fear of His presence is to remove the feelings of having fear of anything else. Recognizing His nearness is to know that where He is there is no option to fear. His withness is ominous. And encouraging.(Psalm 23)
- When I Enlist God and His power, I will not fear anything else. He is omni-potent. We place fear in places and in people we should not. The created is not more powerful than the creator. We must think super-naturally with our mind when something stands against us. It's like walking down a street at midnite by yourself, or, walking down a street at midnite with 4 armed and trained body guards. There is nothing more powerful than God, and God is not weaker than anything else. (Psalm 27)
- When I Eat God's Word, I will not fear anything else. Princes or Kings may stand against me with words and with condemnation or even without a cause, but, I have a ready answer. Even Christ Himself came against Satan with the Word of God. What makes us think we can stand against him with anything less? We get beat down all day from a culture that is relentless against our faith. The only way to beat it back is to use the Words of God. Words above what we can come up with ourselves (Psalm 119).
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