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Serving God and His People Without Fear

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Summary

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Text: 2 Timothy 1:7

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Introduction 

Fear is no doubt the greatest and most effective weapon that Satan uses against the church. Truth, however, is that much of our fears are unwarranted. But whether they are real or unreal, if the devil can bring fear into the lives of God’s people, he knows he can gradually destroy their relationship with God, and even cause them to ultimately miss heaven. Revelation 21:8

As we could possibly observe, these are days in which the hearts of many are failing them for fear (Lk.21:26).

People, irrespective of their status, are afraid because of the challenges in the world today, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

A healthy fear of God, which we are not dealing with here, serves to lead us away from evil and ultimately spiritual death.

Proverbs 14:26-27 says: “He who fears (reveres) the Lord has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.”

More than any other generation, fear has plagued and wounded more people today, including believers, than in any period in the history of mankind. It has captured and sentenced individuals, families, organizations and ministries to perpetual bondage.

As children of God, not only are we called to serve the Lord individually, we are also called and commissioned to lead and encourage His people to serve Him without fear. It therefore goes without saying, therefore, that if the enemy could succeed against the shepherd, the sheep is dead meat for him. Matt. 26:31.

I believe fear is reinforced by the following four factors, among others:

  1. Sin. Gen.3:10
  2. Wrong Mindset. Mk.9:23.
  1. Continuous exposure to Negative Information (Num.13:26-29, 31-33). Much of the news on social media is so negative that negativity is gradually becoming the “normal” for many people, including believers; and people’s lives and actions naturally gravitate in the direction of the information they are exposed to.
  2. Enemy operation (2Tim.1:7). The devil is always looking for any possible way to sow the seed of fear in people, because it makes his operations easy.

Fear has a paralyzing effect on churches and individual Christians in that it weakens faith and makes them ineffective and unproductive.

If Satan can cause believers to be fearful, then he knows they will accomplish very little for God. Satan wants, more than anything, to paralyze churches with fear. And because he is very strategic, he knows that once he successfully overwhelms a person of influence, family head or church leader with fear, his family, congregation or people under his leadership will become vulnerable because by the transference of spirits, that person will pass the same spirit to the people he is leading. This is why you must by all means overcome this spirit and protect your family and the people under your leadership.

Dangers and Consequences of fear.

  1. Fear prevents a perfected love for God. I John 4:16-19.

It is love that leads to a healthy reverence for God, not a cringing and crippling fear. What God demands from us is our reverence and respect that prompts our obedience. But He does not want us to be frightened of Him. Heb.4:16

  1. Fear suppresses action. Num. 13:1-3, 25-33; Matthew 25:14-30.

There are several Biblical examples of people who were afraid to act because of fear!

- The men sent to spy out the land God promised to the children of Israel. 

Many Israelite's died in the wilderness because they “PLAYED IT SAFE.”

- The “ONE TALENT MAN” wouldn’t put his talent to work for the Master because he was afraid of him. “Playing it safe” cost him everything, including his soul.

  1. Fear suppresses personal spiritual and congregational growth.

There will always be “WHAT IF!”

When challenged to embark upon a new direction or implement a new ministry or make some new changes that is believed to stimulate excitement and growth, we often hear defeatist and fearful remarks like: “That has never been done here before.” “It costs too much.” “We better play it safe.” “This is the way we’ve always done it.” Whenever you hear any of these, it is fear that is speaking.

From Numbers chapters 13&14, we see a number of truths.

- The 12 spies that were sent to spy the promised land were leaders of the people.

  • They all served under the same leader, Moses.
  • They were all deemed qualified and competent for the assignment.
  • They received the same briefs, prophetic instruction and assignment.
  • They all went on the assignment as commanded and saw everything in Canaan.
  • But fear showed 10 of them something else and gave them reasons why what God said would not work.

The worst part of it is that they transferred the same fear to the people under them and got them all into serious trouble.

This story still holds true today, if we must secure our destines and the destinies of the people we are leading.

  1. Fear always sees the problem and not the promise. It magnifies the problem and minimizes the promise. Num.13:1-2; 31
  2. Fear has devastating contagious effects. It spreads in a devastating way if it is not checked and dealt with. Num.14:10
  3. Fear easily engenders rebellion. Num.13:32-33; 14:1-10.
  4. Fear brings division. Num.14:4
  5. Fear is a waster of divine promises, commitments and prophecies. Num.14:28. However beautiful God’s promises may be, fear will turn them into impossibilities.
  6. Fear brings untimely death. Num.14:29-37.
  7. The fearful will neither fulfill destiny on earth, nor make heaven at last. Rev.21:8.

You can imagine what these 10 leaders could have become, if Joshua and Caleb ultimately got into the apex leadership. But fear would not let them get up and fulfill destiny.

 Serving God effectively without fear

“That we should be saved from our enemies And from the hand of all who hate us, To perform the mercy promised to our fathers And to remember His holy covenant, The oath which He swore to our father Abraham: To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.” Luke 1:71-75 NKJV

If we must serve God effectively, it must be without fear. Heb.4:16.

Fear disrupts and interferes with our service to God. The fear referred to in this scripture above is of course not the reverential fear of God, but the fear of the enemy. Today, our enemies are not flesh and blood as Ephesians 6:12 tells us. God knows that you cannot serve two masters. If we have to serve Him effectively, then we must be first delivered out of the hands of our enemies. Acceptable service is preceded by deliverance from the hand of your enemies.

You know you cannot serve God when sin still rules your life, or there is some fear that controls you.

You cannot sing and dance for God as you might want to if your body is sick and weakly. But as far as God is concerned, He wants you free from every bondage so that you can serve Him freely and without fear or restrictions. That is why sin, disease, poverty, demonic oppression, etc., which are longstanding enemies of humanity, have been broken at the cross, so that we can be delivered to serve God without fear.

God wants you free so can minister to Him effectively, live for Him fully without fear, be fully engaged in the Father’s business, and successfully serve God’s flock in your care.

ANTIDOTE TO THE SPIRIT OF FEAR.

God, in 2 Timothy 1:7, gives us a powerful prescription and permanent solution to the problem of fear. It is a three-barreled weapon to enable us tame, capture and overcome the spirit of fear.

  1. Spirit of Power.

“But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the LORD, And of justice and might.........” Micah 3:8a NKJV

When your life is filled with the power of God, fear will bow out and flee. The power of God upon your life will always swallow every threat packaged by the spirit of fear. When you allow the power of God to be activated in your life, fear will die a natural death.

  1. Spirit of Love

The spirit of love conquers fear. When the love of God is fully shed abroad in your life, fear will flee. Rom.5:5

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” I John 4:18 NKJV

The assurance of the fact that God's unfailing love is real will enable you to live a fearless life. The moment you experience a fresh baptism of love, fear will lose its grip over your life. If you doubt God's love, you will begin to fear both the known and the unknown. The plague of fear can only prosper when you are a stranger to the all-encompassing power of agape love.

  1. Spirit of Sound Mind.

The human mind is the seat of his emotions. It is also the arena where all types of battles are fought. You need a sound mind when the devil wages mental war against you. One of the toughest battles to fight and win is the battle of the mind. When you allow the Holy Spirit to fully program the word of God into your life, fear will shrink and lose its destructive power.

More than anything else, you need a sound mind to survive in these last days. A sound mind will defeat the monster called fear. The evil agenda of fear will fail when you arm yourself with a mind that is fortified supernaturally. A sound mind will make you mentally sound, spiritually strong and immune from the ravages of fear.

The church of Jesus Christ needs fearless leaders like Joshua and Caleb; men and women, who see and believe the promise, and will not allow any defeatist mentality to thwart the agenda of heaven for their lives and people. These are leaders who will launch out by faith, even when it does not look sensible or popular.

Franklin D. Roosevelt said in his first Inaugural Address: “The only thing we have to fear is FEAR itself.”

Conclusion

“Peace be still” seems so little and simple, compared to the size of the storm, but that is all that was needed by the Master to calm the storm that instilled fear in the disciples. In addressing our fears, let us do it the Master’s way and not the disciples’ way.” Pastor Sunday Adu (National Overseer, GOFAMINT NA).

The choice is yours today - between being moved by faith and being paralyzed by fear.

Prayer Points.

  1. 1. I plead the blood of Jesus, and I receive grace to access answers in the place of prayer in Jesus name.
  2. I expose and expel every secret fear that is hiding in my heart; weakening my faith and polluting my service to God, in Jesus name.
  3. I command the root of fear in my life to dry up by fire in the name of Jesus.
  4. I hold the shield of faith and quench every dart of fear that the enemy is shooting into my life in the name of Jesus.
  5. My tomorrow is blessed is Christ Jesus. Therefore, you foul spirit responsible for the fear of tomorrow in my life, I bind you, in the name of Jesus.
  6. I bind and cast out every fear of losing my anointing and salvation, in the name of Jesus.
  7. Father, let every gateway and entry point of fear into my life be shut permanently by your mighty hand in Jesus name.
  8. I command the fear of backsliding and the fear of not being spiritually fulfilled to wither and dry up in my life, in the name of Jesus.
  9. The fear and terror of the unbelievers shall not be my lot, in the name of Jesus.
  10. I receive deliverance and total victory over every deception of the devil in my life in the name of Jesus.
  11. Every bondage that I am subjecting myself to through the spirit of fear, I break you now, in the name of Jesus.
  12. In the name of Jesus, as from today, I refuse to succumb to the spirit of fear, because God has not given me the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
  13. I receive the spirit of boldness after the order of the Lion of Judah in the name of Jesus.
  14. I command the peace of God into every troubled area of my life in the name of Jesus.
  15. Holy Spirit, let your spirit of power overwhelm me, and displace every trace of weakness and fear in me in Jesus name.
  16. Holy Spirit, let your spirit of love come over me afresh, and chase away fear from my life.
  17. I receive the spirit of a sound mind. Holy Spirit, make my mind sound at all times in Jesus name.
  18. Help me, Lord to be conscious of the reality of your love for me, and enable me to keep focus on you alone at all times in Jesus name.
  19. Father, help me to strengthen my faith walk with you; and let faith replace fear in my life in Jesus name.
  20. Father, according to your word, let your peace that passes all understanding guard my heart and mind in Jesus name.

Thank you, Lord for eliminating the spirit of fear in my life forever in Jesus name.

                                                            Jesus is Lord!

Speaker: Pastor Taiwo Fagbuyi

May 3, 2020

Pastor Taiwo Fagbuyi

National Overseer

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