Introduction
I thought we’d start today with a
slide-show of things that might cause fear…
(cliff jumping)
(a spider)
(a microphone on a
stage)
(a cockroach)
(wedding rings)
(a snake)
…many of you are ready for me to quit at this point
(swimming in the
ocean)
(needles/shot)
(a mirror)
(airplane)
(a storm)
(Hillary & the
Donald)
Show the
CLIP à Well that was
the most uncomfortable start to a sermon… EVER!
I think this is one of the areas
that the Disney movie gets things wrong… FEAR as an emotion isn’t natural.
Now, while I do really believe that FEAR isn’t a natural
emotion… I, also, really believe that FEAR can tell us a whole lot about our
world view… it can definitely point out areas in which the Father wants us to
grow… WHY? Because fear isn’t natural… it isn’t part of God’s good plan for
your life… in fact, I would describe it as a “counterfeit emotion.”
Pray…
You were not created to fear… in fact nothing was
originally. Look at this from Genesis 9:2 …
This is an interesting passage. As God blesses Noah and
his family after the flood, he reiterates dominion over all life on the earth.
He reinstitutes their ability to RULE over all creation… and how would they
know it… the animals would fear them.
You see, whatever we FEAR we’ve given power over us to
“rule” us. So, we need to begin to understand this “counterfeit” emotion so
that nothing can rule over us, but Father who loves us.
**To clarify… INSTINCT – to jump out the way of a moving car – is NOT fear.
Fear is irrational behavior (friend afraid of sharks). How
do I know it’s irrational?!
·
Mostly
because I realize that bravery is not fears opposite… Love is
·
Fear
is twisted love
·
Satan
can’t create fruits of the Spirit… he can only lie so our thinking gets
corrupted.
·
Then,
we can get obsessed with our fears. (sharks)
·
But
not just the silly things, but our future, our commitments, our finances can
drown out our thought patterns.
·
Perfect
love expels, casts out, destroys any presence of… fear.
·
Imagine
if we became consumed with love in the ways that we get obsessed with our
fears… dreaming up ways to love people, not dreaming up ways our fears could
become reality… we’d change the world around us!
The Word
PSALM 27:1-14à Read from your BIBLE (and/or screen).
David begins to show us what
living in perfect love looks like. He tells us that the presence of the Lord is
where it is found. He shows us that bravery isn’t an emotion or something that
you work up, but rather NO FEAR comes from the stillness of a loving Father
covering us in His goodness.
John the apostle puts it this way
in 1 John 4:18 Read
from BIBLE (ESV)
or look at it through a different
lens (NLT) 18 Such love has no fear, because
perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment,
and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 19 We
love each other because he loved us first.
John wants us to realize that GOD
IS LOVE… God is not bravery… God is the perfect expression of the most perfect
emotion that we can ever experience… and when that revelation takes root in us…
everything else will fade away… even your greatest FEAR…. Whatever that thing
is that is gnawing at you… forget about it in the presence of a loving Father…
that kind of love will wipe it out 100%.
When we focus on our fears
instead of God’s love, we will get LOST all over again…
·
Yoda – fear, anger, hate, suffering
·
Fear is the root of anxiety, worry, depression,
and angst.
Love – missed emotion in Inside
Out
Love – first fruit produced of a
changed heart by the Holy Spirit – root of all the others
Fear Not – 100+ times in the Bible
·
Dreams
·
Armies
·
Angels/Demons
·
The sickness of loved ones
·
Corrupt governments (Egypt)
·
Snakes… yes the serpents in the desert
·
Marriage
·
Money problems
·
Preaching the gospel
·
Enemies
·
The angel of death
·
Judgment
This series is about “healthy
emotions” – unexplainable and irrational fears, worries and depressions are the
result love not being the center of our emotions, of God (who is LOVE) not
being our emotional rock, for perfect love chases out ALL fear.
Hebrews 13:6
So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will
not fear; what can man do to me?”
But what about “fear of the
Lord”? That sounds honoring and biblical and supported by some texts like
BUT, every time the Lord shows up
via angel, Spirit or Himself… his first words are “FEAR NOT!” …why? Because He wanted to reassure them
that LOVE was coming and not judgement.
1 John 4:18 – read again
and now we live with this promise
from Hebrews 4
(4:14-16)
Have you every noticed in movies that the hero in the end makes the
sacrifice, takes a leap of faith, or does something amazing to save their
friends and/or romantic interest because of LOVE? Why is that theme so powerful? It’s powerful
because it has its root in the idea that only love can motivate heroism… not
psyching oneself up or special “training” but love releases the perfect “No
Fear” slogan… not a Mt Dew commercial J
Wrapping it up…
So what does this mean for those of us who
follow Jesus?
1)
We need to come to grips with the fact that our fears are unnatural.
2)
We need to learn from those fears… learn that they are
windows into what God’s love has yet to perfect in us.
3)
We need to yield our fears to the transforming
power of God’s Spirit within us and let Him produce the fruit of love… instead of our fears
producing our anxieties and insecurities within us.
4)
We need to begin to live a life of LOVE… this isn’t about
facing our fears OR charging ahead full steam like a football team after your
coach’s inspirational speech… this is about yielding to LOVE… being motivated
by it… being consumed by it.
Too long have many Christians
been lost in the chasm of their irrational anxieties and debilitating thought
processes… imagine the time we’ve wasted on our fears:
·
provision of resources
·
perception of what others will say/do when they
know I believe
·
perfectionism of having it all together, I’m not
good enough, OR I don’t know enough.
Jesus has empowered us to go on
this rescue mission with Him.
·
He’s released us to do the “same and greater
works” than He did…
·
He promised us answers when we were questioned
about our faith…
·
He promised He would provide if we just seek His
kingdom & righteousness…
·
He promised that even if we had trouble in the
world, HE overcame the world already…
·
He promised his authority and power…
·
He promised that HE loved us.
God is LOVE… and His Spirit lives
in those of us who believe… so there isn’t room in the heart of the believer
for both love and fear. Let’s close with this 2Timothy 1:6-7.
No comments:
Post a Comment