Joyce Meyer
Fear is an enemy that torments the soul and seeks to steal our life. Conquering it is not something that we do in one day, or even in 1,000 days. It is something that we conquer one day at a time with God’s help.
Fear can show up unexpectedly. One of our goals should be to recognize it so we can deal with it right away.
Recently, I was waking up at about 2 or 3 in the morning and then having difficulty going back to sleep. After two nights of that, I found myself going to bed with a vague sort of fear that it would happen again, and sure enough it did. After about three nights of the same thing, God reminded me that I could pray and resist Satan, the source of all fear. According to God’s Word, the sleep of the righteous should be sweet (see Proverbs 3:24). I prayed immediately and went back to sleep and have not had any problems since then.
We have power and authority over the enemy, but authority is useless if it is not exercised.
Being free from fear doesn’t mean that we will never experience it or be confronted by it. It means that we are committed to not allowing it to rule our lives, and when necessary we will do what we need to do, even if we have to do it afraid.
Each time you feel fear and decide to “do it afraid,” you will enjoy your new freedom so much that you will soon be totally unwilling to do without it. You will become determined to end your days of slavery to fear. That does not mean that you won’t still need to confront your fears, but it does mean that you will be more and more willing to keep confronting them.
Galatians 5:1 (AMP) says, “In [this] freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off].” This scripture is very clear that even though we have been completely liberated from a yoke of bondage, we will need at times to “stand fast,” and not allow ourselves to be entrapped by it again.
Satan is very shrewd and he doesn’t give up easily. I guess we can say that he never completely gives up the hope of drawing us back into bondage. We must live watchfully, ready to recognize and immediately confront the things that steal our liberty in Christ.
The Bible says that the righteous man falls seven times and gets up again (see Proverbs 24:16). I love that scripture and I am greatly encouraged by it. Even the most righteous person fails to do everything he knows to do all the time, but he is committed to not giving up.
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SOURCE: The Christian Post
Joyce Meyer
