BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

The devil held in his hands the power of death over us. And the fear of death is the master fear. It’s what all forms of fear are based on. If you’re afraid of flying, afraid of the dark, or afraid of standing up to talk before a group of people, it all stems from the fear of death. Notice, however, Jesus came along and destroyed fear at its root by taking the power of death away from satan. Suddenly we no longer had to be subject to fear—any fear. What’s more, the moment we receive Jesus as our LORD and Savior, we no longer have “the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). Romans 8:14-15 puts it this way: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” Where we once had a spirit of fear, we now have the Spirit of God, the Spirit of love, because God is love (1 John 4:16). And “perfect love casteth out fear” (verse 18). So there’s a huge difference between just coping with fear, trying to “make it” through life while still subject to all its oppression, and being delivered from fear where it’s totally and completely out of your life forever. As a born-again child of God, you don’t have to be dominated or controlled by fear anymore because Jesus destroyed the root to all fear. In other words, you no longer have a spirit of fear living inside you. Get in Fear’s Face Though we no longer have to be subject to fear, we still live in a world that’s held captive by fear. This means we will encounter it, and we will have to deal with it. Besides that, life—even life in the Spirit—is not governed by chance, luck or some mystical, unknown order in the universe. No. All life is governed by spiritual laws. And those spiritual laws function and interact with each other the same way natural, physical laws do—the law of gravity, for example, or other laws of physics and so on. Romans 8:2 tells us that “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made [us] free from the law of sin and death.” When you put any of the laws of sin and death into operation, they will kill you. Because sin ultimately produces death. Yet because Jesus died and rose again from the grave, we’ve been given authority in the law of the Spirit of life through the Anointed One, Jesus. We’ve been freed from the laws of sin and death. Now that doesn’t mean we can sin and not die. It simply means the drive and press of sin that works in the life of someone who isn’t born again is not at work in a believer, and has no authority over us unless we allow it. And since fear is a spiritual force, we must attack it with the spiritual weapons of our warfare that we’ve been given—weapons which “are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds” (2 Corinthians 10:4). Yes, fear is a stronghold and it’s up to us to pull it down. The key to our pulling it down lies in Joshua 1. This is where we find God’s instructions to Joshua on how to lead Israel into the Promised Land. One of the first things God told Joshua was: “As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them” (verses 5-6). Joshua’s success in leading the children of Israel into the land flowing with milk and honey was not because he was the greatest military commander of his day. And it wasn’t because he was the top motivational speaker of his day. Joshua’s success was simply because God said, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.” Remember how we said God is love and “perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18)? God basically told Joshua, 'I’ll be with you. I won’t leave you. I won’t fail you. So don’t be afraid!' Love, Himself, talked to Joshua that day. Love reassured Joshua that He would be with him and see him through to the other side. A Threefold Attack That wasn’t all God had to say to Joshua that day, however. After encouraging Joshua, God had more instructions: "Be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success" (Joshua 1:7-8). God’s presence with Joshua was not enough to win the battle against the terror he would soon face and overcome. Joshua had a part to play as well. His part was threefold: 1. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth. 2. Meditate therein day and night. 3. Observe to do according to all that is written therein. Joshua was to speak The WORD...meditate The WORD...and do The WORD. And he was to do all three continually. Only then would he defeat fear, prosper and have good success. And the key was The WORD. John 1:1 tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The WORD is just as much a manifestation of God, Himself, as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are. But add to that the revelation that God is love (1 John 4:16), and we see that The WORD is a manifestation of love, the perfect love which casts out fear. 20 : BVOV

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