Monday, 7 July 2014

Not living in fear (Rev James Liaw) 不要活在恐懼中 (廖雅各牧師) 6July 2014


(點入連結可聽有中文翻譯的講道)

There is a season set by God in our lives, so we walk side by side with God, not in front or behind God. It is important for us to have an ear to hear the spirit of God.

2Timothy 1:7
The spirit of fear (Rev Liaw thinks the meaning in English is clearer).

As a Christian, we think we are completely clean from evil spirits. This is the logical thinking pattern. But spirits do affect Christians, one of the most common one being the spirit of fear, which robs you of 4 important things:
1)      Power and authority
2)      Love
3)      Calm and well balanced mind
4)      Self-control and discipline

Who's the head enemy? Satan, the thief. 盜賊來無非是偷竊毀壞!

People think fear is just a feeling/emotion, but it is actually deeply connected with the spiritual realm.

Many people fear of living because they are fearful of what will happen every day. Then the power of fear rule over our lives. This fear needs to be broken or else we will be held in bondage. Fear can take over a person's life. Scientist did an experiment by showing research subjects some horror movies, took their blood and found that fear causes the release of 1400 chemicals! Triggering 30 hormones/neurotransmitters! Fight and fright response. If this response continues for long, your lifespan won't be long!

There are many fears we don't realize.
1)      Fear of not being accepted: Cover-up and a false personality develop.
2)      Fear of failure: prevent you from trying new things. You spend your whole life only doing things you're good at.
3)      Fear of your future: eg uni students fear of unemployment.


Fear can paralyze us and even cause us to act irrationally, and have insomnia, panic attacks etc.

Fear drains us of our courage. Fear presents everything from a negative viewpoint: Prevents us from enjoying our lives to the fullness, destroys our destiny.

Fear of discomfort

Fear of lack

Fear of sacrifice

Fear of rejection

Fear of people not understanding you

Then conclude you won't serve God…. then fear you lose God's blessings.

Fear tells you what you are truly not. Fear tells you what you lack, what you cannot do, what you will never be. Fear puts you in bondage.

God has not given to you the spirit of fear or bondage. God gave you Holy Spirit, which is a spirit of adoption.

Fear of authority figures.

You cannot say you want to overcome fear and it becomes removed, therefore we see fear has power. We need the Holy Spirit to overcome the fear.

1Peter 5:7

Fear is blocking the way. Some pray out of fear! Get rid of fear then pray. Praying out of fear is not powerful. Pray with faith and determination. Deliverance is a very important part in a Christian's life.

Bible often says, "Do not fear", so God often has to remind us.

Why does God tell us "do not fear"? He's telling us fear is coming immediately. Joshua 1:5, Moses is dead, arise go over Jordan River. God reminds Joshua 3x be courageous.

God wants to do new things in your lives, are you willing to step into the new things? Often, we want to stay in the safety zone. We will often regret it later, because we missed the opportunity. God gives us opportunities but the opportunity will not last. What prevents us from grabbing hold of the opportunity? Fear.

Every time we have an opportunity, we have two choices: 1) take hold of it, 2) fear of risk.

Everything in life involves a risk when you want to progress.

Job 3:25

God had a plan for your life. The Devil also has a plan for your life. We need to deal with the fears in our lives.


No comments:

Post a Comment