Have you ever been faced with a situation and fear has risen up on the inside of you? Will I lose my job? Where will the money come from? How can I deal with these symptoms? Is this the end of my marriage? Why do I have no peace in my life? Fear does not come from God. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Tim 1:7; NKJV). “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father” (Rom 8:15; NKJV). Now these verses should cheer you up! When you think about it fear is the opposite to faith. We are to walk in faith (2 Cor 5:7) and there is no reason we can’t remove fear from our lives. Faith is a firm trust in God but fear arises when we lack trust in God. How then do we deal with fear? Well, the Bible tells us that faith comes by hearing God’s word (Rom 10:17). In order to build up our faith to resist fear we must meditate on all of the scriptures we can find on fear such as the ones above and other verses like, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isa 41:10; NKJV). We need to change our thinking (Rom 12:2), cast our cares on God (1 Peter 5:7), bring our prayer requests to God with thankful hearts and His peace will overwhelm us (Phil 4:6-7). Most importantly, we must walk in love for, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18a; NKJV).
Norman and Jean Rawlings were born in England, educated in the USA, and have lived in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada for over 50 years. They have four children, eight grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Both longtime Christians, they are now retired (“refired”). Norman served as a Professor and Associate Dean at the University of Saskatchewan, and Jean worked as a Speech and Language Pathologist. They serve as ordained senior care pastors at Bridge Ministry International Church in Saskatoon. Committed to teaching God’s Word and helping others grow in Christ, they minister through leadership, teaching, and writing. They have authored two books: The Life Changing Light of God’s Word (2022) and On the Way: Basic Christian Training (2014). More information can be found at www.onthewayinlove.com.
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Books by Norman & Jean Rawlings:
Yes, fear is a baseless, self-constituted falsity and the root cause of disease, which must be mastered through spiritual understanding rather than cultivated. As stated above, “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Therefore fear is no part of God’s creation. God has given man dominion, for God is Mind and man reflects this Mind. Whatever comes to us that is not good has not come from God. We may know that it has no real existence or power because God is omnipotent, the only power.
Jesus admonished his followers (John 14:27), “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” As we understand God to be the only power, fear is destroyed and Truth silences discord with harmony. The Bible says of God (Acts 17:28), “In him we live, and move, and have our being.” When we understand God as All-in-all, we feel His ever-presence and completeness. So, right now, we can turn away from fear, knowing that it cannot enslave us in any way. Jesus said (Luke 12:32), “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you thekingdom.”
Your Friend -His Servant,
Isaac Otieno