“My Greatest Battle”
Overcomer Week 4
Pastor Kris Freeman
Revolution Church
August 27, 2017
Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:6-11 (NLT)
6 This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 8 So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. And don’t be ashamed of me, either, even though I’m in prison for him. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News. 9 For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. 10 And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News. 11 And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News.
Some say fear is the opposite of faith. Fear is faith. It’s faith in the WRONG things!
- Fear is a lack of trust
- Fear is pride
- Fear is common, real and difficult (so you are human!)
The four most common fears of people:
1. Loss (person, relationship, job, health, control)
2. Failure (inadequate, measure up, not talented enough, not achievable)
3. Rejection (relationship, employment, social circles, peer pressure, style)
4. Unknown (the What-ifs and the unexpected)
1. Fear is placing faith in the “What-Ifs”
This is exactly what MOSES did!
But Moses protested again, “what if they don’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, The Lord never appeared to you?” (Exodus 4:1)
Why do your “what-ifs” matter?
- What you fear the most reveals what you VALUE the most.
- What you fear the most reveals where you TRUST God the least.
Fill in this blank for yourself. I have trouble trusting God with my fear of: ___________________ .
How will God empower us to overcome our fears?
2. Acknowledge God and choose to trust him through it anyway.
In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust and I am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? (Psalm 56:4)
3. Seek God until he takes away your fears. And if they are still there, CONTINUE to seek him every day! This is great spiritual discipline!
I prayed to the Lord and he answered me and freed me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4)
I love that God has not given us a spirit of fear. Our God wants to deliver you from fear! I hope you will believe that is possible!
Quote this: It’s very possible for an eternal God to help you overcome a temporary fear!
I have never known more than 15 minutes of anxiety or fear. Whenever I feel fearful emotions overtaking me, I just close my eyes and thank God that he is still on the throne reigning over everything and I take comfort in His control over all the affairs of my life. - John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church
If I am fearful of the what-if, how can I celebrate the what-then? - Beth Moore
But the Lord is faithful. He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. (2 Thessalonians 3:3)
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. (Hebrews 10:23)
I am an #Overcomer because I am not what I used to be, but I am not yet what I am going to become!
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