Small Steps To Making Big Moves: Finish Fear

2 Timothy, 1st chapter, 1st 7th, the Passion Translation.

For God will never give you the Spirit of Fear, but the Holy Spirit who gives you mighty

power, love and self-control.

Bible before breakfast, Eldred Kings to Gunghawin, good morning, we're still talking about

small steps who make him big moves, and today my focus is on helping you finish fear by feeling

up on faith. Yesterday we talked about writing things down so vision becomes clear. Today

we deal with something that quietly stops many people before they even begin.

And if you can master this small step, I think that your life will never remain the same,

because making big moves will become normal for you.

Today let's talk about fear. And I know that I read today's scripture in so many translations,

but if you deal with fear, trust me you haven't heard it enough, and every human being

has certain things that they fear. Fear really announces itself loudly,

it whispers very quietly, what if it doesn't work, what if I'm not ready, what if people laugh,

what if I feel, and slowly fear convinces us to stay where we are, but you see scripture

teaches us something powerful. Fear doesn't really disappear by accident, fear is replaced.

It is replaced when we feel our hearts with faith. Fear is not your inheritance,

the Bible says God will never give you the spirit of fear.

What God has not given you don't accept it. Fear is not your inheritance,

fear is not a gift from your God, fear is not handed to you by your father, it's not even offered.

Fear is not your inheritance, power is, love is, self control is. The thing about fear is that

it tries to paralyze you, but the spirit of God empowers you to move. Fear grows when we focus

on our problems. Faith grows when we focus on God. The thing is the mind cannot stay empty,

whatever you feed it will grow. If you fill your mind with worry, then fear grows,

but if you feed your mind with God's promises, then faith grows. That's why scripture says in Romans

10-17, the message translation. The point is before you trust, you have to listen, but unless

Christ's word is preached, there's nothing to listen to. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by

the word of God. But how can we hear if anything is preached? Faith grows when we hear the word of God.

You have to focus on feeling up on the word of God if you are ever going to be able to deal with fear.

One of the things I know about fear is that he has torment, what does that mean? He simply means

that fear is larger than life. Fear makes itself much bigger, more real than we care to imagine.

People actually think that fear has power, no. Faith has more power. The more truth enters your

heart, the weaker fear becomes. Let's look at Joshua. Joshua was Moses's assistant.

Moses had just died and Joshua was faced with an overwhelming assignment. Now, Joshua had to

lead an entire nation into the promised land and God said something to him repeatedly and that

should give you a sign as to what he was dealing with. God said to him over and over again,

haven't I commanded you? Strength, courage, don't be timid, don't get discouraged. God,

your God is with you every step you take. God knew that he was afraid. And God would say to him,

only be strong and courageous, do not be afraid. Only be strong and courageous,

have I not commanded you. In fact, the fear was so evident that the children of Israel themselves

said to him, we know that Moses has died, we know that God is with you and we will follow you,

but you only be strong and courageous, do not be afraid. If the people like courage,

you then it's obvious that you're very afraid. So, Moses that God did not say, you won't feel

afraid. Instead, he reminded Joshua, I am with you. Faith does not mean the absence of fear.

Faith means that God is with you and you are aware of it. Faith means trusting God in spite of

fear. Joshua moved forward, not because he felt fearless, but because he believed God's promise.

Let's look at another very interesting person, who I think weirdly enough dealt with fear a lot,

even though he seemed very forward, but inside, I think he dealt with fear a lot. Let's look at Peter,

I was to Peter, working on water. Now, fear sometimes can show up at the beginning,

like with Joshua, forgive me, Joshua, but he can also appear after we've started moving.

Peter stepped out of the boat, I'm sure you're familiar with that story, and walked on water towards

Jesus, phenomena, amazing moments, something that never been experienced. So, it was a triumphant

moment for him, but the moment he began to focus on the wind and the waves, fear to cover.

Matthew describes him beautifully, in Matthew chapter 14 verse 30, the Passion Transition,

but when he realized, it's beginning of Peter now, how high the waves were, he became frightened

and started to sink. Fear grew, the moment Peter shifted his focus, when his eyes were on Jesus,

he walked on water. When his eyes moved to the stone, he sank. Lesson is simple but very profound,

focus feeds faith. Whatever you put your eyes on will grow. Now, if you want to finish fear one

time for all, you must fill up on faith daily. How do you do that? Simple, by reading scripture,

by speaking God's promises out loud till you can hear it.

By remembering past victories, by spending time in prayer, by surrounding yourself with

faith-filled voices, put up that Netflix and put on that YouTube channel with the word.

Faith grows in the presence of God. Stay in prayer. Remind yourself of the little winds,

with scripture, and then confess the word by yourself. Confess it like your life depends on it

because it does. But this morning, I want you to add one thing. I want you to do it with a quick

heart check. Now, I know this is not February where we're doing daily heart checks, but I honestly

want you to look at this closely because fear, if not dealt with, can destroy your life and your

call. Ask yourself honestly this morning. What has been holding me back?

What steps have I delayed because I feel unsure? Am I feeding my faith or my feeding my fear

every day? Often the difference between stagnation and progress is simply this one courageous step.

Faith really demands giant lips. It just asks you to take the next step. Even if you don't know what

you do, then do what you know. Just move. My husband would often say the very next thing to do,

the very next step to take, God will always show you. Anytime God gives you an instruction,

the very next step to take after that instruction is always available to you because God will meet

you where you are. You don't need perfect confidence to move forward. You only need

enough faith to take the first step, the very next step. And every step that you take will

strengthen your courage. Fear will say to you, stay where you are. Well listen, God is with you,

so move. Today I pray for you that the Lord will replace your fear with faith. I pray that he

will fill your heart with his word and remind you that you are greater than every challenge that

you will ever face. My prayers that God will give you courage to take the next step,

even when you feel unsure. I pray that the Lord will strengthen your trust in him and that he will

help you move forward one step at a time in the name of Jesus. Good morning,

what a wonderful way to start your day. Bye, we'll be full breakfast with Mildred, King Stilcompo.