The Chain of Fear

365 times in scripture God says to fear not, don't worry, or don't be afraid. God's will was not that Jesus would be the only one to come out of the grave. Jesus was the first and He leads you in victory He wants you to live fearlessly and free. He promised that yes, we will have trouble in this world, but take heart, He has overcome the world.

Why are we afraid of the future? Probably because we can't see it, but seeing it would cause even more fear. That's how the enemy likes to keep us trapped. We're scared because we don't know the future and then scared when we get a glimpse. We plan a lot for failure and a lot less for success because we have fear.

1) God wants us to know what's ahead.

• He's not going to give a detailed blueprint.
• He wants to give you Himself, not a plan.
• If you had a plan, you would focus on that and not on Him.
• There are tough things in your plan and if you knew what was coming, you would end up dreading a lot of life.
• Exodus 3:7-12. God calls Moses to break the chains off His people.
• Joshua 1: 1-6, 9. God had already given a promise that they were going to make it into the land, but they didn't have a coping mechanism to overcome what they saw. Only 2 of the 10 spies voted to go into it. Moses capitulated and ended up not making it in himself for one of his actions. Joshua is chosen by God to lead the people. Verse 3 is key- you don't ever want to hear that you are being promised something that was promised to the person before you. For example, "I'm going to give you everything I wanted to give to your dad." You want what God has for you. You want other people to have what God has for them. Moses missed out on what was promised, but the promise was still kept.
• What's ahead for you?
• Rivers to be crossed. A choice between what was and what is and a battle of faith to move into the water.
• Walls to scale
• Enemies to fight
• Giants to face
• All of this is in the Promised Land, but there are things to establish authority over.
• The Promise
• God is going to be with you
• God has victory for you
• God has abundance in your future
• The promise that God has for you isn't on this side of the river, it's on the other side.

2) We know that the One who knows what's ahead is with us.

• Isaiah 41:10- memorize this.
• "Don't be afraid. He is my God. He will strengthen me. He will hold me with His righteous right hand."
• It's understanding that God is a force! He's not a nebulous thing in the air. He is with you and will uphold you.
• Joshua 2:8-11
• Don't be thrown off by the high walls and history of what you've heard. You are woven into the story of God. God is the victor, the same spirit that rose Jesus from the dead is alive in you. You are a child of God, the sword of the Spirit is in your hands, and you have eyes to see spiritual things.
• The enemy is on the other side hoping you never wake up to the power that you have coming into the name of Jesus. All of Hell trembles at the name you carry, and yet you are the one acting like you're scared of them or the circumstances.
• A lot of Hebrew words when spelled backward have the opposite meaning. When the letters for "fear" are reversed it means to push forward with great propulsion.

3) The thoughts that come to imprison us; we can imprison them.

• 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. We fight with spiritual weapons that demolish strongholds. No matter what we have been through, we're still here because of the character, purpose, and plan of God. We can take that thought and put it in the prison of God's character, purpose, and plan. This takes work to do, but freedom takes work. You have to dig in. That way when the darkness closes in, you are already rehearsed, prepared, and have a plan.

4) Take shelter in the unassailable and indestructible love of God.

• Nothing on the other side of the future has the power to separate us from God. See Romans 8:28, 31-31, 35, 37-39.
• The Greek word for "height" in verse 39 is the same word for "demolish strongholds" or pretentious thought. So it's saying that there is no height or stronghold or thought that can separate you from the love of God. He will never leave you or forsake you.