Hello, and
welcome to Heart Lift.
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I'm Jill Morikone,
and I'm so glad that you
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have joined us today.
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We're in the midst of
a journey toward hope,
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toward healing, toward the
transformation that the Lord
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Jesus wants to work in my
heart and in yours as women,
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as daughters of God.
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If you're just joining us, we
spent the last several programs
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talking about the
concept of forgiveness;
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how the Lord Jesus
wants to forgive us.
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He wants to forgive you.
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He says in 1 John 1:9,
If we confess our sins,
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He's faithful and just to
forgive us, and to cleanse us
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from all unrighteousness.
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We also talked about the
forgiveness He wants to pour
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into our hearts so that we can
in turn extend that to others.
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Today we begin
a section on fear.
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Today's program is Identifying
the Fears In Our Lives.
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Our Scripture is 1 John 4:18.
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If you have your Bibles I invite
you to turn there with me.
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1 John 4:18. If you
don't, grab a paper and a pen
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and jot it down, and
you can look it up later.
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The Bible says,
There is no fear in love,
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but perfect love casts out fear.
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He who fears has not
been made perfect in love.
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The first part of the
verse is what we really
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want to focus on here.
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There is no fear in love,
but perfect love casts out fear.
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Let's pray. Father we come
before You in the name of Jesus.
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Thank You that with You
we don't have to be afraid.
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With You there is no fear.
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And I just pray right now that
You would hide me behind You,
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behind the cross, that You could
speak, and that we could hear
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what You have for
us from Your Word.
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And we thank You
in Jesus' name, Amen.
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It was a Sabbath evening, and
Greg and I were sitting on the
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couch having sundown worship.
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And all of a sudden I
heard, meowrrrrrrrrrrrr!
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I can't make the sound
very well, but it was the sound
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of two cats fighting.
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And I jumped up, and then I
said, Ah, I'm going outside,
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and I'm going to see if it's
our little kitty cat, Pebbles.
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And I ran outside, and
sure enough, it was Pebbles.
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She had treed a white cat.
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She was way up in the
tree, and then higher even
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than her was the white cat.
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And they were
kind of going at it.
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Greg came out. We
kind of investigated.
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We thought,
Well, they'll be okay.
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A little bit later Pebbles
still wasn't coming down.
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They weren't
having a fight anymore,
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but she was still
stuck in the tree.
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And I began to think,
Maybe she's getting afraid.
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So what we did is
we went to the tree,
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and I tried to coax her down.
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Come on Pebbles,
come down, come on.
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You know what she did?
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She went, Meow, meow,
from her very high height
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at the top of the tree.
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She was afraid; she was afraid.
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And so we thought, She'll come
down; she's a cat after all.
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Surely she can come down.
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We waited. It got dark.
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She didn't come down.
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Greg got the ladder.
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Maybe by this time, if you've
watched some of the programs
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you might think our
cat's a little spoiled,
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and she probably is.
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He got the ladder.
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He brought it to the tree.
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He climbed up the ladder and
he said, Here, come on Pebbles.
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I'm right here.
He was within reach.
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All he had to do was pick
her up and carry her down.
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You know what she did?
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She dug her little claws into
the tree, and she pulled back
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cause she was afraid.
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She thought, Greg
can't carry me down.
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I can't trust myself with him.
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Now of course she's a cat.
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She probably doesn't go through
all of that thinking process,
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but she was afraid.
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Finally he reached up,
even in spite of her scratching,
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and pulled her,
and brought her down.
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And he said when he
brought her down her heart
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was thumping a lot.
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He knew she was terrified.
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In contrast to our kitty cat,
Pebbles, and how scared she was
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coming down that tree, I think
of, we could call her Sarah.
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It would work for any
little girl, any little boy.
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It doesn't matter.
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They will climb
up the tree house.
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They're at the top.
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And what do they say?
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Daddy, Daddy,
catch me, catch me.
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Little chubby arms are held out.
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Little legs take
the great plunge.
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And if Daddy doesn't pay
attention, he'd better catch,
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because she jumps
even without noticing
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if Daddy's paying attention.
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She knows that there's safety,
that there is a Daddy down there
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who loves her, who, she
thinks, Daddy can do anything.
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Of course Daddy can catch me!
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I don't have to be afraid.
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When I grew up, I
grew up in a good home.
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My parents, incredible
parents, and I felt very safe.
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But in spite of that, as I grew
into my teens Satan began to
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feed me lies about myself,
lies about my Father in heaven,
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until by the time I was
twenty fear ruled my life.
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It dictated what I did,
who I talked to, how I acted.
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I was afraid. Now
maybe you say, Jill,
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I didn't grow up in a safe home.
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I didn't grow up in a
good home like you did.
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I was afraid from the time,
as far back as I can remember.
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I remember my
Dad beating my Mom.
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I remember alcohol in our home.
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I remember fighting.
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I remember being
afraid of my family.
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Whatever it is,
fear has a stronghold
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in a lot of our lives.
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Let's do a self-evaluation.
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We always like to
do a self-evaluation
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for each program. If I
honestly look into my heart,
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how much does fear control me?
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Now as always, I
encourage you to be honest.
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Don't feel like you
have to please the minister,
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or your spouse, or anybody else.
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Just be honest. How
much does fear control me?
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Maybe that's where
you are right now today.
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Maybe you're at number two.
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Maybe you're at number three.
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And the last one:
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I don't know today
where you feel like you are.
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You might say,
Jill, I'm at number one.
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I'm terrified.
I'm afraid to live.
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I'm terrified to die.
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I have no
assurance of salvation.
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Fear consumes my existence.
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Or you might be all
the way over at the other
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end of the spectrum.
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And you might say, I
walk in complete peace,
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and joy, and assurance.
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Where ever you are, God wants
to bring deliverance to our
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hearts so that we can,
in turn, share with others.
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We want to look today
at six categories of fears.
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There's probably
more, but these are
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general basic categories.
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And I think as humans, as women,
a lot of times our fears fall
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into one of
these six categories.
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The first one is
fears about faith;
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fears dealing with our faith.
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And the first one under
that is probably salvation.
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I was teaching a Sabbath School
class, and I asked the class
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members, I said, If you were
to give one thing that you worry
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about, one thing that you're
afraid of, what would that be?
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One of my dear friends, she's
a woman of God, she's a powerful
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speaker for Jesus.
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She said, Sometimes I'm
worried about the end time.
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Sometimes I'm worried
about my own walk with Jesus,
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and my assurance of salvation.
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Now my friend is a
dedicated Christian.
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But fear about our salvation
is sometimes a big fear.
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I think in my own experience,
I have found that many of the
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fears that we hold,
that we hang onto as women,
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they have their basis in lies.
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And they come straight
from Satan, the father of lies.
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Maybe you've heard his
lie dealing with salvation.
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God can't save you.
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You've gone too far.
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You've made too many mistakes.
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You've asked too late.
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God can't save you.
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You know, the Word of God
is the best place to defeat
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those lies of the enemy.
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God says in 2 Peter 3:9, God
is not willing that any should
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perish, but that all
should come to repentance.
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God says, I love you.
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I want to save you.
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You don't have to feel
like you've gone too far,
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you've made too many mistakes.
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I want to save you.
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Also in John 6:37 He
says, Whoever comes to me
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I will never cast aside;
I'm never going to cast away.
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What about coming to God?
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I think about Adam and Eve.
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Remember, in the Garden of
Eden, when they were created?
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They loved to commune
with their Father in heaven.
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Every day, in the
cool of the evening,
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God walked, and
talked with them.
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What an incredible experience!
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Then in Genesis 3 we see sin,
the sin that entered this earth.
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We see Eve reaching out and
taking of the forbidden fruit.
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Then she took it
and she gave it to her
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husband Adam and he ate.
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And remember what
happened after that experience.
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Adam and Eve, the Bible says,
sewed these little fig leaves
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together; they
realized they were naked.
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They tried to cover themselves.
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And then when God came that
evening in the cool of the day,
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and He said, Adam, Eve,
I'm here to talk with you.
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What did they say?
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They ran and they hid, because
they were afraid to come to God.
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The truth is sin
brings fear and guilt.
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Sin brings separation
from our Father in heaven.
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Remember Adam blamed
Eve; he blamed the woman.
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And then the woman
blamed the serpent.
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Now when we think
about fears about our faith,
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there's fears
about our salvation.
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Are we going to be saved?
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Or other people's salvation.
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Sometimes we're afraid to come
to God, as Adam and Eve were
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that first night
after they had sinned.
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Sometimes our fear
centers around God Himself.
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Maybe Satan has fed
you one of these lies:
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God is a stern,
unforgiving ruler.
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God can't love you.
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Jeremiah 31:3. He
says, I've loved you
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with an everlasting
love; therefore with
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loving-kindness
I have drawn you.
00:12:01.85\00:12:05.09
God is not stern or unforgiving.
00:12:05.12\00:12:07.86
He says, I love you.
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I want to bring you to Myself.
00:12:09.26\00:12:11.96
What about John 3:16?
00:12:11.99\00:12:14.10
As Christians this is probably
the most famous Scripture
00:12:14.13\00:12:18.13
in the whole Bible.
00:12:18.17\00:12:19.50
For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten
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Son, that whosoever believes
in him should not perish,
00:12:24.27\00:12:29.94
but have everlasting life.
00:12:29.98\00:12:32.91
God the Father loved us
so much He gave His only Son.
00:12:32.95\00:12:39.32
That does not sound
stern or unforgiving to me.
00:12:39.35\00:12:43.59
What about Romans 5:8?
00:12:43.63\00:12:45.56
While we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.
00:12:45.59\00:12:51.13
Even while I'm stuck way
back here in the mire of sin,
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in my own junk, God
said, I loved you, Jill.
00:12:55.17\00:13:00.74
I looked at you,
and I want to save you.
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1 Corinthians 14:33,
God is not the author of
00:13:04.31\00:13:07.95
confusion, but of peace.
00:13:07.98\00:13:10.79
The lie that Satan
feeds us, that God is a stern,
00:13:10.82\00:13:15.56
unforgiving ruler, is not the
only lie he tells us about God.
00:13:15.59\00:13:18.96
He also says, God
causes evil and suffering.
00:13:18.99\00:13:24.90
Perhaps, interestingly enough,
if you have a tornado come
00:13:24.93\00:13:30.61
through your area;
perhaps you have a flood,
00:13:30.64\00:13:34.51
or a hurricane. What does
the insurance company say?
00:13:34.54\00:13:37.71
If you go to the insurance
company what do they say?
00:13:37.75\00:13:40.88
They say it's an act of God.
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Is that really true?
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Is it an act of God?
00:13:46.29\00:13:48.56
John 10:10. The thief comes
to steal, kill, and destroy.
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Jesus says, I have come
that you would have life,
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and have it more abundantly.
00:13:57.40\00:14:01.90
God doesn't cause
evil and suffering.
00:14:01.94\00:14:04.14
Satan is the
originator of all that evil
00:14:04.17\00:14:07.94
and suffering in the world.
00:14:07.98\00:14:09.51
God is the One who
comes to bring life,
00:14:09.54\00:14:12.35
and to bring it more abundantly.
00:14:12.38\00:14:15.05
What about this lie?
00:14:15.08\00:14:17.15
If God is all powerful, why
didn't He stop that little girl
00:14:17.19\00:14:22.26
from being abused?
00:14:22.29\00:14:23.96
Does that mean He caused it?
00:14:23.99\00:14:27.10
Do you see how insidious Satan
is with the lies he tells us
00:14:27.13\00:14:31.37
about God the Father?
00:14:31.40\00:14:32.73
God says, Jeremiah 29:11, I
know the plans I have for you,
00:14:32.77\00:14:38.34
says the Lord, plans to
prosper you and not to harm you,
00:14:38.37\00:14:42.71
plans to give you
a future and hope.
00:14:42.74\00:14:46.61
The last fear that we
have dealing with faith might
00:14:46.65\00:14:52.29
be about forgiveness.
00:14:52.32\00:14:54.46
You might say,
God can't forgive me.
00:14:54.56\00:14:57.33
I've done too much.
00:14:57.36\00:14:58.96
I've gone too far.
00:14:58.99\00:15:00.33
God can't forgive me.
00:15:00.36\00:15:01.90
He says, 1 John 1:9,
If we confess our sins,
00:15:01.93\00:15:05.23
he's faithful and
just to forgive us,
00:15:05.27\00:15:08.70
and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.
00:15:08.74\00:15:13.27
Satan wants to make us fear God.
00:15:13.31\00:15:15.98
Do you notice that he
puts his attributes on God?
00:15:16.01\00:15:20.52
Have you noticed that?
00:15:20.55\00:15:21.88
Satan puts his evil attributes
on God to make us be afraid of
00:15:21.92\00:15:25.92
God, to make us fear God.
00:15:25.95\00:15:27.89
Now fears about God is not the
only fears that we might have.
00:15:28.09\00:15:32.93
That's the first category.
00:15:32.96\00:15:34.30
Fear is about faith.
00:15:34.33\00:15:35.80
And what about
fears? about family.
00:15:35.83\00:15:40.04
Maybe you're in the
midst of a marriage right now,
00:15:40.07\00:15:43.51
and you're afraid that your
spouse is going to leave God.
00:15:43.54\00:15:46.88
Maybe you're afraid right now
that your spouse is in the midst
00:15:46.91\00:15:51.35
of an affair, or that he's going
to walk out and cheat on you.
00:15:51.41\00:15:55.85
Maybe you're afraid of betrayal,
or afraid of abandonment.
00:15:55.88\00:16:01.52
Maybe, right now you're
going through a divorce,
00:16:01.56\00:16:04.36
and you think, If
only I'd tried harder.
00:16:04.39\00:16:07.70
If only I had been
a better Christian.
00:16:07.73\00:16:11.73
If only I had prayed more.
00:16:11.77\00:16:15.07
If only I had
criticized him less,
00:16:15.10\00:16:19.67
maybe he wouldn't have left me.
00:16:19.71\00:16:22.91
God says, Philippians 3:13, 14,
Forgetting those things which
00:16:22.94\00:16:29.28
are behind, and reaching forward
to those things which are ahead.
00:16:29.32\00:16:34.96
Maybe your fear is not
centered around your marriage.
00:16:34.99\00:16:38.09
Maybe you're not married, and
you say, Why aren't I married?
00:16:38.13\00:16:43.93
And Satan feeds
you lies about that.
00:16:43.97\00:16:47.44
He says, You're not
pretty enough to get married.
00:16:47.47\00:16:50.17
You're not smart
enough to get married.
00:16:50.21\00:16:52.97
You're not good enough, or he
might say, You're being punished
00:16:53.01\00:16:58.18
for something
you did in the past.
00:16:58.21\00:17:00.52
That's why you're not married.
00:17:00.55\00:17:03.52
Or you're not listening
closely enough to God's voice.
00:17:03.55\00:17:07.52
God says, Jeremiah 29:11...
00:17:07.56\00:17:10.53
I love this Scripture
and I keep referring to it,
00:17:10.56\00:17:12.96
because it's
one of my favorites.
00:17:12.99\00:17:14.46
I know the plans I
have for you, God says,
00:17:14.50\00:17:17.47
plans to prosper
you, and not to harm you,
00:17:17.50\00:17:20.87
plans to give you
a future and a hope.
00:17:20.90\00:17:25.71
What about Genesis 2:18?
00:17:25.74\00:17:27.68
God says, It's not
good for man to be alone,
00:17:27.71\00:17:30.35
and I think we could say it's
not good for woman to be alone.
00:17:30.38\00:17:33.05
God's desire is to put us in
families; to put us together.
00:17:33.08\00:17:38.99
Maybe your fear has to do
with your kids, and you think,
00:17:39.02\00:17:42.12
what if they leave God?
00:17:42.16\00:17:43.73
What if they
walk away from church?
00:17:43.76\00:17:46.36
What if they make bad choices?
00:17:46.39\00:17:48.83
What if they drift away from me?
00:17:48.86\00:17:50.77
What if they die? Our
first fear deals with faith.
00:17:50.80\00:17:56.60
Second fear deals with family.
00:17:56.64\00:17:59.07
Third fear deals with health.
00:17:59.11\00:18:03.08
We were quiet, the three of us,
in a sort of breathless silence.
00:18:03.11\00:18:09.72
All the words had
already been said.
00:18:09.75\00:18:12.92
There remained nothing
more but the doctor's verdict.
00:18:12.95\00:18:16.86
My Mom took her
stance on one side...
00:18:16.89\00:18:21.00
I'm sorry, my Dad took his
stance on one side of the room,
00:18:21.03\00:18:24.50
my Mom sat on the
doctor's table in the middle.
00:18:24.53\00:18:28.87
I took up my stance on the other
side, and desperately I tried
00:18:28.90\00:18:34.54
to remember the Bible verse
that I had been memorizing.
00:18:34.58\00:18:41.18
It's Psalm 112:7. It says,
He will not be afraid of evil
00:18:41.22\00:18:47.79
tidings: his heart is
fixed, trusting in the Lord.
00:18:47.82\00:18:52.46
And I tried desperately
to remember that verse.
00:18:52.49\00:18:57.07
And I said, Okay, God, I
want a good verdict for my Mom,
00:18:57.10\00:19:01.90
so I have to remain
fixed; I have to trust in God.
00:19:01.94\00:19:05.34
The door opened
and the doctor came in.
00:19:05.37\00:19:09.18
And I tried to read his
face, but it was very impassive.
00:19:09.21\00:19:12.81
He sat on the stool, stethoscope
draped around his neck.
00:19:12.85\00:19:16.42
He turned to the
phone to get the report.
00:19:16.45\00:19:19.15
He turned around, he hung up
the phone, he turned to my Mom,
00:19:21.06\00:19:25.19
and he said, I'm so sorry.
00:19:25.23\00:19:27.56
But I'm here to tell you that
you do have multiple sclerosis.
00:19:27.60\00:19:32.60
You have MS. And even though
it's been years since my Mom was
00:19:32.63\00:19:37.01
diagnosed with MS, I can still,
over the beating of my own
00:19:37.04\00:19:41.41
heart, I can remember the whole
situation: my Dad folding his
00:19:41.44\00:19:45.11
arms, bowing his
head, my Mom began to cry,
00:19:45.15\00:19:48.48
and I was mad at God.
00:19:48.52\00:19:51.05
Because I said, I
claimed Psalm 112:7.
00:19:51.09\00:19:55.79
I did not have to be
afraid of evil tidings.
00:19:55.82\00:19:58.16
His heart is fixed.
00:19:58.19\00:19:59.53
Trust in the Lord.
00:19:59.56\00:20:00.90
God, didn't I trust in You?
00:20:00.93\00:20:02.26
Why did You
allow this to happen?
00:20:02.30\00:20:04.70
Didn't I trust in You?
00:20:04.73\00:20:06.53
Weeks later I went
back to that passage again,
00:20:06.57\00:20:11.01
and I discovered that
I had misinterpreted it.
00:20:11.04\00:20:14.81
God wasn't saying
that trouble wouldn't come,
00:20:14.84\00:20:18.91
just that I did not
have to be afraid of it.
00:20:18.95\00:20:22.82
If I kept my mind and
heart focused on Jesus,
00:20:22.85\00:20:26.72
when sickness
and disease did come,
00:20:26.76\00:20:29.86
God could keep me
from being afraid.
00:20:29.89\00:20:32.93
He could hold my
heart, and give me His peace.
00:20:32.99\00:20:37.43
You know, Satan
tells us lies about health.
00:20:37.47\00:20:41.90
Have you ever heard any of them?
00:20:41.94\00:20:43.81
There must have been
some sin in their life;
00:20:43.87\00:20:46.11
that's why they're
dealing with cancer.
00:20:46.17\00:20:48.94
I always knew that they
should have had a better diet.
00:20:48.98\00:20:51.85
You see how insidious he is?
00:20:51.88\00:20:54.78
Jesus says in John 10:10, Satan
came to steal, kill and destroy.
00:20:54.82\00:21:00.02
He came that we would have life,
and have it more abundantly.
00:21:00.06\00:21:05.23
Remember John 9? Jesus was
talking with the disciples,
00:21:05.26\00:21:11.27
and the Pharisees
came, and they said,
00:21:11.30\00:21:13.23
Okay, this man was born blind.
00:21:13.27\00:21:15.20
Whose fault is it?
00:21:15.27\00:21:16.60
Is it the man's or the parents?
00:21:16.64\00:21:19.44
In John 9:3, Jesus said,
It's neither this man's fault,
00:21:19.47\00:21:24.28
and neither is it the parents
fault, but that the works of God
00:21:24.31\00:21:29.65
should be revealed in him.
00:21:29.68\00:21:32.99
What about this lie?
00:21:33.02\00:21:35.09
If only they had enough
faith, they would be healed.
00:21:35.12\00:21:39.56
That's a lie from
the enemy as well.
00:21:39.59\00:21:43.90
We have fears about
health, fears about faith,
00:21:43.93\00:21:49.04
fears about family.
00:21:49.07\00:21:50.54
Number four is
fears about relationships.
00:21:50.57\00:21:53.64
Often I fear people: what
they say, what they think,
00:21:53.68\00:21:56.31
or what they're going to do.
00:21:58.38\00:21:59.91
Maybe you feel
betrayed by a friend,
00:21:59.95\00:22:02.12
or your spouse is
threatening divorce.
00:22:02.15\00:22:04.29
Maybe your kids are
talking back, or acting out,
00:22:04.32\00:22:08.72
and you're afraid they might
leave the church, or even worse,
00:22:08.76\00:22:12.76
they might leave God.
00:22:12.79\00:22:14.73
Maybe you're afraid to
step out and speak for God;
00:22:14.76\00:22:17.47
afraid of what other people
are going to think of you.
00:22:17.50\00:22:20.47
Maybe you're afraid to leave the
abusive relationship you're in,
00:22:20.50\00:22:23.94
or afraid to tell other people
about the abusive relationship
00:22:23.97\00:22:27.91
you have left behind.
00:22:27.94\00:22:29.28
Maybe you're afraid to
reach out and make a new friend,
00:22:29.31\00:22:32.98
because you've been hurt
so many times in the past.
00:22:33.01\00:22:37.85
Psalm 27, Psalm 27:1.
00:22:37.89\00:22:43.46
The Bible says, The Lord
is my light and my salvation;
00:22:43.49\00:22:46.70
whom shall I fear? the
Lord is the strength of my life;
00:22:46.73\00:22:51.07
of whom shall I be afraid?
00:22:51.10\00:22:54.20
Fear number five
is about the future.
00:22:54.24\00:22:56.84
Often we fear what's
going to happen in the future.
00:22:56.87\00:22:59.61
We don't know. Number six,
the final one, is finances.
00:22:59.64\00:23:05.11
Maybe you're afraid
and you say, I can't even
00:23:05.15\00:23:07.35
put food on my table.
00:23:07.38\00:23:08.72
God says, Isaiah 33:16,
Bread shall be given you;
00:23:08.75\00:23:14.46
your water shall be sure.
00:23:14.49\00:23:16.96
Also in Matthew 6, the Sermon
On the Mount, Matthew 6:28, 29,
00:23:16.99\00:23:22.63
Jesus said, Consider the lilies
of the field... they don't toil,
00:23:22.66\00:23:27.00
neither do they spin: yet my
father in heaven cares for them,
00:23:27.04\00:23:31.34
and they're arrayed
even better than Solomon.
00:23:31.37\00:23:34.38
Maybe it's a fear
about housing, or your job.
00:23:34.41\00:23:37.41
You think, I'm
going to lose my job.
00:23:37.45\00:23:38.95
I might be laid off.
00:23:38.98\00:23:40.32
What am I going to do?
00:23:40.35\00:23:41.68
Whatever the fear is,
we want to take it to God:
00:23:41.72\00:23:46.02
Fear's about faith, fears about
family, fears about health,
00:23:46.05\00:23:51.16
fears about relationships,
fears about the future,
00:23:51.19\00:23:54.96
and fears about finances.
00:23:55.00\00:23:57.17
Our next program we're going
to unpackage how God can break
00:23:57.20\00:24:03.10
us free from
the bondage of fear.
00:24:03.14\00:24:06.57
But first we need to take a
break right now, and then we'll
00:24:06.64\00:24:10.41
be back with some
practical application
00:24:10.45\00:24:12.88
that you can do this week.
00:24:12.91\00:24:14.92