Welcome back. We're talking
today about fearful pride, or
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the Fowopt experience; fear of
what other people think of me,
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of getting our sense of
who we are from other people
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instead of going to God, and
getting who we are from Jesus.
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This week what I want
to encourage you to do is
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threefold, three
different things.
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1. Ask yourself,
Who am I afraid of?
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Now the list might be very
long, and I'm not trying to give
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you a hard exercise.
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Or it might be just one person.
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Whoever it is,
identify who you're afraid of.
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I've started in my journal here,
from my mother-in-law, Valerie.
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I started putting some
things in here, some fears.
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This one says, Who?
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In the category of
Who? it says a co-worker.
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Maybe you're
afraid of a co-worker.
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It could be someone else.
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It could be a friend at school.
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It could be the
neighbor down the street.
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It could be the minister, or the
minister's wife, whoever it is.
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Next prayerfully ask God why
you're afraid of that person.
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Figure out why you're afraid.
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Maybe I have here, I'm afraid
because I think the person's
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more popular than me.
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The person has
more friends than me.
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Or maybe the person
is more stylish than me.
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Whatever it is,
it doesn't matter.
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Just identify who you're
afraid of, and what you're
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afraid of in that person.
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3. Identify a Scripture that
you can use to combat that fear.
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A lot of fears have
their basis in lies.
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And identify a
Scripture that you can use.
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And this one I'm talking about
here; we could use this one.
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1 John 3:1. The Bible says,
Behold, what manner of love
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the Father has bestowed on
us, that we should be called
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the sons and daughters
of God, the children of God.
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So I say, I'm afraid of this
person because I think they're
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more popular or
they're better than me.
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And God says, None of
that matters. You are my child.
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What about maybe the
person you're afraid of is maybe
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a little bit of a
bully in your life.
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Maybe you're afraid of what
they're going to say to you,
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maybe a little bit critical
words that they're going to say,
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and you're afraid of that.
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Scripture, and I
want to turn here.
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I have just a little
reference written out here,
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but I actually
want to turn here.
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I love this Scripture.
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It's Isaiah, Isaiah 51.
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We're going to look at
verses 10, 12-16, Isaiah 51.
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This works perfectly
if I'm afraid of someone.
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It says, I, even I,
am He who comforts you.
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Who are you that you should
be afraid of a man who will die,
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and of the Son of man
who will be made like grass;
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and you forget the Lord your
maker, who stretched out the
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heavens, and laid the
foundations of the earth.
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You have feared continually
every day because of the fury
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of the oppressor, when
he is prepared to destroy.
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And where is the fury of
the oppressor? where is he?
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The captive exile
hastens that he may loosed.
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He should not die in the pit.
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Then it says, But I am the Lord
your God who divided the sea,
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whose waves roared: The
Lord of hosts is his name.
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And I have put My
words in your mouth.
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I have covered you
in the palm of My hand.
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I love this promise.
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You know what it says?
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We don't have to
be afraid of a man.
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We don't have to
be afraid of women.
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We don't have to be afraid
of anybody, because the Lord
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Jesus made the heavens.
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He stretched them out.
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The Lord Jesus is God
and He divided the sea.
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The Lord Jesus can cover you
and I in the palm of His hand.
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That's a beautiful promise.
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First identify
who you're afraid of.
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Second identify why
you're afraid of that particular
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person. Third
identify a Scripture.
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Write out that Scripture.
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Keep that Scripture with you
this week, and pull it out often
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to bring you
hope and deliverance.
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Our next program we
discuss offended pride,
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and the pride of false humility.
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You may say, What is that?
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Stay tuned next week
and you will find out.
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In closing our Scripture, Romans
15:13, May the God of hope
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fill you with all joy
and peace in believing,
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that you may abound in hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit.
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