Say No to Anxiety and FearSample

Rise Up!

It may not always feel like it, but this is the greatest time ever to be alive! I believe when we get to heaven, the saints of old – Noah, Moses, Peter and Paul – will be asking us, “What was it like on earth in the last days?”

Yes, these certainly appear to be the last of the last days. And that means that God plans to use you in ways you can’t even imagine. The Bible says power flows from your innermost being (John 7:38); you’ll speak compelling words of wisdom that people can’t resist (1 Corinthians 2:4).

But! We know the devil isn’t lying down these days, admitting defeat. He can’t take you out, so one of his best tools is to hobble you, load you down and fill you with anxiety and fear. Every day he is working to make you afraid and cause anxiety, using disease, terrorism, family troubles, financial pressure, failure, rejection, and more.

Thankfully, the Bible says that God has not given you a spirit of fear [or anxiety], but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). Read that again – if you’re a Christian, it’s talking about you! You have power, and love and a sound mind.

All fear, worry, anxiety, and trouble comes for one reason: to get you to forget or let go of God, and take hold of what you see and feel. It comes to steal the Word (Mark 4:14-20).

Have you ever been “scared out of your senses?” I have! Whenever we’re frightened “out of sense” our faith in God gets knocked out of the way. Our “mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16) gets distracted – we forget that God lives in us and is greater than any trouble we face (1 John 4:4). We forget that Psalm 91 says God’s given His angels charge over us. We forget that Isaiah 54 says no weapon formed against us shall prosper. But these things are all still true!

It’s up to us to yield to the truth of 2 Timothy 1:7. It’s time to rise up in the spirit of power, love, and a sound mind!