"Name Your Fear" 2222222222

Matthew 6:25-27 

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 

Do you ever just get tired of worrying about the same things??

I know I do.....

I also know 'worrying' is not what I should be 'doing' anyway...

I have have always understood that worrying is a sin...yet it is a sin that we often excuse ourselves for...

Hmmmm...I'm guilty...

I thought I should understand what worry really is, then maybe I could begin to diffuse it when I see, feel it or sense it..

Acccording to Webster...Here is what I have found...I think the definition will startle you..(it did, me)

Worry as a verb equates to the words fret, struggle, choke, strangle and torment

* to harass by tearing, biting, or snapping especially at the throat

* to touch or disturb something repeatedly

* to assail with rough or aggressive attack or treatment

* to afflict with mental distress or agitation : make anxious

WORRY is "mental distress or agitation resulting from concern usually for something impending or anticipated"
It is much more than something we need,....to simply stop doing...

It is a force that must be recognized at it's source...in order to contend with it.

Worry originates in our mind...

So, to the mind we must begin..in order to stem the onslaught of anxious thoughts that seek to choke the very life out of living...

Think for a moment...what...in your life causes you 'worry' or disturbs you repeatedly???

I just get so worried over    ???   .
(Kids, money, the unknown, and illness, are just a few of the culprits..)

I don't always know how to let go of the stuff that consumes me...the stuff my mind struggles with...
So, I will begin with what I do know...and not with what I feel...

I know this.......to break free from the chokehold, and torment worry has on us.....
we must resolve to 'do the next thing'.

Name your FEAR!!!
Proverbs 12:25 tells us this..
"Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad".
The Word is near..

Change FOCUS!!!
Psalm 121:1-2 tells us
"I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth."
Choose to trust the One who willingly died on the cross for your fear..
It has been nailed to the cross! Leave it!!

Claim the right SPIRIT!!! 

2 Timothy 1:7 

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

I cannot stop worrying when I feel like it....

I must realize that the spirits of timidity. power, love and self-discipline are just waiting

for me to trust them....These are gifts from God..for everyone..

Realize that there are certain gifts God gives each of us....Every child of God can claim this truth.. 

Finally, Hold on to your DADDY!!! 

"For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." Romans 8:15

We have a Heavenly Father, who allows us to call Him ..."Abba"...
(translates to the word we know as 'daddy")..

Fill in the blanks with your name and your fear...
"For you (your name ).... 
did not receive a spirit that makes you (your name) a slave again to fear (name your fear),
but you ,(your name).... 
received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."
Romans 8:15

Whatever you worry over, don't be misled, it will strangle the life out of you...
But it doesn't have to be that way.
Your circumstance may not change, but you can !!!
- through the power of His WORD that you place within your mind.

Determine, that regardless of how you feel...
You will:
 Change focus, Claim the right spirit, and Hold on....(your daddy loves you),
and He is just waiting for you to climb into His lap.

One last good word for now..

HE KNOWS that worry will never leave you, until you replace it with trust...

Choose to trust Him more...than the circumstance you are facing...

 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6