WHEN FEAR DISGUISES ITSELF AS EXPERIENCE
"The ultimate goal of discouragement is to cause you to lose courage or resolution."
"To combat discouragement, you must go where you’re called!"
"We are created for the tension between what is possible and impossible."
LISTEN TO THE FULL MESSAGE HERE
When Fear Disguises Itself as Experience
NOTES & QUOTES
- Fear disguises itself as wisdom, tradition, experience, concern (anxiety, worry, apprehension, fear, alarm, distress), and even Holy Spirit leading.
- Fear in itself is not the goal; the goal is to influence you and to be a part of your decision making process.
- Fear is never is agreement with the Spirit of God – 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (NKJV)
- The Holy Spirit will not lead you in negative “what ifs.”
- Fear based thought vs. wisdom: wisdom always provides a solution whereas fear will keep you bound and stagnate.
- The ultimate goal of discouragement is to cause you to lose courage or resolution.
- Our past experiences (perceived realities) define what we believe to be possible. Discouragement often attaches itself to our past experiences and causes us to lose courage for the current mission.
- To combat discouragement, you must identify the area of courage and step out in it.
- You will shut the open door to discouragement when you step into courage
- The issue will always be the issue if you allow discouragement to take your power away. As long as you forfeit your power, your circumstances will remain cycles. Cycles are what empower and reinforce discouragement.
- The most powerful and liberating action you could ever take is to hear and obey the voice of God (His voice and your action).
Oswald Chambers
“Even the smallest bit of obedience opens heaven, and the deepest truths of God immediately become yours. Yet God will never reveal more truth about Himself to you, until you have obeyed what you know already.”
- “Even the smallest bit of obedience opens heaven, and the deepest truths of God immediately become yours. Yet God will never reveal more truth about Himself to you, until you have obeyed what you know already.” (Oswald Chambers)
- God’s commands are invitations to His visitations.
- The experience that you receive through obedience is the key to open the next door of revelation.
- To combat discouragement, you must go where you’re called!
- One of the tactics of discouragement is to keep you in crisis/emergency. It is important to know that not every crisis is your personal responsibility to fix.
- If you allow crisis to stop you from destiny there will ALWAYS BE CRISIS.
- There will always be a reason for discouragement and disappointment
- Psalm 56:3, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.” (NKJV) In other words, whenever I am afraid, I will choose to open myself up to Him and direct my attention towards Him.
- If we were called to, then we were created to.
- As believers we are called to walk by faith; that means we were created to walk by faith.
- We are created for the tension between what is possible and impossible.
- Stop confessing your inability to handle a situation.
- Joshua 1:6, “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.” (NIV) When God tells Joshua to be courageous, He is specifically addressing the discouragement in his life. There is often discouragement where fear is present.
ACTION PLAN
- Don’t allow your current and past experiences to determine your level of obedience.
- Recognize when you are in a new season. Your past failures could be your harvest in your new season.
- Don’t let fear take away your courage. Throw down your nets one more time!
- Stop trying to fix the feeling of discouragement and confront it head on through acts of faith.
- Stop waiting for the tension to subside in order to step into purpose.
- Remember: If we were called to, then we were created to!
- Start meditating on what you have been promised and then realize you have everything you need to fulfill your destiny.
- David had full confidence when facing the giant because he already had victory with the lion and the bear. Begin today to break the cycle of discouragement by conquering small victories.
