Adapted from the series by David Jeremiah

GIANTS SLAYING THE Adapted from the series by David Jeremiah

FEAR SLAYING

Series Structure • The Giant – What is it? • What does it do to us? • How do I kill it? • “Facing” vs. “Slaying”

The Corrupting Seed • The Single Woman • The Perfect Steak • 4,000,000 Lost on Account of 10 • Deuteronomy 1:19-40

What is Fear? • There is such a thing as a healthy fear. • The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. • Psalm 111:10(a) • Fear provides momentary and near supernatural reflexes and strength. • Some things are dangerous and are natural for us to desire to avoid. • This is all known as “rational fear.”

Irrational Fear • a.k.a. “Phobias” • Let’s explore for a second, yeah? • Ablutophobia • Fear of bathing or washing. • Agyrophobia • Fear of crossing roads. • Anthrophobia • Fear of flowers. • Atichiphobia • Fear of failure. • Ballistophobia • Fear of bullets or missiles.

Irrational Fear • Blennophobia • Fear of slimy things. • Cacophobia • Fear of ugly things. • Caligynephobia • Fear of beautiful women. • Coulrophobia • Fear of clowns. • Ebulliophobia • Fear of bubbles. • Glossophobia • Fear of speaking in public.

Physical Effects of Fear • University of Michigan Study • 30% of students who watched particularly scary movies experienced heightened levels of anxiety, loss of sleep, and avoidance of circumstances portrayed up to a year after viewing. • Prolonged adrenaline response produces: • Increased illness and infection • Sexual dysfunction • Aches and pains • Loss of appetite

Deuteronomy 1:19-40 “So we departed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the mountains of the Amorites, as the LORD our God had commanded us. Then we came to KadeshBarnea. And I said to you, ‘You have come to the mountains of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us. Look, the LORD your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the LORD God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged.’ “And every one of you came near to me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into which we shall come.’ “The plan pleased me well; so I took twelve of your men, one man from each tribe. And they departed and went up into the mountains, and came to the Valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. They also took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought back word to us, saying, ‘It is a good land which the LORD our God is giving us.’

Deuteronomy 1:19-40 “Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God; and you complained in your tents, and said, ‘Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. Where can we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our hearts, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”’ “Then I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified, or afraid of them. The LORD your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ Yet, for all that, you did not believe the LORD your God, who went in the way before you to search out a place for you to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day.

Deuteronomy 1:19-40 “And the LORD heard the sound of your words, and was angry, and took an oath, saying, ‘Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked, because he wholly followed the LORD.’ The LORD was also angry with me for your sakes, saying, ‘Even you shall not go in there. Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. ‘Moreover your little ones and your children, who you say will be victims, who today have no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. But as for you, turn and take your journey into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.’

Spiritual Effects of Fear • Fear Disregards God’s Plan • Fear prevented the Israelites from obeying the command to “go up and possess it.” • Fear can prevent us from following God’s plan for our lives. • How many “almost” missionaries? • The Bible clearly tells us that fear is not part of God’s plan for our lives.

II Timothy 1:7 God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out “Abba, Father.”

Spiritual Effects of Fear • Fear Distorts God’s Purposes • Joshua and Caleb followed God’s purpose…to bring back an enthusiastic report of the wonderful land God had given them. • 10 of the 12 spies instead returned with the seed of fear. • Likewise, fear can distort God’s purpose for your life, replacing it with a fixation on the object of your fear.

Spiritual Effects of Fear • Fear Discourages God’s People • Fear is a communicable sin. • 10 men corrupted millions of minds and sentenced a generation to death in the wilderness. • What kinds of fear discourage God’s people today?

Spiritual Effects of Fear • Fear Disbelieves God’s Promises • Had God done anything prior to this event to merit the trust of His people? • A delivered nation soon begins to question God’s very nature, and disbelieve His promises. • It is spiritually more acceptable to expectantly doubt circumstances than to doubt the wisdom, love, or intent of our Creator.

Spiritual Effects of Fear • Fear Disobeys God’s Principles • Disbelief  Disobedience • When God tells us “fear not” or “do not be afraid,” we are sinning when we fear. • We’ve been conditioned today to be sympathetic and understanding toward fear, rather than treating it as an enemy.

How to Kill It • Step 1: Identification • You may not grasp exactly what type of fear you live with. • You may be dealing with all the symptoms, but have not come to understand your classic case of fear. • If you have a nagging sense of mal-ease, ask the Holy Spirit in prayer to identify your fear.

How to Kill It • Step 2: Confess your Sin • Yes, sin. If God tells us to “fear not” and we fear, we have fallen short. • Remember that obedience is “doing” it, not necessarily “feeling it,” especially right out of the gate. • Where the will goes, feelings will follow. • Confession and forgiveness of sin gives you freedom from its dominion.

How to Kill It • Step 3: Claim God’s Promises • Now that you’ve cleared the negative, hold fast to the positive. • In your Bible studies, seek out, write down, or memorize God’s promises. Claim them in the face of the enemy when the weapon of fear is deployed. • Jesus perfect defense against Satan’s temptations.

How to Kill It • Step 4: Draw Closer to God • What made Joshua and Caleb the dissenting vote? • The Bible identifies them both as men who “wholly followed the LORD.” • They viewed the size of the giants compared to their God, rather than themselves. • A vibrant relationship with God gives little space for fear. • What is the anti-matter element for fear?

I John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

How to Kill It • Step 5: Be Fearless about Death and Work Your Way Backwards • The greatest fear we can have is of death. • With the gift of eternal salvation bought by the blood of Christ, we have nothing to fear in death. • If we have nothing to fear in death, the remaining giants of fear look a wholelotsmaller.

Bonus Slide • Examine in your life the root of your fears. • What are you afraid of losing or experiencing? • Do you have it to lose in the first place? • Does the Bible warn us that we are to experience the hardships you’re trying so hard to avoid? • What does the Bible say about prioritizing the things that we are fearful of losing? • What did the lives of the Bible’s greatest champions look like compared to your own?

Adapted from the series by David Jeremiah