Heart Lift

Fear: Identifying Fear

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Jill Morikone

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Series Code: HLFT

Program Code: HLFT000006A


00:27 Hello, and welcome to Heart Lift.
00:29 I'm Jill Morikone, and I'm so glad that you
00:32 have joined us today.
00:34 We're in the midst of a journey toward hope,
00:37 toward healing, toward the transformation that the Lord
00:41 Jesus wants to work in my heart and in yours as women,
00:45 as daughters of God.
00:47 If you're just joining us, we spent the last several programs
00:51 talking about the concept of forgiveness;
00:54 how the Lord Jesus wants to forgive us.
00:57 He wants to forgive you.
01:00 He says in 1 John 1:9, If we confess our sins,
01:03 He's faithful and just to forgive us, and to cleanse us
01:07 from all unrighteousness.
01:09 We also talked about the forgiveness He wants to pour
01:12 into our hearts so that we can in turn extend that to others.
01:18 Today we begin a section on fear.
01:21 Today's program is Identifying the Fears In Our Lives.
01:25 Our Scripture is 1 John 4:18.
01:29 If you have your Bibles I invite you to turn there with me.
01:33 1 John 4:18. If you don't, grab a paper and a pen
01:37 and jot it down, and you can look it up later.
01:40 The Bible says, There is no fear in love,
01:44 but perfect love casts out fear.
01:48 He who fears has not been made perfect in love.
01:52 The first part of the verse is what we really
01:54 want to focus on here.
01:55 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.
02:01 Let's pray. Father we come before You in the name of Jesus.
02:06 Thank You that with You we don't have to be afraid.
02:10 With You there is no fear.
02:13 And I just pray right now that You would hide me behind You,
02:18 behind the cross, that You could speak, and that we could hear
02:22 what You have for us from Your Word.
02:26 And we thank You in Jesus' name, Amen.
02:30 It was a Sabbath evening, and Greg and I were sitting on the
02:34 couch having sundown worship.
02:36 And all of a sudden I heard, meowrrrrrrrrrrrr!
02:40 I can't make the sound very well, but it was the sound
02:42 of two cats fighting.
02:44 And I jumped up, and then I said, Ah, I'm going outside,
02:49 and I'm going to see if it's our little kitty cat, Pebbles.
02:52 And I ran outside, and sure enough, it was Pebbles.
02:55 She had treed a white cat.
02:58 She was way up in the tree, and then higher even
03:02 than her was the white cat.
03:03 And they were kind of going at it.
03:05 Greg came out. We kind of investigated.
03:08 We thought, Well, they'll be okay.
03:10 A little bit later Pebbles still wasn't coming down.
03:14 They weren't having a fight anymore,
03:16 but she was still stuck in the tree.
03:18 And I began to think, Maybe she's getting afraid.
03:22 So what we did is we went to the tree,
03:26 and I tried to coax her down.
03:27 Come on Pebbles, come down, come on.
03:30 You know what she did?
03:31 She went, Meow, meow, from her very high height
03:36 at the top of the tree.
03:38 She was afraid; she was afraid.
03:41 And so we thought, She'll come down; she's a cat after all.
03:45 Surely she can come down.
03:47 We waited. It got dark.
03:49 She didn't come down.
03:50 Greg got the ladder.
03:53 Maybe by this time, if you've watched some of the programs
03:55 you might think our cat's a little spoiled,
03:57 and she probably is.
03:59 He got the ladder.
04:01 He brought it to the tree.
04:02 He climbed up the ladder and he said, Here, come on Pebbles.
04:06 I'm right here. He was within reach.
04:09 All he had to do was pick her up and carry her down.
04:12 You know what she did?
04:13 She dug her little claws into the tree, and she pulled back
04:17 cause she was afraid.
04:20 She thought, Greg can't carry me down.
04:23 I can't trust myself with him.
04:25 Now of course she's a cat.
04:27 She probably doesn't go through all of that thinking process,
04:29 but she was afraid.
04:30 Finally he reached up, even in spite of her scratching,
04:35 and pulled her, and brought her down.
04:37 And he said when he brought her down her heart
04:41 was thumping a lot.
04:42 He knew she was terrified.
04:44 In contrast to our kitty cat, Pebbles, and how scared she was
04:48 coming down that tree, I think of, we could call her Sarah.
04:52 It would work for any little girl, any little boy.
04:55 It doesn't matter.
04:56 They will climb up the tree house.
04:58 They're at the top.
04:59 And what do they say?
05:01 Daddy, Daddy, catch me, catch me.
05:02 Little chubby arms are held out.
05:05 Little legs take the great plunge.
05:08 And if Daddy doesn't pay attention, he'd better catch,
05:10 because she jumps even without noticing
05:11 if Daddy's paying attention.
05:13 She knows that there's safety, that there is a Daddy down there
05:19 who loves her, who, she thinks, Daddy can do anything.
05:23 Of course Daddy can catch me!
05:25 I don't have to be afraid.
05:28 When I grew up, I grew up in a good home.
05:32 My parents, incredible parents, and I felt very safe.
05:35 But in spite of that, as I grew into my teens Satan began to
05:41 feed me lies about myself, lies about my Father in heaven,
05:46 until by the time I was twenty fear ruled my life.
05:52 It dictated what I did, who I talked to, how I acted.
05:56 I was afraid. Now maybe you say, Jill,
06:00 I didn't grow up in a safe home.
06:02 I didn't grow up in a good home like you did.
06:04 I was afraid from the time, as far back as I can remember.
06:08 I remember my Dad beating my Mom.
06:11 I remember alcohol in our home.
06:14 I remember fighting.
06:15 I remember being afraid of my family.
06:17 Whatever it is, fear has a stronghold
06:20 in a lot of our lives.
06:22 Let's do a self-evaluation.
06:24 We always like to do a self-evaluation
06:27 for each program. If I honestly look into my heart,
06:31 how much does fear control me?
06:34 Now as always, I encourage you to be honest.
06:37 Don't feel like you have to please the minister,
06:40 or your spouse, or anybody else.
06:42 Just be honest. How much does fear control me?
06:55 Maybe that's where you are right now today.
06:57 Maybe you're at number two.
07:08 Maybe you're at number three.
07:21 And the last one:
07:31 I don't know today where you feel like you are.
07:34 You might say, Jill, I'm at number one.
07:36 I'm terrified. I'm afraid to live.
07:39 I'm terrified to die.
07:40 I have no assurance of salvation.
07:42 Fear consumes my existence.
07:45 Or you might be all the way over at the other
07:48 end of the spectrum.
07:49 And you might say, I walk in complete peace,
07:52 and joy, and assurance.
07:54 Where ever you are, God wants to bring deliverance to our
07:58 hearts so that we can, in turn, share with others.
08:00 We want to look today at six categories of fears.
08:04 There's probably more, but these are
08:06 general basic categories.
08:08 And I think as humans, as women, a lot of times our fears fall
08:13 into one of these six categories.
08:15 The first one is fears about faith;
08:19 fears dealing with our faith.
08:21 And the first one under that is probably salvation.
08:26 I was teaching a Sabbath School class, and I asked the class
08:30 members, I said, If you were to give one thing that you worry
08:33 about, one thing that you're afraid of, what would that be?
08:37 One of my dear friends, she's a woman of God, she's a powerful
08:43 speaker for Jesus.
08:44 She said, Sometimes I'm worried about the end time.
08:48 Sometimes I'm worried about my own walk with Jesus,
08:52 and my assurance of salvation.
08:55 Now my friend is a dedicated Christian.
08:58 But fear about our salvation is sometimes a big fear.
09:03 I think in my own experience, I have found that many of the
09:07 fears that we hold, that we hang onto as women,
09:10 they have their basis in lies.
09:13 And they come straight from Satan, the father of lies.
09:17 Maybe you've heard his lie dealing with salvation.
09:19 God can't save you.
09:21 You've gone too far.
09:22 You've made too many mistakes.
09:25 You've asked too late.
09:27 God can't save you.
09:30 You know, the Word of God is the best place to defeat
09:34 those lies of the enemy.
09:37 God says in 2 Peter 3:9, God is not willing that any should
09:41 perish, but that all should come to repentance.
09:45 God says, I love you.
09:47 I want to save you.
09:49 You don't have to feel like you've gone too far,
09:51 you've made too many mistakes.
09:53 I want to save you.
09:55 Also in John 6:37 He says, Whoever comes to me
09:59 I will never cast aside; I'm never going to cast away.
10:06 What about coming to God?
10:08 I think about Adam and Eve.
10:10 Remember, in the Garden of Eden, when they were created?
10:13 They loved to commune with their Father in heaven.
10:16 Every day, in the cool of the evening,
10:18 God walked, and talked with them.
10:21 What an incredible experience!
10:23 Then in Genesis 3 we see sin, the sin that entered this earth.
10:29 We see Eve reaching out and taking of the forbidden fruit.
10:34 Then she took it and she gave it to her
10:37 husband Adam and he ate.
10:40 And remember what happened after that experience.
10:43 Adam and Eve, the Bible says, sewed these little fig leaves
10:47 together; they realized they were naked.
10:49 They tried to cover themselves.
10:50 And then when God came that evening in the cool of the day,
10:54 and He said, Adam, Eve, I'm here to talk with you.
10:58 What did they say?
10:59 They ran and they hid, because they were afraid to come to God.
11:05 The truth is sin brings fear and guilt.
11:10 Sin brings separation from our Father in heaven.
11:14 Remember Adam blamed Eve; he blamed the woman.
11:19 And then the woman blamed the serpent.
11:21 Now when we think about fears about our faith,
11:25 there's fears about our salvation.
11:27 Are we going to be saved?
11:29 Or other people's salvation.
11:31 Sometimes we're afraid to come to God, as Adam and Eve were
11:36 that first night after they had sinned.
11:38 Sometimes our fear centers around God Himself.
11:43 Maybe Satan has fed you one of these lies:
11:47 God is a stern, unforgiving ruler.
11:52 God can't love you.
11:54 Jeremiah 31:3. He says, I've loved you
11:58 with an everlasting love; therefore with
12:01 loving-kindness I have drawn you.
12:05 God is not stern or unforgiving.
12:07 He says, I love you.
12:09 I want to bring you to Myself.
12:11 What about John 3:16?
12:14 As Christians this is probably the most famous Scripture
12:18 in the whole Bible.
12:19 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
12:24 Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish,
12:29 but have everlasting life.
12:32 God the Father loved us so much He gave His only Son.
12:39 That does not sound stern or unforgiving to me.
12:43 What about Romans 5:8?
12:45 While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
12:51 Even while I'm stuck way back here in the mire of sin,
12:55 in my own junk, God said, I loved you, Jill.
13:00 I looked at you, and I want to save you.
13:04 1 Corinthians 14:33, God is not the author of
13:07 confusion, but of peace.
13:10 The lie that Satan feeds us, that God is a stern,
13:15 unforgiving ruler, is not the only lie he tells us about God.
13:18 He also says, God causes evil and suffering.
13:24 Perhaps, interestingly enough, if you have a tornado come
13:30 through your area; perhaps you have a flood,
13:34 or a hurricane. What does the insurance company say?
13:37 If you go to the insurance company what do they say?
13:40 They say it's an act of God.
13:44 Is that really true?
13:46 Is it an act of God?
13:48 John 10:10. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
13:53 Jesus says, I have come that you would have life,
13:57 and have it more abundantly.
14:01 God doesn't cause evil and suffering.
14:04 Satan is the originator of all that evil
14:07 and suffering in the world.
14:09 God is the One who comes to bring life,
14:12 and to bring it more abundantly.
14:15 What about this lie?
14:17 If God is all powerful, why didn't He stop that little girl
14:22 from being abused?
14:23 Does that mean He caused it?
14:27 Do you see how insidious Satan is with the lies he tells us
14:31 about God the Father?
14:32 God says, Jeremiah 29:11, I know the plans I have for you,
14:38 says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
14:42 plans to give you a future and hope.
14:46 The last fear that we have dealing with faith might
14:52 be about forgiveness.
14:54 You might say, God can't forgive me.
14:57 I've done too much.
14:58 I've gone too far.
15:00 God can't forgive me.
15:01 He says, 1 John 1:9, If we confess our sins,
15:05 he's faithful and just to forgive us,
15:08 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
15:13 Satan wants to make us fear God.
15:16 Do you notice that he puts his attributes on God?
15:20 Have you noticed that?
15:21 Satan puts his evil attributes on God to make us be afraid of
15:25 God, to make us fear God.
15:28 Now fears about God is not the only fears that we might have.
15:32 That's the first category.
15:34 Fear is about faith.
15:35 And what about fears? about family.
15:40 Maybe you're in the midst of a marriage right now,
15:43 and you're afraid that your spouse is going to leave God.
15:46 Maybe you're afraid right now that your spouse is in the midst
15:51 of an affair, or that he's going to walk out and cheat on you.
15:55 Maybe you're afraid of betrayal, or afraid of abandonment.
16:01 Maybe, right now you're going through a divorce,
16:04 and you think, If only I'd tried harder.
16:07 If only I had been a better Christian.
16:11 If only I had prayed more.
16:15 If only I had criticized him less,
16:19 maybe he wouldn't have left me.
16:22 God says, Philippians 3:13, 14, Forgetting those things which
16:29 are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.
16:34 Maybe your fear is not centered around your marriage.
16:38 Maybe you're not married, and you say, Why aren't I married?
16:43 And Satan feeds you lies about that.
16:47 He says, You're not pretty enough to get married.
16:50 You're not smart enough to get married.
16:53 You're not good enough, or he might say, You're being punished
16:58 for something you did in the past.
17:00 That's why you're not married.
17:03 Or you're not listening closely enough to God's voice.
17:07 God says, Jeremiah 29:11...
17:10 I love this Scripture and I keep referring to it,
17:12 because it's one of my favorites.
17:14 I know the plans I have for you, God says,
17:17 plans to prosper you, and not to harm you,
17:20 plans to give you a future and a hope.
17:25 What about Genesis 2:18?
17:27 God says, It's not good for man to be alone,
17:30 and I think we could say it's not good for woman to be alone.
17:33 God's desire is to put us in families; to put us together.
17:39 Maybe your fear has to do with your kids, and you think,
17:42 what if they leave God?
17:43 What if they walk away from church?
17:46 What if they make bad choices?
17:48 What if they drift away from me?
17:50 What if they die? Our first fear deals with faith.
17:56 Second fear deals with family.
17:59 Third fear deals with health.
18:03 We were quiet, the three of us, in a sort of breathless silence.
18:09 All the words had already been said.
18:12 There remained nothing more but the doctor's verdict.
18:16 My Mom took her stance on one side...
18:21 I'm sorry, my Dad took his stance on one side of the room,
18:24 my Mom sat on the doctor's table in the middle.
18:28 I took up my stance on the other side, and desperately I tried
18:34 to remember the Bible verse that I had been memorizing.
18:41 It's Psalm 112:7. It says, He will not be afraid of evil
18:47 tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.
18:52 And I tried desperately to remember that verse.
18:57 And I said, Okay, God, I want a good verdict for my Mom,
19:01 so I have to remain fixed; I have to trust in God.
19:05 The door opened and the doctor came in.
19:09 And I tried to read his face, but it was very impassive.
19:12 He sat on the stool, stethoscope draped around his neck.
19:16 He turned to the phone to get the report.
19:21 He turned around, he hung up the phone, he turned to my Mom,
19:25 and he said, I'm so sorry.
19:27 But I'm here to tell you that you do have multiple sclerosis.
19:32 You have MS. And even though it's been years since my Mom was
19:37 diagnosed with MS, I can still, over the beating of my own
19:41 heart, I can remember the whole situation: my Dad folding his
19:45 arms, bowing his head, my Mom began to cry,
19:48 and I was mad at God.
19:51 Because I said, I claimed Psalm 112:7.
19:55 I did not have to be afraid of evil tidings.
19:58 His heart is fixed.
19:59 Trust in the Lord.
20:00 God, didn't I trust in You?
20:02 Why did You allow this to happen?
20:04 Didn't I trust in You?
20:06 Weeks later I went back to that passage again,
20:11 and I discovered that I had misinterpreted it.
20:14 God wasn't saying that trouble wouldn't come,
20:18 just that I did not have to be afraid of it.
20:22 If I kept my mind and heart focused on Jesus,
20:26 when sickness and disease did come,
20:29 God could keep me from being afraid.
20:32 He could hold my heart, and give me His peace.
20:37 You know, Satan tells us lies about health.
20:41 Have you ever heard any of them?
20:43 There must have been some sin in their life;
20:46 that's why they're dealing with cancer.
20:48 I always knew that they should have had a better diet.
20:51 You see how insidious he is?
20:54 Jesus says in John 10:10, Satan came to steal, kill and destroy.
21:00 He came that we would have life, and have it more abundantly.
21:05 Remember John 9? Jesus was talking with the disciples,
21:11 and the Pharisees came, and they said,
21:13 Okay, this man was born blind.
21:15 Whose fault is it?
21:16 Is it the man's or the parents?
21:19 In John 9:3, Jesus said, It's neither this man's fault,
21:24 and neither is it the parents fault, but that the works of God
21:29 should be revealed in him.
21:33 What about this lie?
21:35 If only they had enough faith, they would be healed.
21:39 That's a lie from the enemy as well.
21:43 We have fears about health, fears about faith,
21:49 fears about family.
21:50 Number four is fears about relationships.
21:53 Often I fear people: what they say, what they think,
21:58 or what they're going to do.
21:59 Maybe you feel betrayed by a friend,
22:02 or your spouse is threatening divorce.
22:04 Maybe your kids are talking back, or acting out,
22:08 and you're afraid they might leave the church, or even worse,
22:12 they might leave God.
22:14 Maybe you're afraid to step out and speak for God;
22:17 afraid of what other people are going to think of you.
22:20 Maybe you're afraid to leave the abusive relationship you're in,
22:23 or afraid to tell other people about the abusive relationship
22:27 you have left behind.
22:29 Maybe you're afraid to reach out and make a new friend,
22:33 because you've been hurt so many times in the past.
22:37 Psalm 27, Psalm 27:1.
22:43 The Bible says, The Lord is my light and my salvation;
22:46 whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life;
22:51 of whom shall I be afraid?
22:54 Fear number five is about the future.
22:56 Often we fear what's going to happen in the future.
22:59 We don't know. Number six, the final one, is finances.
23:05 Maybe you're afraid and you say, I can't even
23:07 put food on my table.
23:08 God says, Isaiah 33:16, Bread shall be given you;
23:14 your water shall be sure.
23:16 Also in Matthew 6, the Sermon On the Mount, Matthew 6:28, 29,
23:22 Jesus said, Consider the lilies of the field... they don't toil,
23:27 neither do they spin: yet my father in heaven cares for them,
23:31 and they're arrayed even better than Solomon.
23:34 Maybe it's a fear about housing, or your job.
23:37 You think, I'm going to lose my job.
23:38 I might be laid off.
23:40 What am I going to do?
23:41 Whatever the fear is, we want to take it to God:
23:46 Fear's about faith, fears about family, fears about health,
23:51 fears about relationships, fears about the future,
23:55 and fears about finances.
23:57 Our next program we're going to unpackage how God can break
24:03 us free from the bondage of fear.
24:06 But first we need to take a break right now, and then we'll
24:10 be back with some practical application
24:12 that you can do this week.


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Revised 2016-03-28