Living Fearlessly
Lester Zimmerman
Today we begin our 6-week series called “Fearless”. In addition to the many great passages in
the bible we are also using the book called “The Fearless Life” by Jentezen Franklin as part of
our personal devotional and small group discussion guide.
This study is about helping each of us to embrace a courageous faith. God our father does not
want we his children to live lives full of worry and fear. It is possible to experience peace in the
midst of all the pressures of life that come at us.
Max Lucado writes about the power of fear. He writes….
[Fear] turns us into control freaks … [for] … fear, at its center, is a perceived loss of control.
When life spins wildly, we grab for a component of life we can manage: our diet, the tidiness of
our home, the armrest of a plane, or, in many cases, people. The more insecure we feel, the
meaner we become. We growl and bare our fangs. Why? Because we are bad? In part. But also
because we feel cornered….. Fear releases the tyrant within.
We don’t want to let our insecurities and fears turn us into tyrants nor do want fear to tyrannize
our lives with worry and anxiety.
We can waste a lot of emotional energy worrying about things in our lives. In this series we will
look at some of the things that cause worry and fear.
 Fear of failure.
 We worry about what other people think of us.
 We worry about our finances and making ends meet
 We have fears for our families and about raising children in this godless age
 We have fears about our health and about aging and dying
 There is fear about the scary world we live in. We worry about what tomorrow will hold.
These are some of the fears we deal with in our lives. We want to dig into the scriptures and find
answers to these fears. God tells us not to worry, so then how do we live a worry free life?
Let me clarify a few things before we go on. Not all fear is bad. Fear is a God given emotion that
every person experiences. It is a feeling aroused in us when we perceive something as a threat or
danger to our lives. Fear is a positive emotion when there is danger and the level of fear is in
balance with that danger. Such fear is healthy and normal.
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Ex: The fear of getting burned or run over by a car is a healthy fear. This healthy fear
protects us and keeps us from running out in the street without looking.
But the problem is that most of our fears are not based upon a real danger or they are out of
proportion or about things out of our control. Some fears develop into phobias and can be
crippling.
A certain amount of fear and trepidation is normal whenever we step out of our comfort zone and
try new things. I remember some of my fears when I moved to inner city Baltimore. I was a
country boy and the city was way out of my comfort zone. I had to decide to face my fears or I
would never discover the things God had for me.
So some fear is normal in life but fear can become tormenting when we become preoccupied
with the fear. It can cause physical problems, emotional, and social problems. It can keep us
from taking risks in following God.
So when we talk about living a fearless life we are not saying you will never be afraid. But it
does mean you can face those fears and overcome them.
Courage is not the lack of fear but the strength and determination to move forward in spite
of the fear.
So, Fearless means fear no longer controls me or keeps me from taking risks.
A great verse related to fear and insecurity is 2 Timothy 1:7
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and selfdiscipline. (NIV)
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound
mind. (KJV)
Paul is saying to us in this verse that the Holy Spirit that God gave us when we became
Christians is a Spirit of bold faith.
 This Spirit gives us strength beyond our own will power
 He enables us to love when it is hard to love
 He helps bring under control the fleshly responses in us such as fear and worry.
 This Spirit in us helps control the fearful thoughts in our minds.
When I think of men and women of courage in the Bible who took steps of faith in the face of
their fears I think of people like Queen Esther who at the risk of her very life went before the
king to save her people.
 I think of Moses who was an outlaw and risked his life by going before Pharaoh
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I think of Moses mother, Jochebed, who in the face of great danger kept Moses hidden
from the soldiers
I think of David facing Goliath
I think of Peter stepping out of the boat to walk on water.
What was it about all these people that made them face their fears? What can we learn from
them that will help us be fearless in the face of our giants and pharaohs? \
Here is probably the most important insight of my whole message…..
1. The greatest weapon against fear in our lives is getting in touch with how much God
loves us.
The key to these men and women of faith was they were secure in God’s love for them.
They had this love relationship with God that caused them to believe that God was going to take
care of them.
The Apostle John explains it this way:
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment,
and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. — I John 4:18
John is saying if we struggle with fear it simply indicates we need more revelation of the
father’s love.
When we come to know God’s fearless love toward us the things we fear lose their power over
us. God’s jealous love drives away our fears.
God tells us to have child-like faith. Did you ever watch how a child will jump into his or her
daddy’s arms in spite of their fear of heights? Why? They know how deeply their daddy loves
them. That love overrides the fear that they could fall.
That’s what John is saying to us. He says fear has to do with punishment - In other words Fear thinks God delights in punishing us and making life hard. Fear thinks God is mad at us most
of the time. Or at the very least cannot be fully trusted and dependent upon to come through.
But when you come into the revelation that God is a good God and he loves you so much he will
die for you, it changes how you approach life. Instead of fear you feel confident.
The greatest weapon against fear is a revelation of the father’s love. PRAY?
2. We have a choice to trust or not trust God when we are fearful.
This is what I see in these men and women of faith. They had to make a choice - To listen to
their fear or trust God. To face the giants or play it safe.
Fear at its core is often a lack of trust in our loving heavenly father. In one sense it is me
making a judgement against God that he is not trustworthy.
Two weeks ago during worship God confronted me about this in my own heart. I was struggling
over a decision and was having trouble sleeping because of it. Then God out of the blue in the
midst of worship asked me why I don’t trust him. You see, my fear revealed that I felt God
didn’t have this one under control. My heart had made an indictment against God’s faithfulness.
His character.
Like Peter trying to walk on water I got my eyes off of Jesus and his many promises.
When my eyes are fixed on Jesus I feel safe in his perfect love and I no longer struggle with fear.
I know He only allows in our lives and our church that which has a redemptive purpose. His
promises are yes and amen in him.
I remember two other distinct times that I felt the oppression of fear coming against me. One was
in the early 90’s when we made some leadership changes that were very hard. I didn’t know
what was going to happen to our church.
The other was during the time of Y2K, the turning of the new millennium. Fear was rampant
with predictions of great chaos that was going to be released with the crash of computers and the
banking system. We as a church had just signed the papers for a multi-million building project.
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During these times it felt like a spirit of fear was trying to come on me, especially in the
night hours. Fear and anxiety can be very tormenting. Not being able to control your
racing thoughts is scary and an awful feeling.
The thing that enabled me to overcome and walk in courage in face of these fears, was a portion
of scripture that God uses to reaffirm his love for me and our church. This passage enabled me to
hide in his perfect love while in the natural things felt out of control.
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God gave me a revelation of his perfect love through these scriptures which drove out the
fear. “Perfect love drives out fear” (1 John)
Here are some excerpts from Isaiah 54 that God reaffirmed at that time for our church. I
think this might be a personal word for some of you this morning as well.
Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen
your cords, strengthen your stakes.
You will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations
and settle in their desolate cities.
Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be
humiliated.
My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the
LORD, who has compassion. All your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be
your children's peace.
In righteousness you will be established: Tyranny will be far from you; you will have
nothing to fear. Terror will be far removed; it will not come near you.
If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing; whoever attacks you will surrender to
you.
No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses
you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me,"
declares the LORD.
These words were my Heavenly Father speaking to me/us. He was saying I have your back. You
can trust me. I found a place of refuge in his love and was able to walk in fearless faith.
3. Tell God about your fears. As an act of faith put them into his hands.
Don’t keep your secret fears welled up inside. Tell Him your fears. Ask for His help, and have
faith that He’ll come through.
Philippians 4:6-8 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Psalm 34:4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Conclusion:
As a way of surrendering our fears, anxieties and worries this morning I am encouraging us to
take a faith walk.
As the worship team leads in a song I encourage you to bring your fears to the altar this morning.
Come and kneel here and together we will surrender them to God and declare our trust in our
heavenly father.
I have discovered over the years that sometimes a faith step like this enables us to emotional and
spiritually let go and find peace.
We have a choice to make. Make a decision right now to let go of your fears and worries and
place your trust in God in a new and fresh way.
I believe the Holy Spirit within each one of us wants to rise up and give us the power to
overcome our fear. He wants to give each of us a deeper revelation of the father’s love.
Let’s bring our fears, worries and anxieties about our health, our children, our finances, our
marriage, what people think about us, our job, our future, fears about this scary world. There are
many fears we carry.
Ministry Song: No Longer a Slave to Fear
Closing Prayer:
Now may the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guard your hearts and your
minds in Christ Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—let your
mind dwell on such things.