Firm Foundation with Bryan Hudson

Perfected Love Casts Out Fear

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.  Fear distracts and dominates the lives of too many people. The Bible says that “Fear has torment…” Faith and fear both have the power to influence and attract. Some leaders use fear to influence people to be afraid other people. It’s called xenophobia which is, “fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign.” Leaders should inspire people and offer solutions.  Fear is defined as “expectation of danger or harm.” Faith attracts God’s favor, blessings, and overcomes all fear!   Here is a story that in that illustrates how fear distracts and torments when faith could have resolved the problem:  Matthew 8:23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”  Jesus asked His disciples (and us): “Why are you fearful?”  The disciples woke up Jesus (who are sound asleep during a storm!) to ask Him to do something they should have done. Jesus was resting in the boat after a long day of ministry. A sudden storm made the disciples afraid. They allowed their fear to interfere with their faith and forget that Jesus was on the boat with them! Because of this, Jesus called the disciples’ faith “ little.” He expected much more from men who had been trained first hand.  When storms come, or big opportunities are presented, let your faith rise, not your fears.  Phobias and fears arise when a lifestyle and mindset of faith are absent. If we claim to be Christians and disciples, Jesus FULLY expects us to trust Him. When you feel like you have respond with fear, remember that the Miracle Worker is with you.  People are tormented by fear because of the absence of God, who is love, dwelling in them. Torment is the negative thought, the scenario, or the drama that plays out in our minds over and over again.  Perfect love, that is God’s perfect love that is in you, will cast out all fear. If there are things you need to do, but that you are afraid to do, God’s love and presence will remove all those fears. Rather than expecting something bad to happen, you expect something good to happen because your “Father” is right there with you!  There is a real emotion of fear generated by imminent danger that requires action. However, most fears are imagined and therefore not real and best summarized by the acrostic:  F-alse E-evidence A-ppearing R-eal  For believers in Christ, there is an overarching reality to embrace summarized by this text: 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.