BROADCASTS.com

WINNING WITH THE WORD “Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life. An invitation for you: To subscribe to this blog, click here.  To subscribe to this podcast, click here. If this blog and podcast have blessed you, please encourage your family and friends to subscribe as well. Thank you! Be sure to check out our Featured Book of the Week at the end of this post. ______________________________________   Do you prefer listening instead of reading? Then click below to listen to today’s blog post on podcast. https://media.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/content.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/Fighting_the_Fear_Factor.mp3 ___________________________________________________________________________ Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, novelist and life coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, March 28, 2022, and this is Episode #13 of Series 2022. This episode is titled "Fighting the Fear Factor." It doesn't take much to notice that our world today is ruled by fear. Fear is a crippler. A cruel taskmaster. A deterrent to freedom.  Are you consumed by fear? If so, pay close attention. For many years, I was consumed by fear. I grew up in a fearful environment. I learned how to fear the worst instead of expecting the best. But when I came to Jesus Christ, He delivered me from all fear. But, I had to take that truth and make it experiential in my life. I had to resist the spirit of fear with the weapons of spiritual warfare that God had given me in Christ. Although there are seemingly many reasons to fear, we do not have to be ruled by fear if we are in Christ. Scripture calls fear a spirit. In 2 Timothy 1: 7 NKJV, we read: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." Fear, therefore, is not simply a terrible negative emotion. Fear is actually an evil spirit that continually tries to rob us of our peace. When we look at fear as a spirit, we then know that we must deal with it spiritually. Here's how: __Saturate your mind and heart with the Word of God. Hide it in your heart through reading, studying, meditating, and memorizing. When the Word of God is hidden in your heart, it will rise within you and arm you when you are tempted to fear. __Seek God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. We do this through prayer and through spending time in God's Presence. Let Him speak to you. Listen for His voice, and write down what He says to you. __When you are tempted to fear, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Fear is a temptation. When we feel fear, we do not have to give in to it. Remember: Fear is a spirit. And God has given us spiritual weapons to fight it. Those weapons are called the "armor of God," and they are listed in Ephesians 6: 11-18: "Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed, and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition." The spiritual weapons God has given us will defeat fear every time. So use your weapons.