International
Set Free From Fear
We're glad you like it!
Enjoying the content? You can save this to your favorites by logging in to your account.
Romans 8:15-17 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
Listen to the radio broadcast of Set Free From Fear
Download audio fileThere are many people who are slaves to their fears. In fact when, in a quiet moment, you start poking around the darker recesses of your heart, you might well be surprised at the fears and the worries that are quietly eating away at your joy, your peace, your confidence.
They’re never particularly rational. I know someone who never swims in the ocean, but who remains incredibly fearful of sharks. It’s a fear that plagues him constantly. Is it rational? No. But that doesn’t make it any less real.
People are afraid of all sorts of things. Of what other people think of them; of what might happen at work today; of what might happen to the children if they go out and play with their friends after school.
And yes, bad things do happen from time to time. Car accidents happen. People do fall over and hurt themselves. Marriages do fall apart. But if we live in constant fear of the things that might happen, well, is that any way to live?
That’s how terrorism works. Strike in a city and kill just a small number of people – and yes that’s an appalling thing, absolutely – but then, in doing so, strike fear into the hearts of millions more.
To put it bluntly, many people are slaves to their fears.
So that sort of personal slavery, is something that God talks rather a lot about. But not in the way that we might expect.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. (Romans 8:15-17)
Imagine being a lonely orphan, fearful to the core of what your future holds, but then, someone comes along and adopts you, and you find yourself safe and secure in a loving home; to be loved and nurtured and cared for and protected.
That’s the picture that God is painting here for us. When you believe in Jesus, you’re not being given a spirit of slavery and fear, but a spirit of adoption, to be a child of the living God, safe, and secure, full of joy, so you can’t help but cry out Abba, Father, Dad!
What fear are you a slave to? What worry keeps gnawing away at you, robbing you of joy and peace?
Whatever it is, today God wants to deliver you from that fear, and fill you with a joy unspeakable.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
Comments