Philippians 1:28 KJV “And IN NOTHING terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.”

2 Timothy 1:7 KJV “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of POWER, and of LOVE, and of A SOUND MIND.”

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Since God does not give us a spirit of timidity where does intimidation come from? Satan the Devil. So does manipulation and domination. These 3 are witchcraft. They are used to take total control of a person or masses of people. Once you manipulate someone then intimidate them you can also dominate them. Trick them scare them then you control them. Sounds familiar?🤔

No wonder God always encourages His people not to fear what others fear but to have faith.😊 Fear brings us under control of the evil one. Demons feed on fear. They are having a smorgasbord feast right now! Turn on the T.V. All you see and hear is fear. Listen to what folks are saying around you. The whole world is scared! They are under a spell and don’t even know it. They have been manipulated, intimidated, and dominated. God says Satan has the whole world under his wicked power. And this is a judgment from Almighty God for rejecting The King Of Kings And Lord Of Lords Jesus Christ.

1 John 5:19 ICB “We know that we belong to God. But the Evil One controls the whole world.”

Children of God obey God when He says, “IN NOTHING,” be terrified by your adversaries. Oh they will keep trying to manipulate and intimidate you. Fear tactics are spewed day and night in all forms of media. People are threatened at their jobs, schools, etcetera. But the true children of God will not be hurt by Manipulation, Intimidation, and Domination. The Lord Jesus keeps them safe.😊 Does that mean we never get fearful, that we are never tricked or manipulated? No, of course not. But true children of God will not remain in a state of fear and manipulation. The Holy Spirit inspired David to put it best this way:

Psalms 56:3 NIV “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”

Children of God turn fears into faith like David. The children of the Devil are always fearful and hence dominated. Oh how they put on airs of being big and bad, bold and confident, but they are not. The whole world is terrified at everything coming on the earth just as Jesus said they would be. (Luke 21:26)

YOU CAN ONLY GIVE WHAT YOU HAVE

You can only give what you have. If all you have is fear fear is all you can give. God’s word illustrates this best. God gave the Israelite nation specific instructions of what they were to do every time they went into battle against their enemies:

Deuteronomy 20:1 KJV “When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, BE NOT AFRAID OF THEM: for the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.”

The first set of instructions were NOT TO FEAR your enemies because they look stronger than you. “For the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” God reminded them that He is with them.😊 He also reminded them of what He did to Pharaoh when He delivered them from Egypt; that epic battle where God parted the Red Sea,😲 then allowed Israel to cross it on dry ground.😲 When Pharaoh’s chariots, soldiers, and horseman went in after them the Lord pulled the wheels off of their chariots and threw Pharaoh’s army into confusion.😲 Once Israel crossed the Red Sea the Lord made the waters go back to their normal state drowning Pharaoh’s entire army!😲 What a victory! I once worked with a mocker who used to say, “Jesus don’t fight but I do,” and I would think to myself, “You obviously don’t know Jesus.”

God gave His people other instructions to carry out whenever they went into battle. One of them was:

Deuteronomy 20:8 KJV “And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.”

Whoever was too afraid to fight in the battle God said, ‘Send him home.’ Why? “Lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.” Remember, you can only give what you have. A fearful person in battle will cause his brethren’s heart to fear as well God said. God does not use fearful people for war. If you have godly courage then godly courage you can give others to strengthen them. But if all you have is fear you will stumble your brothers in battle. ‘Send him/her home,’ God said. They are not fit for battle.

Proverbs 29:25 NIV “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.”

If you and I disobey God by fearing our enemies we have already lost the battle.😞 We must repent so that we won’t lose the war!

Children of God turn fears into faith like David. The children of the Devil are always fearful and hence dominated.

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FACE YOUR ENEMIES

Though we do not fight with the same weapons ancient Israel fought with and our battles are spiritual the same war instructions apply: ‘DO NOT FEAR YOUR ENEMIES BECAUSE THEY “LOOK” STRONGER THAN YOU!’

What enemies do we face today? Are pestilences our enemy like Coronavirus? Or folks who want to force an unsafe, improperly tested vaccine on us? Might unemployment be our enemy? Or maybe we’re going through a season of severe persecution? We could go on and on. Our enemies are many and can look very huge if we focus on them. But ahh we must remember God’s command: ‘DO NOT FEAR YOUR ENEMIES BECAUSE THEY “LOOK” STRONGER THAN YOU! I AM THE LORD, YOUR GOD, WHO BROUGHT YOU UP OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT.’😊 I once heard a wise woman say, “Instead of always talking about how big your problems are, tell your problems how big your God is!😊 That reminds me of something Jesus says:

Luke 17:6 KJV “And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.”

This is the kind of faith needed to face our enemies. The same kind of faith God instructed Israel to have when facing their enemies in battle.

Please share this with a friend😊

Ephesians 4:26-27 KJV “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: [27] Neither give place to the devil.”

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How many murders have been committed, how many marriages have split up, how many friendships have ended because of uncontrolled anger?😡 If we go to bed angry we are leaving the door wide open for sin (Satan) to come in and snatch us! More on that later.

The other day I felt myself getting very angry with a coworker. What the person was doing was very wicked but I was getting too angry about it. It felt like an outside dark force was trying to take control of me. It was. I began to pray fervently in my mind screaming, “Lord help me! It feels like I’m falling! Don’t let me fall Lord! Don’t let me give in to anger!”😫 I was praying silently in my mind but I was screaming to the Lord in my heart. I kept on praying and lo and behold that evil spirit of anger went away.😊 I started feeling like myself again. I knew Jesus had helped me and that I was under demonic attack. I prayed for my enemy as our Lord instructs us to and kept asking Jesus to help me make it through the day without blowing my top. I was in a real fight but not with that human being who was provoking me on purpose. My fight was and is with myself, and the evil spirits that use people to provoke us. (Ephesians 6:12) Jesus got me through that day without losing it. He is so awesome, isn’t He?😃

If you are a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ you can relate to what I’m talking about. You go through the same things. The evil one constantly strives to gain residence in our lives in numerous ways. One way is through sinful anger. Satan wants to live not just with us but IN US.😲 He wants to possess us. Getting angry at evil and wickedness is not a sin. But if the Devil can get us to go over the top and get too angry, remain angry, become bitter, unforgiving, unloving, and the like, he has succeeded. We have given him a place (a residence) in our lives. What a terrible thing to open the door and invite the Devil in. He will not be a pleasant guest. You will not enjoy his company. He is filled with fury because he knows that he has only a short time left. (Revelation 12:12) Allowing him a place in our lives through uncontrolled anger means pain, misery, depression, and destruction.

CAIN

Cain is the poster child for uncontrolled anger. He became angry with his brother because God showed favor to his brother Abel and not him. God saw that Cain was distraught and lovingly warned him. He encouraged Cain to repent and he too would be exalted. What God said next I find very interesting:

Genesis 4:6‭-‬7 HCSB “Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, SIN IS CROUCHING AT THE DOOR. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

“Sin is crouching AT THE DOOR! Its desire is for you, but YOU MUST RULE OVER IT.” God told Cain that sin was crouching AT THE DOOR and it wanted him, to devour him like a hungry lion. A door is an opening that allows entrance from one place to another. Cain through his anger had unwittingly invited sin (Satan) at his door. Sin was about to take him like a crouching lion. God saw what was happening in the spirit realm and warned Cain about it. God is also warning us too when it comes to sinful anger: “YOU MUST RULE OVER IT.”

Unfortunately Cain did not listen to God’s loving warning. He left the door wide open. Hence sin (Satan) walked right on in and influenced Cain to murder his own brother.😢 Just as he took the life of his brother Abel sin had taken hold of him. Cain’s life was a total mess after that. He was cursed by God the rest of his days. (Genesis 4:8-12 KJV)

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If we go to bed angry we are leaving the door wide open for sin (Satan) to come in and snatch us!

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“YOU MUST RULE OVER IT”

Rule over sinful anger or sinful anger will rule over you. How many relationships amongst brethren since Cain and Abel have been destroyed due to wrath? Jesus is lovingly warning us just as God warned Cain that anyone remaining angry with a brother/sister is in deep trouble and needs to repent:

Matthew 5:21‭-‬26 HCSB “You have heard that it was said to our ancestors, Do not murder, and whoever murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you, EVERYONE WHO IS ANGRY WITH HIS BROTHER WILL BE SUBJECT TO JUDGMENT. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Fool!’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But whoever says, ‘You moron!’ will be subject to hellfire. So if you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. FIRST GO AND BE RECONCILED WITH YOUR BROTHER, and then come and offer your gift. Reach a settlement quickly with your adversary while you’re on the way with him, or your adversary will hand you over to the judge, the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. I assure you: You will never get out of there until you have paid the last penny!”

Some have opened the door wide for Satan to come in and snatch them away just like Cain.😞 As Jesus says they, “Will be subject to Judgment,” not subject to mercy, unless they repent. A person who is not merciful to others won’t experience God’s mercy:

James 2:13 HCSB “For judgment is without mercy to the one who hasn’t shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

1 John 3:11‭-‬12‭, ‬15 HCSB “For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another, unlike Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil, and his brother’s were righteous. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.”

WOW! This is serious! God says that EVERYONE who hates his brother/sister is a murderer just like Cain, and that person does not have eternal life residing in him/her. Repent please if you have any animosity in your heart against a fellow believer while there is still time. Don’t let Satan trick you into throwing away eternal life. And over what? Someone else’s shortcomings?😲 Nah, we have to be way smarter than that! We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) All of us miss the mark. Showing mercy to others who anger us, hurt our feelings, etcetera, proves that we are fully aware of our own sins too.

God mercifully warned Cain about his sinful anger against his brother. He is warning us too. May we not end up like Cain (cursed) because he ignored God’s warning and murdered his brother. Sin snatched him away like a kidnapper. He was gone like a lost child. Please, please, please repent to God if you know you have resentment in your heart against a brother/sister or anyone. Beg God with all your might to heal your heart. Our Father indeed hears such prayers.😊

Please share this with a friend