Spiritual Warfare

The Fear of Man Brings a Snare

Proverbs 29:25
The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.

This is what the Bible says and if we want to avoid the snares that can trap and then cripple us, we need to have a hearing ear.

The Nature of a Snare

A snare is a noose and by design leaves no way of escape. It completely encircles its victim. If a snare partially encircled its victim or had a small opening then there would be a way of escape. But snares are not designed to free their victims. A snare is designed by the spirit of Darkness and his purpose is to beguile and then control the souls of men. He knows how to hunt, how to entrap, and, if we listen to him, he knows how to encircle our life.

A Snare Encircles and Chokes Our Faith

Faith cannot work if encircled by the fear of man. If we alter our behavior and our thinking because we are afraid of what people will think, then we alter our faith. Faith demands that we listen to God but the fear of man demands that we listen to fear. If we listen to fear rather than God then we will have been caught and our faith brought to nothing.

A Snare Encircles and Chokes Our Prayer

We cannot pray effectively if encircled by the fear of what people will think. God cannot give an acceptable answer because fear does not want His answers. God can give an answer but fear will not allow us to receive or act on the answer. If fear is in control then we will ignore the Lord’s answers to our prayers. If fear is in control then we can receive answers only if there is no risk. If fear is in control then our faith is weak, our prayers are weak, and the answers to prayer will be weak. God demands we pray in faith, believing, and according to His will. But if our soul is snared by the fear of man then we will not be able to pray in faith, we will not believe, and we will not be able to pray God’s will.

A Snare Encircles and Chokes our Life

A snare effectively paralyzes our life. By design, a snare stops all routes of escape. Fear is a snare in that it prevents us from relating to God, to His Word, to His will, and to any meaningful fellowship. We cannot have meaningful fellowship because the fear of man controls our thinking and therefore our relationship with the Lord. God will say "do what you can do and I will help you", but fear will not allow a person to do what they can do for they are ever in fear of failure or in fear of what people with think if they fail. God will say "trust Me", but fear will not trust because the priority of fear is not to trust, but to worry. God says, “I will strengthen you”, but fear responds with "what if you don’t and what if I fail, and then what will people think."

Once the lies of darkness have found a secure place within our personality then like seed they produce fruit. Its fruith will affect our values, affect our thinking and our relationship with the Lord. Our battle with evil is not theoretical but real. The battle is inward, it is spiritual, it is intense, it is relentless, and only as we take up the weapons and defenses provided by Christ and His Word, can we be victorious over all the lies and deceptions of our Dark enemy.

Fear Bewitches the Soul

There is a dark anointing in fear. Its power is in its message, and if we listen, it beguiles by changing us on the inside. Fear is powerful because it attacks at our very core. Fear attacks how we relate to the promises of God. If it can change how we relate to God, then it has worked it's beguiling effect in us. Fear, if we listen, will bring us to the place that we believe things that are not true. We cannot underestimate the power of fear and what it is capable of doing. Its message is born in hell and reflects the purpose of spiritual darkness which is to render one powerless. The mesage of fear is defeat and it keeps our eyes and mind on failure. It vexes our spirit and binds the will. It is not God’s will for His children to have their mind, their emotions, their will, their heart, their hope, and consequently their faith in God, enslaved by the fear of man. God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind.

Fear Knows You

Fear is personalized. It possesses wisdom and knowledge about each of us. It knows our weaknesses, it knows our history, and it knows how to present arguments that, in the past, have been effective against us. We all have sensitive or weak areas of our life, and fear attempts to exploit these weaknesses. But God is faithful and He is stronger than our weaknesses and if we will cast off the fear of man then His strength will enable to live by His Word.

What Can We Do?

The power to overcome fear is within every Christian, for God has given it to them. Every Christian has their new identity in Christ and, in Christ, they are given the power to live an overcoming and faith filled life. Every born-again Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and has the power of God within them. Our lives are joined to the resurrected Christ and we live in resurrection power. Because of our new life in Christ we are told:

  • the power of sin is broken (Rom. 6:1-11)
  • sin will not have dominion over you, (Rom 6:14)
  • reckon yourselves dead to sin and alive to God, (Rom. 6:11)
  • God has not given us the spirit of fear, but He has given us power, love, and a sound mind, (2Tim. 1:7)
  • our life is hid with Christ in God, (Col. 3:3)
  • no weapon formed against us will prosper, (Isa. 54:17)
  • and all the promises of God to us, in Christ Jesus, are yes and amen, (2Cor. 1:20)

God Is On Our Side

Because of Christ, God is on our side and we need to take off the old garments of fear and doubt and throw them away like we would throw away a rotten and stinking old garment. We need to treat fear with contempt and violently throw it's message in the trash along with the other works of the Old Man. We send the fear of man to the cross to die a final death. We must never look back, for we are called to take the new clothing of faith, hope and love. We are born of God and our strength and life is in Him. So, once and for-ever, we bury the fear of man, for in Christ, the power of fear is defeated! In the powerful grace of God, we start listening to Him, and then we will be able to walk out our redemptive victory over fear.

God bless you,

Jim

Addendum
In Christ, we are given a new future and the power of our past is broken. It is broken because the power of the Old Man is broken. Our past has only the power we give it and now that we are a New Creation, our past has no inherent power to control us. As a New Creation in Christ, we need to enforce, possess, and walk out the victories won by Christ for us. See Warfare Prayer

Scripture

Psa 46:1-2
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2) Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

Psa 46:10
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Romans 6:6-11
6) Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7) For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8) Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9) Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10)For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11) Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

2Cor. 1:20
For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

Isa_54:17
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

Isa_35:4
Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

Deu 20:1-4 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. 2) And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,e. 3) And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; 4) For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.

Rom 6:14
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

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