What demons of control are dominating your promised land and keeping you bound in fear?
(music)
Hello this is Phyllis Tarbox with Above and Beyond Christian Counseling.
Today I want to talk about fear that is controlling you that you are allowing.
Controlling spirits seek out those who cower under fear of rejection so they may increase
while their victim dissipates.
What you allow will continue!
".But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall
be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your
sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell.
Moreover, it shall be that I will do to you as I thought to do to them.'"
Numbers 33: 55-57 NKJV
This scripture describes a sobering view of defeat through permission extended.
To allow a thing is just as bad as the actual sin.
Allowing the demons to extinguish God's light via fear makes you an equal contributor, and
it makes you a target for harassment.
My Personal Struggle with Fear
I sat back for 28 years and allowed fear to limit my movement.
I could see all the giants in the land, and I chose to stick my head in the sand and collapse
on the West side of the Jordan in fear.
It was easier just to let them trample all over my destiny than to rise up and take what
they were stealing.
Before deliverance, my view was bleak.
I pictured myself buried 6 feet under a tree with heavy chains and padlocks wrapped around
my coffin.
I shared that visual with friends, and they asked me; "How can you live like that?"
My reply was simple, "I don't know how to escape."
I remember crying out to God at the top of my lungs!
"If you are listening I need you right now!"
That cry started things in motion.
God was waiting until I had enough.
In one of his articles, "Demon Management or Freedom: You Choose" blogs, Dr. Ibbitson
shared an analogy that is on point with this topic.
If you own a garden where weeds have overwhelmed your produce, what is the best option?
You pull or kill the intruders.
Weed management, if one were foolish enough to pursue this path, involves trimming them
back as they creep close to the valued greenery.
You cope with the weeds but do not deal with the root, so the problem endures.
The roots of my torment were buried, but God had a plan.
It starts with the realization that you are collaborating with the demons by allowing
them a food source.
Allowing results as you rationalize your situation and justify it.
It keeps you circling the same mountain year after year.
I remember the new picture I had after deliverance.
The coffin was gone.
I still had a long way to go, but I saw the light of day, and there was a ladder.
Every day I took another step up.
The key is your focus.
You can look up and trust, or keep staring down in despair.
The choice is yours.
You own your free will.
I love how Rahab described to Joshua that their hearts were "melting in fear" that they
would one day cross the Jordan because even giants knew God was with them.
What demons in others are bullying you?
Take one baby step toward deliverance.
Complete our client intake form.
Trust that God will lead you and not overwhelm you.
It is time to stop allowing and start occupying your destiny.