What's holding you back
I want to know what's holding you back
I want to know what is that thing that's keeping you from being everything that you want to become
what is that thing that you've tried countless times to break out of
fear holds us back
fear is always a self-imprisonment that we give ourselves it's a choice it it always
limits our potential so what job what relationship what wife what opportunity have you passed
up on your life because of fear what things in your life do you know that God set up for you
and you look back and you regret the fact that you didn't go forward what conversation did you miss
what contact did you not have because of fear
fear limits your potential
fear limits your potential it limits your effectiveness it
it causes us to miss opportunities
the things that we've always dreamed about doing but we're afraid to even try
fear limits our potential
is fear holding you back what life are you living right now
are you living the life that you dream about are you living the life that God placed in your heart
are you living the life according to the vision and the instructions that the Holy Spirit has
given you because when you are led by the spirit of fear you are not being led by the Holy Spirit
and for some of you you may have the fear like I don't want to get it wrong
but what if maybe I don't know trust that God is with you one of the the
biggest things about hearing the voice of God is trust that God I trust that you are with me
and I'm open to knowing that maybe I could make a mistake but even in my mistakes they work for me
you see there is no loss in God either you receive wisdom or you see the harvest and either way it's
all working for your good it's working towards the things that God has said concerning your life
and so I'm here to encourage you today that the road to living this fearless life it's not
that fear is not present but that you recognize what is more valuable than what presents itself
as fear that fear brings a narrative but then you have a narrative that is louder that speaks to you
that affirms you that yeah fear might be in the you know in the vicinity but I recognize that what
God has called me to do has more worth has more value in my life than dumping down than living
this life of mediocrity Jesus did not die for you for that he died for you to be everything you are
Jesus said I came so that you could have a full life an enjoyed life and so if you want to start
off right and get the prayers answered and live your life the way you want to live your life
then what you've got to do is you've got to get rid of that fear that fear that unhealthy fear has
got to go away the bible says more about fear even than about heaven and it's interesting because
because many times when a representative for God shows up one of the first things he says is
fear not fear not if you're going to be the person you need to be if you're going to carry
out this thing God says that I'm about to ask you then you need to get rid of that bad fear
see the problem with the bad fear is bad fear is debilitating we got to get rid of the fear
you never get victory over anything running away from it the only way you get victory is to face it
confront it go through it and conquer it then when you're on the other side of it you find out
that a lot of the things that you feared first of all they don't even happen or secondly if they do
they weren't nearly as bad as the devil had it played up in your mind that it was going to be
I'm talking about don't let the devil steal your life through fear fear gains its power
from uncertainty the type of fear that causes you to question the goodness of God the character of
God and his word to you the type of fear that cripples you from living the life that God has
called you to it is fueled by uncertainty you know when you think about your life and you think about
the times where you felt literally crippled to do the things that in your heart you knew that
I was supposed to make a move I was supposed to walk towards this certain thing but then fear
stopped you when you think about those moments was it tied to the uncertainty of the outcome
you see the reality about life is that we're always going to live in this idea of uncertainties
but what I'm learning in God is because if I don't have all the answers about what tomorrow may bring
what the next five minutes may bring then I'm supposed to rely on the one who holds
it all I am not the alpha and the omega you are when I begin to recognize who God is in my life
that is where fear is cast out from you see there's a scripture that tells us
perfect love casts out fear it's the perfection of love in Christ when we are able to receive
that Lord if you could die for me what good thing would you withhold from me what people are really
afraid of is they're afraid of the unknown it's not so much the future it's like we want to know
we human beings have this big problem we want to know because if we know then we can control
God wants us to trust him I really encourage people in the these times that we're in now
it's not the future they're afraid of it's not knowing it's the not knowing and there's no
reason to trust God if we know everything you always are going to have unanswered questions
there's always going to be the whys and the whens that God is not going to answer for you
we have to get comfortable not knowing I'm not afraid of this because I've had enough
experience with God that I know I'm in his hands you see we have to begin to change our narrative
that when we're looking at something and we're thinking about all the things that could go wrong
that we should start thinking about what about all the things that could actually work in our favor
what about all the things that could actually work that could even be amazing what is the harvest on
the other side of what I feel is going to take me out and my question for you is that what what is
fear holding you back from that you have not yet seen because you see the fruit of it God knows
you may not know what is the fruit on the other side you may not know what is the harvest on the
other side but God sees it and then leading you to it all it takes is for you to walk with him
for you to be led by his voice and not allow the voice of uncertainty to cripple you and make you
feel as though God I'm not sure if I want to move forward there is a harvest connected to your life
there is fruit connected to your life you've got to realize this when I became a Christian
all of a sudden the confidence of having Christ in my life the same
Christ that through faith in him we can move mountains it changed everything
and when I look back on my life even since then there there are still regrets there are still
things that I didn't take to have the confidence and and didn't trust in God enough to step out and
make happen and I want to tell you something if you can if you can replace the the false
beliefs that you've got in your mind that are there from the day you were born whether it was
from the thoughts that were implanted by a parent or from a negative teacher or from people who
were supposed to be positive in your life but they were negative or or or the the things that you've
had that have that have been failures that have got you to the point nowadays where you're not
even trying to to to do anything better if if if you can realize that Christ the power of Christ
can help you to overcome those things and it doesn't matter if you're 20
50 70 wherever you're at in your life because that power won't come anywhere from you that power will
be a source that comes straight from God and will give you what you need and the amazing
thing is is when your confidence is in God and you do fail or you think you fail at something
you really are a winner and successful anyway because what ends up happening is you learn
something from that failure that instead of making you go backwards it will actually
make you fail forward and you'll be a better person than you were before you started
people are so afraid of failure but failing at something and being a failure is two different
things you are never a failure as long as you refuse to quit and so you're never going to
succeed at anything if you're so afraid of failure that you won't try so I tell people step out
and find out and then faith steps out it steps out into the unknown you know think about when
Joshua was told to cross the Jordan and he had to put his foot in the water before the water parted
it's only by faith we're going to move forward that if you want to experience blessing you got
to embrace belief if you want to experience reward you got to embrace risk trust him follow him he
knows what he's doing this isn't a mistake what he's doing here you want to prosper you want to
flourish you walk humbly with your God walk humbly with your God you have to see life from a place of
recognizing that you're not doing life by yourself you are doing life with the Lord you are not
in this alone he is with you and he is there to guide you you know one of my favorite scriptures
is in Jeremiah 29:11 when it gives us this promise from God that he knows the plans that he has
towards you some translations talk about I know the thoughts that I think towards you thoughts of
good and not of evil to give you a future and a hope and when we say that we're encouraged
you may think that life is working against you but it's actually working for you
because at the end of the day the outcome would reveal that I've always been with you