4
Food for thought.
It is only the fear of God that can deliver us from the fear of man. We are
much better off fearing God who can give us what we deserve than fearing
men who can give us what we don’t deserve and withhold what we do deserve
but are unable to harm us in a permanent way.
Every opportunity to fear is an opportunity to trust God and move from the
cliff of fear across the bridge of faith to the cliff of courage. The bible repeat-
edly encourages us not to be afraid. When Jesus speaks, he often begins
“FEAR NOT” we are told that God has not given us a spirit of fear but of
power, love and self discipline (2 Timothy 1:7) we are even told that a man
who fears has not been made perfect in love(1 John 4:18)
Fear not!! Be of good courage this week, until we meet again, May Blessings
follow you. God guide you by cloud during day and fire at night.
***********************************************************
“...We fear that we are inadequate, but our deepest fear is that we are powerful
beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask our-
selves:”Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?"
Actually, who are you not to be these things?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people around
you won't feel insecure.
We are all meant to shine as children do.
We are born to manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission
to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically releases
others…." - Marriane Williamson, from 'A Return to Love'.
© 2009 All Rights Reserved - Bible Study Share Group - Bugolobi - Issue 12
BIBLE STUDY SHARE GROUP - BSSG - 14th AUG 2009
TOPIC: FEAR
Matthew (14:22-31)
“...The only thing we have to fear is fear itself…” Franklin Delano.
The story here in Mathew shows that Jesus needed some time alone. So he
instructed the disciples to get onto the boat and go ahead of him to the other
side of the lake. Sometime during evening hours a storm came up and the
boat was buffeted by the waves and wind. Later (about he fourth watch, Jesus
came walking toward them, he was walking on water. They were terrified at
the site of him thinking he was a ghost. Fear gripped them. Immediately, Je-
sus said “take courage, it is I, don’t be afraid”.
Fear, fear!!! Oh fear. Webster’s dictionary defines fear as an agitated state of
mind that cripples us from looking any further than the hardship itself.
“...Every human struggles with the emotion of fear; fear of failure, fear of re-
jection, fear of a certain disaster, fear of men, fear of the future, fear that God
has abandoned them. Fears of all sorts elbow their way into the out stream of
conscious thought, while some fears are constructive-many heroes are born
by their reaction to a life threat. Most fears handicap men…” Patrick Morley
We all fear or have been afraid one time in our lives. What are you afraid of?
Is it job jitters? Are you afraid of disappointing your boss, workmate, friend,
parent, pastor? Do you have a disabling illness, do you fear God has aban-
doned you, do you fear that your future is uncertain.
To all those troubling queries lies a pathway to hope, led by none but JESUS
“take courage! It is I, Don’t be afraid” he says (Matthew 14:27) lets jump
straight into bible study and find out how we can gain courage, and how we
can overcome fear.
DAY 1
1. What is the biblical understanding/perspective on fear?
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 2 3
DAY 2
2. All humans struggle with the emotion of fear!
Agree Disagree
b) Explain your answer.
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c) What troubled the disciples?(vs. 26)
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d) Do you have any fear? What causes you to fear?
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DAY 3
3) Fear not! Jesus encouraged the disciples. Why? Relate it to. 2 Timothy.
1:7.
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b) Peter was prompted to walk on water, what eventually made him to start
sinking?
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c) Whom do you call on when you are in fear.” and have started sinking”
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d) How is faith important in our Christian walk.(Heb. 11., Mat. 21:21)
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DAY 4
Godly Fear versus Other Fear.
One of the most misunderstood principles of the bible is the fear of God.
What is the difference between the fear of God and other fears with which we
struggle? Often the fear of God is dismissed as a translation problem. It is
suggested the fear of God is merely reverent thinking about him, actually,
the fear of God involves understanding of who God really is, and a hatred of
everything which is not of God. (Proverbs 8:13) to fear the lord is to hate
evil, a man must be able to differentiate between good and evil. We fear men
for a practical reason. Men have the power to give us what we don’t deserve
or withhold from us what we deserve.
We should fear God for an equally practical reason; God doesn’t have the
capacity to do the wrong thing.
4) What are the advantages of fearing God (Proverbs 29:25, 1:7, 9:10, Psalms
111:10, Romans 8:28).
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DAY 5
5) What have you learnt about fear?
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b) How can you overcome fear?
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