Spiritual Insights on Terrorism in America!

 

September, 2001

Dear Ministry Friend,

The Bible has a lot to say about war, terrorism, and fear. Violence and fear are topics the Bible spends a great deal of time giving us revelation about.

One classic example was the constant conflict between the Philistines and the Israelites. (Note — Philistine is where we get the word Palestine. The same spirits that worked through the Philistines are still in that geographic region working through the modern-day Palestinians, or PLO.) The Philistines were bigger, stronger, and usually had better weapons than the Israelites Then there was the giant Goliath who stood nearly 11 feet tall (1st Samuel 17:4). He was the first instrument of terrorism. However, 1st Samuel 17:48 tells us, "It happened when the Philistine rose and came and drew near to meet David, that David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine." This was a man without fear — David ran toward Goliath. The other Israelites had run away from Goliath when he came out daily. And you know the rest of the story about the rock — even though it had "never entered Goliath's mind" before.

As a parallel illustration, when I flew into Beijing to smuggle Chinese study Bibles and a high-speed cassette duplicator in my 2 suitcases, God spoke to me on the airplane after I had fasted 24 hours and He said to me, "Run to the battle." Instinctively, I somehow knew exactly what He meant. When the 747 jet landed, about 300 people got off and started making their way towards the x-ray machine inspection area. It was a very long way through the concourse, so I hustled up a steel baggage cart and began trotting along by the people, slowly passing one after another as I headed for my appointment with destiny. By the time I arrived at the x-ray machines, there were only about 20 people ahead of me. To my total surprise and joy, the Chinese guards had the x-ray machines turned off and were just waiving through the people at the front of the line. I just pushed my cart right by them out into the area where people catch the buses. The guards then turned on the x-ray machines and began to check everyone's luggage! I don't know if the guards thought people with something to hide would hang back in fear, but that is the way it looked.

Insights About Fear — How to Live Fear-Free!

Terrorism is designed to produce fear. But if you are not afraid of dying (the way every Christian should be), then fear should not have any grip on a believer. If you are not afraid of the worst thing that could happen to a person, then why should you be afraid of something less? Someone once said that you should not be able to scare a Christian with the threat of sending him or her to Heaven! Sure, you would not want to leave your loved ones behind in a lurch. So buy some life insurance! (Now, I don't have a martyr complex, but I think some Christians don't want to die because they are living for the things of this world — instead of Jesus & eternity.) My grandfather was a spiritual giant, and he actually bought his burial plot and put a headstone on it 15 years before he went to Heaven at the age of 80. After he bought the burial plot and headstone, he just went about living a full life. He was not afraid to deal with the topic of death. Now that is great faith — just not the kind we normally think of.

In fact, one of the most common Biblical qualifications for spiritual leaders is that they do not yield to fear! When Joshua was being commissioned, God told Joshua three times to be courageous and not afraid (Joshua 1:6,7,9). "Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed..." Then the people all said they would follow him — but in the last verse of chapter 1, they tacked on, "Only be strong and of good courage."

People want leaders who are not afraid. No Christian wants to follow a coward. So true leaders (including fathers and mothers) simply cannot allow fear to influence their lives. And Ephesians 5:1 literally commands us to "Be imitators of God." Well, God is never afraid. So that is a mandate about how we are supposed to live!

It is said that there are over 300 commands in scripture to "fear not". That is what angels always said. So God does not want us afraid. Satan uses fear to influence and control people. Fear is also a tool of torment according to 1st John 4:18. Therefore we should not allow it in our lives. We should be fearless!

How can we achieve a fearless life? There are three keys. First of all, we need to have a revelation of how much God loves us. You might think you already believe that, but do you have a revelation of it? That verse in 1st John 4:18 says, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." If we will spend time in God's Word, we can grow in the depth of our knowledge of God's love for us. Many fears will just naturally melt away when the warmth of God's love floods our soul.

The second key to living fear-free is to resist spirits of fear. Satan cannot be everywhere at once, so he has sent out evil spirits to try to influence and oppress people. Some of these spirits are "spirits of fear". The Bible clearly tells us in 2nd Timothy 1:7, "God has not given us the spirit of fear", so He doesn't want us to allow spirits of fear around our lives. The primary way God has designed for us to release our authority over the enemy is through our words. So if we feel fear, we should pray something like, "Fear, I resist you, and you must flee — in Jesus' name." You don't have to tell the spirit where to go. You should just not tolerate it around your life. And authority when praying is not greater if you use greater volume — it is greater if you use greater faith!

And that brings up the third key to living without fear. If people will feed their faith, they will starve their fears. (Faith and fear are opposites.) Too many Americans watch all kinds of junk and trash on cable, videos, movies, and magazines. They have allowed the devil to bathe their minds with images of fear and terror. No wonder the devil is magnified, and they are held paralyzed by fear! If they would read in God's Word everyday, their faith would be fed and it would grow stronger and stronger — until it squeezed the life out of their fears! By watching horror movies and digesting fear-producing material (often including the evening news), many people have opened themselves up to strongholds of fear. They need deliverance! (See key number two above!) In fact, our whole society has been corrupted to the core, and fear is one of the main acids that has eaten away the happiness and joy of many people. We can live fear-free, and experience the joy of our salvation.

Faith is not just for "receiving from God", it is also for keeping fear away. "Without faith, it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6), "The just shall live by faith" (Hebrews 10:38), and "Whatever is not of faith, is sin." (Romans 14:23).

Living fearlessly,

Dale Leander

 

 
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