Interview with Paul Keith Davis "Tabernacles"

Mon, 8 Feb 2010 14:53:21 +0000

House of Heroes

Tue, 5 Jan 2010 12:47:20 +0000

Tuesday evenings in January and March, starting on Tuesday 12 January 2010, 7.30pm at the ARC

Come and be part of this exciting new venture. Join Trevor Baker and experience how to do mighty exploits for God in the year ahead!
Come prepared to build - and to fill the house with heroes, Nehemiah 3:16.
Come and be equipped for action on Tuesday 12, 19 and 26 of January and Tuesday 9, 16, 23 and 30 of March!

Creating an Atmosphere of God's Presence

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:32:57 +0000

YOU ARE LIVING INSIDE GOD’S BIG DREAM!
There was a real sense of the glory presence of God this morning, and Sue Davies encouraged us to step right into healing. A woman had her sore throat healed, and God began to open up vision and speak to people about their destiny. “God is opening up the ancient doors and the gates – the generational blessings that are going to pour down your generational lines this morning”, said Sue. “God wants us to know that we are living inside His big dream. We dream big in Him, and our dreams fit into His big dream. Your life is a key that opens up the timeline of God and when you press into God suddenly at the right time doors will open for you.”

CHANGING ATMOSPHERES
We are in a season when God is releasing more and more revelation, and He is opening up the heavens over us. We are discovering that nothing is impossible with God! He is releasing great favour and great blessing on us as we learn to live out of a place of rest. It’s easier for Holy Spirit to come when we are resting and at peace. His goodness and glory will come and our hearts of thanksgiving will change spiritual atmospheres. Do you change atmospheres? The presence of God extinguishes the darkness, if we carry Him into the situations we go into. Praise Him in all circumstances and God will bring breakthrough and blessing!

SPEAKING LIFE!
“Eat from the tree of life and speak positively! Show mercy, show love, show kindness. Make sure the words you speak have life in them!” Sue prayed for several people to be healed at the end of the session and Rob came up to give testimony that instead of talking about having high blood pressure God had told him to talk about having blood peace – speaking life starts with the word we speak over ourselves!

GODLY ATMOSPHERES – NO COMPROMISE

SANCTIFYING THIS WORLD WE LIVE IN
In the afternoon Sue continued her theme of changing atmospheres, sharing how XP media is taking on the world of film and beginning to influence Hollywood through training Christian actors and holding alternative film festivals. The world is compromising and we can become immune to it, and so need to be constantly discerning what is right and wrong. If we compromise, we lose intimacy with God and our first love diminishes as our own spiritual atmosphere changes, just as Samson lost his power as he compromised the life that God had called him to. Achan’s sin even caused defeat in battle for the whole of Israel. We need to guard our spiritual atmosphere jealously, and quickly repent if we realise we have compromised. We need to be in God’s glory continually – that’s where we were designed to live!

TAKE COURAGE TO DREAM ANOTHER DREAM!
“When we have had lots of failures it can be hard not to get discouraged. Don’t lose a dream – pick yourself up and start with God to dream another dream. Define your vision and have a plan for your dream. Take steps to make it a reality - don’t get stuck, just passively waiting for God to change something. “

You don’t need to look too far ahead or to have a great plan – just trust God to show you the next steps.” Sue shared about her ministry’s “Spiritual Takeaways” in Torquay on Sunday mornings, meeting people down on the sea front. Whether it’s giving a hug, a prophetic word or picture, praying for healing or sharing God’s heart, they find people opening up their hearts to God as they take a risk. We can do the same – just step out! Sometimes the next step is not a big one and the more we take those steps, the easier they become!

STEP OUT OF FAILURE ONTO THE
ROLLERCOASTER OF OPPORTUNITY!
Don’t let failure or disappointment stop you. Let Holy Spirit show you how you can learn from those failures. Taking the first step out of failure is starting a rollercoaster of opportunity! Whatever we contend for becomes ours by grace and cannot be taken away from us. That key of contending unlocks the door and you step into the timeline of God.

WITHOUT VISION THE PEOPLE PERISH
We can get to the point where we have no visions left to fulfil, but God always wants to give us more, however old we are - think of Abraham and Sarah! In the second half of life we can be idle or revved up – the choice is ours! We need to encourage each other to go further and dream bigger! Get around leaders and friends who encourage you and let you loose! Keep growing and keep dreaming!

GOD IS LOOKING FOR YOU!
Whatever your dream is, God is looking for you to step out – supporting single mothers, influencing government, holding a conference, setting up a web church, writing a book - whatever area of life you want to influence, step out and He will release more of the vision as you live your dream! Live out what you see in the Spirit, a step at a time, and God will fulfil His dream through you! The sons of Issachar knew the times and seasons, and their intelligence, knowledge and judgement provided wisdom and direction for the nation of Israel. In the same way, each of us has an effectiveness that is needed in our time, and the dreams we have are part of God’s plan for our nation! So dream BIG!

PATRICIA KING
Patricia King sent a personal message to the conference here in Dudley speaking especially to the people in the second half of life! She reminded us that we are the righteousness of God and decreed that the favour of God is going to increase on our lives! “You all have a mountain of influence, and that mountain is going to stand by the favour of God! The Spirit of unmerited favour will increase from this point on - the blessing of increase, greater prosperity and redemption even from past failures! And even if you have already seen much fruit, get ready for the next level!”

FAITHLESS TO FAITH

KNOWING HIM BETTER
In the evening, Doug Addison shared how he came to know the Lord Jesus. A former drug addict with heavy involvement in the occult, Doug had two experiences of being born again but drifted away from God after facing discouragement and fear from other Christians because of the lifestyle he came from. He shared how all his life he had experienced a recurring nightmare where he was being chased by something evil, but as he began to know God one day a blinding light came into the dream and he knew it was Jesus. A witch also came into his dream and told him he needed Jesus! After being born again and coming into relationship with the Lord Jesus Doug spent time learning with his prophetic gift to hear God’s voice rather than the occult. God releases His Spirit of wisdom and revelation – so that we can know Him better. That’s what it’s all about! Doug shared how he would rather know God better than anything else

FAITH IS NOT LOGICAL!
We tend to think logically today – and faith is not logical. Doug, like many in his family before him, was found to carry the gene for Huntington’s chorea, a fatal inherited incurable disease. He was told he was going to die – but his reaction was to laugh for six weeks and to get as much prayer for healing as he could! Each time was like a layer of healing, including ministry from Elijah House Ministries, cutting him off from every generational tie. After receiving a lot of prayer, the day came when he knew he was healed! His DNA test still shows he should have the disease, but he is in good health! He has also just recently prayed for someone else who had Huntington’s chorea who was also healed! Faith is not logical, but God is always good!

THE INCREDIBLE SUPERNATURAL POWER OF GOD
All of God’s power is about knowing Him better. Doug has experienced how unlimited God is. He has experienced physical healing many times – Huntington’s chorea, hernia, carpal tunnel syndrome and a kneecap injury. We need to keep a checklist of things we need healing from so we don’t forget to ask for what we need when we are in the anointing. God wants us to feel good – in our prime, no matter what age we are.

THE PLEASURE OF LOVING GOD
We need to experience the ecstasy and euphoria of God, falling in love with Him who knows everything about us but loves us in a way that is beyond anything we have ever known. God wants us to be walking in this intimate love of God, and whether we are male or female we can be enthralled with His love. Doug shared his experiences both of God’s love and of meeting with angels. We receive what God is doing in our spirits in these encounters rather than knowing and understanding and putting into words what He is doing – just like dreams we have but can’t remember or understand. Job 33:14-17 tells us how God seals his instructions on a dream or vision in the night – so we don’t need to worry if some of those dreams bypass our minds! We will live those dreams and that revelation anyway! God is speaking much more than we realise and we act on what He says without realising because He touches and impacts our spirits. God wants us to learn the lessons he is teaching us now so that we can go to the next level.

A DEEPER REVELATION OF OUR DESTINY
God’s glory presence and love were so present tonight. Towards the end of the meeting Doug called out illnesses, particularly back, neck and circulation problems that God had been healing as we all “marinated” in His presence. As Doug felt the winds as Holy Spirit moved while he was preaching, he prayed that everyone in the room would have a deeper revelation of their destiny. Many people were finding answers to questions and finding understanding just dropping into place as he spoke.

A NEW DAY
Doug saw in the Spirit people being launched and released into their destiny between now and the end of the year “There is going to be a strong sense of energy and passion and excitement about the new things God is opening up to you. God said to me “In October I am going to begin waking my people up.” A new season is coming – all of a sudden. A new day!”

Dream Big Conference

Thu, 5 Nov 2009 16:26:19 +0000

The worship tonight was filled with God’s presence like static electricity. No one wanted to stop crying out in worship and giving Him praise. People were being touched by His presence, shaking and experiencing Him touching them. “There’s a door open in heaven here tonight”, said Doug as he stood up to speak.

GOD PREPARES US TO
MINISTER BY TEACHING US TO LOVE
Doug shared his personal journey, the lessons God has taught him and how God has brought him into the season of ministry he is in now. After being saved out of the occult, Doug had no real idea what his calling was for the first nine years of being a Christian but after some time seriously praying and seeking God’s plan for his life, God told him that he was called to be a missionary to the US. God made him a promise that when he set feet on foreign soil to minister He would speak to him about his international call.

After many years practically loving and ministering to people in convalescent homes, prisons, drug rehab, on death row and in homeless missions, Doug finally came to the UK, his first foreign trip, and his team prophesied over him and fulfilled the prophetic word God had spoken over him years before, speaking to him about his international ministry and the countries he would visit. “Don’t get bored in the kingdom of God – there’s a lot of people and a lot to do!” Doug said tonight. “Being close to people is the best degree in theology you can get, and learning to love people without expecting anything back often leads us into the best inner healing that God wants us to have.”

HEARING GOD’S VOICE
“Dreams are so important – we can really hear the voice of the Lord. What God wants to do is often announced in a dream. We need to keep in mind what God is doing.” Doug went on to share how an accurate word about a pastors business prospering fourfold despite economic downturn resulted in an invitation to go out and speak at the pastors’ church conference, which then catapulted him into a whole new season of ministry. Doug had been going through a very dry time at this point and had been asking God: “How long? How long before things change?” At this conference lots of people began independently to prophesy that they saw he had been waiting on God and “God says that the time is now!” Doug took this by faith and started to align his life as if the dry time was over and God was about to release him into the new thing Doug had been sensing and looking for.

WEEKS OF VISITATION
Suddenly, angels began to visit him, standing over his bed at night or appearing in dreams and releasing strategies. One dream in particular showed Doug the gathering angels released by God to draw in souls, in particular in this dream those rejected by the church. God showed him that squadrons of these gathering angels were being sent to different places all over the earth. With this dream came the sense of the fear of God, and Doug knew he was experiencing a very significant assignment of angels to bring about this new purpose God was releasing him into.

THREE ANGELS
Doug described three angels who seem to be around him most of the time after this point in his life. One is like fire, and when he is around people get healed instantly. The second is revelation, and when he is around everyone in the room begins to get revelation. The third angel is love, and when he is around the atmosphere is like liquid love – no one wants to leave those meetings! This has been Doug’s experience over the last eighteen months as God has released these angelic assignments to him, and taught him to minister in His glory.

AN IMPARTATION FOR THE UK
“The door in heaven that we spoke about earlier is still open”, continued Doug. “That door relates to the impartation I received a week before I came here, which is for the UK. Revelation 3:20 speaks about a door we can open, and Revelation 4:1 speaks about the door that is open in heaven after this. If we overcome unbelief and open the door where Jesus is knocking, the door in heaven becomes open to us. That door is open to us tonight, and what is flowing out is revelation, love and a supernatural impartation of peace. It’s going to break the shackles tonight!”

Doug prayed for people who had hands, feet, eyes and ears and hearts tingling as the anointing touched people, releasing evangelists with healing anointing. “You’re going to need that healing anointing over the next few days!” he told us. “God is lining up people who don’t know Him for you to meet, and you’re going to pray for them to be healed!” There was also prayer for breaking any kind of yoke, including debt.

Tonight’s meeting carried the peace of God’s sweet presence and His love. People stayed to drink Him in more and more. Already faith is rising for impossible dreams to become a reality!

India Mission Report, October 2009

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:32:20 +0100

Trevor and Sharon and a team have just returned from NE India where once again God has been doing amazing things. We always see increase when we go to India and this trip has been no exception!

FIRE BURNING IN THE HILLS!
Trevor and Sharon began their trip with a short visit to Word of Life Church in Gangtok, where Daniel Chhetri, a great friend of Revival Fires, is pastor. Trevor and Sharon ordained several of the younger leaders from the church, and heard all about what God has been doing in this area of Sikkim where they have now been many times and each time seen the fire of God increasing and increasing!

HEARTS HEALED AND SET ON FIRE!
Time and time again God has poured out visions, supernatural experiences, healings and miracles in this beautiful city just below the Himalaya region. Just a couple of years ago Trevor and Sharon went to Gangtok to take a group of leaders through Encounter, and on this visit were delighted to hear that Daniel has been taking his church through Encounter and has now done 44 Encounter weekends in total, just in the last two and a half years! The fire continues to burn and Daniel’s church continues to grow, with a constant stream of new church plants springing up.

REVIVAL CHILDREN!
Next stop was Siliguri, home to Papa’s House, where we spent several hours with our Revival Children. There are now around 45 children at Papa’s House, all enjoying the two storey new facilities completed early last year. The children were so excited to see us all and to receive gifts from their sponsors here in the UK. They showed us round the building and sang songs for us including Ryan’s song “Hallelujah, God is good!” and another Hindi song about how knowing Jesus had made them heroes, not zero! We chatted with Benjamin and Swapna and their family about Papa’s House and the follow-up work after the latest crusade in the Dooars area, which is going well.

DON’T MISS THE MIRACLES!
Trevor and Sharon were the speakers for the four day Deeper Life conference which formed the main part of the trip. It was held at the wonderful Himcorce complex just outside Siliguri, home to Gautam Silal and his family and team. Numbers of leaders grew from around 400 on the first day to about 800 by the time the conference was over! They were from all over the region - Dooars, where we have held most of our crusades, Siliguri, Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Gangtok. One church alone brought 100 people! After many years of sowing into India, people now know in this region that they can expect miracles and great things to happen at our meetings and they rush to be a part of it!

OUR GOD IS MIGHTY!
Set firmly in the festival time of Diwali and with the parading and worship of idols around the streets not very far away, at the conference the message of Jesus, the only Saviour, rang out loud and clear – He is mighty to save! Passion grew, worship took us deeper into God’s presence in a way we have never seen before in India, bodies were healed, hearts set on fire, history-makers released!

TAKING THE PROMISED LAND!
This “Deeper Life” conference, held annually, focussed on “Preparing people for the purposes of God.” Trevor focussed his messages on the journey of Moses and the nation of Israel leaving Egypt and getting ready to take the Promised Land, emphasising the need to both receive revelation from God and also revelation from leaders who we are in relationship with and accountable to. He drew out the need to be distracted away from our agenda to the new thing that God wants to show us and encouraged men and women to gather around fathers and mothers in the faith, as Joshua stayed with Moses all his life. Sonship is the key to inheritance!

A LIFESTYLE OF HONOUR!
Sharon built further on this theme of relationship with a series of messages about honour, sparking a new lifestyle of forgiveness, seeing the greatness in others and encouraging one another. Queues formed at the end of her last message as people waited to encourage, honour and be reconciled with each other!

HEALINGS AND MIRACLES!
On Monday night Trevor saw a bowl of healing oil as we started the meeting, and began to call out words of knowledge for heart diseases, blood diseases, lung conditions and tuberculosis in particular. Around thirty people responded, received prayer and then queued up to give testimony – every one of them felt better!

A man with no energy found he could run around the room! A woman with pain in her chest found that the pain had gone. Another woman with a heart condition felt healed. A man with tuberculosis since childhood felt better and felt that he was healed. A boy with a heart condition and unable to walk very fast said: “ I find myself healed!” and could run around the room. A woman with chest and back pain felt much better. Another woman and a man both with breathlessness and heaviness due to a heart condition felt much lighter. A man’s vision was much improved after prayer.

Earlier in the day Trevor had prayed for our host pastor’s brother-in-law, who had severe fatigue and breathlessness due to a heart condition. He could barely climb even one step at a time to the conference hall without resting for long periods. After prayer he felt much better and was able to climb whole flights of stairs without resting! He found a new lease of life and went enthusiastically up and down the stairs to every session from then on, even the late night soaking session which he had been too exhausted to get to previously! Jesus is truly mighty to save and heal!

EXTRAVAGANT GIVING, EXUBERANT LIVING!
On the last day of the conference, Trevor prophesied over pastor Gautam and his Himcorce complex about future conferences and release in the area of the economy and worship. There were incredible scenes of exuberant worship and extravagant living later in the afternoon – no one wanted to stop giving!

FIRESTORM!
Another prophetic release followed, as Trevor led everyone in a prophetic activation God had shown him in the Spirit which broke down the barriers between people from the hill areas - Darjeeling, Gangtok and Kalimpong - and the plains region - Dooars and Siliguri. This was the fulfilment of a prophetic word God had given to Trevor at the Zero Stone in India many years earlier about a fire that spread from the hills to the plains and then back to the hills again. The fire of God was released and the scenes of celebration were incredible!

A NATION BEING BROUGHT INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD!
This has been another amazing time of seeing God move in this wonderful nation of India, of seeing a region grow in passion, worship and experience of the Lord Jesus’ saving power. We just know that this fire is going to spread and spread and we love being part of the journey of seeing this nation become part of the Kingdom of Heaven! Praise God for everything we have seen so far and for all that is to come for India!

Lukemia Healed!

Mon, 5 Oct 2009 15:06:07 +0100

Abigail Came from Ireland for two consecutive meetings in April 2009. Abigail had been extremely ill for months, and her doctor was about to send her for an examination. However, she asked for a week longer and came to Dudley!

At the meeting, Tom had a word for someone who had a problem with their blood or lukemia. She didn't think the word was for her, but as she returned to Ireland, she realised it was a word for her!

Abigail came back to Revival Fires again and this time Louise had a word for someone who had suffered for all of their life from oppression, and they were pleading with God to be healed. Abigail claimed this word for yourself, having missed responding previously, and she received a miracle! Since then, Abigail has been able to eat normally and her blood test results have been clear!

Praise God for this awesome healing!

India Report

Thu, 1 Oct 2009 15:04:38 +0100

Benjamin and George have recently met with all of the follow-up team members. During their lunch they each told their stories of what God was doing in their area. These are reports from the team leaders, in their own words:

Reshil Iswarary

Area of operation: 1. Samuktala 2. Kohinoor Tea estate, 3. Salbari, 4. Pokhoriya

In his first visit to Pohkoriya there was a cancer patient. This family belongs to Santhal community and Trevor had prayed for them during Samuktala crusade in November. This man is healed from cancer and the entire Family has received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. God is working through this family's testimony and two other families have also come to the Lord because of this healing miracle!

Animesh Narjinary:

Area of Operation: 1. Madarihat, 2. Ethelbari Gopalpur Tea estate.

Animesh shared about a Family from Madarihat. They were unable to have children, but at the Birpara crusade they came and Trevor prayed for this couple. Recently they came to know about the follow-up team working in Madarihat area and they meet with Animesh and Reshil and shared about the wonderful miracle and blessing in their life after prayer at the Birpara Crusade. The couple joyfully thanked God and the husband said that now his wife ‘Rina’ has conceived and she is eight months pregnant. Because of this miracle, the couple’s father in-law and mother in-law are have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their saviour. By the testimony and miracle of Rina and her family other neighbours are influenced and want to know more about Jesus and His teachings.

Bablu Majhi:

Area of Operation: 1. Subashsini 2.Malangini 3.Falakata 4. Hatipota.

Bablu shared his testimony and said that while working in Falakata 12 families have already accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and saviour. He also meets with several other families in his area. One girl came to the crusade with a tumor, after prayer at the Samuktala Crusade she was completely healed. One old woman, who had acute skin problem on her entire body and many blisters, came in for healing prayer at the crusade and she was healed completely. During our follow-up work we did meet this old woman and now she is completely healed and has become a believer in the Lord. One 4 years old girl child was suffering as she could not walk since birth. After attending our crusade in Birpara this girl was healed and this family is now coming to our life-group fellowship.

Please pray for Bablu and his family, especially for his sons and daughter, he wants them to grow more in the Lord and have a good upbringing.

Sanjiv Mochary:

Area of Operation: 1. Patkapara 2. Hanta Para 3. Kadambini

Sanjiv shared his updates, he is spending a lot of time with several families and has been praying for many with TB. In Patkapara a 50 year old man, whose name is Subodh, was suffering from tuberculosis and after regular prayer and fellowship he is now healed. In this family there was 6 members and whole family have received Jesus as their saviour. In Hantapara 4 families have received Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and are regularly coming to the Prayer fellowship. One woman her name is Uma, was suffing from tuberculosis and after prayer in Samuktala crusade she was healed and the entire family came to know the Lord.

Praise the Lord for all the fruit and continued healing in this region!

Take Your Mountain, Impact Your Culture

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 16:46:06 +0100

HEALING BREAKING IN!
The meeting started this morning with two testimonies of God’s goodness! Viola shared how her back pain was healed a day or so after receiving prayer while standing at her kitchen sink! Suddenly she felt drops of liquid running down her back and realised that the drops were anointing oil. All the pain in her back disappeared in that moment and she had free movement once again! Patrick also shared how after receiving prayer he had been quickly healed of a stomach bug, which had left many of his colleagues ill for days!

JESUS DIED SO THAT WE CAN REIGN ON EARTH
Ryan continued to build on his message about renewing our mindsets so that we can take the Promised Land and begin to impact and overcome the culture that we live in. Beginning in the book of Revelation, Ryan reminded us that Jesus died so that we can reign on this earth, making the kingdoms of this world the kingdoms of our God. He then went on to inspire us from Psalm 24, one of the psalms of ascent that the nation of Israel used to pray as they went up to Jerusalem for the appointed feasts, seeing the whole land laid out before them and declaring that the glory of the Lord would fill the whole earth.

SPEAK TO THE MOUNTAINS!
“The earth is the Lord’s and we need to be bold and audacious,” continued Ryan. “We need to go to mountains that are already inhabited and take them over, just as Israel took over their promised land from seven nations already living there. These mountains we are called to inhabit already belong to God! We have the authority to speak to these mountains - God’s authority!”

REVIVAL!
Ryan shared a vision he had just before the Outpouring started last year of a book flying over the nation of the UK; on the book was written the word: “Revival.” We had a similar word just before the meeting this morning, that in this land we are going to see people saved and healed in this season. “The culture of our church has changed since the Outpouring last year but have we seen that change in our culture, outside the church? asked Ryan. “We are on a journey, and we are becoming a people of power. Our church culture will change the culture outside. God promises: “Of the increase of His kingdom there will be no end.’ We just keep on going up, not working up a sweat but flowing in the oil of His anointing!”

BE A CLIMATE CHANGER!
Culture is a system of values to which a set of people adhere, and we can go and change that culture. God wants us to be thermostats: people, who change the climate around us, not align ourselves with it. With God’s presence inside us we become atmosphere changers, and what you change, what you impact, what you influence outside of the church building is in your hands. “What does you life say?” challenged Ryan. “What atmosphere are you creating? How are you going to make the Lord famous? It’s time to take the value system and the atmosphere that we enjoy here in church out there into Dudley and the place where you live!”

CREATING A CULTURE THAT JESUS CAN STEP INTO
When God made a covenant with the nation of Israel and gave them the Law and the Ten Commandments, His intention was to create a momentum of culture that Jesus could step into. We can create a culture of heaven here on earth that Jesus can step into, by the lives we lead, by the choices we make and by the words we speak.

WHAT CULTURE ARE YOU CREATING
AROUND YOUR LIFE?
Ryan drew out three main points from Psalm 24 to help us focus our lives on creating the culture of heaven here on earth. We need to be a people of purity, with clean hands and a pure heart, separate from the culture around us; we need to be a people satisfied above everything else with God’s presence, with none of the enemy’s hooks in us that would ensnare us; we need to be a people who speak the truth and are faithful with everything that God gives to us.

“Know your authority, and use whatever gifts God has given you to infect your culture,” said Ryan. “Be a people of a different spirit, like Caleb, so that we look at the culture around us and say to God: “Give me that mountain!”

WATCH THIS MEETING ON REVIVALFIRES.TV!

Overcoming Fear - Freedom

Sun, 6 Sep 2009 10:48:26 +0100

FREE TO ATTEMPT GREAT THINGS FOR GOD
Sharon continued with her message about overcoming life-controlling fears this morning. “Ask yourself: are you overtaken by fear in any area of your life?” she said. “I want this church to be full of men and women and children who are free of fear and able to attempt great things for God!”

WALKING IN THE REALM OF FAITH, NOT FEAR
Fear is an emotion that can take hold of us so firmly and set us up to expect bad things to happen. It can be a defence mechanism that we think protects us from danger, but if we walk down the road of fear it controls us and binds us. “We need to walk in the realm of faith, so that we respond to situations out of love, sound reasoning, power and self-control,” said Sharon.

CHOOSING NOT TO FEAR
Whether we find ourselves struggling with fear of spiders, flying, driving, social situations or leaving the house, we need to be set free from whatever we are afraid of so that we can make new choices and not be bound by the past. Jesus commands each of us: “Don’t be afraid.” We need to be honest with ourselves, and recognise: when we are afraid, do we feel we have a choice – to choose not to fear, as Jesus commands us, or have we lost that choice and are bound in a spirit of fear?

FEAR MUST BE OVERCOME, NOT AVOIDED
Fear takes your eyes off God and others and keeps them on you. You become consumed with the need prompted by the fear: “How can I get out of this situation?” We need not to avoid the situation and make excuses for ourselves, but to push through and overcome. Sharon shared how she had a fear of falling resulting from several falls during her life and how she began to overcome this while using a huge long escalator in an airport recently. She was able to use the escalator instead of avoiding it and having to walk a very long way, and later was even able to laugh about the whole issue.

Everyone’s fears are unique and very personal. They stop you being yourself and even enjoying yourself. We often just need to laugh at the enemy and the stronghold he thinks he has in our lives! “What are we afraid of?” Sharon asked us. ”Looking silly? God wants us to be free to be ourselves. Some of our situations are so ridiculous – lighten up about it! Don’t be so intense! Get someone to help you through – learn to laugh at yourself and get free from the fear with help!”

CONSTRAINED BY THE SPIRIT, NOT BY FEAR
In Acts 20 Paul describes himself as compelled by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, knowing that it will probably result in his death. He was not bound by fear of being killed or shipwreck, but committed to the purpose that he knew God had for him, and responded to the Spirit that was leading him. We need to be constrained by God’s purposes for our lives, no longer bound by fear and afraid to take risks. “Think about what you would like to do and go for it!” encouraged Sharon. “Overcoming fear is an everyday thing – every time we get up in the morning. Sometimes it’s the small things that we are afraid of that we need to step into. You don’t need just to cope with fear – deal with it in your heart and find God’s solution.”

IT’S TIME TO DO AWAY ALL THE FEAR
Franklin Roosevelt said: “You have nothing to fear except fear itself.” Our heart can be disjointed if we have a serious stronghold of fear, and when you are fearful it changes your life. Hebrew 2:13-14 tells that having a fear of death makes us subject to bondage. There will always be testing events which may cause you to be afraid but it does not have to be an automatic fear. We do not have to be afraid. So what is the answer?

DISPLACING FEAR WITH PERFECT LOVE
1 John 4:18 tells us that perfect love casts out all fear, and if we want to overcome fear in our lives we need to be filled with God’s love and presence. We need to discover and know by experience His truth. The fullness of God replaces what the enemy would fill you with so that there is no room for fear. As we are filled more and more with God’s presence and come to maturity our fears start to go quickly. We recognise them and kick them out together with the mechanisms with which we protected ourselves.

FILLED FOR FREEDOM!
“Then we can really declare: “I am free!” said Sharon. “Then we can say that the work of Jesus on the cross is really having its way in our lives and we are being more and more filled with Christ and Holy Spirit. Be filled with God and let Him deal with fear in your life that would prevent you from being who you are in your everyday life. Let your only fear be respect and honour and awe of the God who can set you free!”

Overcoming Fear - Take the handbreak off!

Fri, 4 Sep 2009 10:48:05 +0100

TAKE OFF THE HANDBRAKE OF FEAR!
“The message I’ve got tonight is going to set you free,” Sharon said as she began her message tonight. “I want to see you accelerating in your calling and destiny and into the purposes of God for your life!” When you are driving a car and accelerating you are not using any other pedal at all. There is no use of the clutch or brake. You’re just getting somewhere fast. We want to be running with all we have towards all that God has for us, but fear can be like a handbrake, and we need to know how to release that handbrake.”

STIR UP THE GIFT OF GOD WITHIN YOU
We need to recognise those areas of our life where we are experiencing guilty fear, hiding from God and people, just as Adam and Eve hid from God in the garden of Eden after they had sinned. We need to recognise where we feel weak and inadequate, but are covering it up so that no one knows how we feel. We need to recognise where fear makes us control situations and other people. 2 Timothy 1:6-7 reminds us to stir up the gift of God within us, because we have not been given a spirit of fear but one of power, love and a sound mind. God can cleanse us, not just from sin, but also from the guilt of our sin, as Psalm 32 tells us.

FEAR ENTERS WHEN WE BELIEVE A LIE
Using the example of Elijah being threatened by Jezebel and fleeing for his life in 1 Kings 19, Sharon reminded us of how often fear enters our lives when we believe a lie. Despite supernatural food and angelic visitations, Elijah could not get rid of that fear which gripped his heart. He had allowed the lies of fear to cloud his vision of who God is.

THE TRUTH SETS US FREE
We do not stay in the place of being depressed and discouraged about the past, the present or the future, because knowing the truth sets us free. Sharon moved on to Matthew 14, where the disciples are in a storm in their boat, crying out in fear, and Jesus walks out on the water close to them. Peter chooses even in the midst of that fear to focus his eyes on Jesus and take a risk to get out of the boat and walk towards Jesus on the water. He is doing well until he begins to take his eyes off Jesus and focus on the waves, and then he starts to sink, but Jesus catches him.

KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS
“Don’t disqualify yourself if you identify a fearful heart,” Sharon continued. “Storms may be in your life and the winds may be tossing you, but instead of being afraid, see that it is Jesus himself in front of you. You are going to make the shore and the safe harbour. Be of good cheer!” If we choose to let go of fear, Jesus will keep our eyes on him, so why not take a risk, step out and go for whatever God has been inviting you to do?

ARE YOU RACKED WITH FEAR,
OR REVVING YOUR ENGINE?
Matthew 25 speaks about the parable of the talents, and Sharon drew our attention to the last man in the parable, who did not do anything with what had been given him. Fear can make us too scared to do anything at all, indecisive and paralysed. “God has given you unique gifts and anointings. Is fear going to cause you to hide those things in the ground or hide ourselves among the baggage, like Saul?” Sharon challenged us. “Say instead that however little gifting or anointing you feel that you’ve got you are going to seek God for how to invest it and how to use what He has have given you.”

FEAR CHANGES OUR PERCEPTION AND OUR OUTLOOK
People do not have power over our lives unless we give it to them. If we listen to fear we will feel that people are controlling our lives and also may become controlling ourselves. We need to base our outlook not on fear but on God’s promises and character. He wants us to be fearless. The truth will set us free so that we are no longer controlled by fear but constrained by His presence. He is the antidote to that weakness that we feel!

‘MY PRESENCE WILL GO WITH YOU”
Exodus 33 tells the story of Moses being sent by God but still finding an unresolved fear in his heart. He starts to reason with God and ask: “Who will come with me?” It is always the promise of His presence being with us that enables us to do whatever He is asking us to do, whether to deliver a nation, get out of a boat and walk on water, speak to someone about Jesus or work out a difficult relationship.

Sharon finished by encouraging us to know that God is always with us, whatever fear we are overcoming. “1 John 4:18 tells us that “Perfect love casts out all fear”, and God wants to come alongside you and say to you as He said to Abraham: “Don’t be afraid! I am your shield and your very great reward.” He wants to change your life and your outlook. So let’s get free from fear and put our foot down on the accelerator. Take off that handbrake of fear, because your God is right beside you and He is never going to leave you!”