We have been discussing the topic of health and we are going to continue to do that here in segment number 6 of our study on health: What the Scriptures REALLY Teach About Health. And we want to talk about this, a very important topic for us to discuss.

If we want to have good health, it is important that we understand what Yahweh actually says about it. And He has a lot to say about it.

In fact, as I have said before, the entire Scriptures from cover to cover is essentially a health message, a message on how we can escape death and inherit eternal life.

And it’s an explanation of how we got here, where we are now and where we are going, and how we can go to a place of eternal life through Messiah Yahushua, our Master and Savior, who died for our sins, and did so much more for us.

There are five other segments of how the wounds, and different parts of our lives and different sections of Scripture, and how they speak about health, and last week we talked quite a bit about the wounds we have in our hearts and how these can result in disease and sicknesses.

If you missed that portion, I encourage you to go back and watch. We are laying a foundation for what we are talking about in the study today and I hope you did not miss last week.

But we see from Scriptures that a wounded heart can cause what Scripture calls a “broken spirit.”

Proverbs 15:13 – A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, But by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.

A wounded heart can result in a broken spirit. And this word “sorrow” here, translated “sorrow,” right here, has to do with heart wounds. And by the wounds of the heart, the spirit is broken.

It says:

Proverbs 18:14 – The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, But who can bear a broken spirit?

So a broken spirit is from a wounded heart.

Proverbs 17:22 – A merry heart does good, [like] medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.

We have examined in depth how this is related to our immune system even medically. And so, we have been discussing these Scriptures. We are going to continue to talk about these and add some new Scriptures as well.

The person who has a wounded heart has difficulty and inner turmoil, often times in their minds, and therefore their bodies are in a state of having frequent fears and frequent anxieties.

I mean it is fairly normal to some extent. Someone, I read this week, was out on the ocean for 438 days I think it was. And they survived 438 days, I think it was, out in the ocean and ended up on the Marshall Islands and, unbelievably, made it.

And he lived off of fish he caught with his hands and different things. And after that happened, he didn’t want to go in the water anymore. He was afraid of the water. And, you know, kind of understandable there. He was pretty sick of water after living there over a year, just living day to day trying to survive.

So in a lesser degree, we, as human beings, will have fears and anxieties based on prior experiences. And, to some degree, that can be normal. But there are times when fears and anxieties cause us to have difficulty with something that Scripture tells us that we must do, and that is trust in Yahweh.

And many people feel, even though they might be believers, that at one point in their lives Yahweh may have let them down. And so, they may live in fear and anxiety that maybe they will be let down again. And there are some who may feel as though Yahweh is letting them down even today.

I heard a story recently about a man who would come over to the Niagara Falls. And he actually constructed a high wire to go over the Niagara Falls. And he was able to walk on the high wire across the Niagara Falls, and people were amazed that he had that kind of boldness and confidence that he could actually cross the Niagara Falls on a high wire.

And then he went back and he actually took a wheelbarrow across this same high wire, this Niagara Falls. That is how much confidence he had in his balancing ability.

And then he looked down and he saw a little boy. And he said to the little boy, “How about if I take you on my back and carry you across the other way?” And the little boy said, “No way am I going to do that!” And I think I would agree with him. I couldn’t do that.

And then he says, “Why not? Don’t you believe in me?” The little boy says, “Yeah, I believe in you. You did it twice. But I don’t trust you.”

There can be a difference between belief and trust. Belief says, “Okay, yeah, I believe. I believe that this is true.” But then trust requires that belief to be tested as to whether or not we are going to truly and genuinely practice that belief by actions. And I think the same is true for many of us as “believers.”

Not all believers are trusters. Not all believers can easily put that faith into action. And what we want to be is a kind of people who don’t just say they believe, but are willing to trust and demonstrate that they believe. And this is why Yahushua talked about faith quite a bit. He is looking for people that are willing to trust.

Now there are some people that feel Yahweh is letting them down every day. Maybe they are in an abusive situation and don’t feel that there is a way of escape. And listen, if you are in an abusive situation, my heart goes out to you.

You need counseling. You need the protective arms of the body of Messiah coming together to protect you, to aid you, to guide you toward a way of escape.

And if you are that kind of person, if you are in that kind of situation, please, I encourage you to contact me: disciple@eliyah.com. I might be able to help you. And I know I can put you in touch with an elder and maybe get you out of that situation in one fashion or another.

Now when it comes to health, Yahweh has given us relationships in our life, and the quality of those relationships can have a tremendous impact on our health, as we looked at last week and we are going to look at again in this segment.

There are three relationships that can have an impact on our health:

1. Our relationship with Yahweh. If our relationship with Yahweh lacks love, security and trust, it can have an impact on our health.

2. Our relationship with others. If our relationship with others consists of bitterness, of unforgiveness, then our health can be impacted by that.

3. Our relationship with ourselves. If we don’t have a true sense of worth, a true sense of love for ourselves, it can have an impact on our health.

And I am not stretching it. This is medically I can demonstrate this and scripturally. Having problems in one of these three relationships can result in fears and anxieties.

And because of this, our body, if we are living in a state of fear and anxiety, or frequent fear and frequent anxiety, maybe we have panic attacks. That is one physical manifestation of the problems that can arise when someone lives in fear.

Cortisol is what our body releases when we have a fearful moment, a “fight or flight” moment. It can be good for you in a temporary dangerous situation, but if it is left on for prolonged periods of time, the ongoing drip of cortisol, as we have been talking about the last two segments, can produce disease.

I am going to share briefly, for those who may have missed it: “If you’re in danger, cortisol is good for you… but if it becomes unregulated it can produce disease.” That is according to Dr. Philip Gold of the National Institute of Mental Health. This is a National Institute of Mental Health.

Yahweh’s Word has the solution to fear. What is the solution? Here is an example… Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 5, it says:

Proverbs 3:5 – Trust in YAHWEH with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, not part. Not one part you are going to keep for yourself, and just make sure nothing… no, He says all your heart.

Proverbs 3:6 – In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

7 – Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear YAHWEH and depart from evil.

Do not be wise in your own eyes, trusting in yourself. Fear Yahweh and depart from evil. Guess what happens? This is a promise from the Scriptures:

Proverbs 3:8 – It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.

This is a promise from Yahweh’s Word. Do you want health in your body? Is that what you are looking for? Here is a solution for you: Put your trust in Yahweh with all your heart. Don’t lean on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in everything, and He will direct your paths.

Fear Yahweh. Depart from evil. This will result in health to your flesh and strength to those bones that are not producing an adequate amount of T-cells and different things that aid our body in fighting off illness and disease.

We see a broken spirit coming from a wounded heart dries up the bones. It is a medical fact our bone marrow produces these immune responses. But we see something here that trusting in Yahweh causes health and this is a huge area where a lot of diseases can arise.

Even Yahushua spoke of how fear can affect a person’s health. Did you know that? He actually talked directly about how fear can affect a man’s health. Luke 21:25 says:

Luke 21:25 – And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;

Men’s hearts failing them from what? From fear. And so, men will be fearful and their health will fail, in this case, their heart, because of the fear that is residing in the heart.

Let me tell you, fear can be a cruel, cruel taskmaster. I think back to some of the most miserable times in my life and it was always when I allowed fear and anxiety to spring up within my heart and to take root. And Yahweh did not create our bodies to withstand the constant living in this kind of condition.

Now I want to point out here a few things according to the medical field, just things they have noticed. And what they have noticed is right in line with what Scripture actually says.

First of all, the effect of stress on the body: * Forty-three percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress. That means forty-three percent of all adults have some kind of health problem from stress.

And get this: *Seventy-five percent to 90% of all doctor’s office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints. Three-quarters to ninety percent!

It says: * Stress can play a part in problems such as headaches, high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, skin conditions, asthma, arthritis, depression, and anxiety.

* The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) declared stress a hazard of the workplace. Stress costs the American industry more than billion annually.

* The lifetime prevalence of an emotional disorder is more than 50%, often due to chronic, untreated stress reactions. This is according to WebMD – “The Effects of Stress on Your Body”: http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/effects-of-stress-on-your-body.

The American Psychological Association identifies stress as something that can cause the following ailments:

* Migraine and Tension Headaches

* Variety of Musculoskeletal conditions

* Asthma attacks

* Panic attacks

* High Blood Pressure/Hypertension

* Heart attacks

* Stroke

* Diabetes

* Heartburn/Acid Reflux

* Vomiting

* Ulcers

* Diarrhea

* Constipation

* Sterility

* Prostate problems

* Infections

* Abnormal menstrual cycles

* Premenstrual Syndrome

Source: http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress-body.aspx

And this is by no means a complete list. There is so much information available on how chronic stress impacts pretty much every area of our body. Now what are some of the stressors that they have found that can create stress?

* Environmental stressors. That would be hypo or hyper-thermic temperatures, elevated sound levels, over-illumination, overcrowding.

There are: * Daily stress events (e.g., traffic, lost keys, quality and quantity of physical activity) * Life changes like divorce and bereavement * Workplace stressors such as high job demand vs. low job control, repeated or sustained exertions, forceful exertions, extreme postures.

* Chemical stressors (e.g., tobacco, alcohol, drugs) * Social stressor (e.g., societal and family demands). Source: Wikipedia article on “Stressors.”

Now think about this for a moment. If someone was at peace, if someone had trust in Yahweh, a vast majority of these stressors would not have the impact on the body that someone who did not have someone to turn to.

Now some of these are normal life events. We all lose family members, bereavement. We may have stressful times at work trying to get something done in a certain amount of time or something like that. But, you know, Yahweh provided us with stress relief, things that we are actually commanded to do that provide stress relief.

And one of the things He provided– and I have talked about this before– was the Sabbath so our minds and bodies could rest.

He provided for us His Holidays: Passover; the seven-day-long Feast of Unleavened Bread in the spring; Pentecost fifty days after that; four Holidays in the fall to observe, including the seven-day-long Feast of Tabernacles with the eighth day, which is the Last Great Day, attached to it.

And He provided these Days to help us draw nearer to Yahweh, to hear His Word and so that we could get, our bodies could get, the rest we need so we could overcome the stresses of everyday life.

One-seventh of our lives. Think about it. One-seventh of our lives devoted to keeping the Sabbath Day, a day that was set apart on the seventh day of creation week, a day that was so important Yahweh kept it Himself. And some think, “Well, you know, I can just take one day out of seven.”

But, you know, that is not what Yahweh says. He says He sanctified a specific day at creation, the seventh day of the week.

Yahushua kept that day. You only have to go back two thousand years to know Yahweh preserved that day for four thousand years. Certainly, He will preserve it for the next two thousand.

And historically, yes, we can prove the seventh day we observe today is the same seventh day Yahushua observed. But if we are willing to take His Day, the Day He commanded, the Day He set apart as the Day of Rest, I think we will be blessed with better health when we rest. I mean, it is just logical.

When you rest on the Day He set apart, I think He will give you extra blessings for obedience and maybe give you a break from the enemy. Yahushua Himself followed that example. He is our example. We know what to do.

But there are other causes of stress. One of the chief causes of stress is ongoing anxiety.

It speaks of anxiety causing health problems: “If you repeatedly feel anxious and stressed, or if it lasts a long time, your body never gets the signal to return to normal functioning. That can weaken your immune system, leaving you more vulnerable to viral infections.

“According to Harvard Medical School, studies have shown an increased rate of anxiety and panic attacks in people with chronic respiratory disease (COPD). COPD patients with anxiety tend to be hospitalized more often. Prolonged stress may lead to a general feeling of ill health.

“Your excretory and digestive systems also suffer. According to Harvard Medical School, there may be a connection between anxiety disorders and the development of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) after a bowel infection. IBS can cause vomiting, diarrhea, or constipation.”

And I really think they are just scratching the surface here.

“Other symptoms include muscle tension, headaches, and insomnia. Frequent panic attacks can cause you to fear the anxiety attacks themselves, thereby increasing overall anxiety.”

That is according to Healthline, a medical website. Yet I really think they have only scratched the surface here. What many people are calling stress is actually from anxiousness, from fears, and there may not be even a more stressful existence, really, than to live with ongoing fear and anxiety. Fear and anxiety are actually creating the stress.

You know, other people might be able to handle a similar situation you are going through because they don’t have fears. They don’t have anxieties. But maybe you have difficulty facing everyday job things, life things, just life happening, because there is a lot of fear and anxiety that is built up within you.

And there are millions and millions of people who are living with this every day– even believers.

And when I say fear, I am not talking about a fear of Yahweh. That is healthy. I am talking about a fear of man, a fear of circumstances, a fear of death… all kinds of different fears. And there is really seemingly no end to the amount of fears that are out there.

Continuing here, Healthline says: “The constant state of stress can lead to clinical depression. You are also at increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. If you already have heart disease, anxiety disorders may raise the risk of coronary events.” Source: http://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/effects-on-body

Coronary events. Guess what that is? Heart attacks! Scripture says, Yahushua said it Himself– “men’s hearts failing them from fear.” Yahushua spoke it two thousand years ago. We don’t need a medical reference even to tell us.

Now there is just a myriad of different things that people can be afraid of: Fear of pain, fear of disease, fear of death, fear of animals, fear of snakes, fear of spiders, fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of poverty, fear of abandonment, fear of responsibility, fear of the unknown… That is a HUGE one!

I think 60 Minutes and Dateline make a living on that one.

Fear of being robbed, fear of being unsaved, fear of a relative dying, fear of being alone, fear arising from superstitions, fear of house fires, fear of suffocation, fear of bad news, fear of shame, fear of allergies, fear of the dark, fear of evil, fear of change, fear of criticism…

And FINALLY… fear of the future. And this last one here, the fear of the future, really is kind of what all of these are about: “Maybe I’ll be robbed.” “Maybe I’ll die.” “Maybe I’ll be alone.” “Maybe I’ll have a house fire.” “Maybe I’ll have an animal hurt me.” Or, “Maybe I’ll have shame.” Or, “Maybe this will happen or that will happen.”

It is pretty much most of the fears have to do with a fear of the future. And if we let Satan have his way, we would be fearing a pop can, too. I mean, we would be fearing almost everything, and we would be afraid of our own shadow if he had his way.

There are actually 4,000 different kinds of fear so far in psychological reference manuals. Most of these involve the fear of the future. They are not fears based on something happening right now. They are a fear of what may happen.

Now before we go any further, I want to say there is a difference between a healthy fear and an unhealthy fear. A healthy fear would be, okay, we are driving down a two-lane road. I will not purposely, intentionally drive into the lane where traffic is coming at me 60 mph unless I have a clear view of the traffic in that lane.

An unhealthy fear would be living in absolute dread that someone at some point may suddenly at the last minute cross over to my lane of traffic and hit me head on and I die or I suffer.

Now the second fear is not based on any factual information that is happening right now. It is only based on what may happen one day. Do we understand the difference?

Healthy fear is based on truth, one from a sound mind. A healthy fear is from a sound mind looking at a situation, diagnosing it correctly, seeing it is unwise to cross into the other lane.

The unhealthy fear is basically terrorism. You can’t control what the other person does at the last second coming into your lane. It is a lose-lose situation. You can’t escape. That is an unhealthy fear of death.

Now if you are not sure which one it is, you can pray, “Yahweh, let me know what this is. Teach me what it is. I don’t want whatever is not from You.”

But Yahushua taught us the dangers of projecting into the future things that don’t exist. And He actually said:

Matthew 6:34 – Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day [is] its own trouble.

Now Scripture says that demons know there is one Elohim, and they tremble over the thought that there is one Elohim, right? We have heard that Scripture in James. Scripture says when Yahushua confronted the demon, they were afraid He would torment them before the time.

And guess what? They want you to be like them. They want to express themselves through you: fear of torment… fear of death… fear of the future. And so, Scripture diagnoses properly that these are spirits of fear.

2Timothy 1:7 – For Elohim has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Elohim has not given us a spirit of fear, but… of POWER, LOVE, and a SOUND MIND. And these unclean spirits will drop thoughts into your head, thoughts of fear. But I want you to notice there is one common denominator between fear and faith. One thing in common. They both project into the future. And both demand to be fulfilled.

Faith says: “No matter what happens, Yahweh is with me. I’ll be okay. After all, I have eternal life abiding in me. HalleluYah!” Fear says: “Oh, look at all the things that might happen. You don’t want that to happen to you. You don’t want to suffer, do you?”

Fear says: “You know, Yahweh doesn’t like you anyway. He wants to torment you before the time. He wants to torment you now and He will torment you again on judgment day.” That is the spirit of fear.

That is why those devils were saying, “What do we have to do with you, Son of Elohim? Have You come tormenting us before the time?” And begged Him not to torment them. They know their future. That is why they tremble.

And so, they want to live out their fears through you. They want to express themselves on the earth. They don’t have any control over what goes on in the earth except if they can get some person to use to create havoc on the earth.

And by entertaining a spirit of fear, we are saying, “Oh, I can’t trust Yahweh. I have to take control of my own life.” The heart is saying, “Yahweh, I believe You, but I just don’t trust You. You can’t meet my needs as a protector. I have to make sure I step in.”

You know, there was a king by the name of Asa. Asa was a good king. He started off really well. In fact, Scripture says:

1Kings 15:11 – Asa did [what was] right in the eyes of YAHWEH, as [did] his father David.

12 – And he banished the perverted persons from the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.

13 – Also he removed Maachah his grandmother from [being] queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of Asherah. And Asa cut down her obscene image and burned [it] by the Brook Kidron.

Now it goes on to say, if you read this whole chapter (which we are not going to have time to read the whole thing, but you can go back and look at it), he had this army of Ethiopians come up against him. We are talking a million men… a million!… who came up against him.

And because he put his trust in Yahweh, Yahweh delivered him from a million man army. And then later he actually gathered some of the people from Ephraim and Manasseh and Simeon who came over to him in great numbers because they saw Yahweh was with him. And they joined him.

And we see where he removed his own grandmother from being queen mother because she had made an obscene image. And so, he was really going really well there for a while.

But then the king of the northern tribes, Baasha, came up against Judah, and rather than Asa trusting in Yahweh like he did before, he decided to take some silver and gold from the treasuries of Yahweh’s house and give it to the king of Syria as wages to go against Baasha and to defeat Baasha for him.

And so, that is what happened. The king of Syria came and defeated Baasha for him. And after this a prophet came. His name was Hanani the seer.

2Chronicles 16:7 – And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on YAHWEH your Elohim, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.

“Because you have relied on the king of Syria.” A man.

2Chronicles 16:8 – Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on YAHWEH, He delivered them into your hand.

9 – For the eyes of YAHWEH run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of [those] whose heart [is] loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.

The eyes of Yahweh run to and fro throughout the whole earth. Why? To show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. He says, “Because you did not trust Me, we are going to send you more wars.” And the eyes of Yahweh are looking for those whose heart is loyal.

Actually, the word “loyal” is from the Hebrew word “shalem.” It means “complete,” “safe,” “peaceful,” “perfect,” “whole,” “full,” “at peace.”

Lexicon: 08003 shalem {shaw-lame’} Meaning: 1) complete, safe, peaceful, perfect, whole, full, at peace 1a) complete 1a1) full, perfect 1a2) finished 1b) safe, unharmed 1c) peace (of covenant of peace, mind) 1c1) perfect, complete (of keeping covenant relation).

Origin: from 07999; TWOT – 2401d; adj Usage: AV – perfect 16, whole 4, full 2, just 1, peaceable 1, misc 3; 27.

It is actually related to the Hebrew word “shalom.” It has to do with completeness, being at peace, walking in faith, walking in trust. When you have peace, you are walking in faith. You are at peace with situations that arise.

And Yahweh is looking for people whom He can show Himself strong to. Because why? They are putting their trust in Him. Their hearts are loyal to Him. They are putting their trust in Him rather than man.

Think about that. His eyes are scanning to and fro the whole earth looking for people who have peacefulness and contentment in their heart to just trust Yahweh to take care of them. He is looking for people who will do that. Are we willing to do that? That is the question.

Asa would have done well if he heeded the Scripture to trust in Yahweh with all his heart, and lean not on his own understanding, acknowledge Him in all His ways, let Yahweh direct his paths, not being wise in his own eyes, but fearing Yahweh and departing from evil.

He would have had health to his flesh and strength to his bones, but guess what happened? He did not have health in his flesh and strength in his bones and he got angry.

2Chronicles 16:10 – Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for [he was] enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed [some] of the people at that time.

11 – Note that the acts of Asa, first and last, are indeed written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

12 – And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek YAHWEH, but the physicians.

But who? The physicians. Now he was angry with this seer and he actually put him in… and this word “prison” actually in the Hebrew has to do with “stocks.” That means something to bind you, perhaps by your feet or by your hands.

And rather than humbling himself, he turned to bitterness and became angry at the prophet and, essentially, angry at Yahweh and bitter at Yahweh, who gave him these words. And he may have oppressed others, perhaps those who were trying to turn his heart back to Yahweh again.

But Asa lost his faith and began walking in fear and then he wouldn’t humble himself when confronted with the situation. He decided to put his trust in man. He actually decided to oppress those who tried to correct him, putting their feet and maybe their hands in stocks.

And so, what happened? His feet got diseased. His feet were not shod with peace as the Scripture says.

Ephesians 6:14 – Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

15 – and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

He was not in shalom there. His heart was not shalomed toward Yahweh (in shalom, at peace, in completeness). He had trouble in his heart. And not having those feet shod with the good news of peace, he became diseased. And it may have had to do with putting the seer in stocks as well.

But we see in his older days he lost faith– faith in the good news, faith in that Yahweh loves us, the good news. If we are willing to repent and put our trust in Him, He will save us and He will love us and He will take care of us.

He was no longer walking by faith. He decided to walk by sight. And so, rather than seeking Yahweh as to the reason for his disease, humbling himself, seeking forgiveness for his lack of loyalty, for his lack of trust, he decided to ignore Yahweh and went straight to physicians.

He wasn’t willing to have a loyal heart to Yahweh so Yahweh could show Himself strong on his behalf.

2Chronicles 16:9 – For the eyes of YAHWEH run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of [those] whose heart [is] loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.

And I kind of chuckle a little bit, you know, because it says, about the physicians, it says, “He did not seek Yahweh, but the physicians.”

2Chronicles 16:13 – So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign.

So this is like, “Of course! Of course, he is going to die, because he didn’t seek Yahweh. He sought the physicians.” Kind of matter-of-factly there… “Of course!”

As a side note, you will notice Yahushaphat was his son and, actually, when a large army came against him, he (his son) decided to put singers and praisers of Yahweh out there on the frontlines rather than men carrying swords and spears. And do you know what happened? They didn’t have to fight the war at all. The army had all killed each other.

Yahweh showed Himself strong to Yahushaphat because his heart was loyal, at peace, and content to trust in Yahweh with all his heart rather than leaning on his own understanding. And so, when Yahweh’s eyes looked at Yahushaphat, He showed Himself strong. That is what happened. How about us?

We see the repercussions with Asa, a person having difficulty with trusting in Yahweh, walking by faith, and he had a health problem as a result, just like Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 through 8, will tell us. And we may also have health problems because of our lack of shalom, our lack of contentment, our lack of trust.

And we see, certainly, it is the case medically. Medical science is showing stress and anxiety is a major cause of disease. And I don’t know of anyone living with fear and anxiety who would say they are not under stress. What are Yahushua’s instructions?

Matthew 6:34 – Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day [is] its own trouble.

Don’t worry about the future. Tomorrow will take care of itself. Don’t worry. Those are Yahushua’s words. Can you make one hair black or white? Can you add an inch to your height? Don’t worry about it. Relax. Be at peace.

2Timothy 1:7 – For Elohim has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

And these demons, they want to express themselves, their purpose and their leader’s ideology. They need man if they want to fully express themselves to the world. They don’t have any other way of doing it, so they want us to be their medium. They want us to send out their message.

They want us to conform to their laws, abide by their doctrines of demons. They want to shame Yahweh. They want to minimize Him, make Him seem as unreliable, as untrustworthy, as a distant Elohim who is not concerned about you, doesn’t really love you and doesn’t really value you. We can’t listen to those doctrines or they will become one with us.

If we are not learned in the ways of Yahweh and are willing to become one with Him, we may find ourselves under the control of Satan’s invisible kingdom in such a way that seems perfectly normal to us. Walking in fear becomes as normal as waking up every day or opening our refrigerator and getting a glass of water out.

I mean, it would be just so normal. But it is not the way Yahweh calls us to live. We have to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Scripture says:

1John 4:18 – 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.

We are lacking somewhere… perfection… because we are walking in fear. We must be transformed by the renewing of our minds. When we accept thoughts that are not of Yahweh’s Kingdom, we begin to have physical manifestations and emotions that are based on lies.

The fears are based on lies from the enemy. Yahweh wants His Law, His Word, to become an important part of us so that our physical manifestations and emotions are based on eternal truth. Satan wants our physical manifestations and emotions to be based on his lies. He has an unending fountain of them.

And so, we become people who are either thinking like Yahweh would have us think or a people who are thinking like the devil wants us to think and like he thinks. Everything we think, everything we say, everything we do can establish one kingdom or the other.

Fear and faith both project into the future. Faith says, “No matter what happens, Yahweh is with me. I will be all right.” Fear says, “Oh, look at all the things that may happen to you. You don’t want that to happen to you. You don’t want to suffer, do you?” And fear involves torment.

Fears are based on lies and sometimes a little half-truths. Yeah, you might suffer a little bit if this happens. Do you think you are going to go through life and never suffer? That is just not reality. We all are going to suffer in this life, but do you know what? The suffering we have in this life is the worst we will ever have.

This is it. This is as bad as it is going to get. It is the only hell we will ever experience if you want to call it that.

So what we need is, okay, to accept the fact we may experience some kind of negative situation, some kind of suffering, some kind of negative thing. But trust… you know what? With Yahweh, I can endure anything. There is nothing I have to worry about. Nothing can happen apart from Him giving the green light.

Do you know what?

Romans 10:17 – So then faith [comes] by hearing, and hearing by the word of Elohim.

Faith comes by hearing. So does fear. Satan wants to cause you to fear his words. But the more we set our minds on the Word of Yahweh, the more Yahweh opens up our ears to the truth, the more faith we will have and the less fears we will have.

Imagine living a life not being really afraid of much of anything. I kind of chuckle a little bit when I see those… you know… years ago men liked to put in the back window of their truck “No Fear.” Yeah, right. Then why do you have to put this sticker in the back window?

To let people know you don’t fear so they won’t do anything to mess with you. That’s why. Because you are afraid. You ain’t got me fooled one bit.

So let’s look again at the three relationships that can have an impact on health…

1. The relationship with Yahweh lacking love, security and trust.

2. The relationship with others having bitterness and unforgiveness.

3. The relationship with ourselves lacking love and a sense of worth.

Yahushua resolves every single one of them.

Now looking at the fear aspect, there are four areas that can grip and enslave a person in fear:

Fear of rejection by Yahweh – We fear that we are not saved; we fear responsibilities because we are afraid we might not measure up to the expectations involved.

There is a fear of rejection by men – We fear their criticism; we fear being shamed; and we are fearful of responsibility lest we be put to shame, lest we be rejected by men.

And then there is the fear of the future – Fear of abandonment, the fear of losing a family member, the fear of failure, the fear of rejection, the fear of poverty… I mean, all of these are really fear of the future, but… the fear of change, the fear of the unknown, fear of being alone, fear of coming out of superstitions…

Fear of fires, fear of bad news, fear of being robbed, fear of not being in control.

And then there is the fear of harm/death – Fear of disease, the fear of death, the fear of evil, fear of animals, fear of snakes and spiders, fear of suffocation, fear of allergies, fear of the dark.

We are not going to have time to go over all of these today, but looking more deeply here at a fear of rejection by Yahweh, this is an area where the enemy is more likely to have success when our hearts have been wounded by a parent, by an authority figure.

Do you ever feel like you just can’t get out from underneath the feeling in your heart that you are not quite up to par and Yahweh in heaven doesn’t really accept you?

And when you hear the Scriptures, do you just hear things that convict you or do you hear things that condemn you– you feel condemnation, it is condemnation and cursing and discouragement and all these things you are hearing?

If this is all you hear, you hear condemnation, cursing and discouragement when you read the Scriptures, you hear that you are not good enough, and they bind you in a chain and they lock you up and they criticize you and they cut you up, that is tormenting. That is an unhealthy fear.

Let me ask you a few questions here. What do you hear when you read Scriptures that speak against behavior that you have done or are doing? What do you hear?

Do you hear condemnation or conviction?

Do you hear cursing or do you hear correction?

Do you hear discouragement or encouragement in the way of rightness and holiness?

Do you hear that you are “never good enough” or do you hear, “Let’s take you to a higher level”?

Do you hear binding chains or do you hear liberty?

Do you hear cutting criticisms or do you hear instruction in righteousness?

Which side are you on? If you are on the left side, I suggest that you probably have some unhealthiness in your relationship with Yahweh that needs to be resolved, some lies that the enemy has told you, or there could be other reasons.

And I have a full study on this particular topic. I shared it on what the world calls May 30th, 2015 (5/30/2015). It is called: “Never Good Enough: Conviction or Condemnation?” Which do you hear?

And you can find the transcripts page just above the main page of EliYah.com, the very top. Click “Archives.” There you will find over 180 studies on different topics and one of them is called: “Never Good Enough: Conviction or Condemnation?”

Now I want to clear up some important distinctions when it comes to fear. Scripture says:

Isaiah 11:1 – There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.

2 – The Spirit of YAHWEH shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of YAHWEH.

3 – His delight [is] in the fear of YAHWEH, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;

This is talking about Yahushua. Yahushua had fear and he delighted in that fear. That is the fear of Yahweh.

Now there is a healthy fear of Yahweh and there is an unhealthy fear of Yahweh. This healthy fear of Yahweh is based on truth. A healthy fear is that we fear displeasing Yahweh because we love Him so much.

A healthy fear is that we know if we choose to live a life of willful sin, we could face judgment. That is a healthy fear.

But then there is a fear of Yahweh that is based on lies, and many people have difficulty believing Yahweh’s Word regarding His forgiveness and His mercy, that that would apply to them. They believe it is maybe for somebody else who seems more worthy and they won’t believe it for themselves.

That is based on a lie that Yahweh is a respecter of persons, His grace is not sufficient for us. It is based on a lie that Yahweh holds grudges like men hold grudges.

And those who have had condemning, unforgiving, distant or abusive parents are more susceptible to that kind of lie and they need to take on a new identity and to realize Yahweh is not like an earthly father. He will meet us right where we are. He is very patient as we seek and pursue righteousness and seek to overcome and live like Yahushua lived.

An unhealthy fear has a lack of faith in the love and promises of Yahweh.

1John 4:16 – And we have known and believed the love that Elohim has for us. Elohim is love, and he who abides in love abides in Elohim, and Elohim in him.

Do we know and do we believe His love?

1John 4:17 – Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

Imagine that! The day of judgment is coming. Yahweh is standing before you. And what do you have?

Memories of all your terrible, awful sins that you have done and now you are going to cower like a beat up dog ready to be swapped or you are going to have boldness in the day of judgment knowing and believing the love that Yahweh has for you, believing that Yahweh is love, and he who abides in love abides in Him, and Elohim in you.

And love will be perfected that you can have boldness in the day of judgment. Why? A key Scripture here: Because as He is, so are we.

How are we like Him? Isn’t Yahweh so much greater than we are? Absolutely! But do you know what? Because of Yahushua the Messiah, you are every bit as righteous.

Oh, that sounds scary. Wasn’t Yahushua perfectly righteous? Did He ever sin in one aspect at all? No, He was perfect, right? Well, His righteousness is what is in you. It is the righteousness of Yahweh that was placed in Yahushua and it is Yahushua’s righteousness that is placed in you.

And therefore, you have Yahweh’s righteousness in you, and therefore, as He is, so are you. And so, when you come to Him on the day of judgment, you are not going to come to Him like a cowering dog ready to get beat up. No! You are going to come BOLDLY to the throne of grace, BOLDNESS in judgment.

Anything short of that, my brothers and sisters, we have a problem somewhere in faith or possibly obedience, depending on the situation. But Scripture says there is no fear in love. I am talking about fear of being judged. But perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

1John 4:18 – 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.

We are lacking somewhere in either a faith that Yahweh loves us or our own love for Yahweh.

1John 4:19 – We love Him because He first loved us.

That is why we love Him. That is the propelling thing. That is the thing that gets us off the ground and causes us to soar like an eagle– knowing He loved us. And therefore, that enables us to love Him.

The tormenting fear is that Yahweh won’t really do what He says. He won’t really save you. He won’t really care about you. He doesn’t really love you. That is a fear of torment not based on truth, not based on anything but lies… a spirit of fear.

Unrighteous fear says you are only valuable to Yahweh if you never sinned again. That is unrighteous, unholy fear. It is not from Yahweh’s Spirit.

Listen… I have given this parable a number of times. Yahweh gave it to me years ago. Here is the parable. Listen to me…

There was a famous painter, world renowned. He decided to take a year off from painting… not from painting, but to take a year off from making anything on a regular basis. He decided to take a whole year so that he could paint a portrait. It was going to be a wall-sized painting.

And this portrait of this person was going to be extremely detailed. Every eyelash hair, every hair on the brow, every hair on the head, every little part of the skin, every color, every shade, everything was going to be perfect, and it was going to be a wall-sized painting.

Now finally the day came after a year of working on this (and the curtain was there covering up the painting) and a large crowd had gathered to see what he had done. And when they drew back the curtain the crowd just gasped. It was beautiful. It was amazing how perfect this painting was.

And my question for you is this: What does that painting have to do to have worth and value in the eyes of the painter? Nothing. It just needs to exist, right? Just the mere fact that the painting exists is why the painting has value, because it was developed and created by the painter.

Well, listen, we are the portrait. Yahweh is the painter. He is the Creator of our bodies. We don’t have to do anything to have worth. In fact, we are the crowning act of achievement in all of creation. He saved the best for last.

And when He was looking for a pattern to look at, and say, “Here, I am going to make this. Where is my pattern?” the pattern is Himself. He says, “Let us make man in our own image.” And so, we have no reason to doubt our worth. No reason whatsoever.

No reason because just the fact that we exist shows that we have worth. We don’t have to wonder whether we are valuable to Him.

And so, Yahweh already loves us. He loves us. And we have known and believed the love that Elohim has for us. Elohim is love and he who abides in love abides in Elohim, and Elohim in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment… not to be afraid. Because as He is, so are we in the world.

There is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out fear. Fear involves torment. He who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.

Do we believe He loved us? Yes, even you! He loves you. He is no respecter of persons. But fear makes Yahweh out to be a liar, and says, “Oh, He does not love you. You are not of worth to Him.” That is a lie.

“Elohim so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life.” He loves the sinner and the righteous.

Now it is confusing for some people because we say, “Well, we are supposed to fear Yahweh, right?” Yes, fear displeasing Him, fear doing things that are not according to His way, because we love Him.

In the same way a child is afraid to displease his parent. He doesn’t want to see his parent be unhappy with him. And so, he does what is right and delights in doing what is right because of his relationship with his father or his mother.

And, yes, the child (and we) ought to know, if we were to turn away and willfully do wickedness, we would have a reason to be afraid of judgment. But we are not in that position.

Now the deceiving thing about the incorrect fear is you might think that, “Oh, well, being afraid of Yahweh’s judgment is a good thing because, you know, it causes us to be more obedient.”

But do you know what? It actually leads us to feeling hopeless, like we can never measure up, like we can never make it, like we are always in despair, like we are always afraid or like we have no assurance of life as the curse of the law is upon us. Because we have no assurance of life.

Take a look at what happened in the book of Numbers:

Numbers 13:30 – Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.

31 – But the men who had gone up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people, for they [are] stronger than we.

This is fear, right? “They are stronger than we are.”

Numbers 13:32 – And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, The land through which we have gone as spies [is] a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it [are] men of [great] stature.

33 – There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.

So what did the people do?

Numbers 14:1 – So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night.

Why? They were afraid. “We went through all of this, all the wilderness, all the trouble, and this land, really, we can’t overcome it. We can’t get there. We can’t make it.”

Numbers 14:2 – And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!

3 – Why has YAHWEH brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?

Fear… not anything that was happening, but what might happen, is what they were afraid of. So what did they think? “Ah, might as well go back to Egypt.”

Numbers 14:4 – So they said to one another, Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.

And that is what happens with those who fear. “Might as well go back to the world. I’m going to die anyway.” No assurance of Yahweh’s love, no assurance that He is going to carry them across the Jordan.

Their fears drove them to murmur, to complain, to not believe Yahweh when He said He would bring them into the promised land. And I guess either they didn’t believe Yahweh was strong enough to defeat the giants or they didn’t believe that Yahweh would consider them worthy enough to give them the victory.

Either way, it was fear based on lies that was driving them. Yahweh is strong enough. He is full of mercy, compassion and lovingkindness if we will only keep our hearts tender, humble and willing to be molded and shaped and directed by Him.

Those of us with maybe fathers who were not Elohim-like, or parents who were not Elohim-like, you need to meditate and believe on the Scriptures that declare Yahweh’s mercies.

There are many lies out there about who Yahweh gives mercy to, who He does not give mercy to, and we need to reject the lies of the enemy and believe the words of Yahweh, like Joshua and Caleb, and say, “Oh, no, they are bread for us.”

The more we meditate on Yahweh’s Word and His promises, the more our minds are molded and retrained– rewired, so to speak– to automatically believe the truth and the less we’re going to associate Yahweh, our heavenly Father, with the acts and deeds of maybe an earthly parent who was not holy and loving and merciful and longsuffering in their conduct.

So here is a Scripture for you, a key Scripture– 1 John 1:8-10. It says:

1John 1:8 – If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If you claim to be completely without sin, you are deceiving yourself.

Wait a minute! You mean everybody on the earth has some kind of sin they are dealing with whether they know it or not, or maybe they don’t realize it? Yes, knowingly or unknowingly. But here is the promise: If we confess our sins, guess what He is? He is faithful, He is just… to do what? To forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And therefore, you can go boldly before the throne of Yahweh, and say, guess what? “I have forgiveness. He cares about me. He loves me.”

1John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

10 – If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

He says we have sinned. So what is the difference between a believer and an unbeliever? Both sin. The believer is actively striving against sin, pursuing righteousness, looking for ways to overcome, looking for things to overcome in their own life, and are seeking to grow and become more and more like Yahushua every day.

And they are putting their faith in Yahushua for the forgiveness of sins. This is what it means. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. This is what it means to put our faith in Yahushua– an important part of the gospel. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

That is a promise. That is putting your faith in Yahushua.

Romans 12:1 – I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of Elohim, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to Elohim, [which is] your reasonable service.

2 – And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what [is] that good and acceptable and perfect will of Elohim.

You need to have your mind renewed. The devil has sold you a bunch of lies and he knows men, from one generation to the next, will buy it hook, line and sinker. We are called to have a renewed mind that rejects thoughts that suggest or hint that Yahweh is not what He says He is.

Now I want to take you through this process of having the renewed mind. Unless our mind is renewed, we really cannot prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of Elohim. We are going to have trouble with our doctrines. We are going to have problems with our belief system.

Because our belief system many times is impacted by our character flaws or lack thereof. And unless we are willing to be transformed rather than conformed to the world, Satan and his ways, unless we are willing to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, having the renewed mind, we can’t really prove what His will is. We can’t really know His ways.

But once our mind is renewed, guess what? Our body will also be healed and our body will be a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to Elohim. There is a connection between the two. So, listen…

Romans 10:17 – So then faith [comes] by hearing, and hearing by the word of Elohim.

The way you gain faith is you listen. You listen to what? To the Word of Elohim. The more you set your mind on the words of Elohim, the more Yahweh will open your ears to the truth. And the more He opens your ears to the truth, the more faith you are going to have and the less fear you are going to have. It works very simple like that.

Living apart from hearing the words of Yahweh only leads us to fear. Yahweh warned Israel what it is like to live apart from Yahweh’s Word having a place in their life. He said:

Deuteronomy 28:66 – Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life.

That is what it is like not having the Word of Yahweh dwelling in your hearts.

Deuteronomy 28:67 – In the morning you shall say, `Oh, that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, `Oh, that it were morning!’ because of the fear which terrifies your heart, and because of the sight which your eyes see.

You have two choices: faith or fear. And the more Yahweh’s Word is a part of your life, the less fear you are going to have, the more faith you are going to have.

Yahushua came to redeem us from these curses here written in Deuteronomy 28. He is calling us out of this condition.

Hebrews 2:14 – Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,

15 – and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

If we fear death, we are asking for bondage. Yahushua came to destroy the one who had the power of death, the devil, and release those who were bound through a fear of death. That is why it says, as we read in the previous segment:

Isaiah 61:1 – The Spirit of the Master YAHWEH [is] upon Me, Because YAHWEH has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to [those who are] bound;

“To proclaim liberty to the captives” and “those who are imprisoned” to release you. To release those who through fear of death are subject to bondage all their lifetime. He came to release you.

Messiah Yahushua can set you free from fear and anxiety, and I am going to share with you today how He can do just that. Now I can’t share the full message I am going to talk about when it comes to fears and anxieties, and so what I am sharing with you today is laying the groundwork for getting free.

First of all, remember Proverbs 13:17 says:

Proverbs 13:17 – A wicked messenger falls into trouble, But a faithful ambassador [brings] health.

Yahweh’s words are going to lead you to health. The wicked messenger is going to himself fall into trouble and try to lead you into thinking you are going to the same place.

Yahushua is that faithful Ambassador who brought health. We just read about Him, right? To heal the hearts and to proclaim liberty to the captives. He is the faithful Ambassador.

Another word, Proverbs 16:24:

Proverbs 16:24 – Pleasant words [are like] a honeycomb, Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.

We need health in our bones if we are going to survive the attacks on our bodies from outside forces. The Scriptures are full of pleasant words like a honeycomb. Full of them. Wonderful, wonderful, beautiful words.

The Law of Yahweh converts the soul, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. We know the Scripture– Psalm 19. Yahweh’s words are pleasant words, sweetness to the soul, health to the bones.

Satan, though, doesn’t bring sweetness to the soul. Satan brings us constant fear, constant anxiety. That is not what Yahweh has given us. He has not given us that spirit of fear. He is giving us power. He is giving us love. He is giving us a sound mind.

We see here that fear is a spirit, an unclean spirit, seeking to enslave you. The words of this unclean spirit drops into your minds, our thoughts.

Now pay close attention, something very, very important for you to understand. Just because you have a thought in your mind, it does not mean your mind produced that thought. I will say it again. Just because you have a thought swirling around in your head, it doesn’t mean that that thought came from you.

That thought could have come from the adversary, because the adversary has the ability to drop temptations and thoughts into our minds. I am not making this up.

2Corinthians 10:4 – For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal but mighty in Elohim for pulling down strongholds,

5 – casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of Elohim, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Messiah,

6 – and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

Pay close attention here. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty. We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood. Do you know that? That is not what we are really even wrestling with. Do you know that?

We are wrestling against principalities. We are wrestling against powers. We are wrestling against rulers of the darkness of this age. That is what we are wrestling with. That is what we are in battle against. Scripture says so. It does. Scripture says so. Ephesians chapter 6 tells us this very thing.

Ephesians 6:12 – For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual [hosts] of wickedness in the heavenly [places].

That is what we are wrestling against. And so, listen, not every thought that enters your mind is from you. And, you know, the devil runs a con game. I’m going to tell you about it here in a minute. But he runs a con game. We need to understand that just because the thought is there, it doesn’t mean you thought it. It doesn’t mean you are a bad person.

It is just the enemy is a tempter. That is what he does. He brings people to temptation. And we are told to bring every thought into captivity. We are told to bring every thought to the obedience of Messiah. We are told to cast down those arguments, cast down every high thing exalting itself against Yahweh’s knowledge.

And the devil has been running this con game a long time. He has had 6,000 years of practice doing this thing. It is crazy. Here is the devil’s con game:

1. First of all, plant a thought in your mind that is not according to Yahweh’s Word, that exalts itself against the knowledge of Elohim (vain arguments).

2. And then he will persuade you to try to believe that thought. In this case, fear we are talking about.

3. And then, if that doesn’t work, he will try to persuade you that thought came from you rather than him, which allows him to work in secret and make you feel really bad about yourself and think you are a bad person for thinking that thought.

4. Because he will try to overload you with guilt for having had the thought to begin with… and then cause you to try to doubt your salvation. It is a con game! He is trying to deceive you.

Now remember, we are told to take action against this little con game he is running here, to bring those thoughts into captivity, to cast them down. That is what it says: casting down vain imaginations, casting down arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself.

If it is not according to the knowledge of Elohim, bring it into captivity to the obedience of Messiah. Cast it down. Have nothing to do with it. Because one day you are going to punish all disobedience. And so, Scripture tells us:

Ephesians 6:14 – Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

15 – and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 – above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

You need the shield of faith. You can’t walk in fear or you will not be able to quench all these fiery darts coming your way trying to cause you to doubt. And take that helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of Elohim, in your hand and go battle.

Ephesians 6:17 – And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of Elohim;

And the sword is the only offensive weapon here. Everything else is defensive or foundation based. We have to have this gospel of peace. We have to believe the Word. We have to believe the gospel. He loves you. That is what you are going to stand on first of all.

You have the shield of faith in your hand now. You have girded your waist with truth already. You have put your breastplate of righteousness on through Yahushua Ha Mashiach and the helmet of salvation. It can affect your mind.

And now you have the sword of the Spirit in your hand and you are going to cast down that vain thing, that argument, that thought, and you are going to bring that to the obedience of the Messiah.

And you are going to use the sword of the Spirit to do it, those pleasant words from Yahweh’s holy Word that are like honeycomb, that are sweetness to the soul, that are health to the bones.

Psalms 119:103 – How sweet are Your words to my taste, [Sweeter] than honey to my mouth!

104 – Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.

Remember…

Proverbs 18:21 – Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

It has to do with health. Death and life.

Proverbs 15:4 – A wholesome tongue [is] a tree of life, But perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, from which we can partake and receive strength and life. “But perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” There is that “broken spirit” comment again that leads to a weakened immune system and ultimately to death.

The word translated “wholesome” in “wholesome tongue” means “health,” “healing,” and “cure”– “marpe.”

Meaning of “wholesome” in Hebrew: 04832 marpe’ {mar-pay’} Meaning: 1) health, healing, cure 1a) healing, cure 1b) health, profit, sound (of mind) 1c) healing 1c1) incurable (with negative) Origin: from 07495; TWOT – 2196c; n m Usage: AV – health 5, healing 3, remedy 3, incurable + 0369 1, cure 1, sound 1, wholesome 1, yielding 1; 16.

So we need to pay close attention to the words that enter our minds. The thoughts that enter our minds can be from Satan, they can be from ourselves, or they can be from Yahweh.

I need to tell you that whenever there is a thought entering the heart that leads to fear and anxiety, I have learned to recognize these as “fear statements.” Yeah, fear statements.

Whenever a fear statement enters my mind that would result in me being afraid, I have learned from experience it is pretty much guaranteed it is Satan’s words trying to bring me into bondage again to fear. Because Elohim has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.

2Timothy 1:7 – For Elohim has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Something that may happen in the future causing me to fear. So when these fear statements enter your mind, I have some assignments for you. First of all, recognize that if it is not from faith, it is sin. Romans 14:23b – “… for whatever is not from faith is sin.”

It is a temptation for you to commit a sin. The sin is choosing to believe the spirit of fear rather than believing and walking by faith in the Word of Yahweh. The sin is behaving like Asa, not having a loyal heart with his feet shod with shalom, with peace.

Satan’s words coming from a spirit of fear are not coming from a place of faith, from a place of “Oh, you know what? No matter what happens, Yahweh is going to be with me. If He is with me, I will be all right. Yahweh is all I really need.”

See, that kind of faith has power from knowing, “Hey, you know what? I am loved. He is looking out for what is best for me. I don’t have to worry about it.” And that results in a sound mind. But when a fear statement enters your mind, that is where we find ourselves in danger. So here is my assignment:

1. When a “fear statement” enters your mind, say, “I reject that in the name of Yahushua the Messiah. I reject anything that would lead me to fear and anxiety in the name of Yahushua the Messiah. I renounce it. I am against it. I want no part of it.” Say, “I reject that in Yahushua’s name!” and move on. Think about something else.

2. If needed, add a memorized and personalized scripture to that like Proverbs 3:5-8.

Proverbs 3:5 – Trust in YAHWEH with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

6 – In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

7 – Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear YAHWEH and depart from evil.

Proverbs 3:8 – It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.

You can personalize this Scripture for you. Say: “I reject that fear statement in the name of Yahushua the Messiah! I am going to choose to believe in Yahweh’s words.”

“I am choosing to trust in Yahweh with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding; I am choosing to acknowledge Him in all my ways, trusting that He will direct my paths. I don’t want to be wise in my own eyes; I want to fear Yahweh (not the future). I want to depart from evil…knowing THIS will be health to my flesh, and strength to my bones.”

Personalize Scriptures that give you strength, that give you faith. Maybe this one won’t be so much. Maybe another Scripture that you can find. I have a whole study on trusting in Yahweh on this website. I shared it a few weeks ago during our archive.

And if for some reason that is not working (this is an assignment either way)…

3. READ and READ and READ the scriptures. I don’t mean tidbits… I mean CHAPTERS! And PRAY THE PSALMS! Because…

Romans 10:17 – So then faith [comes] by hearing, and hearing by the word of Elohim.

I will tell you about a man. He lived in the 1800s. He struggled with his faith. It seemed like his prayers didn’t really get answered that much. He struggled with his faith. He saw other people getting answered prayers and he really wanted to have the same thing. He wanted to be able to just pray and know Yahweh was going to do a work.

And so, he didn’t know what to do. He went through seminary. He studied the Bible. But then he ran across this Scripture: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Elohim.” And when he found that Scripture, he began to read and read and read.

I mean chapters and chapters and chapters and chapters of Scripture, going through the whole Bible on a regular basis… reading through it, reading through it, reading through it. Soon his prayers started to become answered. Soon he started to walk in great faith. Soon he had revival meetings.

He had people coming to him. He had people asking him to come to their areas. He went to I think it was England, and says, “I am here to convert a nation,” and he did. His name was Dwight Moody. And so, even today there is the Moody Bible Institute.

So I am just pointing out that reading the Scriptures and praying the Psalms can do a lot for our faith. And so, these are my three assignments. I encourage you, you know. I would like to hear back from some of you. Let me know what happens to your fear and your anxiety. I am confident many of you will experience victory, maybe even complete victory.

And there may be others who will not yet, and I have some more things to share in our next segment where I will continue to examine the topic of fear, which is the greatest enemy there is to faith.

Until then, I want to go before Yahweh together in a word of prayer. I really believe that if we have been walking in fear we have sinned.

We need to repent. We need to ask for forgiveness for not believing Yahweh’s words, for choosing to believe the words of His enemy rather than His words, because to believe the words coming from the spirit of fear is to suggest Yahweh is a liar and Satan is telling me the truth. And that is a sin.

I have to recognize it, and take responsibility for it and the choices I have made in this area, repent, renounce and seek forgiveness from Yahweh for it if I have been walking in fear rather than faith.

And so, let’s go before the throne of Yahweh with boldness knowing that I can come boldly to the throne of grace and receive mercy and help in my time of need.

Heavenly Father, Yahweh, qadosh, qadosh, qadosh be Your awesome name, and thank You, Father, that we may come before You on this day. And Father, there are many among us who are recognizing that they have been walking in fear rather than faith and are choosing to take responsibility for the things that they have seen.

And Abba Yahweh, for any who have chosen not to believe Your Word and are choosing to believe the words of Your enemy, Father Yahweh, we repent for participating in these things. And we renounce them in Yahushua’s name. We want no part of them anymore.

And we pray, Father Yahweh, that Yahushua Ha Mashiach, as Your Word has said, as we confess our sin to You, that we would receive the grace that You promised, that You would cleanse us from all unrighteousness and forgive us of all our iniquities.

Abba Yahweh, strengthen Your people. Enable us to resist the enemy when he comes. I pray, Father Yahweh, that You would forgive any who have chosen to be bitter toward You and to not trust You and have chosen to blame You for the negative things happening in their lives.

And Father Yahweh, I pray You would hear their prayers of repentance, hear their prayers asking for cleansing, asking for grace and help in this time of need. I thank You, Yahweh. Thank You, Yahweh, for setting us free. Strengthen us in the days ahead.

Teach us to dwell in Your secret place under the shadow of Your wings, to say You, Yahweh, are our refuge, You are our fortress, You are our Elohim and You I trust. You will deliver us from all evil. You will cover us under Your wings as we take refuge and Your truth will be our shield and our buckler.

And we will not be afraid of terror by night nor the arrow that flies by day nor of pestilence that walks in darkness nor of destruction that lays waste in noonday. A thousand may fall at our side and ten thousand at our right hand, but it will not come near us.

Only with our eyes we will look and see the reward of the wicked because we have chosen to make You, Yahweh, our refuge, even the Most High our dwelling place. And no evil shall befall us nor any plague come near our dwelling place.

You will give angels charge over us and keep us in all of our ways. And their hands, they shall bear us up lest we dash our foot against a stone. We will tread upon the lion and cobra. Serpents and scorpions will be at our feet. The young lion and serpent we will trample underfoot. Because You set Your love upon me… upon all of us.

Therefore, You will deliver us and set us on high because we have known Your name. We will call upon You and You will answer. You will be with us in times of trouble. You will deliver us and You will honor us. With long life You will satisfy us, and You, Yahweh our Mighty One, will show us Your salvation both today and at the end of the age.

For truly Yours is the Kingdom and power and glory and majesty, and all praise, honor and worship belongs to You, Yahweh Elohenu, forever and ever. In Yahushua’s great name we pray. Amein.