Is Fear holding you back? | Stephanie Ike

hey family all the way in toronto i'm pastor stephanie ek and i'm so excited to be with you at this year's balanced living conference wherever god gives you an assignment you have authority whatever god sends you to he has backed you up already when i held on to the truth of the gospel i was able to cast down the thoughts of the enemy because if i'm serving the king of kings and the lord of lords and if i recognize that i am his child then why am i in panic why am i in fear hello canada welcome to the 2021 balanced living women's conference i'm so excited to be with you all today and so honored by your pastors pastors wale and pastor takbi for having me you see if you don't already know if you don't see it behind me the theme of this conference is fearless and if you're taking notes today we're going to go on the journey but my assignment and the question i'm called to ask you on this very day is is fear holding you back and as we go on the journey of the word of god i believe that we're going to be able to answer that question and not only answer it but cut ties with anything in our lives that we're not living to the fullness of our potential in god because of the fear of whatever it looks like you see one of the things that i'm learning about fear is that fear gains its power from uncertainty the type of fear that causes you to question the goodness of god the character of god and his word to you the type of fear that cripples you from living the life that god has called you to it is fueled by uncertainty you know when you think about your life and you think about the times where you felt literally crippled to do the things that in your heart you knew that i was supposed to make a move i was supposed to walk towards this certain thing but then fear stopped you when you think about those moments was it tied to the uncertainty of the outcome you see the reality about life is that we're always gonna live in this idea of uncertainties right even for me i don't even know what i'm gonna have for dinner today i'm uncertain about that but there are more serious things when we think about last year 2020 a year that we have survived and we are you know coming out from in the year of 2020 nobody saw it coming right that this pandemic was going to hit and just shift everyone's normal we all had our plans and ideas of what we were going to do i wanted to go to bora bora everybody wanted to do something right but then 2020 hit a pandemic hit all of that stuff happened we could not see that coming but what i'm learning in god is because if i don't have all the answers about what tomorrow may bring what the next five minutes may bring then i'm supposed to rely on the one who holds it all you know we often say when i was a kid i remember there was a song that my mother would always sing and it talks about how god holds the world and we even have a a you know almost like this nursery rhyme or something he got the whole world in his hands right maybe you sang that when you were younger but it's such a reminder that god you hold the world in your hands and i'm part of that i'm part of what you're holding in your hands and so if i cannot see tomorrow i am not the alpha and the omega you are when i begin to recognize who god is in my life that is where fear is cast out from you see there's a scripture that tells us perfect love cast out fear is the perfection of love in christ when we are able to receive then lord if you could die for me what good thing would you withhold from me and we're going to go on a journey because fear is a topic that i'm sure you've heard about i'm sure you've probably listened to other messages that cut you know speaking to this idea of living fearless but then we find ourselves back in some times and moments in our lives and we're just like but god i don't know how to take the next step and you see in the word of god it's so beautiful when the bible would say do not fear for i am with you do not fear for i am your lord do not fear for this reason one of my favorite scriptures in this isaiah 41 verse 10 and it really gives us this picture when the lord is speaking to his people and he tells them hey do not be afraid because i am with you and what i love about that scripture is that we recognize that the commandment of do not fear is possible because of the revelation that follows that god knows that hey there are going to be things in life that will make you want to question but let me give you a revelation that you can stand on i can tell you don't be afraid because i'm also telling you that i am with you it's so fascinating this whole idea of fear because the bible also tells us that god has not given us the spirit of fear but of love of power and the sound mind the spirit that has love power and a sound mind speaks to the holy spirit and he begins to break down the different dimensions that we can see the manifestation of the holy spirit in our lives but that all of this works together to counter and expel fear in our lives because when we begin to embrace that god you love me you died on the cross for me you see jesus did not do all of that for you to live in mediocrity jesus was not bruised so that you would live a life that seems safe he loves you so much that he gave everything to say i want to see you win i want to see you win in your truth and win in your authenticity i want to see you live the life that i know i've called you to the scripture says that he came to give us life and life more abundantly when we begin to receive that lord you love me you love me to the point that just like i said you will not withhold anything from me because fear sometimes gives us this narrative of loss it gives us this narrative that things are not going to work in my favor but when i recognize that i am loved by god that i am i belong to him then what is it that he cannot see about my life what is it what circumstance can he step into then that scripture also tells us he has given us a spirit of love of power and of a sound mind power that what you feel will conquer you you actually have the ability to conquer it the scripture says that we are more than conquerous that we are not here to be conquered by circumstances or all whatever it looks like obstacles but that what god has placed within us is actually what is at war with what seems to be at war against you and then it says a sound mind because you see wherever there is ignorance fear would have the power because at the end of the day when you think about it the whole idea of uncertainty is that lord i don't know what tomorrow brings but it's not to look at it from the aspect of well i'm ignorant about my future but it's to recognize even though i may not know my future i recognize that god is for me and if he's the one that has my future in his hands then my future is already set but there are also moments when it comes to just the ignorance of what are the promises of god for my life what does the word of god say concerning my life you see when it comes to tackling fear there are moments where we have to actually study the word to know how to war against the voices and the words of satan when jesus was in the wilderness and he was coming against the devil whenever the whenever he satan spoke to him jesus responded and he said it is written he understood that my knowledge of the word is what will cause me to have victory over you you see for some people perhaps there are things that are coming against you and all you need to know is what is the promise of god concerning this area of my life and when you can stand on that and when you can war with that word it's going to make a big difference but i want us to go on a journey and actually let's read that scripture i just shared with you in the book of isaiah you see isaiah for the 1 10 it says do not fear anything and i love this because it comes from the amplified version do not fear anything for i am with you do not be afraid for i am your god i will strengthen you be assured that i will help you sometimes don't we just need that confirmation that assurance that god you will help me in this that i'm not alone i'm not by myself i have help even where i don't know i will help you says the lord and i will certainly take hold of you with my righteous right hand and the scripture says this a hand of justice of power of victory and of salvation do not fear for i am with you there is a because there is a revelation on the other side of that god is saying the very thing you think is going to take you out i'm trying to show you that is going to work for your good you see we have to begin to change our narrative that when we're looking at something and we're thinking about all the things that could go wrong that we should start thinking about what about all the things that could actually work in our favor what about all the things that could actually work that could even be amazing what is the harvest on the other side of what i feel is going to take me out you see earlier i said something to you that fear draws its power from uncertainty and i want you to write that down because you see in life sometimes we think about when god gives us a word that we're waiting it's almost like we're just praying for the miracle and we're praying for the suddenly to happen that god you said this so tomorrow i need to walk in the manifestation of it but the truth about life is that suddenly right before that there's a journey right everybody talks about overnight success and we celebrate that but you would even notice that overnight success sometimes takes 25 years it takes 50 years it takes 10 years whatever your journey looks like but there's always a journey that comes before the suddenly the journey is the seed and what appears as the suddenly that's the fruit and i want you to first recognize that i need to embrace and i need to be someone who loves process and i need to love the journey because when you say that god i'm actually saying yes to the journey and not just yes to the moment of breakthrough then you are able to withstand even the voices of doubt and and intimidation and anxiety you can say look this is all part of the journey i'm not gonna let the fear of uncertainty and the fear of not knowing how long is this gonna take i'm gonna be anchored because i know who spoke to me you see i normally share my testimony about when you know i was in real estate business and the lord and it was a time in my life where finances were great and all that stuff was beautiful but i knew that the lord was calling me to something more and i began to seek out the lord and i said god what is it that you have who do you see me as right what is it that you know about me that i'm not living in what is my truth that i have just i'm like void of and i was willing i said god whatever it takes i will say yes to it and the first instruction that the lord gave me was to literally walk away from it all walk away from my business walk away from all of it and move to another city it sounded really crazy and i would not advise you to do this at home but you see i could receive that instruction because i had also been oh i think about all my life i had to fight no but all my life since i was nine years old the lord had been training me to hear his voice and to know him and so in that moment when the lord gave me this big instruction it did not come randomly it wasn't the first time i heard his voice i had recognized the voice of my father for many years to know that now that he if he gives me this big instruction i can trust that it came from him and i'm making this disclaimer known because sometimes we can be new in the faith and just say wow god told me to do this huge thing that would radically shift my life and then sometimes counsel may come to you and say hey that might not be wisdom what i want you to be encouraged in is that god is so for you that he wants you to know that he's the one speaking to you and so when it comes to the voice of god he takes his time in training you it would it could start with things that seem random things that seem little but it's to train you to know that you heard from him so when he gives you the big instruction that you are confident in knowing that this came from my father and so i had that moment i had that moment when i knew that when god said walk away from everything it seemed foolish to the natural eye but i had a conviction that god you are the one speaking to me and he told me just moved there was no plan there was no move to another city and this is what is going to take place you want to talk about uncertainty i was already planning okay i'm going to have to live off my savings i don't know what this looks like and then i moved to that city and eventually the lord leads me to my church and when i walked into the church i remember him saying stephanie this is the place i'm going to raise you in your calling and i didn't understand the fullness of what that meant and all i was doing was that god what is the next step what is it that you want me to do what does this mean and then he gave me an instruction he said serve here as a volunteer for a whole year and be committed never miss a service i'm like to serve as a volunteer now i'm nigerian okay and my background my family that sounds ludicrous you tell a nigerian parent that hey mom you know i'm just out here i'm not really doing anything but i have enough savings to carry me through this year i don't know what it's going to bring but god has instructed me to serve as a volunteer she would think you've lost your mind they will think that someone did witchcraft over you and they need to rebuke that spirit of delusion [Laughter] i remember telling my mom and my mom said um what she said stephanie if you want to serve the lord they need him in africa you can come to africa and serve god all you want and be in a great field be in an amazing career if there's nothing else for you to do in america because that's what it sounded like it sounded like you don't have anything else to do in america that you have become bored and now you want to be a volunteer but i had the conviction of knowing that the voice of god said this to me did their voices sometimes make me feel like god if this don't work out i don't know what i'm going to do of course i had to be honest with god i didn't know what was going to come on the other side of saying yes to uncertainty i didn't know what was going to come out the other side of saying yes to the process but i said yes because i knew that the lord was leading me to do this and then you fast forward till now if i did not say yes then i would not be right here speaking to you on this conference if i did not say yes then it would not be my testimony to say that it's amazing to be partnered with god and impact in the lives of so many people around the world that would not be my testimony if i allow the fear of uncertainty the fear of stephanie what is this going to amount to what if nothing happens what if you went crazy what if you never heard the voice of god if i allow that fear to me then everything that i i tested now as my testimony would not be the case and my question for you is that what what is fear holding you back from that you have not yet seen because you see the fruit of it god knows you may not know what is the fruit on the other side you may not know what is the harvest on the other side but god sees it and then leading you to it all it takes is for you to walk with him for you to be led by his voice and not allow the voice of uncertainty to you and make you feel as though god i'm not sure if i want to move forward there is a harvest connected to your life there is fruit connected to your life even jesus said he said for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross you are the joy that was set before the lord the real you what is the joy set before you what are the things that god has shown you that are connected to your life sometimes it feels like a distant dream sometimes it feels like it's just some idea that can never happen do you know that even with your imagination that you are serving god the bible tells us one of my favorite scriptures in ephesians 3 20 it talks about how god is able to do beyond all that you can ever ask think and imagine god can go beyond that exceedingly abundantly far above all of it what does that speak to that sometimes you may call it daydreaming but the holy spirit calls it dreaming together you may feel like you're just sitting down and all of a sudden you get lost in this idea of who you truly are in god and you think that you're just daydreaming not recognizing the holy spirit is dreaming with you the holy spirit is actually showing you the truth of what is possible and what is able what you are able to walk in because of your relationship with god you know i once heard the pastor said something and i loved it so much he said anything plus anything plus god is everything i love that he said anything and you could even make it shorter you could say anything plus god equals everything when god is in the mix that is all it takes david in the bible was a shepherd boy he was actually you could even call him someone who lived in the shadow of his family his father didn't really accept him we don't know what his relationships was like with his brothers but when we see some of the encounters he had with his brothers it wasn't the best but david who was the one that no one even thought about there was a moment you may be familiar with this scripture where the prophet of the lord is sent to his family's house the house of jesse and they're sent there and the lord has instructed a prophet that you're going to anoint who the next king would be even the prophet he comes into the house he sees all the sons he looks at the particular one he's like surely this is who the lord has called he's looking with natural eyes funny enough david's father he brings everyone out he leaves david in the field even his father was not even sure about who david could really become but after the prophet looks at everyone he looks you know a son by son and the lord is saying this is not the person the lord actually tells you know after the lord makes it known that hey look i know all of these people are set before you and you may think that all the sons are here but none of the person i've chosen is not in front of you so it caused the prophet to think about it a little bit and he's like do you have any other sons because clearly the person god is speaking to me is not here but he said the person is in this house and then all of a sudden now this is my paraphrase right all of a sudden david's father says well there is another one there's a boy in the field david was just the boy in the field when they called him he comes in we don't know what he was doing we don't know what he looked like or smelled like you know he was with sheep he comes in and the prophet recognizes this is the one anointed him that you are the one god has chosen to be king we fast forward and david is king over israel there was a moment that was an encounter he had with the lord when the lord said to him i took you from being a shepherd to being king over my people it's such a beautiful thing and why i'm saying this is that you begin to recognize that you plus god is everything so many times all it takes is just for you to say god whatever it looks like i'm willing and i'm here i'm here to surrender i'm here to follow you the bible tells us that the spirit of the lord is searching the eyes of god is searching who would be faithful who can i trust who can i partner with could it be that god is looking to partner with you as long as fear doesn't hold you back you see it's so amazing anytime i get to speak and anytime the lord begins to show me more of who i'm speaking to last night literally i had this dream and in the dream the lord began to show me this woman and the woman represented i believe many of the women that are watching this and it it spoke to some of the fears that she was going through the dream starts off is pretty interesting and it could be funny and it could be a movie it could be a comedy the dream starts off and she's with this guy it's a friend of hers they've been friends for many years and she's with him and she takes him to like you know they were having like one of her friends were having a gathering sometimes i have dreams that feel like a film and i'm literally in the dream observing the dream and i'm watching the dream and then it's explained to me so i'm watching this dream so this woman she's with this guy around her you know around her group of friends and he starts flirting with one of her friends and she gets upset and she storms out of the you know out of the room right she storms out of the room and meets another group of friends and she's up like she is hot you know when you talk about someone who's mad she was mad and she was mad for this reason that she likes the guy who she's been friends with but she had never said anything to him right there was never any communication she never expressed this is how i feel about you so now she's upset because the first fear the lord showed me was the fear of rejection that she was dealing with now she's upset she storms out she goes to another group of friends she doesn't fully tell like she doesn't give them the full story right she doesn't paint the full picture of what happened and the events that took place before she only tells a story that was influenced by her pain so she tells this story that makes him look like just someone who might be trash and so her friends her you know second group of friends they're listening to the story and they're like man he sounds horrible you know he's not worth your time if you're ever around women whether you're trying to talk about someone in a negative way it's terrible right and so they're just like bashing this guy and he did not really do anything wrong so they're talking about him in that manner and when she recognized that her friends were in just this complete disagreement that this is not the type of guy that she should be with all of a sudden i could you know it's in the it's a dream you know dreams you can do so many things so in the gym i could hear her thoughts and now she was thinking to herself and she said oh my gosh why did i tell them this because i did not even give them the full story and now they disagree with about someone who i am still interested in and then all of a sudden as i'm observing the dream i'm being explained to that now this is where the fear from the opinions of others creeps in that all of a sudden she goes from first of all the fear of rejection she tells her friends this story and it's not the full story and now her friends are against her being with this guy or talking to him first of all they're not even together they're friends right so that happens and now she's thinking to herself what if something comes out of this friendship but she it was almost like this new layer of fear that had to do with but now my friends don't agree with him now i'm afraid of what their opinions could be then she leaves the building all of a sudden the scene changes it's the same woman she walks around she's in a marketplace because she was looking to start a business so she goes to this marketplace and there are many small of like small businesses in the area as she is walking through the market there were these armed men that stormed the marketplace and they came to rob the people and they were only after they were not after the civilians they were just walking around they were after the small businesses so she's witnessing all of this taking place they go to someone's business and they literally pull their gun at them and then the next thing the person is giving them like their cars money all types of stuff so now the woman is observing that and she's like oh my gosh i don't want to start a business if this is what it could come with i don't want to start a business and experience loss and then i was being told now this is what the fear of loss looks like what was the point of this dream and and how and you know god is so interesting because sometimes he just uses images and visuals that communicates to you to further explain what he wants you to understand the lord was showing me how the fears that we have there's some there's always something that set up that to that moment right and so there are three key things the fear of rejection the fear of the fear from the opinions of others and the fear of loss all of this did not just start randomly it had its roots but i believe that these three fears were highlighted because i'm speaking to people that at some level or some degree you can connect with this and so i want us to start with the first one the fear of rejection you see when i began to think about this in prayer the reality of life is that when it comes to rejection right nobody wants to be rejected right you know and you may have heard the saying that rejection is protection rejection is redirection and all of that is absolutely true but i also want you to recognize that the whole idea that makes rejection look like this negative thing is to pull us away from the reality that life is not just about doing life with god it's also about doing life with people we are created to walk with god and live amongst people and do life with one another we are not here to be an island we're not here to be by ourselves even jesus needed people jesus needed the disciples there were many key people in the bible that we learned had such a great role to play in the life of jesus and what the lord began to show me is that not looking at it from the place of the fear of rejection but understanding the value of relationships because even in the bible we see that whenever god wants to step into a scenario he normally sends a person whenever god wants to change a situation he normally sends a person to you he normally sends instruction there's something that is connected to people in your life it's so amazing that one relationship has the ability to take you from where you are to where god has called you to be relationships are powerful in the hand of god when i think about my life when i think about the things that i've been able to experience and where god has brought me to there are relationships that he planted in my life along the way that became bridges to getting me from where i was to who god knew me to be and so there are relationships that are ordained by god to serve what he knows about you and why he showed me the dream in the context of a relation of you know i mean it was a romantic you know pursuit but the idea of that dream was that she did not communicate her feelings she never said anything now some people watching might say well why didn't he make the first move this is not the point but it's also biblical for women to make the first move you know if you have not read about ruth check her out ruth made the first move on boaz you know when everybody says they want their bow ass are you ready to make the first move [Laughter] ruth made the first move but that is not the point of my conversation the point of my conversation is for us to recognize that there was something about her even speaking she never expressed anything because the part i didn't share about the dream is that when she got upset he was confused right her friend is like what's going on like she's the one who put me in the friend zone so there was just really this weird unsaid you know issue happening here but what god was trying to highlight to me is the power of your voice that literally there are some of you and you are just a conversation away from breakthrough a conversation away from the miracle that you have been praying for that if you would just open your mouth and ask for help if you would open your mouth and and express what the vision is if you would open your mouth and say this is what this is something that the lord has placed in my heart that you would be shocked at the people that would rally around it and see that it would it would become more than you ever thought it could be there are things that god has placed in your heart and anytime you think about them there are people that the lord might be showing you there are people that come to mind if you ever find yourself one thing that you should pay attention to when you're in the place of prayer and let's say you're praying over a project you're praying over a business you're praying over a marriage you're praying over something that god has put in your heart when a person comes to mind it's not a distraction and i don't mean when you think like somebody's your husband i'm not saying that it's just a disclaimer women don't go to a man and say god told me you're my husband that's the fastest way for him to run you know if it came from god it would make sense if he did not it doesn't make sense it's that simple but when something comes to mind when someone comes to mind pay attention to that because that could be somebody that is connected to seeing that work out when you're of a sudden you find yourself in the place of prayer and there's a business plan that god has given you there's this vision that god has given you and you're praying about it and then maybe you have a friend named john and all of a sudden you're thinking about john we sometimes think that we are being distracted in that moment and you're like okay i'ma call john later but what you need to recognize is the holy spirit is actually trying to show you people already in your corner that are connected to the vision that god gave you and if only you would open your mouth if only you would express and say hey i have this idea that i'm working on what do you think about it they're projects that i've worked on and i remember being in the place of prayer and the lord will begin to highlight people to me and i will call them and i'm like hey i have this thing i'm working on i just felt like i was led to talk to you and all of a sudden that was the missing puzzle piece but you cannot be so afraid of rejection this idea of like i don't want them to see me like that you know i don't want i don't want them to think i'm like this because actually my testimony this is something that you know i really struggled with and i'm still you know coming out of right asking for help is my weakness and for for such a long time i used to think that asking for help made me look weak it's funny i'm saying it's my weakness but i thought that oh i don't want to do this because i'm not trying to look weak out here you know we are strong women out here right but i didn't realize that that was even the lie it was it had nothing to even do with looking weak first of all there's nothing wrong with looking weak i mean but let's not even talk about that right but it had nothing to do with that what i did not realize is that my fear of not asking for help was connected to not wanting to be rejected because being rejected is not just about a romantic relationship it's also the idea of i don't want this person to see me differently i don't want to be misunderstood i don't want my heart to seem like it's out of place i don't want someone to judge me for what i'm not whenever we we have this fear of being identified as something we are not actually at its root is the fear of rejection and so you might not call it rejection you might just say like i don't want to you know to be one of those people but you're not one of those people you just don't want to be seen as one of those people whatever those people are to you but all god is actually saying is that why don't you open your mouth and that actually ministered to me as well because it's amazing that when i'm teaching it comes from what god is also teaching me that's stephanie there are some things you don't have to be burdened about if you just opened your mouth and i want you to recognize that because you see there was a man by the name of moses in the bible when moses when god had a desire to set the people the israelites free he sent a man he sent a person he sent moses but it was also something interesting about that whole journey because after they were you know set free from slavery and captivity moses gives them this instruction it's an amazing story he tells them ask of the people for gold and you know clothing and all this stuff ask of the people and there were some egyptian i mean there were some israelites that maybe they could feel like look this people put us through hell and now you want us to ask them for another favor we probably just want to get out of here but everyone the bible tells us everyone who asked of the same egyptians of gold of clothing that they received it what is it that is on the other side of your voice you can't allow this fear of rejection to you when god is literally saying what you're praying for the answer is in your corner would you make yourself known speak there's sometimes that you are sought out for things but there are sometimes that your voice activates the miracle we think that some that this may only apply in prayer but it also applies through relationship because prayer is when your voice activates the miracle through heaven but also through your relationships conversation is when your voice activates the miracle that is amongst you just waiting to be revealed and so the second thing the fear that comes from the opinions of others and i mean that by itself we've probably at some at some point in our lives experienced that maybe some of you might still be in that place and that in stages right and not even some of us are in that place we just kind of go through these stages of i don't want to do this because of what people may say but what the lord began to teach me and this is what i want you to take down and even just taking your heart write it down and you know inscribe it in your heart think about it all that stuff right what the lord began to teach me is that whenever the fear of others is present then it actually points to the fact that you don't have a conviction about your actions that when you there's something that you're called to do and you're more concerned about what people would say then you are not yet convinced within yourself that this is what i'm supposed to do and so the issue is not to look at what other people might say or god deliver me from the opinions of man it's actually to get to the place of god what is the why behind this instruction what is the why behind this desire that maybe what you are connected to is to surface level and you need to grow some roots in the why that maybe when you think about the dream that god has given you what all that you care about is how it serves you and maybe that's not strong enough for your heart to be rooted in it may not be strong enough for you to find confidence in against the voice of naysayers you need to get deeper you need to spend some time in the presence of god and say lord what is the why behind this desire what is the why behind this marriage what is the why behind this business what is the why behind this ministry who have you called me to who is in need of what you have called me to do what does this look like what am i responsible for because when you understand the why of the instruction the opinions of people do not matter because you have a conviction about what the lord has said to you you see when i shared with you about the story of living the business and you know and that has its own backstory right but living the business and and going to this place and just not knowing what god is going to do and volunteering and all of that what kept me steadfast was knowing the conviction like i said that god you spoke to me and i may not know what this may lead to but i know that at the end i may not know what it looks like what the outcome may look like but what i do know is that i would see myself whatever it looks like at the end i recognize that i'm going to discover the very reason that you called me and god did just that you need to get rooted in the why and have a conviction about why god has called you to do what he said the problem is not the people there will always be people that speak against it because they don't have the full story you cannot expect someone who does not have the full picture who does not see the full picture have the full story did not hear from god what you hear from god you cannot expect that person to say i am 100 in agreement with you especially if the person is immature in the faith or there is you know some type of emotional ties one of the reasons my mother is someone who loves god and has a heart for god but because there were emotional ties to me and she did not want to see her daughter her only daughter live a life that seemed aimless her that was where the fear was activated right and so if someone has two they're two you know maybe they're too invested like emotionally you may want to just kind of gauge unless they have the clarity to say let me actually pray about this let me also hear what god may be saying concerning this wise counsel is amazing i will never negate you having wise counsel in your life but what i'm talking about is that when people are speaking from a place that they have not first of all maybe sought the lord to know if he is speaking if he even if they're hearing what you're hearing or they're not even being willing to say maybe there is some truth in this you have to recognize they don't know the full story and if it's stuff that comes from what we you know call naysayers then you also have to recognize i need to be more convinced in what god has called me to do i need to have a conviction of my why in order to block out the noise that was the one thing that kept me going because the hardest thing for me was to actually be in a state where i was doing something that my family did not agree with my family we are bonded we have such a tight bond and so to to be that person it crushed me but i said god because i know this is of you it would make sense in the end and it did right now my mom and now we talk about messages together we do all that stuff she's like stephanie i'm so amazed by what god is doing in your life it's a beautiful thing but i knew that mom you may not understand it now but you will eventually and i held on to that because there was a why in my heart and it was louder than the voices of others could it be that the voices the opinions of others are so loud because you don't even know your why get in the presence of god and that is how we get to that place of saying no i'm gonna live this thing out fearlessly and the last thing is the fear of loss you see it's so interesting when we think about this idea of loss whether it's from past experiences or the experience of others in the dream the lady had this fear simply because of the experience she of her experience of other people right that oh my gosh they're getting robbed i don't want to start a business because i don't want to get robbed but it's not about that i have learned in god that there's truly no loss in god there's only seeds and sometimes the fruit that comes out of those seeds could be the fruit of manifestation or the fruit of wisdom and when it's the fruit of wisdom it's something that equips you that guides you to manifestation eventually you cannot think about life and say well what if i make the wrong decision what if i what if this doesn't work out what if what if what if what if what if what if it does and that's what i want to remind you and what if it actually does not work out you even have to embrace that too what if i start this and it just runs to the ground but then could it be that through that there is a wisdom that i would receive that would actually be what i needed to manifest what god has called me to do you have to see life from a place of recognizing that you're not doing life by yourself you are doing life with the lord you are not in this alone he is with you and he is there to guide you you know one of my favorite scriptures is in jeremiah 29 11 when it gives us this promise from god that he knows the plans that he has towards you some translations talk about i know the thoughts that i think towards you thoughts of good and not of evil to give you a future and a hope and when we say that we're encouraged and it's amazing and it should be encouraging and amazing right but that scripture was literally said to people who were going into captivity that their lives looked nothing like you know thoughts of good and not of evil it looked like thoughts of evil and not of good but what god was showing them is that it's not what it looks like you may think that life is working against you but it's actually working for you because at the end of the day the outcome would reveal that i've always been with you and so my question to you again is fear holding you back what life are you living right now are you living the life that you dream about are you living the life that god placed in your heart are you living the life according to the vision and the instructions that the holy spirit has given you because when you are led by the spirit of fear you are not being led by the holy spirit and the only way that we realize truth and we realize and we walk in the fullness of who god says we are is when we we are led by the voice of the holy spirit and for some of you you may have the fear like i don't want to get it wrong but what if maybe i i don't know trust that god is with you one of the the biggest things about hearing the voice of god is trust that god i trust that you are with me and i'm open to knowing that maybe i could make a mistake but even in my mistakes they work for me you see there is no loss in god either you receive wisdom or you see the harvest and either way it's all working for your good it's working towards the things that god has said concerning your life and so i'm here to encourage you today that the road to living this fearless life it's not that fear is not present but that you recognize what is more valuable than what presents itself as fear that fear brings a narrative but then you have a narrative that is louder that speaks to you that affirms you that yeah fear might be in the you know in the vicinity but i recognize that what god has called me to do has more worth has more value in my life than dumping down then living this life of mediocrity jesus did not die for you for that he died for you to be everything you are and so will you join me in that journey that is what i've personally chosen to embark on that god whatever it is that is still my prayer whatever it is that will cause me to live the life you know me as to walk in alignment with you i say yes is that going to be your daily testimony that daily lord i say yes because we never arrive because at the end of the day this thing it's about jesus it's about manifesting his kingdom and we manifest his kingdom when we say yes to his will and the will of god does not end with one instruction it's a daily thing it's a daily walk sometimes in your daily life there's practical wisdom available by the holy spirit to live the life that god has called you to and so i want you to take these things to heart i want you to consider have you been held back by the fear of rejection have you been held back by the fear from the opinions of others or have you been held back from the fear of loss none of it truly has power i want you to embrace the spirit that the lord gave you a spirit of love power and a sound mind i love you all it's such a pleasure to share this message with you and i'm believing and i'm praying that the holy spirit will cause it to minister in your heart beyond what words can do but that he will cause it to bring a conviction into your heart and so let us pray heavenly father we thank you we thank you lord because we know that you are with us in this very moment and lord jesus i pray that your children and your daughters would know that they have no reason to fear because you are with them and you are for them that just like you said in your word in isaiah do not be afraid for i am with you do not be afraid for i am your god they belong to you and so i thank you lord god that they would begin to walk out everything that you have placed in their heart knowing that even in the face of uncertainty that they have the certainty of who holds their life and so have your way in their hearts and in their minds in jesus name amen we love you

Channel: hopraise

Views: 9,335

Rating: 4.945055 out of 5

Keywords: Women's Conference, Women's Conference 2021, Christian Women, Stephanie Ike, Pastor Stephanie Ike, House of Praise, Ignite, Balance Living, NoFear, Do not Fear, House of Praise.

Id: kXQfvvZEiaA

Length: 49min 42sec (2982 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 17 2021