*TOPIC: FEAR, THE PATHWAY TO FAILURE.* (Series 3) *Scripture Reading:* Psalm 23:4 *"Even though I walk through the [sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort and console me."*(AMP) The scripture reminds us that we have nothing to fear even though we may feel overwhelmed by it. The Lord is our shepherd, He knows what He's doing. Fear will always drain you out of His will for your life. *No matter what circumstances abound, God transcends it all. He provides now and forevermore, to great affect in both this human life and the one to come.* Nevertheless, the spirit of FEAR will make a man to lose is place in God. Yesterday, we looked at some effects of fear in our christian journey but today, we shall look at the CAUSES OF FEAR: *1) DOUBT:* Matthew 14:25-31; We see that doubt causes fear according to the scripture, but we also see a hint of how we can combat that fear and get it under control. *As long as Peter kept his focus on Christ, he could do the impossible, but once he began walking by sight, fear gripped him. Under its control, he was no longer able to do the impossible.* Even though fear is a natural human emotion, do we control it or does it control us (see Genesis 4:7)? *2) UNBELIEF :* Hebrew 3:12 Says; *"Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God."* Beloveth, we need to be on guard against unbelief. This verse is not talking about the normal unbelief and its fruit of fear that all people have, for fearfulness is a common human condition. As our Creator, God understands that doubts will creep in now and again. Rather, it speaks of a heart controlled by doubt, by unbelief, leading to fear that can cause us to cut and run from the living God. That kind of heart will drag a person down just as Peter's doubt dragged him down into the waters of Galilee. The central peril of unbelief is that it breaks the trust that is the basis of our relationship with God. *We can see how this worked in Satan. God created him perfect (Ezekiel 28:15), yet somewhere along the line he no longer believed that God was good and doubted that God had his best interests at heart.* To be continue tomorrow morning by God's Grace. Good morning and do have a great day, peace. *Prayer points:* I walk in the perfect will of God for my life else fort and I choose to trust Him to the end in Jesus Christ name. Amen! T.S. AFOLAYAN