PRECEPTS FOR LIFE
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Precept Ministries International
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The following is an actual transcript of the PRECEPTS FOR LIFE Broadcast. For the purpose of filling transcript requests quickly, they have received only light editing. If you have questions concerning the material covered in this broadcast, Kay has published a number of books explaining the Scripture in depth. These books may be ordered by contacting the telephone number or address printed above.
SERIES: Interview With Jan Silvious
TITLE: Program 1 - Do You Live in Fear?
THURSDAY (12/17/09)
OPEN
Our subject today is what do you fear?
What are you afraid of?
And I can‟t think of any better person to talk to us on that subject than Jan Silvious. Jan Silvious is not only a dear lifelong friend of mine or almost lifelong. But she is also the author of numerous books that have greatly impacted people‟s lives.
And two of those books I‟m going to mention. One is “Foolproofing Your Life,” that has a lot to do with fear and relationships and then, “Look At It This Way.” And so, what we‟re going to do today on the program is we‟re going to look at this subject of fear.
We‟re going to talk to some people about what they fear the most.
And then we‟re going to talk to one another. And you‟re going to get a glimpse of us with our Bibles on our laps because God has the answer to fear. So you and I are going to come away, Dear One, with an understanding of where fear comes and what we are to do when we are afraid. And we‟re going to look at God‟s precepts for life. Because,
[“Through His precepts you get understanding and then you hate every false way,”] (PARAPHRASE, Psalms 119:104)
and you also know how to handle fear because,
“…God has not given us the spirit of fear;
[He‟s given us] power…love and of a sound mind.”
(2 Timothy 1:7, KJV)
PART ONE
MAN ON THE STREET INTERVIEWS:
Interviewer’s Question: What is your greatest fear in life?
Man 1: Probably my greatest fear in life would be if something to happen to me on my job and to leave my family and my kid grew up without a dad.
Woman 1: I‟d say probably one of my greatest fears is um disappointing my family, disappoint-, disappointing my parents.
Woman 2: My greatest fear is, probably not, that my children would grow up and not love me.
Man 2: Maybe to lose my father and my mother, maybe, I don‟t know what I would do without them.
Woman 3: Sudden death of me, or anyone close to me.
Man 3: Probably if something happened to my grandkids
Man 4: I, I would probably say my greatest fear now would be, you know, some type of of health problems, sudden death, not being able to live a long life. That‟s that‟s the think I worry about the most.
Man 5: I guess my greatest fear would be if something happened to my son or to my wife or something like that.
Woman 4: Death. Uh, uh, I‟m afraid of death because it ca- can happen in a split second, it could happen on the way home from school one day. You never know and it‟s always important go back to the love, you have to tell people that you love them.
IN THE STUDIO:
Kay: Well you‟ve heard it. People have fears. As a matter of fact we all have fears. And yet there is a fear that overcomes the natural fear and this is what we‟re going to talk about today.
As I introduce Jan Silvious I want you to know that this gal has worked as a counselor. And Jan, in your counseling experience you‟ve probably dealt with a lot of people that deal with all sorts of fear.
Jan: Sure, fear is a basic issue that every human deals with. And many times when those fears are out of control that‟s why they come and talk to a counselor because they want to know what to deal with because fear causes a physical response in our bodies. And becau-…
Kay: Terrible.
Jan: Yeah it‟s a terrible response.
Kay: Um hum.
Jan: …and there are things released in hormones released in our body that cause our bodies to respond a certain way and so fear takes over. So I would say that fear is a huge issue that we all need to be aware of and know how to deal with.
Kay: You know I remember and you remember when my daddy was um in the hospital and he was hovering between life and death.
Jan: Right.
Kay: And I thought that God told me he was going to live and he was, just I mean, he was just 68 years old. Uh and um when, when I got the call from the hospital that his heart had stopped and that they were working with him and that we‟d better get over there. I remember the first thing I did was hit the floor.
Jan: Um hum.
Kay: And I hit the floor and, and I was crying out to God but and, and but my body was doing things I didn‟t want it to do.
Jan: Yes.
Kay: I could get my brain under control. But my body, my heart was going so rapidly and I thought God, you know I can‟t get my body under control. And it‟s those hormones, those, those uh things that are secreted in your flesh that are hard to handle.
Jan: They are hard to handle and, and you know, when it hits it‟s like what am I going to do? And yet, God has given us a way to even control that. And I think that is something that‟s very important to know and understand that we have everything we need to even control that release of hormones on an ongoing basis. Now we‟ll get hit with it immediately.
Kay: Uh huh.
Jan: But then after that we can begin to rehearse the truth and the part of our brain that is um that processes wisdom processes the word of God, that processes uh everything that is true has an amazing ability to say to that other part of our brain that is kicking in all those hormones, calm down, it‟s going to be okay. God is in control. And there‟s an art to that. There‟s also science to it and it‟s all right here in the word of God.
Kay: Is- isn‟t it neat? And if you don‟t have the word of God, Beloved, then, you really don‟t have the ability to handle that fear beyond the natural.
I mean you can tell your mind to do certain things but you can only go so far. I think, Jan, about 2 Timothy chapter 1, when he says, he‟s Paul‟s writing to Timothy, his son in the Lord. Paul knows he‟s going to die.
He‟s knows it‟s his final letter and uh to his son and he tells his son now God has not given the spirit of fear. [He‟s given us power, He‟s given us love and this is where what you said comes in. He‟s given us a sound mind.]
(PARAPHRASE, 2 Timothy 1:7)
And that word “sound mind” means a mind under control. And from there then I think about uh Psalm 56 verse 3 and 4. And I want to put those two together for you. And then as I put those two together then we can talk about it a little bit more.
But in Psalm 56 in verses 3 and 4, and one of the things that‟s good is go to through and mark, in a certain, way every reference to “fear” or to “being afraid.” And then you can take all those scriptures and put them together.
But He says in verse uh 2,
“My foes have trampled upon me all day long….”
(Psalm 56:2, NASB 1977)
Now that‟s enough to cause you fear.
Jan: That‟ll do it.
Kay: And it says,
“…For they are many who fight proudly against me. When I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee.”
(Psalm 56:3-4, NASB 1977)
Now when you go back to the beginning of a Psalm, many times it tells you at the beginning of that Psalm what the occasion was. And so this is a Psalm of David when the Philistines seized him in Gath. And the Philistines were the arch enemies of Israel at that time.
And they had seized him, and so he says,
“When I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee. In God, whose word I praise. …In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid….”
(Psalm 56:3-4, NASB 1977)
This is what you‟re talking about, right?
Jan: Exactly. And, and I love what he says,
“In God whose word I praise….”
(Psalm 56:3-4, NASB 1977)
Kay: Uh huh
Jan: …because there is a new science and I‟m so excited about it because it just proves what God has said all along.
Kay: Yeah, don‟t you love it?
Jan: Yeah, ancient truths and the scientist are going wow. But what I love about it is that they have discovered that within the brain, fear and gratitude or praise…
Kay: Uh hum
Jan: …cannot exist at the same time. The brain cannot go down both of those paths at the same time. And so what they are encouraging people to do…
Kay: Isn‟t that neat?
Jan: …is, is developed gratitude. Because with gratitude and, for the believer it‟s gratitude for God, to God…
Kay: Uh huh
Jan: …for all that He is. And I think of all the things God says through scripture you know,
“in everything give thanks; …”
(1 Thessalonians 5:18a)
Kay: Thanks.
Jan:
“…[for this is the will of God …
Kay: Concerning you, yeah.
Jan:
…concerning you,]
(PARAPHRASE, 1 Thessalonians 5:18b)
yes. And it‟s like, why would He say that? Well not we know,,,
Kay: Uh hum
Jan: …because we have seen it scientifically,
Kay: Uh hum
Jan: …it‟s because it‟s good for us and it quiets our brain. Because our brain…
Kay: Uh hum
Jan: …if it is hit with fear it will release these hormones that will cause our bodies to react and…
Kay: Yeah.
Jan: …will cause us to be heaps. And when we say, oh I‟m just you know, I just can‟t stand it. I‟m just I‟m just scared to death.
Kay: Uh huh.
Jan: Well a lot of that comes from those hormones make you feel like you‟re dying.
Kay: Yeah
Jan: I mean when adrenaline hits you your heart races and you feel like you‟re dying.
Kay: That‟s what happened to me, yeah.
Jan: Yeah. Well and it and it…
Kay: And I had to bring it under control.
Jan: …Well the night my daddy died I remember that…
Kay: Uh huh.
Jan: …it was just that it just hits your body…
Kay: Uh huh.
Jan: …and then you, it‟s like what is happening to my body?
Kay: Uh huh.
Jan: And you th
