First of all, let's lay some ground work, we've got an obligation to deal with our problems... that is we must change, or grow; if we don't grow we stay the same or soon... what?  Stagnate. I think we can agree on that stand point, for in refusing to grow, as in all things in God's Kingdom, we soon begin to die, due to a lack of change, rotting away.  

You know what?  Feelings are the voice of our body, and the body unfortunately is synonymous with the world. 

What does that tell us about listening to our feelings? 

Mostly that we should be very wary of feelings, for they often lead us astray; with respect to the topic anyway; the body gives us stress, or fear and trembling, not a righteous fear, but a deep dread.

How do we combat such an attack, for it must be judged so? 

By turning to God's promises. That the most direct way to deal with it.

Remember stress comes from the world.

So how do we fight against it?  

Through the Spirit. Scripture says, we should see no man except through the Spirit. It is not man who gives us fear, or stress, we take it on.  We can refuse it, can we not.

Stress can only come through our body, our flesh. Remember, Biblically the word flesh means man's sinful nature.  For God created man, his body flesh and all; but not his sinful nature.  There are three natural enemies to God, the world, the flesh and the Devil and all sin and sinful natures stem from these three sources.

So combating stress must come through God, Christ and the Holy Spirit.  Remembering if we allow the flesh, body, or our feelings or the world to effect our life, we have removed Christ from the throne and we are doomed to die. There in lies forgiveness.

If you want to know more, read on.

<You asked>, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?'

Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.

"<You said>, 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.'

My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.  Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."

Job was crushed.  Job was humiliated.  Job was ruined.  My guess is though, Job was not  stressed.  Why is that?

Hey!  If I was in that situation I would be stressed.  How about you?  He ha boils.  His family was gone.  His riches were taken away.  Stress, who wouldn't be?

What can we learn????

Rev 1:5c-19 or Acts 5:12a,17-22. "To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea." I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. "Write , therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later."

Hey!  It seems like that was similar to what Job experienced.  God in the form of Jesus showing the way, having compassion, but being sure what is to be according to God the Father.

So sometimes we have nothing left but faith; but that's great!  Left to our devices we would implode.  See: Left to Our own Devices.  Instead of the world's advice let's see what God says.

John 20:19-31. "On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"  After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.  Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you!  As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."  And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

"Hey, I'm with Thomas you say.  "I have a hard time with all this.  Even the theologians do.  What am I to believe?" 

Forget the theologians; they are lost in their books; only God can reach them.  You however, are important. 

Remember Jesus said, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 

Don't you know Thomas stuck close to the rest of the disciples for fear that Jesus just might have actually visited with them; he wanted to be there just in case it happened again. 

That's the way we all are.  If something is happening we want to be in on it. 

Okay, remember to Jesus said, "And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." 

Look deeply, everything in the Bible shows us the way to a deeper understanding of who God is.  Let Holy Spirit guide you to understanding God's Word.  Jesus called Holy Spirit the Helper. 

John 14:23-29. "Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. "All this I have spoken while still with you.  But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. "You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe."

Holy Spirit searches even the depths of God, and each one of us.  We are promised if we lack knowledge we should simply ask Him  and He will give it to us. 

When we were in Uganda the most requested prayer from the youngsters was for being "clever."  Clever has an entirely different meaning to them, it means to be smart, full of wisdom.  You see the average age there is about 20 years old.  They know they need help in reaching a maturity of use fullness.  We Americans on the other hand think we know everything when we are teenagers in high school; but we have much to learn from the Ugandans.

Read the scriptures daily, and pray that the God of all creation will disclose His mind and His heart to you as you read and study the Bible and pray.

We see the Lord, we often sing, but how many of us have? 

John said, "I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead."

When Jesus saw Him he fell as though he was dead.  Job said," My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.  Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."

We often sing or say, we want to see Jesus and oh yes we see Him in each other and in the ministry each of us have, and in the church.  However, we are promised that someday we too shall see the risen Lord face to face.  We are also promised, every knee shall bow and I believe we too shall fall as Job said as though dead, and we shall tremble at His power and might. 

Did you know Biblical knowledge comes from wisdom and wisdom first comes though learning the fear of God.

Have you ever stood close to power, I have many times, just the rumble of its power makes everything in your body tremble, even the earth you stand on.  But have you realized God holds the atoms that make up the whole of everything together.  If He wanted to He could simple say a word and they,  it would all fly apart.  That's how powerful He is.  Until then Jesus says we who believe without seeing are blessed!

In the natural world we are once born and once to die, but through Christ we are what?  We are born again, possibly a third time, into the spirit, and never what? Never to die! Bodily yes but not spiritually. That's what we are getting from God by accepting Jesus Christ, His Son, as our Savior!  I doing so He protects our spiritual aspects from the world and ourselves.  Removing the stress if we let Him!

By separating the problem into two or three areas we can examine stress.

For the sake of discussion let's deal with three of the aspects of stress, categories such as world, body (flesh), and spiritual (Devil).

These may be the some total, or root, of all stresses that effect our lives, of course there are other aspects. Which brings me to the topic I would like you study and pray about:  How To Combat Stress Or Attacks From The World, remembering that also includes Satan's influences. While praying about that include, the body and spiritual. 

If you desire to know more about this Jesus Christ who loves you, and you want to ask Him  into your heart, receiving His Saving Grace please click on this Salvation Prayer