Every one of us, I think, has experienced some level of fear in all its variety.

I think just about every one of us fears some things more than other things.

Every one of us deals with fear differently.

There are varieties of fears, and they affect us all differently. I'll give you some examples.

Fear of failure keeps many a person from reaching their full potential for God. Fear of criticism

holds people back from accomplishing great things for God.

There is irrational fears of all kinds and it keeps people constantly in a state of panic

and they're constantly in a state of disarray in their life.

But not all fears, as I said, up front.

Some are hidden.

A fearful person would not know why he's fearful.

The symptoms are there, but a person does not know why.

But do you know that there is a type of fear that only manifests itself after a great victory, after a great success,

after a great blessing. I'm going to explain that. There is this type of fear that only moves in on us after a great achievement or a great accomplishment.

And the Bible gives us many examples of this.

Whenever you see God saying to someone, fear not, is because that person is fearful.

He might not have said it, he might not have verbalized it, but God does not waste words. I'll give you an example.

Joshua, supernaturally, crosses the Jordan River, and then supernaturally pulls down the fortified walls of Jericho and flushed with victory, and the next thing God says,

fear not. Why? After all of that victory,

he had fallen into that fear, that fear of success or post-successful fear. And I want you to turn with me to Genesis chapter 15, verse 1, you're going to come to 14. Here comes God in a vision to

Abraham, and he said to him, fear not. I am your shield and your great reward. Now, just to take a

moment and bring you up to speed, and we're kind of in the middle of the series, which I'm calling

...