Take a look around. Almost all you see and hear these days is fear. It's everywhere.

But it's not so surprising–that's what terror-ism is all about.

Terrorism is defined as "the planned, organized use of fear as a weapon." The goal of terrorism is to terrify, frighten or panic to the point that a person or people cannot resist.

Oppression is the spoiling or taking away of a person's goods or estates by terror or force. It means taking them away without having any right to them, and by working on the ignorance, weakness or fearfulness of the person being oppressed.

So at the heart of all terrorism and oppression is fear. And in an hour when unthinkable acts of terror seem too close to home, all the world is about to see a striking difference between believers and unbelievers.

Because, unlike the rest of the world, believers don't have to cope with or tolerate fear in any way. We attack it–and get rid of it.

God has not called the Body of Christ–the Body of His anointed ones in the earth–to cope with fear any more than He's called us to cope with poverty, sickness or any other kind of oppression from the devil.

Jesus went to great effort to deliver us from all oppression. And His approach to dealing with oppression is found in Acts 10:38: "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil."

Jesus didn't cope with the works of the devil. He destroyed them. That was His whole reason for coming to this earth (1 John 3:8). And He destroyed them by going straight to the core of the matter. Hebrews 2:14-15 says, "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he [Jesus] also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them [us] who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."

Before Jesus came into this earth, all mankind was subject to bondage. How? Through the fear of death.

The devil held in his hands the power of death over us. And the fear of death is the master fear. It's what all forms of fear are based on. If you're afraid of flying, afraid of the dark, or afraid of standing up to talk before a group of people, it all stems from the fear of death.

Notice, however, Jesus came along and destroyed fear at its root by taking the power of death away from Satan. Suddenly we no longer had to be subject to fear–-any fear.

What's more, the moment we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we no longer have "the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7).

Romans 8:14-15 puts it this way: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."

Where we once had a spirit of fear, we now have the Spirit of God, the Spirit of love, because God is love (1 John 4:16). And "perfect love casteth out fear" (verse 18).

So there's a huge difference between just coping with fear, trying to "make it" through life while still subject to all its oppression, and being delivered from fear where it's totally and completely out of your life forever.

As a born-again child of God, you don't have to be dominated or controlled by fear anymore because Jesus destroyed the root to all fear. In other words, you no longer have a spirit of fear living inside you.

Though we no longer have to be subject to fear, we still live in a world that's held captive by fear. This means we will encounter it, and we will have to deal with it.

Besides that, life–even life in the Spirit–is not governed by chance, luck or some mystical, unknown order in the universe. No. All life is governed by spiritual laws. And those spiritual laws function and interact with each other the same way natural, physical laws do–-the law of gravity, for example, or other laws of physics and so on.

Romans 8:2 tells us that "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made [us] free from the law of sin and death." When you put any of the laws of sin and death into operation, they will kill you. Because sin ultimately produces death.

Yet because Jesus died and rose again from the grave, we've been given authority in the law of the Spirit of life through the Anointed One, Jesus. We've been freed from the laws of sin and death.

Now that doesn't mean we can sin and not die. It simply means the drive and press of sin that works in the life of someone who isn't born again is not at work in a believer, and has no authority over us unless we allow it. And since fear is a spiritual force, we must attack it with the spiritual weapons of our warfare that we've been given–weapons which "are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds" (2 Corinthians 10:4).

Yes, fear is a stronghold and it's up to us to pull it down. The key to our pulling it down lies in Joshua 1. This is where we find God's instructions to Joshua on how to lead Israel into the promised land.

One of the first things God told Joshua was: "As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them" (verses 5-6).

Joshua's success in leading the children of Israel into the land flowing with milk and honey was not because he was the greatest military commander of his day. And it wasn't because he was the top motivational speaker of his day.

Joshua's success was simply because God said, "As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee."

Remember how we said God is love and "perfect love casteth out fear" (1 John 4:18)?

God basically told Joshua, I'll be with you. I won't leave you. I won't fail you. So don't be afraid!

Love, Himself, talked to Joshua that day. Love reassured Joshua that He would be with him and see him through to the other side.

That wasn't all God had to say to Joshua that day, however. After encouraging Joshua, God had more instructions:

Be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success (Joshua 1:7-8).

God's presence with Joshua was not enough to win the battle against the terror he would soon face and overcome. Joshua had a part to play as well. His part was threefold:

1. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth
2. Meditate therein day and night
3. Observe to do according to all that is written therein

Joshua was to speak the Word...meditate the Word...and do the Word. And he was to do all three continually. Only then would he defeat fear, prosper and have good success. And the key was the Word.

John 1:1 tells us, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The Word is just as much a manifestation of God, Himself, as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are. But add to that the revelation that God is love (1 John 4:16), and we see that the Word is a manifestation of love, the perfect love which casts out fear.

You see, the Word of God does not major on God's power. We're the ones who have been focused on His power. The Word majors on the love of God. And without the love of God, you would never see a manifestation of God's power.

So what did God tell Joshua to meditate on?

The Word of God...the love of God. Because it's that love that casts out fear. Notice God's closing statement to Joshua: "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest" (Joshua 1:9).

As long as Joshua focused on the love of God–the Word of God–there was no place for fear. It was gone. Rooted out!

This holds true for us today. Getting rid of fear takes some action on our part. Like Joshua, we have to meditate–constantly give our attention to–the Word of God.

That means keeping our mind stayed on Him, keeping our mind stayed on His Word, and keeping our mind stayed on His love. And we have to do that until we receive revelation of Hebrews 13:5-6: "...For [God] hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me."

These days, we cannot saturate our minds with all the media reports of death, destruction, chemical warfare and terrorism, and still walk free of fear. We have to get our mind off what the world says and onto what the Word says.

And the Word says: All authority in heaven and earth has been given to you by the Name of Jesus. You have authority over everything that walks, everything that flies, everything that crawls, everything that swims and everything that creeps.

So focus on the Word. Draw on the love of God. Then seize your authority like never before and.pull the plug on terrorism!