What do you fear?
1 John 4 says:
"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment."
Punishment. We think we deserve punishment instead of love from the Father. The guilt of our past failures and mistakes causes fear because we think, any moment, God will give us what we deserve. (Or at least what we think we deserve.) Something we too often forget, is that God has told us He decided over a couple thousand years ago that He was NOT going to give us what we deserve. We deserve eternity in hell. We deserve His wrath. But He, being a good Father, saw fit to give us grace and forgiveness.
This well known verse says it all:
John 3:16-17 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
Why do we not believe this verse? Why do we still condemn ourselves when condemnation is not from God? For me personally, I know I continually think I've just failed too many times for God to be able to use me. I'm afraid of failing Him again,and wondering how many times it will take before He gets tired of forgiving me and loving me after my mistakes. My heart gets weary. I get tired trying to be perfect. Did you know that there is not a single perfect person that has ever walked the earth outside of Christ Himself? He is our example for sure, but nowhere in the bible does it ever say we will be sinless this side of eternity. It's not possible, because we are not God. It is so hard for me to trust sometimes; hard for me to trust that He will still love me, that He hasn't left me when those really hard times come, and that He will still be there no matter what.
In Psalm 28:7, King David says:
"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him."
"My heart trusts in Him." That is such a simple phrase, yet it has the power to calm a storm, enable a man to walk on water, stand up and walk, or get through some pretty tough times.
So why do we still live in fear?
I know personally, my fear starts growing bigger than my faith every time I cut off my daily connection with Christ. When I don't have that constant connection, my heart is more susceptible to attacks from the enemy. I start worrying, stressing, and wondering what the future holds. I try to take my life in my own hands because, sometimes, it just feels like God isn't doing a good enough job. (Have you been there?) I saw a quote the other day that I fell in love with, and it is something I absolutely need to keep close by as a reminder!
"If you think you've blow God's plan for your life, rest in this. You, my beautiful friend, are not that powerful."
Wow. Talk about a slap to the face. When our fears become greater than our faith, we tend to try and take control of things ourselves...but I don't think we really get to the depth of why we are doing that. And it truly is simple: we either believe we are powerful enough to overcome all of these trials, stresses of life, and problems on our own and do a better job than God, or, we don't want to bother Him with our little problems. It's truly just the pride of our own hearts that puts us in messes like this. When our boat is rocked a little, instead of going to our knees or running to Him to give us wisdom, we start panicking that it's all going to fall apart. Where is our peace? Why are we not comforted? Well, it goes back to that connection.
Here is an example:
If you wake up late in the morning, rush to get ready for work, run out the door, speed through traffic to make it on time, get to your office/client's home and start your day from the beginning at a brain frazzled pace, how do you think you're going to react if anything else seems to go wrong or fall apart that day?
OR
If you set an alarm with enough time so you have a few minutes of devotion or prayer time in the morning, grab a cup of coffee and a bite to eat, get in your car, and turn on some praise and worship music...how do you think your day would be different? How do you think you would handle any problems that pop up unexpectedly?
John 14:27 says:
"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."
Psalm 9:10 says:
"And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You."
I haven't completely overcome my fears, and I promise you I won't ever be perfect this side of heaven. But I am slowly learning how to deal with them and use God's tools to combat them. Instead of sinking into depression or anxiety like I would have done in years past, I turn praise songs on or go to my bible and search out verses where God assures me He is always there and has my WHOLE life in His hands. What an amazing promise, to know we don't have to fix everything on our own, but that NOTHING comes into our lives before passing through God's hands. That doesn't mean we won't struggle or have trials, no, we are promised those will come; what it DOES mean is that nothing that comes our way is a surprise to God.
Isn't it time to fight your fears? Stand up and let Satan know he no longer has power over us. We are sons and daughters of the Most High King. The Creator of everything there is. We have a Leader in this battle against Satan that WILL win the fight, and that outcome will never change.
It's time to take God's promises to heart and stand FIRM against those fears in your life, knowing He has control over it all, and has never once left your side. No matter how hard things get, no matter how lost you feel, no matter how big of a mess you feel your life is, Jesus is standing right beside you, holding you, waiting for you to hand everything over to Him.
I will leave you with these lyrics of an old hymn.
Is Your All On The Alter?
- The unknown
- Other people's opinions
- Life
- Failure
- Financial struggles
- Love
- Raising a family
- Being hurt
- Change
1 John 4 says:
"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment."
Punishment. We think we deserve punishment instead of love from the Father. The guilt of our past failures and mistakes causes fear because we think, any moment, God will give us what we deserve. (Or at least what we think we deserve.) Something we too often forget, is that God has told us He decided over a couple thousand years ago that He was NOT going to give us what we deserve. We deserve eternity in hell. We deserve His wrath. But He, being a good Father, saw fit to give us grace and forgiveness.
This well known verse says it all:
John 3:16-17 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
Why do we not believe this verse? Why do we still condemn ourselves when condemnation is not from God? For me personally, I know I continually think I've just failed too many times for God to be able to use me. I'm afraid of failing Him again,and wondering how many times it will take before He gets tired of forgiving me and loving me after my mistakes. My heart gets weary. I get tired trying to be perfect. Did you know that there is not a single perfect person that has ever walked the earth outside of Christ Himself? He is our example for sure, but nowhere in the bible does it ever say we will be sinless this side of eternity. It's not possible, because we are not God. It is so hard for me to trust sometimes; hard for me to trust that He will still love me, that He hasn't left me when those really hard times come, and that He will still be there no matter what.
In Psalm 28:7, King David says:
"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him."
"My heart trusts in Him." That is such a simple phrase, yet it has the power to calm a storm, enable a man to walk on water, stand up and walk, or get through some pretty tough times.
So why do we still live in fear?
I know personally, my fear starts growing bigger than my faith every time I cut off my daily connection with Christ. When I don't have that constant connection, my heart is more susceptible to attacks from the enemy. I start worrying, stressing, and wondering what the future holds. I try to take my life in my own hands because, sometimes, it just feels like God isn't doing a good enough job. (Have you been there?) I saw a quote the other day that I fell in love with, and it is something I absolutely need to keep close by as a reminder!
"If you think you've blow God's plan for your life, rest in this. You, my beautiful friend, are not that powerful."
Wow. Talk about a slap to the face. When our fears become greater than our faith, we tend to try and take control of things ourselves...but I don't think we really get to the depth of why we are doing that. And it truly is simple: we either believe we are powerful enough to overcome all of these trials, stresses of life, and problems on our own and do a better job than God, or, we don't want to bother Him with our little problems. It's truly just the pride of our own hearts that puts us in messes like this. When our boat is rocked a little, instead of going to our knees or running to Him to give us wisdom, we start panicking that it's all going to fall apart. Where is our peace? Why are we not comforted? Well, it goes back to that connection.
Here is an example:
If you wake up late in the morning, rush to get ready for work, run out the door, speed through traffic to make it on time, get to your office/client's home and start your day from the beginning at a brain frazzled pace, how do you think you're going to react if anything else seems to go wrong or fall apart that day?
OR
If you set an alarm with enough time so you have a few minutes of devotion or prayer time in the morning, grab a cup of coffee and a bite to eat, get in your car, and turn on some praise and worship music...how do you think your day would be different? How do you think you would handle any problems that pop up unexpectedly?
John 14:27 says:
"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."
Psalm 9:10 says:
"And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You."
I haven't completely overcome my fears, and I promise you I won't ever be perfect this side of heaven. But I am slowly learning how to deal with them and use God's tools to combat them. Instead of sinking into depression or anxiety like I would have done in years past, I turn praise songs on or go to my bible and search out verses where God assures me He is always there and has my WHOLE life in His hands. What an amazing promise, to know we don't have to fix everything on our own, but that NOTHING comes into our lives before passing through God's hands. That doesn't mean we won't struggle or have trials, no, we are promised those will come; what it DOES mean is that nothing that comes our way is a surprise to God.
Isn't it time to fight your fears? Stand up and let Satan know he no longer has power over us. We are sons and daughters of the Most High King. The Creator of everything there is. We have a Leader in this battle against Satan that WILL win the fight, and that outcome will never change.
It's time to take God's promises to heart and stand FIRM against those fears in your life, knowing He has control over it all, and has never once left your side. No matter how hard things get, no matter how lost you feel, no matter how big of a mess you feel your life is, Jesus is standing right beside you, holding you, waiting for you to hand everything over to Him.
I will leave you with these lyrics of an old hymn.
Is Your All On The Alter?
You have longed for sweet peace,
- And for faith to increase,
And have earnestly, fervently prayed;
But you cannot have rest,
Or be perfectly blest,
Until all on the altar is laid.- Refrain:
Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?
Your heart does the Spirit control?
You can only be blest,
And have peace and sweet rest,
As you yield Him your body and soul.
- Refrain:
- Would you walk with the Lord,
In the light of His word,
And have peace and contentment alway?
You must do His sweet will,
To be free from all ill,
On the altar your all you must lay. - Oh, we never can know
What the Lord will bestow
Of the blessings for which we have prayed,
Till our body and soul
He doth fully control,
And our all on the altar is laid. - Who can tell all the love
He will send from above,
And how happy our hearts will be made;
Of the fellowship sweet
We shall share at His feet,
When our all on the altar is laid.
