No Fear. Ever.

Sound impossible? As Christians we have unending access to a source for great courage. I have parents come to me for prayer, because their grown kids have stepped away from the faith. They are making bad decisions. The conversation usually goes something like this:

I ask them if they dedicated their children to God. "Yes," I hear, "but....".

"And when you held them out to God the Father, did you let go when he accepted them?" "well, um...." I usually hear.

"And do you trust God?" "OH, YES!!! With all my HEART!"....

HMMMMM. I think....."but....." (I hear a lot of buts).

"Did you bring them up in the Word?" I ask. "Ummm, yeah. But...." or "kinda, but...." or "well, not really".

"Have you asked God to protect them and help them make good decisions? "well, of COURSE!"

Do you believe that when you speak, God inclines His ear to you? "Huh?" I hear back. (It's as if they are not quite sure how to answer that).

So I ask again, in a way people expect to hear the question: "Do you believe God answers your prayers? Do you believe he WANTS to give you the desire of your heart?" "well.......yeeeahhh..."

Do we, as Christians believe that Jesus told the truth? That God never lies? Do we believe that what he says in Scripture is indeed EXACTLY what he meant? We SAY we do... "but" if that really is the case, how can we fear after we read this:

(II Timothy 1:7) 7 For God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

(Acts 10:35) 35 but in every nation he who fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.

(Hebrews 13:6) 6 So that with good courage we say, “The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

(John 15:7) 7 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.

(I John 4:18) 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love.

(Psalms 23:4) 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

(II Timothy 4:18) 18 And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me for his heavenly Kingdom; to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

(John 14:27) 27 Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.

(Psalms 37:1-2) 1 Don’t fret because of evildoers, neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness. 2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither like the green herb.

(Luke 12:4-5) 4 “I tell you, my friends, don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom you should fear. Fear him, who after he has killed, has power to cast into Gehenna. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

(Matthew 11:28-30) 28 “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”"

(Psalms 27:1-3) 1 Yahweh is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Yahweh is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When evildoers came at me to eat up my flesh, even my adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell. 3 Though an army should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, even then I will be confident.

Sounds "old fashioned" but the message definately says --I got your back!!"

Think on this-- do we really, TRULY believe in the Gospel message? With ALL our hearts? UNCONDITIONALLY? So, who do you think Jesus is? What do you REALLY think God can do? Do you REALLY believe in the Holy Spirit? Here's Jesus' answer:

John 6:35 (New International Version)

 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

 Jesus wants us to realize that HE IS. He means every word he said in scripture. We must nourish ourselves upon his every word. We must not ever thirst for truth again, for if we truly believe in him, we will never thirst again.

Psalm 27:1

The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?

Over and over again God tries to help us realize that he will NEVER let us down. But we MUST let go. We must surrender our fears to him. You see, as long as we worry, we feel as if we are doing something about our woes.  What did my Gram say about that? Worrying never solved anything! All it does is make you sick! But we have a need to feel as if we are taking action to make things better. I want to encourage you in this: There is only ONE thing you can do that is incredibly powerful against anything negative life brings. Surrender it TOTALLY to God, and sever your ties of worry. Be at peace, and pray thanks to God that he is working on it for you. When we worry and beg and plead with God, he is definately paying attention to us. But I believe that what we really need is for him to concentrate on the situation that needs his touch. I know, he can do all things, but remember we are creatures of free will? So, if we CHOOSE to tie ourselves to any situation with worry, we are not totally giving it over to God. That may make us feel more powerful and useful, but ultimately we get in God's way. And believe me, no intensity of worry EVER helped God.

Surrender your fears and worries to God the Father. He is our protector. He only wants the very best for us. He has HUGE shoulders. He can handle it all MUCH better than we can. Fear no man, nor the enemy who is purposeless and meaningless in our lives if we will it.

But, as Jesus asked the man beside the pool: "Do you WANT to be healed?" Do you really want to not be responsible for fixing everything? Do you really want to be free from worry? That's the key. The decision is yours.

If you want to examine this more closely, or need help with this process, please email us or call/email for an appointment. NO FEAR, EVER.

Once you accept and adopt these principles of living in freedom from fear, we can move forward to our next step: Accepting Your Authority, and Using It!