BELIEVE FEARLESSLY

What is fear? Better yet, what is your biggest fear? And no, this is not about being afraid to fly, being afraid of the dark, or being wary of things that go bump in the night. This is about those fears that have us in holding patterns, things like fear of commitment, fear of failure or success, fear of change or something new, and perhaps even the fear of illness or death. We spend so much time and energy trying to avoid what we fear that we miss out on reaching our greatest potential or experiencing our greatest joy.

So what is fear? It is distress caused by impending danger that is real or imagined; fear has also been described as False Expectation Appearing Real. We often convince ourselves of an outcome in a situation to the point that it becomes a reality in our minds. We tell ourselves “No one will hire me,” and then we are surprised when we did not get the job. We experience heartbreak and never let anyone get close to us again. Fear takes over and we control our environment in order to prevent bad things from happening. But fear is a trick of the enemy and is in total opposition to faith.  

In Mark 4:40, Jesus says to the disciples, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” The disciples had spent the day with Jesus out on a lake, listening to Him speak in parables about the Kingdom of God. Yet when a storm came threatening to capsize the boat, the disciples woke Jesus from His nap thinking that they might drown. With all the time they had spent with Jesus in His ministry, there in His presence; the disciples allowed fear to cripple their faith. The storm they endured was bigger than their faith in the One who was with them.

In order to conquer our fear we must have faith in the One that can calm the storm. A fearless faith says that God is bigger than the wind and the waves, and He can guide us safely to shore! We must stop allowing fear to control us and let faith guide our lives. We must commit ourselves to Christ and start to love fearlessly, pray fearlessly, serve fearlessly, live fearlessly, but most of all we must believe fearlessly! :)

Scripture: For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV

Prayer: Thank you Heavenly Father for your grace and mercy. We ask that you forgive us for doubting you and minimizing your love and power. You have not given us a spirit of fear and we rebuke it in the name of Jesus. You said that you would never leave us nor forsake us and that you are with us always. We can trust you to do as you promised. So be with us in this battle against the enemy that is fear, because it gets in the way of our faith. Help us Lord to face our fears and move forward in all of our endeavors that bring glory to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

Read 2 Timothy 1:6-12 and Mark 4 for further insight.

PERPETUAL PRAISE

Praise the Lord! For He is worthy to be praised! He is so worthy that He is exalted with praise over 300 times in scripture! His praises are called out from Genesis through Revelation, and from Noah to Paul.  

However, many of us think of praise as part of Sunday service, when the choir sings and we are participants with others in worship service. Some of us only have praise on our lips when we have survived some sort of mayhem. But praising God is more than an act of worship and mediocre gratitude; it is a statement of faith and thanksgiving for a loving and merciful God. Praise is an acknowledgement of God’s power over our lives and circumstances no matter what we are facing. We should praise God for everything and at all times!

Praise is a powerful weapon that is readily at our disposal to usher in God’s anointing and to battle the enemy. When we praise God, especially when our praise is genuine and heartfelt; He is pleased. Our praise brings us into the presence of God, and He dwells in the praises of His people (see Psalm 22:3). The Lord loves each of us and is delighted to fellowship among us, particularly when two or more are gathered in Jesus’ name (see Matthew 18:19-20). Collective praise was enough to fight off an army (see 2Chronicles 20:22), and enough to tear down prison walls (see Acts 16:25-26).

There are so many extraordinary things that we can praise God for, and so many ways in which we can praise Him. We are not limited to just singing our praises. We can glorify God by dancing, writing, painting, preaching, teaching or just sitting still and meditating on His word. The Book of Psalms is filled with ways we can express our thanks to a loving and awesome God. So start praising the Lord:

For who He is and what He has done (see Psalm 146 & Psalm 147).

Along with all of His creations (see Psalm 148 & Psalm 149).

Wherever and however (see Psalm 150).

Praise the Lord! For He is worthy to be praised!

Scripture: I will extol the LORD at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. Psalm 34:1 NIV

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD… Psalm 150:6 NIV

Prayer: Father God, we exalt you and praise your Holy Name! We come before you thanking you and glorifying you with all that we are, and all that you have created us to be. Help us to understand that praise and worship is not just a part of Sunday service, but is a part of our ongoing relationship with you. Your presence is crucial to our growth and development in our walk with Christ, and we need you every day, all day. As we lift our praises to you, fill us with the Holy Spirit that we may be lead in your righteousness and guarded against those that seek to destroy us. We pray these and so many other blessings, in Jesus’ name...Amen!

HE MOVES MOUNTAINS

Have you ever been out taking a walk and found yourself going uphill? As you continue on the journey, the incline gets steeper and you find each step to be more difficult than the last. If you stop midway to rest, the journey then becomes a battle of wills, yours against an incline that is resistant to your best efforts. But once you have made your way to the top of the hill the rest of the journey seems easy, right? You are able to walk down the incline without as much as a thought.  There is a reason that it is easier to come down a hill than it is to go up, it is called resistance. The earth has a gravitational pull that attracts everything to its center. The further we move from the earth’s surface, the more we have to work to resist the force of gravity.

Many of us approach our walk with Christ as if we are going uphill. We try to move forward and operate under our own strength instead of relying on a power greater than ourselves. We say that we trust God and have turned our lives over to him, but we keep resisting, so our forward movement is hindered and weighted. We do not pray and speak to Him about the condition of our lives. We refuse to read the Bible to find direction for life’s complications. We fellowship for reasons outside of the will of God, and still expect Him to bless our efforts. It is like walking uphill, and expecting our legs not to hurt. This nonchalant attitude towards God, His word, and the body of Christ is why we find ourselves fighting an uphill battle in our daily lives.

The Bible tells us that, “’If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword,’ for the mouth of the LORD has spoken” (Isaiah 1:19-20). We must stop fighting situations and circumstances that are larger than us. Sometimes the fight is because we have given something too much power in our lives…too much head space and too much heart space. These are the times that we must truly let go and let God.

Consider King Jehoshaphat facing the vast army of Ammonites and Moabites, he sought out God before going into battle. God said to him do not fear, ‘I will go before you…’ (see 2 Chronicles 20:15). He took God at his word and instead of resisting, he ordered his men to go out ahead of the army and sing praises to the God of Israel (see 2 Chronicles 20:21). It was no longer a battle for King Jehoshaphat, he gave it over and the battle was the Lord's.

So whatever mountains we are trying to climb in our own strength, we must get out of His way and let God move the mountain! We must be prayerful, we have to feed on His Word, and fellowship with other believers on a regular basis. His love is pulling us toward Him; we cannot resist and still claim He is Lord. We must surrender to His love. Our faith in His ability allows us to move freely and unhindered as if we are running downhill with no resistance. We have to keep moving towards the love of God and that will always draw us nearer to Him!

Scripture: His wisdom is profound, his power is vast.  Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?  He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in his anger. Job 9:4-5 NIV

Prayer: Thank you Lord for the love that you have for us, even in our resistance. So forgive us for not counting on you. Fill us with the Holy Spirit that we may be filled with your love and be righteous in our actions and efforts. Our joy and strength is found in you, and we will have praise in our hearts and on our lips as we turn our battles over to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

Read 2 Chronicles 20 for further insight.