The Great Deception

How can I break free from fear? Fear of everything or anything. The bible says perfect love casts out fear. So what if I don’t  have love in my life? Who is going to get rid of my fear? Jesus will.  When you accept Him God lives in you. God is love. When you allow His love to dominate your spirit, your outlook, your life He will cast out fear, His love will. It’s not the love you receive from others that will cast out fear. Life is too fickle for that. It’s the love of Christ that you allow to flow out of you to others that will release fear. When you choose love instead of fear you choose peace.  His love is in you but it can lie dormant if you choose not to recognize it in your life or situations. This requires an active choice to choose love when everything in you wants to do anything but. This can be an extreme struggle between our will and Gods. God will not force you to choose love, however, He may allow plenty of opportunities for you to! Unfortunately we have been conditioned to fear as a method of protection. I call it the “great deception” because we are not protecting ourselves at all. We are dying a slow death. The death of unfulfilled dreams, the death of intimate relationships never realized, the death of creativity and expression.  When living in fear we create a separation from God in our minds that fulfills all that we fear. Wow!….go figure. Hence the great deception.

There are times when it is so tempting to fear the worst and meditate on the negative. In those times we have to cry out to Jesus or our minds will be overtaken with worry, anger, jealousy, envy and every dark thing. We will allow a hole to be dug for us that will be extremely difficult and painful to get out of.

The emotional side of God’s love is wonderful. I can hear a song or meditate on what He means to me and tears well up in my eyes. I can be overcome with the love of Christ. But the practical application of His word is hard work. It takes diligence, understanding, reverent fear, obedience and a great awareness of ourselves and where we are weakest. But practical application of Gods word leads to a peace that is not really explainable. It can really lead you to love your enemies, turn the other cheek, love your neighbor as yourself, give you wisdom and protect your soul. It is a definite work in progress that will not be done until we meet Christ.

Sometimes old mindsets are so engrained in our psyches that we have to bombard and surround ourselves with Godly input. We can do this through His Word, books, people with the mind of Christ etc. God can speak to us through any means He chooses. Our part is to look for, expect and desire His guidance and be open to His promptings. Sometimes you have to physically shut out things that feed that old “wrong” mindset until you are equipped to counteract the temptation to slip and slide back into the muck and mire that may feel so comfortable. Don’t give up and don’t give out. The really good news is that the battle is not yours. The battle is the Lords and He is giving you the victory. That is the gift of surrender. Surrendering to a Lord that has conquered temptation and even death. Surrender all. It is okay to let go and let God. He does have your back. He will protect you.  Stay in the battle beloved. Be encouraged and please read 1John 4:18-19.

Love,

Ms. Wanda GAC