SHED YOUR FEARS!

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. ~ 2 Timothy 1:7

Fear is anxiously consuming! Most often we fear what we can't control such as rejection, sickness or disease and even death to name a few. We know scripture tells us to fear not! We tend to mishandle our lives when we rely on ourselves to control the direction of our future. We have to allow God take full control without resisting His will for us. Too many times God desires for us to move in one direction and we are determined to go in a direction that we have set for ourselves. This choice causes us to be lost and confused. God is not the author of confusion, and fear is not of God. Why....because fear is a trick that Satan uses to torment the mind, and if he can do this, we lose all joy and peace. Statistics have shown that in most cases fear never becomes reality. Fear gives us a false sense of hopelessness. Fear is a spirit that is from Satan, the author of lies. Satan uses that to rob us from the blessings and miracles that God intends for us to reap. The Bible says that "we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world...and against evil spirits in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12 NLT). God says that Satan only comes to "steal, and to kill, and to destroy" (John 10:10). And that is the agenda for the Spirit of Fear!
The Bible tells us God is our Comforter, Our Resting Place, Our Peace Maker! God can not use us if we are bound by a spirit of fear. When faced with fear we must seek Him through prayer and God will come to us and deliver us."I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears."Psalm 34:4 I have always reminded my children when ever they had an unpleasant dream "to fear not for God is with them". Instilling in them that no matter what they face their is nothing that they have to fear, knowing God is with them. Through prayer we gain power and confidence to face and conquer our fears through the Spirit of God! Fear keeps us bound and unable to move forward, this is crippling for our spiritual walk with God. We need to cast out all spirits of fear and doubt and loose the spirit of faith, confidence and obedience upon each of our lives!
Fear Not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, Ge 26:24
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world John 16:33 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and, going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase. Acts 9:31
Remember, Jesus performed a miracle with Peter! Peter was given the ability to walk on water with Jesus. And he did walk on water but as soon as Peter started recognizing his circumstances, and all that was against him, his heart filled with fear and he surely began to sink. "Come, he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus." Matthew 14:9 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Peter's miracle was cut short because he yielded to the spirit of fear instead of keeping his trust and faith on Jesus. Regardless how hopeless and grave the circumstances may present themselves in our lives, we can totally trust God to see us through and protect us against anything that wars or rages against us. I wonder how often we cut our miracles short by spending our time worrying over our circumstances instead of spending our time in prayer and reading the word. God will bless prayer and supplication but God will never bless fear and doubt. Shed your fears through the power of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is your protection, strength and power to overcome!

Jeremiah 18:1-6 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2“Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. 5Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6“O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.
People can make life very difficult at times. How often we who are marred by our imperfections must be made new. Just like the potter who made the pot of marred clay seen it unfit or unmanageable. So he started over and made a new and improved pot. But keep in mind he still used the same clay that was being used for the other pot. Same clay.....different pot! My point is this....God is our potter and we are His clay. And although at times we can become unmanageable of ourselves, if we give ourselves to Him, He can reform us and our lives into something quite beautiful! He doesn't throw us out as unusable, He molds us into an image that resembles Him! The potter had complete control over the clay and His uses for it. God has complete control over us and our lives. God has the ability and skill to change who we are and give us the capability to follow out His will for our lives. He gives us power and wisdom to carry out His plan for us. By faith and obedience God will preserve our lovely new creation, this is the keeping power of God. If we break, He will mend us, if we are lost, He will find us, if we seek Him, He rewards us, He is hope for the hopeless, and if you ask anything in His name, it will be given to you....
Isa 26: 3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Isa 55: 6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

THE UNMEASURABLE MERCY AND LOVE OF GOD!

Psalm 69:32 "The humble will see their God at work and be glad.Let all who seek God’s help be encouraged."
Being a christian does not eliminate you from making mistakes. Being a christian is recognizing your mistakes, going to God with a repented heart and turning away from the wrong you did. Being a christian is serving the Lord faithfully and whole heartily even though you've made mistakes. Sometimes we think that if we don't do everything perfectly that God will not hear, bless or love us. Or we feel we haven't quite measured up on the holy scale! None of this is true. We can never be holy enough in comparison to our Lord. Please show me a perfect person!! We are all unworthy of His grace and love. Romans 12:3 "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."
God knows we are flawed with imperfections, yet He loves us anyway! We all fall short of the glory of God, that is why we die daily(repenting daily). We expect our own children to fail from time to time, and when they fail our love for them never changes. How must our heavenly Father feel when we fail Him? I believe much the same. Scripture reminds us that His love is everlasting and unfailing! Now this does not at all excuse sin, God is unhappy when we sin and desires for us to live a righteous life. His love never changes even if our love for Him does. A sinful life will lead us to death and destruction, the Bible clearly warns us of that. But I believe one of the biggest tricks of Satan is to place spirits of guilt, shame and the "I will never be holy enough or ever quite measure up" thoughts driven into the minds of Christians! These thoughts will kill your spiritual walk with God if you allow it. Thoughts like those are spiritually unhealthy and will slowly but surely get you to a place of spiritual hopelessness. How often do your mistakes surface to your mind when you are about to do something great for the Lord? Right before you walk in the church, hand out a church track, do a Bible Study, or witness to someone you meet! The enemy is crafty, he is there to steal, kill and destroy. We must remember that! If he discourages us before we get started we are then unable to minister the gospel of Jesus Christ to others. He does not want us to do the work of the Lord because we are tearing down his kingdom in the process! "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance." Luke 15:7 ALL TRUTH, LOVE AND GOODNESS COMES FROM THE LORD! We are children of God, that in return makes us children of promise! 156.Romans 9:8 "That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." Galatians 3:26 "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus."

Dear Lord,
Please forgive all the mistakes that we have made. These mistakes do not define us but can hinder or limit our growth in you. Help us to be wise to things that come against us to tear us down. Help us to know that we are of little worth to this world in which we live, but we are of great worth to you. Help us to never forget your love for us and direct our lives so that we may live our lives in a way that is pleasing to you. Give us strength and power to continuously serve you all the days of our lives.In Jesus name.
Amen