Take My Hand Inspirations
Fighting
Fear – part one
Fear is the absence of love?
What?!!! I fear having no money. I fear dying early. I fear relationships I care about suddenly lost
or broken due to misunderstanding. I
fear for my children’s future. I fear
sickness. I fear being shamed and
disgraced. I fear pain of every kind,
but mostly the emotional kind. I fear
missing the rapture when Jesus comes. Do
I share any of these fears with you? What are your personal fears? Be honest
with yourself as you take the time to write them down. And
look at them; ponder over these fears for a moment. Now what do these things I fear have to do
with lack of love?
1 John 4:18 tells us There is no fear in love; but perfect love
casts out fear, because fear involves torment.
But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
If fear is the absence of love, then
what is love and how does it cast out my fear? O.k., let’s read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a. We can list the characteristics of love: 1. Suffers long; 2. Is kind; 3. Does not
envy; 4. Does not parade itself (does
not make himself or herself look better than someone else); 5. Is not puffed up (thinking too highly
of oneself: “I am perfect”; and looking lowly or down on the faults of others,
e.g. arrogance); 6. Does not behave rudely; 7. Is not selfish (not
thinking how his or her actions might affect others); 8. Is not provoked (to overreact in anger); 9. Thinks no evil; 10. Does not rejoice in iniquity (wrong-doing); 11. Rejoices in the truth; 12. Bears (carries) all things; 13.
Believes all things (are going to work out for the good of those
involved); 14. Hopes all things (will get better); 15. Endures all things (as it pushes
through to a positive end); and 16.
Love never fails. (It’s not conditional, but agape).
Again,
what do these things I fear have to do with lack of love; or not being made perfect in love?
When I fear having no money, I lack the
hope (#14) that God will supply all my needs (Phil. 4:19). When I fear dying early, I lack the endurance
(#15) to do what is right to take care of my physical body, my emotional
(soulful) body, and my spiritual body (all three of my being). When I fear broken relationships, I lack the belief
(#13) in humanity’s goodness despite of its weaknesses: no one is perfect,
therefore, I become puffed up (#5) in seeking perfection when it is impossible
and, later, fall into disappointment and despair because I cannot accept human weaknesses
in myself and in others. Wow!
When I fear for my children’s future,
I lack belief (faith) (#13) that God is working everything out for good to
those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 6:28). When I fear sickness, I lack positive thinking
(#9). I make sickness become a big evil
thought in my mind which will surely manifest (become real) and terrible and
ugly and unbearable; instead of looking at sickness as a challenge to overcome
which will give glory to the power of Jesus’ stripes. When I fear being shamed and disgraced (of
course, publically), I lack trust in humanity to cover my offences (more like
imperfections); and then I coil into my selfish shell (#7) overwhelmed
resisting to come out because I don’t find myself perfect enough to live with
others, thereby denying them and myself the best parts of me—the good things
God put in me.
I fear pain of every kind because I
hate long suffering (#1); but the pain comes to help me learn life’s lessons
and to learn to be patient as God works on perfecting me into behaving how love would grow in and through that painful situation or doing what love would do to avoid the
pain altogether. So, why do I fear
missing the rapture when Jesus comes? I
lack the understanding of how love never fails (#16) in that Jesus loved me so
much, He died for me and is now my righteousness; and that, if He lives in me,
I have the victory to overcome the world – my faith in Him (1 John 5:4). When sin so rampantly surrounds me, I lack
rejoicing in the truth (#11) that Jesus came to set me free from sin and
shame. I struggle to forgive myself of
past sins and fear sinning now; and feel my imperfections will keep me out of
heaven. Really? Read 1 John 3 and 4.
Dear family, you see how my fears show
a lack of love in my life? It is a cataclysmic
cycle of torment (self-inflicted punishment) for not accepting the fact that I
am not perfect. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him (1
John 2:5a). . . .God abides in us, and
His love has been perfected in us (1 John 4:12c).
lease, drop the guise (or disguise),
dear brother, dear sister. If you are in
such a cycle of torment from your own personal fears, there is only one way
out: Forgive yourself, forgive the ones who caused you pain, and embrace the
wonderful person God made in His own image and likeness: YOU. Change your way of thinking about yourself
and know that God did not make any mistakes when He created you. No two people are exactly the same; and He
has a special plan and purpose for your life.
Do not spend any more time wasting time in your doubts and fears. Shake that old devil off. (I did; and if I could do it, so can you.) He’s
gripped you for too long holding you in your prison of fears. YOU ARE A CHILD OF THE MOST HIGH GOD. Begin (right now) loving yourself into a life
of freedom. And you shall know the Truth [about who you really are in Christ] and
the truth shall make you free! (John 8:32).
A
Fighting Fear Prayer
Dear
Lord,
I
am not perfect. I have made so many
mistakes. I had sinned before I allowed
you into my heart. And you forgave me. You cleansed me with your precious blood; and
made me clean again and whole. Satan is
a liar for making me fear so many things, and viciously wicked for not allowing
me to forgive myself by living in clouds of guilt for so many years. Take His grip, his hold, off me, dear
Lord. I break every shackle, every
stronghold, every lie I have ever told myself about myself and every lie anyone
has ever said about me, in Jesus’ name.
I am not a victim. I am a
victor. Victory became mine when you
resurrected from the grave. Victory
became mine the moment I said, “Yes, Lord, yes. You are my Savior and my Lord,” and shamed
that old devil.
I
loose myself from all strongholds mentally, physically, emotionally,
spiritually, financially and any other “- ly”.
I am saved by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus. I am a new creation, the old me is dead, and
this brand new sparkling me is now alive.
And from now on, I’m going walk, talk and act like a person who is alive
in Christ. No more fears; but only
unconditional trust in the undeniable, irrevocable fact that You are working all things out for my good to
give me and mine a beautiful future and a tangible hope.
I
love you, Lord. You are my
perfection. You perfect me. Your perfect love casts out all my
fears. I promise to study and meditate
on your Words only and what You say about me.
I refuse to accept any negative, derogatory words of men and what “they”
say about me. I promise to show that I
love myself by taking good care of me, so that I can share what’s godly in me
for the benefit of others. Where there
is love there is no torment. I thank you
for taking me out of that dark and miserable place and setting me on your high
road of love. Help me to stay on that
road, oh Lord: to love and to be loved.
IN
THE NAME OF …… JESUS!
All
God’s children shout: Amen!!!!
© 2017 by Take My Hand Inspirations, a
division of PepParadise Society Ltd. All
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Take My Hand Inspirations
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