The world is evolving every day, and it forces us to move with it. I mean, just look around you, almost everything is changing. Technology is really trying so hard to blow us out of this realm. Easier ways to do things pops up like every second. It also seems like blinking isn’t the right thing to do, because if you do, you might just miss out on something. Everything, I mean everything, is just spinning and moving and changing. If you’re not moving…the world might begin to feel strange to you. So, we feel the pressure to update our apps. It becomes a necessity to keep up with the trends in our career. We read and listen, daily, to really know where we are and where we’re headed.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with “change”, God created the world in a way that it will be a bond-servant to change. So it’s actually beyond our abilities to really do anything about the “change” we are experiencing. But, I want us to just pause…for some quality minutes…and just see how we’re doing…how we’re really doing, with all that is happening, and will keep happening, around us.
As a child of God:
Do you say things because you really have something to say or because you just want people to hear you say something?
Do you wear clothes because you’re comfortable in them or because you to want to impress the crowd?
Are you involved in things that you’re passionate about or you’re just doing things to get a public approval?
Why do you really do things for people? To buy their respect and love or because you really care?
Is your God given “uniqueness” soaring…or it’s just bond with chains? Do you even know you have a “uniqueness”?
Are you focused on purpose or what the world wants you to focus on?
What are your standards and values and what inspired them?
Do you lie about your truths?
Do you disguise your vulnerabilities?
Are you really happy, or you just wear happiness as a mask and see life as a party you show up to…all dressed up…with your mask?
Do you really love YOU?
Are you afraid of being yourself? Are you afraid of accepting yourself?
What are you afraid of?
Where is fear resounding so loud in your life?
Fear reveals a part of your weakness, and that’s where God’s power strives most
You can hide the fears from man, but you can never hide them from God. God knew about the fears before you discovered them. I understand the part where you get to hide it from people, but you should surrender it to God. You know why? Because, God’s power strives in the fears we meet. The fear, the insecurity, the pain, the uncertainty…are ALL areas God wants to show Himself strong in your life.
2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “My grace is all you need, for My power is greatest when you are weak.” (GNB)
God doesn’t want to share His glory with anybody so He wants the areas of our lives that are weak, so when He infuses His strength in those areas, we wouldn’t need any man to convince otherwise, we’ll just know that it is Him. That way, when we stand to witness and share our story, we’ll be speaking from a deep-seated conviction. We wouldn’t have to lie or try to use tactics to represent Him, we’ll just have to share our personal experiences of Him. And then, of course, His power will accompany our witness and story. Read the Acts of the Apostles, and you’ll see that from the day of Pentecost, the Apostles shared the Gospel of Jesus from their experiences.
What kind of fear is speaking so loud in your life? Bring it before God and yes, God will make you confront the fear…but you don’t have to worry, because God knows you’ve already won. It is very scary, but you just have to confront it.
Do not be deceived…you might think your life is moving…but you’re just stagnant
We’ve learnt to move on without confronting these fears. We’ve learnt to be OK, with just living with these fears. We’ve learnt to let them just have their way and do to us, whatever they want to do to us. We’ve learnt to keep them within us, and not reveal them to anyone else. And we just move on…refusing to do anything about them. We’ve learnt to not step out to do what God will have us do, because those things live inside these fears we’re hiding from. But here is something you need to understand…if you’re living and yet refusing to address these fears, your life is actually not moving…like you think it is moving.
Now, I’m not talking about any kind of fear. I’m talking about the fears in the areas we’ve already identified. These are the fears that destroy our very essence. These kinds of fears are making us forfeit our portions. They make us deny our true identity, and if we’re denying our true identity and forfeiting our portions, then we’re not living the life we’re supposed to be living, and if we’re not living the life we’re supposed to be living then it doesn’t matter how much we’re moving in life…we’re just stagnant, because what makes us real… isn’t moving.
A perfect Bible example would be the children of Israel. In Numbers 13 and 14, when the spies returned from Canaan, ten out of twelve gave a report that made the congregation of Israel embrace fear. The Israelites cried all night, accused Moses and Aaron and desired to go back to Egypt. The result of their actions was…wandering in the wilderness for fourty years. They just went round the same mountain without moving forward. The promise was Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey, but they couldn’t move into it…and when we trace back to the cause, what do we find? Fear.
God provided for the Israelites. He kept them healthy. I believe they had moments to smile and laugh. They had children, so there was definitely joy and happiness in the camp. The presence of God was with and for them. The wilderness was comfortable for them to live in. But, that was not the promise. That was not their portion. Their promise and portion was Canaan. Their fear delayed God’s plan in their life.
The devil lied to you…that fear isn’t meant to bring you shame, it is where your glory lies
We focus so much on what others will do to us and what they we say to us. We’re ashamed to accept our body frame, because we believe people will shame us for it. We’re afraid to accept what we truly have passion for, because it isn’t something that will bring us public recognition. We’re unwilling to do things in our own unique ways because we don’t have confidence in our own uniqueness. We’re scared of accepting the people and environment we’re called to, because they don’t fit into the world’s trending topics. We avoid being wrong and admitting our wrongs and mistakes, because we’re sure it’ll ruin us. We don’t trust God’s “when” and “how”, so we run way ahead Him, with our own plans and strategies. We do things to avoid the shame, to make people not look us funny, to respect the standards of the world…standards that are most times created by persons that really need the opinion and advice that lies on our inside. We focus so much on what people will say and do that we, totally, forget that people can be instruments of the devil. Instruments that want to display the irrelevant and hide the glorious.
I pray you can see that what you’re running away from is not where your shame is, but where your glory dwells… and dwells so richly. I pray you understand that your “originality” is something that the world needs, and that explains why you made it to earth. I pray you come to realize that the devil is so afraid to see you live louder than fears, because he knows he can’t stand the power that will unleash upon the earth when that happens.
OK, now, let’s even just talk about the devil, for a minute…let’s just talk about how cheap the lies of the devil are;
Do you know that the lies of the devil are actually very cheap? I mean, if you allow the Holy Spirit help you see it. Let’s look at it for just a minute; have you read the Bible? Have you read the books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles? Have you read about the kings and their battles? When they face fears and win a battle, what is usually the outcome of the win? Shame or glory? As a matter of fact, the shameful part is, when you refuse to go to battles to fight what you’re afraid of.
So, why do we believe the cheap lies of the devil? Why do we believe that refusing to go to against fears is the best thing to do? Why do we believe that it might be shameful if we confront them? Why do we believe that the best is just to live with fears? Your answer might be something close to…”because I don’t know for sure if I can live louder than this fear” and you might also be thinking that you have a very good reason to just live with the fear, and that means you may not stand a chance to conquer the fear.
Well, you have to understand that the only thing standing between you and conquering that fear city is…your unwillingness to besiege it…that fear city can never go to a battle against you
What you fear, aren’t as powerful as you think. They’re just puppets that are pretending to do and say what a human can do and say. These fears aren’t as strong as you think they are. You’re just the one restraining yourself. The moment you decide to stand and face those fears…they’ll disappear and leave you in a wonder that says, “Is that ALL there is?”
The devil tries to make us feel that we have to fight fears in a combat, but really really…we don’t get to fight fears that way, because fears can’t stand a combat against us. The way we fight them is just standing up against them…and they’ll disappear. You know why? Because, “…All authority—all power of rule—in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus” Matthew 28:18 (AMPC), and Jesus lives in us. The surpassing greatness of God’s power which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead is in and for us. (SEE Ephesians 1:19-20). These fears surrender to us, once they see us standing up towards them. Yes, it doesn’t feel like it to us, but that’s actually what happens.
Let me explain further: these fears are lame tricks from the devil, and the devil is already defeated by Jesus for us…forever. The devil can never go to war against us again, because he’s already defeated and we’re already more than conquerors (SEE Romans 8:37). So what does the devil do? The devil tries to mess us our perception. He tries to deceive us. He tries to make us think out of what the truth is and make us believe lies. But, how many of us know that lies aren’t true…aren’t real. Again, I say; these fears aren’t as powerful as you think…they aren’t as strong as you think.
Fear will always keep coming…so…How long do you want to remain in chains?
You’re no longer slaves to fear. You’ve been set free. So, stop allowing these fears to run and order you around. Stop allowing these fears to live their loudness in your life. Yes, like the devil, fear won’t stop seeking an audience in your life, but you have to live and keep living LOUDER than fear. “For the Spirit which you have now received is not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption—the Spirit producing sonship…” Romans 8:15 (AMPC). So where is the spirit of fear coming from? So why sit with chains that are broken? Why sit in a dungeon that no one is protecting, when you can just walk right out? Why try to be a servant to something you’re more powerful than? Don’t you think that it’s very close to being beyond weird? Yes, that’s super weird. So, why do we choose to be super weird? How long do we want to remain super weird? Haven’t we read, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity—of cowardice, of craven and cringing fear—but He has given us a spirit of power…” 2 Timothy 1:7 (AMPC).
You have to stand up, leave that chain…and walk right out from that dungeon, because you’re free! You’re free to be ALL God has created you to be. You’re free to do ALL God created you to do.
Dear child of the living God, you can’t be in broken chains. Accept your voice…accept your height…accept your shape…accept your passion…accept your calling…accept you, and fall in love with YOU.
Heaven needs you. The kingdom of God needs you. You are an awesomeness that the world needs…just the way you are. There’s a void in your generation that’ll not be filled until you conquer these fears…and keep conquering them. They’re generations after you who need you to conquer and keep conquering, because it will serve as a template for them to do things better. More importantly, there’s a God who fashioned you into the being you are…and you have to honour Him with ALL of you…with ALL of the TRUE you.
You only need the attention of one—Jesus
When we are rejected for being whom we are, and doing what we are called to do, we feel a certain kind of way, and the negativity that comes with that feeling can be very real. When people do and say…it can really hurt and be intensely scary, and I refuse to act like the hurt and fear can’t be felt. But, we also have to refuse to allow the hurt and fear count, because we need to know that it is a trick from the devil. If we allow them count, then it means we’re paying attention to the devil… Paying attention to the devil? No…the devil shouldn’t enjoy such privilege from us.
We only live for the attention of one—Jesus. He’s the Author and Finisher of our Faith (Hebrews 12:2). It is in Him we live, move and have our being (Acts 17:28). He’s our beginning and our end…and, of course, every single detail that lies in between that beginning and end.
If Jesus approves of it, if He commands it, if He wants it…then you’re good to go…nothing else matters…no one else matters. “…if the Son liberates you—makes you free…— then you are really and unquestionable free.” John 8:6 (AMPC).
Dear child of the living God…You have POWER…not fear…so…live LOUDER than fear.
My prayer for you:
I pray you submit, ALL and EVERY, to God. May you see the STRENGTH and the COURAGE you have on your inside. May you know and understand that fears can never stand your STRENGTH and COURAGE…and I thank God for you already, because…your life will never be the same…it will keep getting better…and only better.
Amen.
Dear one, do get in the gym, and do
Stay Spiritually Fit.
