Fear.
Of the unknown.
Of ending up alone.
Of not being accepted.
Of….
Fill in the blank.
Fear comes in all shapes and sizes.
It creeps it's way into everything.
And it's a straight up weapon of the enemy.
"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both body and soul in hell."
Matthew 10:28
Fear of man.
I believe this is the most dangerous fear we can have.
When we walk in fear of man,
we are not living out our full potential in Christ.
"Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses then before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony; THEY DID NOT LOVE THEIR LIVES SO MUCH AS TO SHRINK FROM DEATH."
Revelation 12:10,11
I have NEVER heard the last part of this verse.
We hear that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb
and the word of our testimony, but very rarely do we hear the last part
about not loving our lives so much as to shrink from death.
And no wonder!
We're straight up being called out.
WE LOVE OUR LIVES WAY TOO MUCH.
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me."
Galatians 2:20
This is not figurative, it's literal.
Our life is not our own, nor was it ever our own.
But there's something inside of us that just won't let go.
I love my life.
And God is spitting some hard truths at me.
God doesnt condemn, he convicts.
and He got me thinking about my family members.
We have a lot of knee problems that have been passed through the generations.
Hes been talking to me about praying healing over my family members.
Not passively in the secret, but looking them right in the face.
But I'm TERRIFIED.
They're gonna think I'm psycho.
Why do I care?
Because I'm still living with fear of man.
Honestly, sharing about Jesus on the Race has been relatively easy,
because in talking to complete strangers.
The ones that are closest to you are the hardest to minister to.
God doesn't beat around the bush.
There's a cost to following him.
And he warns us.
"Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them out to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."
Matthew 10:21,22
"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law-a mans enemies will be the members of his own household."
Matthew 10:34-36
Following Jesus could cost us everything,
even our very lives.
But they were never ours to begin with.
Man I love God.
See he loves us enough to reveal these things to us.
And I just wanna invite you into what Gods teaching me.
This is tough stuff,
but man is it good.
What would it look like if followers of Christ walked with no fear in their lives?
Can you imagine what could be done for the Kingdom?!
Lord, fill us with your grace as we work these things out.
