Living a life of Fear vs Freedom
This story gave me inspiration to write this 3 part blog series titled “I Will Believe In God When…” explaining what life could be like if you gave it to Jesus. This is for my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who need a little encouragement or inspiration but this is mainly for friends, family and fans who think “I’ve lived a good life without Jesus” … but what if you could live an even better life?
Last week we evangelized, passing out flyers to people in the city center. The leaflets had a testimony of a man who was born without arms of legs and how the Lord uses him today. I went into this having the mindset that EVERYBODY needs to hear about the truth and love of Jesus. Though I don’t speak Albanian I handed out the flyers with a smile saying “Beautiful story, give it a read” … giving them an open invitation to read about how God changed this man’s life, just like the open invitation the Lord has for me and for you to live life with him. The people who needed to read it did. Since I had a language barrier with pretty much everyone here we had translators and like I said I was going up to EVERYBODY. But it got to a point where my translators were telling me “no” when I asked them to come with me to talk to someone… I wasn’t allowed to approach some people because they didn’t look “good”, because they were homeless or poor.
I don’t really know why they said no, but since they were young, I know when I was their age I would have been a little nervous to approach people who looked a little scary. It wasn’t honestly until this year that the Lord changed my eyes for people. That reality of a fear broke my heart because Jesus loves those people too. People all over the world are thinking that they have to be good to be a follower of Jesus when that’s not the point at all! I believe that everyone deserves to hear the truth Jesus has, they deserve to feel his love, they deserve to have hope in life again, the young, the old, the poor, the homeless, the wealthy, EVERYBODY. IT’S TIME TO SET HUMANITY FREE PEOPLE.
“Even when you are faced with truth, and it doesn’t match your view of reality, you will be blind to what’s real.” –Erwin McManus
I feel like a lot of people in this world are searching for meaning in life. Let me tell you how GOD can give you that.
I know a few people who have thought like this before “I will believe in God when he shows up, I’m waiting for that God moment.”
Change is something that most people fear but it’s something that I have learned to love.
Have you ever recognized that when you don’t put your life in the hands of Jesus, your interpretation of life will be shaped by everything you fear. Your life is shaped by your doubts, all your failures, wounds and disappointments.
Like that college degree you never got that’s hanging over your head. Was it a good idea to drop out? Will you ever go back?
That horrible relationship you had years ago that ruined the way you view and/or treat men or women. Will you ever love someone that much again? How can I trust people?
The doubt in your value or worth in life.
The wounds from words people have said to you, the words that you still think about. Is this who I really am?
Thoughts like these can easily consume your mind, but there is a hope that those thoughts can change, that your mind will be transformed. Here’s an opportunity to be freed from those thoughts that you think define you. Those thoughts will be replaced with TRUTHS the Lord thinks of you. He will show you your value and worth in life, He will help you trust again, He will replace the harsh words with words that give life.
Here’s the best part:
JESUS CLEANSES US FROM ALL OF THIS. He died on the cross to show us how much God loves us. God wants to rewrite our story and help interpret it with hope, with faith and with love. He values the vulnerable, he cares about how you’re feeling deep down and what you’re going through in EVERY season of life.
All you have to do is trust, only by trusting him will you find a freedom and love that will never fail you.
What if trust is the remedy of your trouble?
… (now read part 2)
