Hello!
Welcome (back) to my blog!
Today I want to share what the Lord has been teaching me and showing me on the subject of, well you guessed it fear.
5 years ago, 1 year ago, or even 1 month ago if someone asked me Do you live in fear? or Do you struggle with fear? My answer probably would have been No, of course not. I may have even thrown “Gods perfect love cast out all fear” into the conversation. I would have admitted that I sometimes fear of things, but that’s “normal” and it’s not like a “spirit of fear”….
Wow I am so thankful that the Lord has removed those blinders from me, to where I am now able to see the places in my own life where fear has had a HUGE grip on me, and I didnt even notice!
Most of this started two or three weeks ago when I was reading my Bible. I felt myself speeding up through one part and I had the thought “this doesn’t sound good, I know God is good, I don’t want to question God’s goodness so maybe I will just read through really fast” Luckily as that thought went through my mind I was able to tell it was not the best of thoughts. I decided to trust God and let him speak to me about his Character through that section I was reading even though I did not understand. I am so glad I did this because what I was scared was going to have me questioning God’s goodness, actually showed me more of his character of love, and honor.
That thought process though, allowed me to be aware of some fear in my life. I also just last week learned how to ride a bike, that allowed me to be aware of some more fear in my life. I am studying for the Fundemental Engineering Exam (that I have failed twice now) boom you guessed it I am noticing even more fear. As I started noticing and working through some of theses fears I realized so much of my life has been lived from a place of fear.
So what is fear?
According to google dictionary fear is “an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat”
I bolded the word that stood out to me the most in that definition. BELIEF.
Wow this gave me so much HOPE.
Here is why:
Lets look at 1 John 4:18 (actually I would LOVE (and I think you would too?) if you just went right now and read all of 1 John chapter 4 then came back to this). If you did not go read 1 John chapter 4 it is about love, and loving one another, and where love comes from. Verse 18 (NLT) says ” Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.”
Now lets jump on over to 2 Timothy 1:7 (or you could go read all of 2 timothy 1 if you would like) which says ” For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” (NLT) We also want to grab verse 10 while we are here which says “And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News.” (NLT)
and last place I will have you jump to I promise is John 14 (once again I think you would get a lot from the whole chapter) verse 20 which tells us “When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you”
TO RECAP from these 4 verses we can see that
1. God’s PERFECT LOVE cast out ALL fear (1 John 4:18)
2. God DID NOT give me a spirit of fear (2 timothy 1:7)
3. Jesus is in God, I am in Jesus, and Jesus is in me (John 14:20)
4. Jesus BROKE THE POWER OF DEATH. (2 Timothy 1:10)
So if I believe the word of God to be true (which, I do) then because Gods love cast out all fear, and because Jesus lives in me, and he OVERCAME the power of death… how could I believe anything to be dangerous, cause pain, or a threat? Do I not believe God is WITH ME? that he LOVES me? that he will PROTECT ME?
So here it is my break up song (thank you Francesca Battistelli ) I am breaking up with fear, I am repenting for allowing so many things to decieve me into beliving my God could not be there to protect me and keep me safe. Will all fear leave me immediately? I dont know, but I sure hope so and think that would be awesome. Either way I will put into practice Romans 12:1-2 and allow Gods true word to transform the way I think and believe. I will also add psalm 56:3 to my heart so that IF fear does try to come knocking on my doors again I will proudly proclaim “but when I am afraid, I will put my TRUST in you (God)”.
So if you read this far, thanks for listening to my story of how I am overcoming fear. Also if anyone reading this has ever dealt with, or is currently dealing with fear I pray this gives you hope and courage. I pray that Gods word shatters all fear so that we can live FREE with no bondage of fear.
as always, thank you for joining me in this journey.
Michelle
remember 4 ways you can become apart of this journey with me are
1. Pray – pray for the Staff at Adventures in Missions as they make decisions about upcoming trips. Pray for a vaccine / way of end for Covid-19 and for all those in the world affected by it. Pray for all the people associated with Adventures in Missions as they navigate how to be obedient to what the Lord is calling them to do, and what that looks like now with trips being moved around and changed and not exactly how everyone “planned it”
2.Donate – as of right now, it is still in my plans and dreams to be able to go out into the nations. If you feel lead to partner with me in that, you can donate through the donation button at the top of this blog, or you can reach out to me directly for information on venmo or check orders. (donating through the blog the money will go directly into my account with adventures in missions, while donating directly to me the money will go well, to me)
3. Subscribe. – If you want to continue to follow along with my journey and what the Lord is doing in my life simply click the subscribe button and you wont miss a single blog update!
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Thanks again!
Michelle
