Fear No More

Originally Posted April 7, 2007 but updated for today's post. :)



Picture by: Shine Design via Toia on Pinterest





The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)



"There is nothing to fear, but fear itself" is a familiar and famous quote. Fear corrupts your faith in God. Having God as your light, your salvation, and your strength, allow you to stand up, be strong and conquer all fears.




*Remember that the word of God says in 2 Timothy 1:7, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind." Fear does not have control over you; instead you have control over fear. Having the power of God dwelling in our hearts, allow us to be victims no more to fear.

"Fear is exaggerated. It can be overwhelming. It always takes you to the worst-case scenario. Fear is like a fog. It will always cloud the truth. It tries to make you stumble. It tries to block your vision and keep you from seeing the good plan God has on the road up ahead." - Joel & Victoria Osteen 

Could you ever imagine yourself living a life clouded by fog?  Fog can be so dense to a point where it's hard to see anything ahead, behind, and even on the side.  God does not want us to be trapped in a fog because of fear.  He wants us to trust Him and have faith in Him.  Faith in God allows us to see the light, have hope, and joy in our salvation.  Fear, on the other hand, keeps us trapped, surrounded by darkness, with no sense of hope or joy.






Picture by: Access-Jesus.com via Toia on Pinterest





In every and any situation, we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus. So, there's no need to fear.






If you have any fears, no matter how big or small, ask God to help you conquer them. If anything, we should fear God and that's it. Be bold! Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might! (Ephesians 6:10)









Your Sister in Christ,
Toia

"You are fearfully and wonderfully made!" -Psalm 139:14

Cheer Up or Tear Down?

"....An encouraging word CHEERS a person up." (Proverbs 12:25) nlt



I love encouraging and inspiring people through my words. It's a wonderful feeling to lift someone's spirit. I just pray more people would take the time to build up people with their words, rather than tear them down. Having people tear you down, ridicule, or "joking" around with offensive, degrading, or disrespectful words, is anything but a great feeling. It hurts, agitates, and can have a very negative impact on one's spirit.










For example, when we have family function, my granddad loves to always and do mean always point out and I quote "How big my butt is" or "If I eat another bite of food (granted it's my first bite from my meal) I will be as big as my momma." or my favorite (sarcasm here)..."Hey everyone this one here (pointing to me) looks like she's pregnant!" (By the way I'm not that big.)



Can you say WOW!! I know right! Please tell me where the encouraging, loving words are in these statements. (Which is why I rarely attend family functions.) My family defends him by saying that's how he loves. But I know according to God's word, Love is not offensive, hurtful, disrespectful in any way shape or form. Because I know who I am in Christ Jesus, fearfully and wonderfully made, I know that I do not have to take it or stand for anyone (including family members) talking to me in any kind of way.















We are to lift our people up, edify them with our words; encouraging them, whether they are family or not. We can't say we love God; yet we kill people's spirits with our words, pulling them further away from the Kingdom of God. We are soul winners not soul losers. 

I am so blessed that God has connected me with a group of people from my church (that I call family; others my sisters) who builds me up emotionally and spiritually. The conversations we have are life-giving. We cheer each other up with our words. It's a liberating feeling every time we get together. So ask yourself....Do you cheer up or tear down?  Words can build as well as let you down.

Jesus, Our Advocate, Our Propitiation

I'm so bless and honored to have Jesus on my side as my Advocate. God knows that we are not perfect. He knows in some form or another we will sin everyday. But because our heavenly Father loves us so much, He appointed Jesus as our defense attorney to plead our case. In addition to being an Advocate, Jesus is also our Helper, Counselor (Lawyer), Intercessor through and by the power of the Holy Spirit. 1 John 2:1-2 reminds me of a Helen Baylor's song,






"If It Had, Not, Been For The Lord, On My Side
Where Would I Be?, Where Would I Be?.....

He Never Left Me All Alone
He Gave Me Peace And Joy I've Never Known
He Answered When I Knelt To Him In Prayer
And In Victory The Lord Brought Me This Way,
So...

If It Had, Not, Been For The Lord, On My Side
Where Would I Be?, Where Would I Be?....."





I don't think I even want to begin to imagine my life without Jesus in it!! Do you? Not only has God appointed Jesus as our Advocate, but He also provided Jesus to be the "propitiation for our sins", a covering for our sins. Propitiation means the appeasement of divine wrath by a sacrificial offering. Romans 3:25 says (amplified version),

"Whom God put forward [before the eyes of all]

as a mercy seat and PROPITIATION by His blood

[the cleansing and life-giving sacrifice of atonement

and reconciliation, to be received] through faith.

This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His

divine forbearance He had passed over and ignored

former sins without punishment."

I thank Jesus and give him all the praise for standing in the gap for my sin and coming before our Heavenly Father to plead my case, when at times I felt like I didn't deserve it. WHAT A MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE IN THE NAME JESUS!!! HALLELUJAH AND AMEN!!!

A Prayer for Spiritual Growth

Have you ever wanted to pray, but wasn't quite sure what to pray for? Well, if you are ever loss for words, you can always pray the word of God. You can't ever go wrong with praying God's word. One of the prayers I like to read as well as pray from the Bible is Apostle Paul's prayer for spiritual growth in Ephesians 3:14-21. It reads....




"For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, the  
He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell     in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
 
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,  to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."
         

 

 

 

   
Paul prayed that the Holy Spirit's power would fill every Christian in Christ Jesus. We cannot grow spiritually without the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul prayed that the Holy Spirit's power would take effect in three ways through Residency, Comprehension, and Fullness.

1. Residency. Paul prayed that Christ may dwell, be at home, take up residence in our hearts through faith, which means Jesus won't be a mere acquaintance but a close friend. Having Jesus take up residence in our hearts, will keep Him the center of everything, top priority.

2. Comprehension. Paul prayed that we would be able to comprehend and experience God's love without feeling the need to understand it theologically and/or intellectually. Can you imagine if every Christian grasp God's unconditionally love? Wow, that would be amazing!! God's love doesn't require us to be birth from a royal bloodline or to attend a prestigious university. God loves us for we are and who He created us to be. God's love is not partial; And if we can comprehend that we would definitely be on fire for the Lord more than ever.

3.Fullness. Paul prayed that we would be filled with the fullness of God, so that the Holy Spirit can give us revelation on scriptures, Jesus and His works, and so much more. With the fullness of God, you can boldly say with full authority that..."Now to Him who is able to do EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANTLY above all that we ask or think, according to the POWER (the fullness of God) that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." (emphasis added mine).

 

If you want to grow more in Christ Jesus and be fill with the fullness of God pray the prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21. Meditate on the words, let them sink into your spirit. In turn, the Holy Spirit will enable you to grasp God's unconditional love and fill you to the point where your cup runs over in the name of Jesus!!





In The Midst of Trouble

Sometimes we have the tendency to fear the unknown. When you are in a midst of distress or despair, it's naturally to fear the worst at first. However, you must be careful not to wallow in it. This is where you should not feed into your fear, but into your faith. One of the many reasons why I love the book of Psalms is that you can get a clear sense of his heartfelt relationship with God. David was in trouble so many times. Nonetheless, he knew His God, our God, will bring him out.


Psalm 138 is a psalm written by David about "The Lord's Goodness to the Faithful." Verses seven and eight are my favorite. It says,





"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch out Your hand
Against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.
The Lord will perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands."




David knew that God will stretch out His hand in his time of trouble and at the right time.  In addition, David knew that God will fulfill (perfect) all of His promises. One of them being, (just as He promised the children of Israel twice),.....






"Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."
(Isaiah 41:10)

   

"For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand,
Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’"
(Isaiah 41:13)





In the midst of your trouble, whether it's financial trouble, relationship trouble, work-related trouble, etc., FEAR NOT!! Take hold of God's hand when he stretches it out to you. Grab hold of it tight and don't let go. Remember, no matter what you are going through God will fulfill His purposes that He has planned for your life.

It was and is a CELEBRATION!!!

This past weekend was magnificent!!  We celebrated the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!! It was a celebration that's so indescribable. To understand where I'm coming from you had to be there. Jesus dying for our sin and rising up from the grave on the third is worth being celebrated every single day. We serve an Almighty God. He is the GREAT I AM. Death could not hold Him down. Jesus is the risen King!! I give Him all the praise and all the glory!!



Our church sang songs of praise and heartfelt worship. The presence of God was so strong. It would have been pretty hard to leave service the same way you came in. One of the songs we sang was "The Great I Am." This is my favorite part of the song....






The mountains shake before You the demons run in fear
At the mention of the name King of Majesty
There is no power in hell
Or any who can stand
Before the power and the presence of the great I AM

Hallelujah, holy, holy
God Almighty, the great I AM
Who is worthy, none beside Thee
God Almighty, the great I AM
 
          Below is a video of our Easter service.  Start it at 23:00 and enjoy!!