Living Fearless

Why don't we live fearless lives? I am not speaking against having a healthy fear like the fear of God. I mean the gripping, horrible, crippling fear that we allow to seep into our lives every day that keeps us from doing what the Lord asks of us.

We are scared of what others think. We say we live in the world and yet are not of it. We are lying to ourselves! We are of the world. We let it trample us, to be honest. We cower down at the slightest hint of embarrassment and allow others with their warped values to walk all over us. We don't want to stand up to it for fear that it will ruin our reputation, make us look like lunatics, cause others to hate and malign us, or push non-believers away. Was Jesus afraid of these things? Was He not accused of being a lunatic? Was he not hated and slandered and his reputation sabotaged? Did His words not cause people to turn away? The answers to these questions bring conviction. Have I been afraid? Yes. Have I been accused of being a lunatic, been hated and shunned, or had my reputation ruined? No. Why? Because I haven't declared the mystery of the gospel boldly as I ought to speak. I should be praying for words to be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the gospel (Ephesians 6:19).

It doesn't matter what my life looks like on the outside. It doesn't matter if people think I serve the Lord with all I have. All that matters is what is in my heart and what is truly going on, because God sees that and is not fooled. Why, then, do I not follow through with the promptings of the Holy Spirit? Why do I give in to the embarrassment of possibly looking silly for doing what He's asking? When we ignore the Holy Spirit's promptings, we are committing sins of omission. We know what we should do, and yet do not do it. How many times have I ignored Him when He's prodding at my heart to take action? How many times have you ignored His leading? What are our reasons for this? We should live as if we have nothing to lose. And yet we live with attachment to so many worldly things, possessions and reputation, that we live as if avoiding the loss of those things is more important than gaining a brother or sister in Christ. When we put our confidence in the flesh, we are sure to fear the loss of it. But we are called to worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus, putting no confidence in the flesh though we might have reason to by our accomplishments (Philippians 3:3-4). Paul says, "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him" (Philippians 3:7-9). Paul suffered the loss of all things and he saw change. We must ask ourselves why we have not suffered the loss of all things.

Our goal is not to find life, but to lose it (Matthew 16:25). We are so concentrated on finding life, that we are losing out on what it is to have true Life. If we would count all other things as already lost, then we wouldn't be worried about losing them. We would be a fearless people, living fearless lives, fearlessly proclaiming the gospel, no longer worried over our reputations. Oh, that we would cry out to the Lord and ask Him to help us overcome our embarrassment! Living a fearless life does not mean that fear is not a reality, but that we press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, despite our flesh's protests. Only the Holy Spirit in us can give us the courage to proclaim Jesus' name regardless of the consequences, but we must listen and follow through. It is my prayer that we would seek this with all that we are. That we would become a fearless people, living fearless lives, making a difference. America is at a stand still because we are not proclaiming Christ's name everywhere we go. It's scary to think about carrying out what God is asking of me and I even shudder to think of what it means that I have to do. But it is not in my own strength that I do it. "For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me" (Colossians 1:29). The power of the Holy Spirit is in us. We have only to take hold of it, to call out to the Lord, and to run with it in full faith that He will follow through and answer our prayers for boldness.

Sending out an S.O.S.

So often I forget that I have the power of the Holy Spirit in me. I try and try to do things without realizing the Helper is right there to give me the ability to do it. As I sit down to spend time with Him, lately there has been a lack of focus. I ask Him to help me focus and fill me with His Holy Spirit. The thing is, I hate saying "help" all the time. Someone once told me that everyone who prays just sounds like a broken record because all they every say is "Lord, help me do this. Help me do that..." And yet I am helpless. So I can cry to Him for help. Psalm 46:1 tells us that the Lord is a very present help in trouble. In Psalm 18:18 we see Him as our support. John 14:25-26 Jesus says that He is sending the Helper, the Holy Spirit who will teach all things and bring them to our remembrance. So why do we hesitate to ask for help? I believe it is because it has been ingrained in us not to seek God on matters dealing with ourselves. It must be all about Him and others, it would be selfish to talk about our troubles or cry out to Him. YES, it's all about Him. But it is not selfish to humbly ask for assistance in a matter that you know you cannot fix on your own. Every Sunday we get drilled about how we can do nothing out of our own power. How then do we expect to do anything productive if we do not ask for help?! I am not saying this to the neglect of the fact that you must desire to change and not just continue doing the same thing over and over. Perhaps that is why directly after what Jesus says in John 14, He follows up with the fruit of the Spirit. We will be known by our fruit. If we are not producing them, something is wrong. The problem is we are not relying on God. He is our help! We can send out an S.O.S. and He will hear! Don't be afraid to bear your heart. "Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us." (Psalm 62:8) Remember that He is Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth. Praise Him for it. Lift Him high! Don't be afraid to call out to Him.

Here is a little something I wrote. You'll see how it connects once you read it through :)

"How I Loved You So"

It's sad to see you go
Oh, how I loved you so
You were the very crutch
On which I relied so much

When things got me down
You were always around
To give me a boost of self worth
I didn't notice your selfish smirk

I thought you were there to lift me up
To build my confidence, fill my cup
Instead you were building your fortress
Which I could not have torn down unless

I poured out all my contempt on you
And asked the Lord to pull me through
You laughed in my face and hissed
"You need me. You'll never be done with this."

I couldn't get rid of you
Though I knew I needed to
You cropped up at every turn
And I wondered if I'd ever learn

How to ignore your merciless taunts
And turn a blind eye at your flaunts
You cry out in the streets feigning wisdom
And threaten to tear down all God's Kingdom

But we all must stand up to you
Before you blind us through and through
You only made me focus on myself
When my eyes should be on someone else

As long as I am in the flesh
I'll battle you till my last breath
Oh how many years I've tried and tried
Till I relied on God to rid me of you, Pride



I think that sums it up. The biggest thing in my life right now that I have needed help with is pride. I must daily ask the Lord to make me aware of it and to cut it off before it starts. Pride comes in so many ways: spiritual pride, intellectual pride, pride over our possessions, pride that won't allow us to be wrong regardless of whether we are or not, pride that keeps us from doing or saying things for fear of tearing down our facade of togetherness.  But it is all selfish. We use it to build ourselves up rather than being built up by the Word of God. We don't need pride. Yet when we try to let it go, we reach for it and pick it up again. Somehow we believe that without it, we won't amount to anything. But pride never gave anyone worth. The only way for true worth is by finding our identity in the God who created us. "Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:23-24) In truth, I am addicted to pride. I am wondering how I am going to go on without it. That is so wrong, and yet that is the whole of the battle. I do that which I do not want, and that which I want to do, I do not. Yet with God's help, I will live a life consecrated to Him and give all the credit where it is due: on Christ Jesus my Savior and Lord.