WHERE DID FEAR COME FROM?

Have you ever wondered how "fear" entered the human heart? Fear is common to all men. It is like an octopus. There is fear of the dark, fear of heights, fear of man, fear of provision, and fear of rejection. Fear can be terrifying. If you have ever experienced a great emotional trauma as a child such as the death of a parent, living in time of war, or even a parental divorce, you probably have had fear.  Fear can truly grip our hearts and rule or paralyze our emotions. Even as a Christian, fear will emotionally prevent us from receiving and believing that God really loves us.

Fear is an absence of God's presence.  Fear came into man's heart as a result of the fall. Adam and Eve discovered that the light that clothed them was taken from them, and that they were left naked and afraid. They even tried to hide themselves with fig leaves! God had no alternative but to send them out of the Garden and away from His presence. Fear entered man's heart and built a strong wall of doubt, rejection, and unbelief. It emotionally separated  man from His Creator. As a believer, we can be delivered from the grip of fear. 

There is only one solution, that I know of, to be released from the deep root of suppressed fear.  It is faith in the love of God.  Jesus' death, burial and resurrection  defeated Adam's sin.  Fear was confronted with the power of the love of God. 

I have been greatly encouraged with 1 John 4:18 that says,"There is no fear in love, but, perfect love casts out all fear.  For fear has torment and whoever fears has not yet been perfected in love."
There are still so many areas that I am still being perfected in His love. Satan likes to challenge God's love, but he is a liar. 

Romans 5:5 speaks the truth,"For the love of God has been shed abroad in my heart, by the Holy Spirit". Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. God is love.

POSSIBLE IMPOSSIBILITIES

If God wants you to do something, He will give you the ability to do it.  Very likely it may stretch you beyond what you have done before. He wants you to grow.  In Christ we are big.  Whatever lies before us.  God put it there.  You can move mountains.  

Do not measure what you should do by your gift, measure the gift by what you should do. It will match.  God is a God specializing in the impossible, and thinks only in terms of the possible.

He wants this fact to show in the lives of those who belong to Him.  He commands the impossible, and then makes it possible, for His glory. Perhaps you wonder why God should want us to do anything at all when He has all power? It is because He loves us and likes to share His pleasures and joys with us.  That is His grand design. He  planned it that way.  

You may feel that you are a very small instrument, but each one is vital in His fully orchestrated effort. The Lord of all the earth has big things in mind, but they call for millions of helpers with varied gifts and capabilities

We are vessels made so that the' power may be of God and not of us,' as  Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:7. I have learned that 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me' (Philippians 4:13)  And so can you. In the name of Jesus, be encouraged. 

This word was written by REINHARD BONNKE.  He has served the Lord in many countries and has seen miracle after miracle, especially in Africa.  You might have heard of him.

CALLED TO SERVE

Living life from day to day with all its difficulties and adversities, one has to wonder ,"Am I really a citizen of Heaven? Am I an ambassador of Christ? If  I am, why is my life so much like the world and why do I still respond like the world?" 

One day I was thinking about this subject and this analogy came to mind. What if I was sent as an ambassador to Holland representing the United States. Instead of representing the American government, I began to settle down enjoying the Dutch culture and forgetting who sent me to Holland. What kind of an effective American ambassador would I be? I think that I would be fired on the spot. 

As a Christian, I have been born again to an eternal hope.  My life has been bought by the blood of Jesus. I am not my own. Jesus has called me out of this world, separated me unto Himself, and sent me back into the world to be His ambassador.

As an ambassador for Christ here on the earth , I often feel that I am learning on the job. Every day, I realize more and more, that this world is not my home.  It is another Kingdom. I have been called to represent God's Kingdom here on earth. It is a privilege to take the message of reconciliation into this fallen world. 

A Christian is one who has Christ's resurrected life manifested in him by the person of the Holy Spirit. We are in the world but not of it. We have been born again to a living hope. Jesus Christ is Lord. We are heading home. We are free, forgiven, and seeking to  bring many citizens of this world back home with us. 

Between now and when we go home, the Lord has supplied us with all that we need in Christ Jesus.  He is in us and with us to fulfill His call in our lives. Through His body, Jesus will be lifted up and draw all men unto Himself. 

 He may not come again in my lifetime, but He is faithful to His promises.  Whatever your need is today, Jesus Himself is your greatest supply.  May the Lord bless you in all He is calling you to do to glorify Himself.