Overcoming Fear

I love when I have realizations; always God-inspired, and usually a completely humbling moment. I had one this morning... journey with me, won't you?

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.

Exodus 14:14 (NIV)

In the MSG version, it's a little more abrupt, which I love:

God will fight the battle for you. And you?
You keep your mouths shut!"

God had instructed Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, to free them from oppression. It's a pretty crazy story, because God wanted, in leading them out, to give the Pharaoh a stubborn heart to chase them down. Ultimately, God could then put His Glory on display, and the Egyptians would believe that He was God.

However, when the Egyptians caught up to them in the wilderness, the Israelites were convinced that they'd been taken into the wilderness to die. They thought this was the end... verses before even have them "crying out in terror to God", in fear of the Egyptians.

(Don't worry, eventually God instructed Moses to part the sea, the Isrealites were led to safety and the Egyptian army was destroyed, but if you want all the details of that, check out http://biblegateway.com to read it - I definiately recommend the Message Version)

Let me ask you this... how much of the Israelites do you see in yourself? When you're afraid, do you cry out in terror to God, begging him for His aid? Or does your faith overpower your fear, and allow you to lay everything down at His feet, for Him to handle?

Of course, times have changed. No one is going to step into your life to "part the seas", if you will, but the bottom line is, God designed us to be conquerors. But He never intended for us to conquer this world on our own.

Don't ever forget about your ultimate Power. Even in the fire.

If God is for us, who could be against us? Romans 8:31

I Will Not Be Shaken

I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be
shaken, for He is right beside me.
- Psalm 16:8 (NLT)

God's word confirms what we tend to always forget; God is never absent. He's infinite, and dwells within.. even when we feel completely alone. Press on with confidence. If God seems far away... who moved?

Live Out Loud... So Your Words Don't Have To

We’ve heard it time and time again: it’s not easy to be a Christian. Sometimes it’s confusing and emotional and trying to be a follower of Christ. We always find ourselves falling short, and the hardest thing to conquer seems to be the ability to open up your hands and let the world run through your fingers. Don’t close your fist; you’ll find yourself grasping onto things that have no place in your life. Living hard for him is easy… living easy for him is hard.

I want to talk about things I do that I apologize to God for… daily. Because the most intimate thing I’ve experienced is catching myself in the midst of a bad decision, a poor thought or a negative assumption; stopping myself, and turning to God to repent for my ways. I’m so happy to be nowhere near perfect. I’m so glad that He, like the perfect Father He is, just takes my shame, brushes it off and picks me back up to hold me tightly.

So. Here I go. The hardest thing for me, is people that claim to be Christian and then live completely the opposite. This, in itself, is a horrible statement for me to make – “claim” to be a Christian. My judgment of their heart is inappropriate, but my imperfection allows me to shutter at someone who lists “God or Jesus Christ” as their hero on Myspace, and then has profanity and pornography plastered everywhere else. Can someone who abuses drugs, makes poor decisions and worships sex really be a Christian? Can they really understand what it means to be a follower of Christ? Do they really get it? I get so confused when asking God how I need to handle these situations.

And, time and time again… I am painfully reminded, every time, of the verse in Romans 14.

4 Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

And

13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.

They may not be walking a righteous path right now, but their decisions should never be something I take the time to judge or ridicule. Sure, I’d love to advise on what I believe is the correct path to being an obedient child of God, but God is the Ultimate Teacher. His lessons are far more powerful and effective than my own. I am humbled to remember this. Sometimes, knowing that I may be the only Jesus that someone ever sees, can overpower my position of obedience to His control over our lives. Just as wearing a cross around your neck doesn’t make you a Christian, advising someone to live a certain way as a Christian does no good until they come face to face with God Himself, and their heart is forever changed.

But imagine with me for a moment… you are at a concert; a small, intimate performance of your favorite group or artist. You’re front row, practically in the spotlight yourself, with the most amazing view and ability to really connect and appreciate. This is an artist you’ve followed for years; you pride yourself on knowing the ins and outs of THEM; their performances are something you wait impatiently for and buy tickets to months in advance. You know every song, every lyric and every chord. And if you don’t, you sure will by this time tomorrow. You sincerely appreciate their talent, and are so happy to be apart of their success.

Then, imagine, in the midst of your love and devotion – someone walks in, sits down next to you, and begins publicly deface your favorite artist. They talks about the horrible style of performance this time around. They start picking apart every moment of their performance; everything from deciding the singer sounds off key to noting the poor choice of dress for the entire band. They shake their head in disgust at the lighting, the sound, and even scoff at the people sitting in the room as “fans” of this group. Yet, this entire time, this apparent “fan” is wearing the band’s t-shirt. Owns all the CD’s. Travels to shows on occasion and even may have an autograph or two.

Wouldn’t this sort of thing just physically anger you?

Out of respect for God, and respect for my faith, it upsets me when people have the cross around their neck as a security blanket, or throw faith around as a strong defense when faced with trials… like that is all it takes to live for Him; like He is happy with you remembering on occasion and when it is convenient, that you are a child of God.

He’s not. He wants more from you, from all of us. We need to live out loud, so our words don’t have to.

So, when I forget this, and my words begin to live louder than my actions, I apologize to God… I apologize to God for not trusting him with His people, and not allowing Him to be the one to reach the lost. I may be His hands and feet, but He is the Saviour. Not me. He knows my heart, and when it breaks for Him. He knows when I hurt because He is hurting, and He knows when I ache for the lost to be found. So, I apologize. And l step back, and remember to let Him do His job.