How are you all doing? I hope everyone's fall season has been blessed so far.
I'd really like to write a post and share what God has been doing in my life lately and kinda just update a bit, but for right now, I would mostly like to just share this sermon that my best friend wrote up. It is kind of lengthy, so please, if you're going to read it, read with willing time so that you can fully take it in. It's really good and I pray that as you read, you are encouraged and blessed!
My Child, Do Not Be Afraid. I Love You (part 1)
For those of you who have read my note on Exodus 1, we see the roots of slavery beginning with fear. Insecurity clouds us and brings upon a selfish vibe from our hearts. Damage is done in the extreme reaction of fear and different forms of slavery and abuse are built up. We see this in Exodus 1, but let's go even farther back. I want to look at fear from even the beginning of the bible. You see, the same enemy has existed forever, he just looks different nowadays. He was also there in the beginning. Prayer first before we start ;)
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this day and this time to be able to sit down and project the messages You have given me. Speak through me, Lord. Bless me with Your knowledge and wisdom. I pray that as others take these in that they are filled with the Holy Spirit and peace. I pray that as we dive into Your word that we come humbly to receive whatever it is You wish to give. Come and be Yourself within our hearts. You are free to be You and move as you wish in our lives and Your will be done. If we don't exactly know how to open our hearts right now, Lord, You are our home and our freedom. You are saviour and You can overcome all the fakeness within us. We believe this. All we want is You. We receive Your grace and live forgiven TODAY! :)
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Genesis 3... the fall of man... God is FEARLESS here. You can see the might and desire for His kids here in this scene. He's walking through the garden "looking" for them, knowing where they are but giving them the opportunity to reveal themselves to Him. The fact that God was looking for them, shows the kind of relationship He desires with us. It's an open one where we are allowed to mess up and He doesn't just fix everything, but we can work through it WITH Him. He talks with us and respects how He's created us. He's very conscious of this.
3:8-13 -
"Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” "
They hide from God! No, "okay, we messed up, but we're His children. He loves us and we need to apologize." Fear is selfish. . . It considers no one but yourself. They didn't give God the consideration for who He is. "He is our Father. We know Him. We've skipped in the gardens, danced, and named things all with Him." This is a problem we face. We have difficulty as people to consider others and give people the chance to show and be free with who they are when we fear them (or consequences of what is going to happen. Or even what people might think. You ever fear that? What people think of you? When you do, you disregard them and label yourself). When we fear them OR fear what they'll think or say or how they'll react, out of this we try to control... We don't go for forgiveness in our fallen nature. We go to shelter and isolation. It's the best we can do to hide ourselves. As human beings, that's the best defense we have when we do not live in the Lord.
Adam says he was "naked" so he hid. When we are transparent, we don't want others to know. Fear gives birth to more fear. Fear that God will know what they have done led to fear of them being exposed in general. So they hid COMPLETELY. Even their own bodies that God Himself made for them. Yes, they did become aware of their nakedness because of the fruit, but does not God know us naked? Had He not been seeing them the whole time?
Here, Adam is being shameful about his design. "God, I'm naked. I didn't want you to see me." "I MADE YOU!!!! YOU ARE MY SON! I SEE YOU AND I FALL IN LOVE! Do you really not know me?"
Or for us... "God, don't look upon my weakness. I am bare and unable to stand and I feel like a failure. I haven't been sharing the gospel, reading my bible as much, or to church very often. I lied to my mother too... So I haven't spoken to You in a while. I just can't keep up with life and it's breaking me down..." "I am the Lord! MY STRENGTH IS MADE COMPLETE IN YOUR WEAKNESS!!! (2Corinthians 12:9) YOU WEREN'T MEANT TO STAND ON YOUR OWN BECAUSE I DID NOT CREATE YOU TO BE ALONE!! (Matthew 28:20) YOU'RE BROKEN AND I CHOSE YOU!! You are my temple and I love you. (1Corinthians 6:19-20) I am with you, who can be against you? (Romans 8:31) Nothing can separate my love from you. My affection is towards you. You are the apple of my eye. (Psalm 17, Zechariah 2:8)"
Fear separates us from God because it is the opposite of faith. And then, you see Adam continues on in defense of himself. Insecurity sets in and he ends up even blaming God. "The woman YOU put me here with!" Think about this for a second. How many times do we find ourselves defending ourselves and what we become through insecurity in the moment?
It's the worst thing we can do, really, because if we don't accept the problem, then we can't change. God won't take away our free will, and so He won't MAKE us change. We refuse the state our heart's in and then we build and build on the walls that we set up... some become secret, and some linger for years. Our sin can damage us in ways we can't even imagine. But the Lord can take this away! Do NOT defend. You must break so you can be molded and your heart can be tender for love and mercy and live free in God's truth. In fear, we lie, and lie, and lie, and lie... death.
Fear breeds slavery. . .
Adam tries to CONTROL the direction of blame and in his pride, the entire time passes by and yet, no "I'm sorry." Not once did he even try to apologize (neither of them did). Thus, Adam and Eve fade into the submission of sin's grasp. They become slaves by their own actions.
I wonder how things would be different if we accepted transparency in our lives. If we did not fear the consequences and actually lived freely from fear and control. What if we actually accepted the position God has claimed for us as His children and we didn't shy away. We didn't hide our lives with fig leaves and run into the bushes at the sound of the Lord's footsteps. We all fail, but that doesn't mean we need to hide. We are His children and He has the ability to love in incomprehensible ways!! Philippians 4:7-8 - "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. DO NOT BE ANXIOUS about ANYTHING, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which TRANSCENDS ALL UNDERSTANDING, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." How can His love NOT cover us? How can His grace NOT be sufficient? What if we stopped lying in fear and started telling ourselves the TRUTH?
It's pretty hard to rejoice with all that fear ya know :P Letting go can be hard, but we need to be the people who choose to do the hard thing because it's right. We have reason to rejoice because our Lord loves us and will take us in and if we go to Him for mercy rather than hiding, then we will be shown mercy and gentleness. We can then show others gentleness that we have learned from Him. And we don't fear, not even being anxious about anything. his peace transcends all understanding! How much more His love!
But, as seen in Genesis, we have an apparent identity problem that can be picked out from observing the insecurities. If they KNEW who they were to the Lord, do you think they'd EVER hide? I don't think so. If we really KNEW who we were in and TO Jesus, would we run from Him? Answer that yourself... Would you? And if you're unsure, do YOU know who you are? And even more importantly, do you know who GOD is?
This identity problem gives us a deep insight to our fear. We don’t know who we are and, I am sorry to say, this has spread to even the believers. Some of the body's parts are crippled with fear and therein it becomes hard to move and love for Jesus wholeheartedly and with arms wide open. EXPOSED. Moving with passion and purpose. This isn't boasting and saying, "we're God's children so we're better" because we're not, but as God's children we know that Jesus is. God's children do not boast. God's children love and walk with Jesus, meeting needs and serving; fearlessly living in truth.
Now, some might say it's easy to be God because you KNOW you're okay and you KNOW what will work out, but is that really true? I feel like we look over the fact that as a society, we have actually become more prone to worry through KNOWING and being used to specific outcomes in which we "control". For example, we "know" we're safe in our homes, but the more security we have, it seems the more we have to worry about our systems working or failing. Much more people nowadays actually suffer from anxiety than ever before in recorded American history. "Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older (18% of U.S. population)." - www.adaa.org
In this list, social anxiety is one of the largest sections. "Oh, well if you have problems like that, just stick to texting. No WORRIES!" Yeah RIGHT!! We defend our fears and just because it becomes a normal part of society to do so doesn't mean that it's right. This is just the percentage of people with anxiety DISORDERS. This doesn't even count the people who probably don't want to admit it or just have a lot of anxiety in general. The more we know and have control over does NOT mean the less we have to worry about. That's not how we as people work.
With more set up to protect us, the more we tend to worry about stuff. Everything is just a distraction.
God doesn't worry. He's perfect and He knows He is. "I Am" is what He calls Himself. He knows who He is. He identifies Himself in so many different places in the bible. Adam and Eve lied. They didn't live like they were children of God. They acted as though they were fatherless.
KNOW WHO YOU ARE IN JESUS
Recognize in your own life that fear can separate you from God. He takes our fears very seriously. The bible is about Him, yet in so many places He wishes to show us who WE are to Him. Here are just a few:
John 1:12 - "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God"
Romans 5:1 - "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ"
1 Corinthians 6:17 - "But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit."
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."
1 Corinthians 12:27 - "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."
Colossians 2:9-10 - "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority."
Pray over these verses and read the sections and ask the Lord to speak to your heart (read some more even if you felt led to). Take time in Jesus and ask that you may receive His truth in His word for the glory of His name. And to know even more about who you are to God, read the bible! If you aren't reading daily, start. Learn about who God is. He wants you to know Him because He knows all about you. (Psalm 139)
Journey through the bible in search of God's narrative! In His story, we might find our own. :) And that's the thing! God doesn't want us to be like Adam and Eve and have fear in our hearts. He is a RELATIONAL God!! He asks us questions, gives us chances to come to Him, goes through your life WITH you as an adventure rather than spoiling every surprise for you. Know that you are His child. Walk through life holding His hand.
Reading the bible gives us a HUGE insight into who we are. I find myself in Christ and honestly, I can't imagine life without Him. I hold His hand when I walk places! When I read the bible, I don't only learn about God, but He teaches me about me as well :) You see, that's what it does. Your own book is always out in front of you. If you want to find yourself, don't go looking in the world. The world is dark and I don't know about you guys, but it's hard for me to read in the black of night :P I need at least a lamp or a flashlight. And that's exactly what the bible can do for you! Psalm 119:105 - "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path."
So fear not! Why do you think the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom? (Proverbs 1:7) It's because He's stronger than everything and anything and if you are His child then you are in His love. Live like you're His child and do not run or hide from Him.
If you feel like you are running from Him, avoiding Him, trying to defend something that you do or have become, are not being completely open and honest in prayer, feel motionless or anything like that, then I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO CHANGE THAT RIGHT NOW! Don't wait! Ask God to reveal to you fears that are keeping you from Him. Are you allowing yourself to be tricked into thinking you can't go to Him? Take this seriously because God thinks this is VERY serious.
Read part 2 tomorrow or after even a longer time if need be so you can maybe think about some of this stuff. I don’t want to throw everything at you at once because quality is of greater value than quantity in this situation. And reading these messages are not about what I’m writing to you, but about what God wants to tell you. If God speaks more into your heart, great :) listen to Him for all knowledge and wisdom about the bible come from Him. I am a servant of the Lord. Listen to Christ above all. This is between you and Him.
And begin thinking about this: “Who am I to Christ?” Psalm 144:3- “O Lord, what is man that You care for him, the son of man that you think of Him?”
“Why does this matter so much?”
And then ask yourself and be HONEST!: “Am I afraid of movement in my life? Am I afraid to live? Am I afraid to reach out to others about the gospel and share my faith? Am I afraid that I won't be able to? Am I afraid of being told "no"? Am I afraid of doing this for myself? AM I AFRAID!!?? Am I afraid of inviting people to church? Do I have any fear at ALL?” And take this seriously. This is a good heart check. We need to ask ourselves these questions.
I pray that your identity in Christ is firm in your heart and that you practice going to Him for ALL things and desires and giving them up to Him and that you LIVE as His child (Philippians 4:6 - "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."). Do you have a guilty conscience when going to God for things? If you do, then give it up. You are His. Why can't you go to Him? Let Him be who He is in your heart... accept Him for who He is; Father God :)
God, let Your will be done in our hearts and don't let our flesh get in the way of knowing Your grace and who we are in Your heart. Let it not turn to entitlement either, but God, forgiveness is the lifestyle we want to live in. Let us go into the world and light it up with Your forgiveness and grace daily, not holding on to anything, and showing others that there is nothing to fear. Our God is here, amen :)
And remember, let go. This has nothing to do with your efforts, but what Christ can do. I hope you all continue to read on to the next notes and spend actual time with Jesus and not just read this to KNOW, but read this to glorify Him in your life and as encouragement in the fight against fear! Take heart and take it seriously! Christ is here, and He takes our fears seriously. He loves us so much :)
Have a blessed day!!
-Aaron
I do pray that that was an encouragement. It really opened my eyes a bit and I have just been really feeling led to share it. (Of course, with his given permission :) )
Gotta go!
God Bless,
Mandie :)
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