November 26, 2021 CONQUERING FEAR
1 John 4:16, 18-19 “And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in Him.” There is no fear in love; but perfect love cast out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.”
When we come to truly know and experience the love of God, wonderful things take place in us; it’s not enough just to believe in our mind only that God loves us. Fear is an all too common malady among many. Fear is a terrible thing to live with: fear paralyzes us, robs us of joy and hope, dominates our minds, and negatively affects our emotions, affects our outlook on life, and etc. One can fear sickness, loss of what is so important to us, what others think about us, not being accepted by others, natural disasters, and fear of not being acceptable to God-the list could go on. The only love that has the power to cast out fear is ‘perfect love.’ This perfect love is found and experienced only in God. The good news is that we can know and experience His love; Romans 5:5 tells us that “the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Human love is far different from Gods love. God’s love residing in us changes everything. To know in the core of our being that the God who created the universe, the God who is all wise and all powerful, the God who formed us in our mother’s womb, and the God who rules, loves US; our life, our beliefs, our emotions, our thought life, and our actions are dramatically changed when we say ‘yes and amen’ to the verse that tells us that the ‘old things have passed away and that new things have come.’ 2 Corinthians 5:17. When we know His love, we find great comfort in the fact that HE is the potter, and we are the clay; there is nothing better than being clay in the hands of a loving God! Knowing His love does not mean that we are exempt from trials and troubles in this word, but it does mean that He uses all things for our ultimate good AND He will give us all we need to overcome whatever we face. Jesus endured sufferings and trials, but He overcame, and by His presence in us, so can we. To get a clear understanding of what pure love is, read 1 Corinthians 13. The acid test of our whether or not we know the perfect love God has for us is this: if we have fear, then we are not perfected in His love. You may be a believer, but yet you have not experienced His perfect love, if so, ask Him to reveal His love to you; read the scriptures, searching and seeking to know His love.
Isaiah 43:1 “Don’t fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine.”
Psalm 27:1 “The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I be afraid?”
Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”
Blessings,
Buddy
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