Fear: A Driving Force

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 

1 John 4:18

There is something going on in my life that I’m not quite ready to share with you at this time but I can say that fear has tried to creep in and take over. Also allow me to say that I’m not one to succumb to fear, I live through faith. 

Recently I have been taking everything at face value. It is what it is. I allow outside influences to steer my thoughts and I’ve never done that before because I’m so focused on God. Here lately the dark one has been doing overtime trying to get me to live in FEAR! My prayer and meditation remains on God but again, outside influences and negativity try to seep into my being. 

“Fear is an acronym (I received this in my email this weekend from Bible Gateway) False Evidence Appearing Real.” How did they know I was dealing with this? Oh, they didn’t but GOD did and made sure the message was sent to me and received!

Lent for me is always a time where mysteries are revealed to me. The Greek meaning of mystery is defined as: what was not known but is now revealed. My body is going through some earthly changes; changes that scare me and have me dawdling in fear, but I can’t and won’t live there because I have an immense faith that there is something greater going on.

As I walk on faith, people will come at me saying but you have to be looked at, you have to see a doctor, you have to do this and do that, you can’t just rely on faith. I would like to slap them upside the head but I won’t, I’ll just simply say, “Thanks for caring but this is my cross to bear.” (I know, I can see your eye roll from here.)

God has a plan and that is to get His message across and He can be as subtle as the dark one when it comes to conveying a message. He wants and NEEDS us to walk on faith to find 'perfect love' and He’ll carry us the rest of the way on this little blip we call life. If you think for one moment that these fifty, sixty, one hundred years of life that you live on this planet is all that there is, you are sadly mistaken. 

We are on a mission for Him and He uses every way possible, even deaths, for us to see the Light. Take for example people who run on and on about what they hate of the Muslim people. People they don’t know and have never met. Don’t tell me because you’ve met a couple of them you hate all of them, really? And what they’ve done to the Christian faith?  (more in a later post about the Crusades)

God at work does not mean everything He does is rainbows and beauty, some of the things that has to happen HAS TO BE ugly, or no one would sit up and take notice. Take the Muslim women who have converted to Christianity secretly. You assume all Muslims are killers and worship a false god. Do you know that many are over there sacrificing their life for Jesus? How else can God wake up an evil nation? Because I choose not to HATE, I’m considered Un-American, really? Well I consider you who hate unChristian. Touché. May I ask if you hate Jews in America? Germans? Mexicans? No? Just Muslims?

When you spew hate, you are doing the Muslim’s work for them, they are feeding off fear and hate and you are feeding off of what they are planting while God is busy at work trying to get you and them to see Jesus, to spread LOVE not to spread hate. If that is your mission, you are no different than the very Muslims you abhor. When I see the slaughtering and pillaging I see God at work and see the Muslims realizing that this Jesus is bigger than anything they’ve ever imagined. They are delivering a message from OUR GOD without even knowing it, which is why I said God is subtle. He KNOWS what He’s doing.

Romans 5:15 (NIV) “But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!”

If dying for Christ is wrong; if God is wrong for taking lives; if we’re just here to read and believe, then this is a sad day to be a Christian. Take note: It is NOT a sad day to be a Christian, this is the time to stand up for Christ and show the people of the world that Jesus IS worth dying for in every way imaginable. Fear does not rule our world! But I see many who feed on the same venom those they despise feed on. You cannot bring people to Jesus through loathing what you don’t like in the world. 

If I have to die to show you how Christ lives then I am honored to be a part of this master plan and if satan thinks I’m going to go in fear and feed off of what the hatemongers wish me to take a bite of, he has another thing coming because the only thing I fear is what is left behind and that is leaving my family. But I’ll take Jesus over my family any day. 

This brings to mind a beloved worship song:

Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other.
Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God!
And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us.
And if our God is with us, then what could stand against.
And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us.
And if our God is with us, then what could stand against.
Then what could stand against.

Think of this song and the power of YOUR God before you spew your next rant of antagonism. 

The Martyr

Rev 11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

The Martyr

I’m sure you’ve all heard of the Christians beheaded by the ISIS group?

I read that they were Coptic Christians and I thought, what’s the difference, isn’t a Christian a Christian?

A Coptic Christian is called Coptic because this is the language of the Afro-Asiatic. I’m intrigued to know more about them. They are Christians living in a predominantly Muslim world, which is why they are persecuted on a daily basis.

This isn’t the first beheadings and certainly won’t be the last we hear of this atrocity. So why do these beheadings warrant an outcry more than the others?  I can’t say. I do know the bible says that we will be persecuted for His names sake so why does it shock us that prophecy is being fulfilled?

These people live in the very land where Jesus and His followers walked. His shoes were filled with the sand of the land and the same that were persecuted in Moses day and Jesus’ day are the same men and women being persecuted in this very day. Can you think of any difference in then and now?

I thought about it and the main thing I found different was the way we, in the safe zone called America basically thousands of miles away from the Middle East and these horrendous acts, hear the stories by the click of a button.

We’re sitting at our desks, all snug in our warm socks, possibly wrapped in a warm blanket, drinking our freshly brewed coffee, relaxing behind a screen. All the while Christians are being persecuted all around us in record number.

Imagine a time when we were fed our news via mouth. “I heard this...”

Yup, word of mouth, then it was the written word via a long article in the newspaper, now we click a button of our preferred news source and then we become the relaters of the words like little gossipmongers.

“He said this.”

“She said this.”

It must be the truth because they said this and that.

I’m wondering if anyone else has noticed that not only is God working here but satan as well? God is trying to hold us to our commitment to Him while Satan is waving his arms all around garnering our attention and it is working. Yes the crimes are horrendous, yes it is despicable to think that one must die proclaiming Christianity but it is also saddening to watch ‘Christians’ walk right into satans hands. How? By spewing hate, that’s how. This is his goal and all too many are the gullible, willing recipients. He spews hate, they spew hate, and the line of hate flourishes and grows.

Yes, we are called to despise evil but when YOU spew evil am I to despise you? Think about that. There are always two sides to every story. Did Jesus use just one disciple to spread his word? Did God have one man spread His word across the nations? No, He didn’t and as such we have the books that form the Holy Bible in front of us today. And an FYI, the Bible was not written in verse form I believe, so that one verse couldn’t/ shouldn’t be taken out of context.

We are in the midst of nation rising against nation. God and Satan are at war. Prophecy is being fulfilled and we cower and spread hate? We are divided spiritually, religiously and politically. I do not pretend to know the religion of my acting president no more than can I know who my fellow Christian brother/sister is. Just because I clicked a button and was fed lies am I to believe them as truth?

I am neither democratic nor republican, I am neither a Jew nor a Muslim but in this world I am persecuted no matter what I believe. I believe in truth. God’s truth not man and his twisted truth. Do you get it? If you partake in the spewing of lies and hate, you are no different than the men of the ISIS group; you want to be heard, you want to be right, you my friend are doing just what satan wants you to do, not what God wants you to do.

You say you’re a Christian but would you defend Christianity in death? Can you place yourself in the beheaded Christians place and say you too would die for your belief? I see Americans and people worldwide being persecuted for Christ and we don’t hear anything about them, they are all hidden deep within the information highway so you only SEE the most gruesome of crimes being committed. We FEED off this brutality hence become a part of the atrocity. To my eyes, you are fulfilling satans task at destroying us.

To be called a Christian you must act like one. Name-calling is not what Christianity is about. If our government stood firm and called themselves Christians and not ACTING like Christians, the fingers would be pointing, shouting even, you’re a liar, you can’t be Christian, but when the government takes no stance on religion they are called other names and the vicious cycle of satan-born hate goes round and round.

Instead of hate-spewing, I read this yesterday:

...whatever the world news may say about the Brave, Martyred 21 Christians who were beheaded by ISIS, Lord, we know Your Word speaks the Truth: "The world was not worthy of them." (Heb.11:38) However any evil thinks it's winning & overcoming, Your Truth declares that they are the Overcomers, that they overcame "because of the blood of the Lamb & because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death." (Rev.12:11) And wherever Your people are tonight, God, We will remember every one of their names because they did not forget You or forsake claiming Your name, We will pray for their families because they are our literal family, And we will pray that our faith *in You* is worth laying down our life *for You,* We will pray that we don't live lives of cheap grace but of costly Christianity, We will pray that their sacrificed lives will stir us to live sacrificial lives And we will weep prayers for the persecuted Church because we are *bound* to them through Your Heart & in Your heart they are UNBOUND, UNDEFEATABLE, UNDAUNTED, & UNFORGETTABLE.  ~ Courtesy of Ann Voskamp of Smoky Mountain Christian

I don’t know if the author is Ann Voskamp but instead of shouting injustices she took the high road and showed her CHRISTIAN faith! This is what it’s all about people, PRAYER! Not hate-filled, dogmatic words of prayer, genuine heartfelt, fervent prayer.

I am a child of God. I will not judge you for whatever road you choose to get to where you are at in life today, and I should hope and pray that YOU don’t judge others for whatever path THEY are choosing. Don’t let satan have the pleasure of deceiving you.

 Matthew 5:10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Lent: Day Thirteen ~ Muslim

Gen 17:18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation

Muslims

Did you just squirm at the mere mention of the word Muslim? Why? Because they’re vile despicable people who maim and torture Christians who also wish you the infidel were dead? Makes sense to me. Well, not really. I don’t understand hatred very well.

Maybe it is just me but when Jesus told us to love our brother, for some reason, I don’t think he meant just our siblings by blood. For some reason I got the idea He meant it to mean ALL of our brother’s and sister’s; red, white, brown, black and yes Muslim’s.

I see so many Christians hating on them and I don’t just mean hating things they do, they hate THEM as a people. Can you imagine people hating us because we’re WHITE Americans? Lumping us all together, or saying, “The majority of you.” (I’m not blind, yes I KNOW white man is not well liked) I wonder why? Hmm…

A Muslim nation is not a nation of haters; they are humans with DIFFERENT ideologies than you. They are humans, the same humans that Jesus would have sat down at His table with and broke bread. They are mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, just like you.

Now your mind is reeling. You’re gathering up some hate to spew at me because how can I, a young Christian woman, be defending Muslims. “How dare her!” you say. Oh I can hear the names under your breath now.

This topic was placed on my heart a few weeks ago when pastor Mike said something about us all being a server of the God of Abraham. The history of the Muslim peoples began with the prophet Abraham and his descendants through Ishmael, his firstborn son. 

Even Muslims believe in the God of Abraham. Are you listening to me? We all serve the same God, so to hate the Muslim people, you in essence hate the son of Abraham and maybe hating Abraham himself, after all he was of Arab descent. All throughout the bible we read from those Arabs and you say you’re a Christian, read and believe the bible? Then did you skip the part where there is not ONE white American in there??? Oh, I get it; you’re a pick-and-choose person. You pick out what you want to believe, hate what you want and do what you please?

So do you hate Jews? Catholics? Mormons? No, just Muslims. Ever since that day in 2001, on September Eleventh you became a judge a jury for the Muslim people everywhere. Forbidden them Mosques, hated their people. Because madmen of an Al Qaeda terrorist group, that numbers less than thousands of people compared to millions of the Arab nation of people, you choose to HATE all Muslim.

I see your posts of “How could they?” Where Muslims are killing children, killing Christians! How dare they! You say, “I’m a Christian, how dare they kill my people!”

Listen to yourself a minute before justifying what you’re saying. You say you’re a Christian, read, believe every word of the bible as truth, and yet you hate what Muslims are doing? YOU are hating God’s people! Yes, I know it is wrong to kill ANYone.

Let me place a scenario here for you. When God was creating the world, he had beside him Angel’s right? One of those angels was satan. Satan wanted things for himself! He wanted the earth, he wanted to RULE the earth, right? He wasn’t allowed to, right? Tempting God’s followers all the way down to this very day was his lot in this world. By hating people or actions you are falling right into Satan’s hands!!!

The Word of God places generations upon generations of Arabs to WRITE the word of the Bible, the very bible that you read and believe every word to be true. Jesus, Son of God came into the world to wipe out your sin; was He a white American by any chance? No, I didn’t think so. You say, “But really, how dare [the Muslim] kill Christians!”

How dare they? Let me tell you how. God formed the world and ALL its inhabitants; He knows what you’ll do today, and what you’ll do tomorrow. How? His master plan! The killing of Christians is all part of his master plan! To say how dare they, you are asking God how dare Him kill Christians! What a mean God! What a vengeful God. Have you read the Word 'persecuted for Christ's sake'? God is mounting up his army in heaven; to hate what He is doing? That is mans pride in you.

During this Lenten season, I see YOU posting hate, posting your judge and jury OPINIONS; does this make you ANY different than those Muslims you hate? You can’t even take one day off from posting hate, during the Lenten season no less; you my friend are no different than the Muslims you hate. YOU are persecuting your own religion Christianity, which to me, is not much different than those ‘Muslims killing Christians.’

Lent is a time to meditate, a time to sacrifice, a time to fast and a time to feast. You are not following the very doctrine that God has divinely given to the world. Nowhere do I see in the bible the doctrine to HATE. Jesus is LOVE. Even His enemy, He loved. Even the killers and murderers He loved. Just as he didn’t give satan dominion over the world, he didn’t make you judge and jury of your fellow man, for a REASON! Unless you’re on a jury, appointed to judge a man/woman of a crime they committed, YOU have NO RIGHT to judge/hate human beings for THEIR choices.

Luke 6: 37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

If you really believe in the Word you read, than you’ll understand why it was pertinent to LOVE in the midst of hate. My friends, I’m not judging you for the decisions you make, but before you make the decision to become a Christian, know wholeheartedly what it means. The very God who created the Muslims, to SERVE HIM, calls you to be a disciple of His.

Luke 19: 9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.