Fear Itself

What are you afraid of?  I'm sure we all would like to say nothing, but the fact is that in some way in some area of our lives we are afraid of something.  The world sure gives us a lot to be afraid of.  The economy, terrorism, death, destruction's, losing someone we care about, etc.  The list could go on and on especially if we got into specifics.  Fear of failure, rejection, losing what is dear to us, etc. That list would probably be endless. 

Now, don't misunderstand.  I'm not talking about a healthy concern about something.  I'm talking about fear that hinders and debilitates us, stops us from doing things or enjoying things.  That is the kind of fear that is the enemy of us.  Satan has watched and learned what makes us afraid and timid in life, but do you know that it is actually you that he is afraid of?  Yes, that's right, he fears you.  He is afraid of what you can do for the kingdom of God and especially if you receive the revelation of who you are in Christ.  Satan wants you afraid, he wants you to run and hide or to stop and freeze up whenever you are faced with something.  If you do, he can control you and if he can control you, then he doesn't have to be afraid of you and you won't be effective for the kingdom of God.  

When I lived with my parents, I was used to the dark of the house at night. I would stay up and watch tv and then turn off the lights and walk through the dark house to my bedroom and go to bed. One night I had stayed up and was watching a documentary about a movie that was coming out at the time that was said to be based upon real events.  At the time this movie was promoted real big.  What I didn't know was that the movie and the documentary were both fake.  While watching the documentary, something strange happened.  I felt something in the house. I kept looking over my shoulder feeling like something or someone was behind me. 

When the show was over I got up to go to bed and for the first time since I was a child I felt afraid in the dark.  I was afraid of walking through the house to my room and started turning on lights.  Because I had been learning and feeding on God's word and learning about my authority in Christ, I started thinking how strange it was for me to feel afraid like this.  I was almost to my room and had turned on a light in the hallway when I all of sudden stopped and realized what was happening.  You may agree or disagree with me on this, but I realized that a spirit of fear had entered my house as I was watching the documentary.  When I realized what was taking place, I took my place.  I rebuked the spirit in the name of Jesus and commanded it to leave my house.  I then turned out the light and continued to my room in the dark and went to bed no longer hindered by the fearful spirit. 

You see, we must learn and realize who we are in Christ Jesus and the power and authority we have in Him. We also, must learn who our real enemy is and how he seeks to operate against us.  When we learn these things, overcoming fears in our lives and the things that we face will become easier to deal with and overcome.  I believe that had I known that the movie and the documentary were fake, I would not have been open to a spirit coming into my house.  In other words that spirit would not have had an opportunity to try and operate against me because there would have been nothing there for it to use.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? 
Psalm 27:1

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind, 
2 Timothy 1:7

The only fear we should have is the fear of the Lord and that is a reverent, respecting, fear not a get away from or avoid something fear.  Psalm 27:1 says the Lord is our light and salvation. That means we don't have to be afraid in the dark. Whatever the dark might be and if we need saving, then he is our saviour, our hero.  He is the strength of our lives. He is our courage when we face fearful things.  2 Timothy 1: 7 is saying that He has given us a spirit of power and love and peace of mind.

In a scene from Star Wars, the Jedi Yoda is questioning a young Anakin Skywalker ( who would later become Darth Vader the villain ).  Yoda senses fear in Anakin and tells him why fear is something he must not have.  Yoda says, " Fear leads to the darkside", " Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering ".  Many a time truth's will come out in movies.  Think about it. When you are afraid of something, sometimes you react to it in anger.  When we fear something, sometimes we will react to it in anger trying to correct it or not be afraid of it, then we will resent and reject whomever or whatever was the cause, thus hating it or them.  When the feelings of hate or resentment have come then either you or anyone or anything that may be associated with what caused the fear in the first place will suffer. Mostly you will be the one suffering from those feelings. 

I realize that in life their are things to be cautious and concerned about and sometimes it seems we can't help but be afraid or fearful of a situation.  We must learn who we are in Christ, the authority we have in him and the authority we have over the realms of darkness.  Things will happen and things will come, but we will be able to truly overcome them.  FDR said, " The only thing we have to fear is fear itself  ".  I say we should make fear be afraid of us.

In Christ,
Kevin

Relationship Status: It's Complicated

I would guess that almost everyone who is either on Myspace or Facebook has friends or friends of friends who have listed their relationship status as  "it's complicated".  Usually when someone states that their relationship status is complicated, they are saying that they are separated or are divorced.  It's always a little sad and disheartening when I see that status on someone I know and who's relationship status did read "married". 

The question is, how did your relationship become complicated? And if it wasn't complicated before, what was it?  I understand that over the last three to four decades, marriage relationships have become less and less meaningful. Marriage vows and covenants are no longer binding.  I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend anyone who reads this and may be divorced or going through a tough time in marriage, but lets be real.  My parents have been married now for fifty two years.  That is half a century.  I know my parents aren't the only ones who are still married after a half century together, but my point is that if we were to take a poll of people who have been married for at least that long and people who have been married for maybe ten years or less and asked if they thought they would be married that long of a time, the ones who have been married longer would have have a different answer than the ones who have only been married a few years. 

I have often wondered about people who have gotten divorced. Sometimes I want to ask, why did you get married in the first place.  Don't get me wrong, I do understand the answer to that question, and I also understand many different reasons why people get divorced. I agree with some reasons.  I also understand that God never meant for it to be that way. 

" Therefore shall a man leave his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."
                                                                                                                        Genesis 2:24

September 1st of this year my wife and I will have been married for nine years. Let me tell you, it's complicated.  My wife and I didn't have a normal meet, date, fall in love, get married relationship. It's complicated.  I began to discover in the first year or so of our marriage, that marriage is nothing that I thought it would be, nor is it anything I feared it would be. It's complicated. I have issues that my wife has to deal with and there are things about me that annoy her sometimes. It's complicated. My wife has some issues ( sorry honey ) and sometimes she does things that irritate me. It's complicated. We have have been through rough patches in our relationship and are still trying to figure each other out. It's complicated. We don't know all there is to know about life, about marriage, or about each other. It's complicated.  We have both uttered the D word. It's complicated. While we both probably wish we could change some things about each other, we also see the need to change some things about ourselves. It's complicated. 

I will be honest.  I believe some marriages become "complicated", because of selfish reasons with either the husband or wife.  I believe some relationships were "complicated" before marriage ever took place.  Satan has sought to destroy anything and everything that God has established as pure and holy.  Think about it, when two people come together, they bring into contact lots of people who may or may not have ever known each other. When or if they have children who then become connected with two whole families. When that marriage is destroyed, all of those people in some form are touched by it just as they are touched by the marriage.  Whether with the mere knowledge of the divorce or much more involved, a life has been touched and altered.

So what is the solution? Learn.

Learn that life and relationships are complicated. Learn that marriage is complicated. Learn that no matter how complicated it is or has become, God can and will show us how to figure it out. Learn not to just pick up the pieces when things get broken,  but learn to put the pieces back together and make it stronger or if need be, learn to make something new and better.  When we learn that things are complicated, we can learn why they are complicated.  When we learn why they are complicated, we can learn to make them less complicated.

Relationship Status: A Little Less Complicated.

In Christ,
Kevin