Freedom BEYOND Our Fears

Why does fear seem to be at the surface in every person’s life?

Fear lives in and through politics. That fear of who is going to be our new president in the next election. A Fear of having the ‘wrong’ person in office and taking control of this country and putting many lives in danger. A fear that lives in and among our households; a suspicion of a spouse cheating, a fear for our children’s safety in our public schools, and a fear of not being accepted by others. Fears of the unknown or losing a loved one, (a fear of death). Fear of losing a job, fear of not having enough money to pay the bills, or having enough to even feed your household. The list goes on and on. You know, I think fear is the the biggest force that motivates people into doing things that they aren’t otherwise, willing or wanting to do. There is also fear formed in our local congregations. A fear that drives pastor’s and leaders to manipulate and control others to ‘pay up’ and tithe, so they, the pastors and leaders of the congregations can feed their families. They use the threat of Hell and use ‘alter calls’ to bring people to a fearful God. Any so called sin, and every wrong doing imaginable to enable others to fall into fear of what will happen to them if they don’t confess their sins. Fear is a force that strives on hurting and destroying the hearts of people. For some, fear rides on the bases of their entire lives. It has a way of controlling our thoughts and sometimes even our actions.

I was listening to a pod-cast from Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings on The God Journey called, Freedom From Fear. They have some awesome conversations about how fear manipulates our thoughts even on how we perceive God in our lives. Some see God as an angry God, who is waiting for anyone to slipup. A God who doesn’t see His people through loving eyes, and uses fear and judgments to push and manipulate people into following Him. Some actually believe that God is a conditional loving God, who only justifies His love on the good a person does compared to how much bad a person does, and how some think God sees people from a Superior position. Yes God is Superior to me, BUT he came to earth to show me that He has felt the same as I and loves me enough to die for me through everything He has gone through. God in fact, desires a relationship with me for no reason other than the reason that this fearless God who wants nothing more than to love ME, and wants to be my Daddy, and in that, He allows fear to have NO bases in my life. Yeah, I have moments that I am fearful of things; I am a person just like anyone else. However, knowing where I stand with Father I know and understand that Love conquers fear and therefore, fear has no ability to be in my life. It sure would like too, but it can’t because Father has won me through His undivided, and unconditional Love that will last for eternity, and that my friend, is Freedom.

Being a True Friend

As of late, I have been pondering on the meaning of being a true friend. What provoked this thinking is my awareness of a friend who has been absent for a couple months now and hasn’t made any effort to communicate to me. This stirs quite some disturbance in me and so I felt that I should follow up with an email and just say hi. I didn’t bring up what the problem was, but was just checking in to say hi as if nothing was wrong at all. I think about the pattern I see myself following when it comes to maintaining friendships. When I first meet someone I try to spend a lot of time with them to get to know them and find myself doing nice things for them and going out of my way for them as a newfound friend would. Sounds good so far right? Well, eventually when we have known each other for a while and the newness of the relationship starts to cool down, communication in some instances on the other side of the friendship starts to die, then when I don’t get pursued at all, its like they lose interest in me all together, and in return I give up pursuing them. Now, you’ve heard the worst. I can’t really understand why this always happens but it seems like it is weighing on me pretty heavily. I want to stop this pattern and get over myself and never stop loving them and following up with them regardless how well they communicate to me. Last night I was talking to my husband about this issue and he said that the reason they may not be talking to me is not because of me but because of them and you have to respect where they are and just be there for them even if they aren’t there for you. It hurts, but he is right. My deep down heart felt desire is to be the best friend I can be to all my friends and not let pride and selfishness get in the way of that. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” John 15:13. I want to be like Jesus and lay down my life for my friends whenever they need me. I want to be there for them even if they aren’t there for me. Proverbs 17:17 “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” I may be that brother/sister right now, but I hope if I don’t accomplish anything great in this life that I am remembered as a person who loved at all times and was there regardless.