Your Breakthrough! From Fear to Faith!

Hello, all!  I have enjoyed a nice long mental and physical vacation! I spent the time kissing my baby grandson Mason! I enjoyed time talking, cooking, and shopping with my lovely daughter, Shelly, (who I can say has become one of my closest friends), and being picked on by my sweet son-in-law, Josh, who I am so very proud of! He is a wonderful daddy and husband and adores my daughter! What more could a mom ask for? They are doing such a great job of raising a family, putting God first. I am so blessed to have them walking with Christ and being productive for His Kingdom. There is no greater blessing than to know your children are giving their entire life to further the cause of Christ. I admire their perseverance and tenacity. I learn much about patience when I am with them as I watch them walk daily waiting patiently on the Lord as a waitress would patiently wait on a patron of a restaurant.  My time away was so refreshing, and I am renewed and happy to be back home  in the swing of things. 

I cannot tell you how much I missed my blog sessions with God!  Nothing like time alone with Him, His kind of music, His Word, and just letting Him do the talking!  I have spent a few days now dwelling on the thought "What is holding us back?" I feel the Lord is showing me and I pray He speaks to you through my ramblings! 

Often in our walk with God in the area of reaching out to others, a thought or an idea will pop into our head and we quickly quell it without realizing it was from God and that the motivation for squelching it came from fear.  If questioned or told we are full of fear, or called cowardly, we will quickly rise to dispute it.  It is difficult to admit that fear has guided you. In fact I am so surprised at how many people have reached out to encourage me in my blog privately, because we just don't really want others to see or know that fear has sometimes ruled in our heart. I often use myself as an example, but just as often my words are shared from others who wish to remain anonymous! Fear is a bad word in anyone's world, but rest assuredly, if you are stopping yourself from doing something productive for the Kingdom, fear most likely is being allowed to rule you.  It is that simple.  We are emotional beings and fear is an emotion we feel, certainly, but know it is also a spirit outside of emotion which comes directly from the enemy of our soul who is very knowledgeable of our emotional weaknesses. I cannot get into the depths of this with just one blog, but I will try to address one aspect today in hopes that the recognition of it in yourself will lead you to the freedom Christ has intended for you.

What is really holding you back from stepping up to the plate in the area God is leading you to be productive? I am so bold as to say the war is going on entirely in your head and you have most likely not even voiced it to anyone else. If there is something God is prompting you to do and you have not yet stepped up to the plate, and are miserable in your indecision, you are being guided by fear.

Examine this thing that you feel to do:
Is it something you are equipped for in reality? 
    Fear will tell you you are not equipped, but in reality you are perfectly capable of accomplishing it! Doesn't the scripture say "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me?" Well, there ya go!
Does it require you to reach outside of yourself to touch others?
Does it involve you stepping outside of your comfort zone?
Will it be a stepping-stone for others?
If your answers are all yes... then it is high time you responded!  If God is still dealing with you, it is not too late. Just get on board with it. Do the first step and you will be hooked!

One of the first battles we must fight when God is leading us higher into His work is this:
"Is this of God or is it just me?"... Most of us stop and won't get past this silly question!  Yes we must have wisdom and know God is leading us, but really, I ask you,  is it going to be the Devil who is calling us to do a work for Christ? I don't think so!  So right off the bat, (lot's of baseball references today!) let's get past that question once and for all.  If you are feeling to take action for the Kingdom of God, it is GOD who is compelling, even tempting you!  Yes I said tempting you!  He is holding a proverbial carrot before you and leading you upward saying, "Would you like to go higher in Me? Do this one thing I ask."  God's instruction is always simple and can easily be done one step at a time.  He gives clear direction! And in scripture how many times does his direction involve the word "GO!"? "Go thy way..., "Go and sell", "Go and tell no man"!  Go and do that one thing!
Many times we fail right here because we are so busy praying "God, is this you?" and the moment passes.  God tells us in scripture to walk in prayer.  If one is walking in prayer, faith and wisdom will be no problem.  We will be instant in following the prompt of the Holy Spirit and won't have to question the validity of the voice of God! So next time God prompts you to go pray with someone, or simply give them a hug, Tell yourself, "This is God wanting to flow through me." and then GO!  DO THAT ONE THING! 

How often have I been prompted in the Holy Ghost to go speak a word of encouragement to a sister, or go pray with someone, and I have sat miserably, heart pounding, questioning God, because I was afraid of the rejection of that person.  Yes, in all honesty, that is what we are afraid of!  Rejection! You and I are simply afraid of one another! ha!  There, I said it!  We will never ever get anywhere in this walk if we do not quit comparing ourselves among ourselves and get up off of our duff and go be loving and kind to one another, walking in love and in the guidance of the Holy Spirit to let HIS LOVE flow through us.  Will we ever get the message that this life is NOT about I, Me, MY?  What does it matter in the scope of salvation really if you are rejected?  He was rejected, despised, abused and crucified! Yet still we sit in service after service fearful of one another, fearful of our guests and fearful of allowing God's love to flow freely!  It's the silliest thing when put in print, yet it is what will shut down a move of God.  Have you ever been in a service where the spirit of God was mightily moving, and then suddenly it just uncomfortably shut down?  That is because someone was quenching the spirit which was trying to flow through them. 

Many times I have been in a place of business and felt so desperately to speak to someone or invite them to church, or just a simple thing like speak a word of love to them, but I have stopped, frozen in place, questioning!  Truth be told, my flesh was looking for an out!  My fleshly desires do not parallel with my spiritual being.  Pastor Paul Springer preached a message while I was in Mississippi about the two twins that live inside of you.  Everyone has a twin.  The good twin and the bad twin. It was a beautiful message and has captured my thought path these days.  The twin you feed is the one who will rule the temple! We must step past this flesh if we are ever going to thrive in living for God. We must feed the spiritual man in prayer and study of His Word so that we can be free to walk in faith and in wisdom.  Next time you are in a battle of what to do, mentally put your flesh down (the bad twin) and step over it.  You will quickly find freedom and fulfilment as you (the good twin) are freed to walk in faith toward that thing which God is prompting you to do for Him!

 Anyone feel the need to stop and pray for yourself right now?  I do!  Let's do it.... Let us stop right now and pray for ourselves.  Pray for the good twin!  Pray for freedom from the fear and flesh that tries to rule us.  Ask God's forgiveness for not walking in prayer and for not being guided by faith.  In prayer, picture yourself laying down this obsession with feeding self (the bad twin) and walking forward in faith and confidence that God will use you (the good twin) as a river of life to flow to others showing them the way to HIM!  That's what it's all about! 

Lay down self and make space for His love to freely flow through you! The breakthrough from fear to faith is simply a matter of time spent in prayer and then taking action to let Him flow!