Thursday, October 6, 2011

Fear of Failure

Picture this, you are standing on a cliff and are looking down! Trepidation is reaking from your face, you are totally speechless. Not only that but you cant move as you look down at the 20,000 foot descent! As you can imagine this emotion that you are experiencing is fear! Fear paralyzes, it impairs your cognitive function, inhibits your rationale, incapacitates your well being, steals your hope, and destroys faith! Fear is the biggest obstacle between you and the objective. If somebody who has arachnaphobia, wants to cross a road and comes across a spider, he/she will not cross the road!

Fear is a spirit according to the Bible and it is from the enemy. Not only does it come from Satan it is the the opposite of faith! Fear will cause you to question what could've happened instead of knowing what should've happened! Fear has the power to block the destiny the Lord has for them! The enemy has designed fear to block the purpose the Lord has for somebody's life! Fear crushes people's dreams, sets them back in their endeavors, and minimizes faith! According to scripture Hebrews 11:1 "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The First man on the moon, first black president, Moses, Jesus? These were people that would be remembered as ones who were not overcome by the fear of failing! They took necessary risks to accomplish what the Lord created them to do!

The only thing worse than Fear is Fear of failure! When people are looking for jobs applying to school, or even just talking to a girl the insidious nature of fear stops them from going forward! Its author is the Devil and its purpose is to rob people of the destiny God has for them. Fear can also b driven by insecurity and worry which also pertains to the kingdom of darkness!

Fear can ruin a successful business, cause somebody to commit suicide, and even lead somebody to turn their back on the Lord! It can be destructive to relationships and can ruin something that was made beautiful in the Lord's eyes! It is the primary inhibitor of success and can disrupt peace in somebody's life. The awesome thing is that there is refuge for those that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ! Can I get a witness?

The antidote for fear is faith! In the Word it says faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God! Our belief in Jesus Christ is based on faith, since we were saved by grace through faith. Finding out root of the fear of failing is the first step to conquering it. Maybe its being unsure about the future, a traumatic event from childhood, possible success if action is carried out, peoples'opinions and oppositions to our goals, inability to surrender to God, or unbelief! Without faith its impossible to please GOD! Fear actually annoys God so the next huge step in conquering fear is trusting in the Lord with all your heart! This will relieve most fear! Once you trust in the Lord you know He wont let you fail even if you take a risk. You may attempt to achieve your goal several times but ultimately He wont let you fail! Psalms 27:1 says "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". Meditating on this scripture can dismantle fear and is used in Spiritual warfare books to combat the spirit of fear! Assuming the risk is half the battle the other half is overcoming the fear of a major or minor decision!

Another way to eradicate fear of failure is found in the scripture 2 timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." The love that the Lord has for us drives out the fear! 1 John 4:18 "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." The blameless and unconditional love that God has for us wipes away all fear because he wouldn't want to harm nor punish us so why should we fear! According to His word in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

God loves us so much that He wouldn't want to harm us nor cause us to fear! He has a plan for everybody but in order to fulfill the plan He has for you, you must let go of fear and surrender to the Lord's will! His power, love, faith and strength will be sufficient to carry you through to your destination even when the waters get murky! Remember the opposite of fear is faith and the Jesus is our exemplary for how to activate faith as we needed faith to believe that he is the King of Kings and that He rose again and we were granted eternal life! Fear is preventing you from who God has created you to be and what he has created us to do! Today instead of letting fear dominate our lives let us choose to activate FAITH!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Step into your Calling

Picture this, one of foot is in the quicksand and my other one is on concrete! Automatically there in is an unbalanced state! The equilibrium is offset! All of a sudden you become weaker, there is disorder and you begin to stumble, you become confused, scared, and your foundation lacks stability!

This state is exactly what happens when we are in the outer courts. If one has one foot in the kingdom and one in the World it becomes difficult to attain the fullness of measure in Christ! It is similar to devoting half your time studying medicine and the other half studying architecture! Individuals will never be able to maximize their potential because an individual will only be half as successful as one could have been since their time and diligence is split in half! God's desire is to use us and anoint us with His spirit but it requires devotion to the things of his Kingdom and significantly less of this world! He said in his Word, seek me and ye shall find me when you seek me with all your heart!

When you have one foot in the world you are not giving him your whole heart. Therefore it will be difficult to find Him and ultimately discover His will for your life! If you don't find His will for your life, you definitely cant find your calling! All of this leads to a domino effect and it starts with total submission to God's will by having both feet in the kingdom. Once we have both feet in the kingdom we can truly step into our calling because now the Lord can ordain our steps and we are seeking him with our whole heart and not a half heart! As opposed to when we have one foot in the world and one in the kingdom it becomes difficult to take forward steps as we will be taking one step forward and another backward since we are directing on our own steps while following the Lord's as well which is totally confusing and counter productive!

Once we dive in head first and submerge our wholselves in the kingdom of God, it is then and only then that we can step into our calling! Our calling is very important because everybody has a calling and we must adhere to the calling if we want to make a difference in this world! The other very special thing about a calling is that its like a fingerprint and it is unique to us. What I am called to do nobody else can, even if its the same ministry. Lets say two different people are both called to be teachers in the same subject at the same high school. Each teacher may provide for the students differently and offer a different type of insight! How do we find our calling and what do we do once we find our calling? Well my belief is that we must first enter the Most Holy place and be in his presence through prayer and ask Him abut His will for our life and depending on the type of relationship you have with the Almighty, He will answer you quickly or reveal it to you step by step! Another way we find our calling is through reading and meditation of the word of God!

Once we find our calling and know that it is our purpose in life and the way in which we are serve the Lord then we must sharpen our skills to represent the excellence of the kingdom of God! We will bear fruit and others will be blessed by the calling we have now accepted as an invitation from the Lord! May Christ be reflected in our lives as we ccept the calling he has for our lives! Much love and peace to tthe breathren!

God be the glory Now and Forever,

AMEN!