Five Steps to Fearlessness (Keri Wyatt Kent)

The recently bombing of the bus on one of the busiest street here in Manila is still fresh in the news on the television and papers today. Fear strikes every citizen living around Manila. One of my friend said she needs to go home as early as she can after work because her mother keeps worrying about the situation on the streets, for fear that another incident might happen again and who knows where the next target is. I see people worries over riding on the bus again, not trusting any bus lines could be safe for now, overheard most of them talked about their fearful assumption that the country is no longer safe and busy streets aren’t either.

That’s why right now I am thankful and favored to have one of my favorite people, Keri Wyatt Kent, to inspire us about this thing called “fearlessness” as the antidote to “worry”. Her words couldn’t be more timely, a voice we need for such a time as this. I invite you to dig in to her words and learn from what she is to pour out.

Five steps to fearlessness.

(Keri Wyatt Kent)

The most frequently repeated command in the Bible is “Do not…” What? Can you guess? You might be surprised. It is “do not be afraid.” Why then, are we so often paralyzed by fear? What can we do to replace our fear with faith, so that we can live boldly and freely?

If you ask most people, religious or not, to list biblical “sins,” they’ll likely offer you a list that includes adultery, lust, greed, murder, etc. Few, if any, would list “worry.” And yet, the most frequently repeated command in the bible is “do not be afraid.” Jesus devoted part of the Sermon on the Mount to tell his followers not to worry. But many Christians seem to be expert worriers. Their faith hides beneath a thick coating of fear. They worry about what will happen if certain people get elected or don’t, they worry about their kids, they worry about their money, or their church.

Often, their fear seems justified: when life is really hard, or challenges come your way, sometimes fear feels inevitable. You can’t help but worry, right? But what if worry is a choice? Why would Jesus say “Don’t worry,” unless it were actually a choice for us to make?

Pastor James MacDonald, in his latest book Always True, writes that fear is the opposite of faith. He asserts that it has no place in the life of a Christian.

“Fear expresses the opposite of all that Christianity is to be. Fear is the contradiction of faith. Faith says, ‘Whatever it is, it’ll be okay because of God.’ Fear says, It’s not going to be okay, and doesn’t think much about God at all. Fear is the complete state of anti-God. God seldom seems further from you than when your heart is filled with fear. Fear is relying completely on your own resources and realizing suddenly that they aren’t nearly enough to sustain you. Fear has no place in the life of a Christian.” (p. 33)

How can you get rid of fear? Here are five steps you can take to let go of worry and fear, to live in the freedom of fearlessness.

1.        Focus on the moment. Stress is often the result of our mind not focusing on the here and now. When we worry about the past, rehashing mistakes or wondering if we someone screwed up, we feel stressed. When we’re nervous about what’s coming, and imagine worst-case scenarios, most of which are highly unlikely, we frighten ourselves. Instead of living in the past or obsessing about the problems of tomorrow, simply focus on the moment at hand. What can you do right now? As Jesus said, “tomorrow has enough worries of its own.”

2.      Pray. We often pray that God will intervene in the problems that we are worried about, but often this type of prayers are simply sanctified worrying. “Oh, God, please help me, please change this, please make this happen….” Our prayers are really just our worries, with a “Dear God” tucked on the front. Pray differently: ask for God’s love, rather than his problem solving. Instead of fretting over your concerns, why not pray that God would make you aware of his loving presence? The bible says “perfect love casts out fear.” So pray for God’s love to fill your heart and soul, flushing out the worry and fear.

3.      Confess. If you do something the bible says not to do, that is a sin. The Bible clearly says not to fear or worry, so worry is a sin. Sin means missing the mark, making a bad choice. Do you see worry that way? As a sin? Sin is not just something that gets God mad at you, or gets you in trouble. It’s a choice you make that causes you to fall short of God’s best for you. It’s something that hurts you. Confess your worry as a sin, knowing that God is anxious to forgive you and show you a better way.

4.      Let go and let God. If you are relying only on yourself, you have good reason to worry! You don’t have the resources that God does. But if you trust God, worry is not necessary. Fear grows out of our need to control things. Realizing God is in control means accepting that you are not in control! The Bible tells us that God is close to the brokenhearted, that he hears the cries of the oppressed, that he knows us by name, that he has plans for our future. The path to fearlessness begins with trust, with believing that if you just let go, God will come through for you. When we face struggles, God is there for us. MacDonald writes: “when you’re going through hardship, or when you’re heavyhearted and burdened, God rolls up His sleeves and moves toward you in a way that’s unlike any other time.” (p. 34)

5.      Focus on others. When we are wrapped up in our own problems, we tend to worry more. When we get outside of ourselves and realize that we may not have it so bad, and that others need our help, our worries get put into proper perspective. Volunteer at a nursing home, or your church. Bring a meal to a neighbor with a new baby or who is ill. Simply sit and listen to someone who is going through a rough time.

Worry and fear keep us from experiencing God’s love. The bible says “perfect love casts out fear,” and that love comes only from God. Don’t allow fear to block your access to God’s amazing love.

Learn more about God’s always true promises and how they can cast out fear at www.walkintheword.com. 

Remember the Dream We are Fighting For

Remember what we are fighting for.

There is no such thing as "mundo ko". We are in a place where we are right now, along with the optimum growing condition factors that is there, we have our friends and family, we have our favors and struggles. We communicate. We interact. We respond and we react. We have a voice. We cannot truly live in such a place full of life that actively intersecting our reasons for living and then we stay boxed to our own comfort zone.

When we put walls around us, limiting the life bound for us, we lose our purpose. We lose our sanity. We begin to believe that the world is the problem, that the world is crazy. We begin to close our eyes to any possibility of human contact, allowing only those we believe we own.

Remember when God placed Adam in Paradise, God said that, "It is not good for the man to be alone." that's why God created a suitable helper for him. And we are now living in the New Testament generation where "We" are part of one body, the body of Christ. Therefore if one among us is hurting, the whole body is sick. We are not meant to be alone. If somehow we felt that something is missing in our life, maybe it is something we deprived ourselves of, that which was already there in the midst of us, ready and waiting for us to leave our own world and join the project of God.

Being hurt, offended and depressed is part of the process, but it must not hinder us from trusting God and trusting the people God placed in our life. There is no guaranteed escape from these emotional attacks that is devouring us, we are the sure target. We are to get through it. We have to trust God the way He trust us to be strong in Him. Besides, we cannot see how God moves in our troubles when we closed the door of any possibilities.

I thank my God for the gift of accountability. It is my protection in the times I have to face the things in my life that I have no control. When my emotions get high above me, I can rest in the promise of God that He is still above all things and that He is in control. I thank my God for the gift of fellowship, they are my accountability partners. 

My cellgroup leader told me one thing that I am holding on to this week, she said, “Hindi kita kayang protektahan sa mga bagay na hindi ko alam.” It is a call for us to be accountable to the life of the people God placed in our life, no matter how much they may offend us with their words or actions or their lack of actions.

We have to be able to press through all the pains we battle, the guilt we harbor in our hearts, and the offense that strikes us. Come on, we are to protect the character of God in our life.  What happen to the grace and mercy we used to know? Let nothing separate us from the love of God. Anyway, we cannot go anywhere beyond God’s reach. Let us hold on to a DREAM we all remember fighting for, we remember dying for.

“No power in the sky above or in the earth below--indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:39 (NLT)

The Righteous Shall Live By Faith

When God reminds us of something He said in the Word, and we ignored completely simply because we thought we can’t relate to a single word pointed out, we better be careful. God will always make a way to draw our attention to His warning. He will make it a point that we are going to listen for sure and fully. He will make sure that we will pay attention and consider His time.

Romans 1-3. In these three chapter I am completely stuck for almost a month, trying to dig deeper what God is trying to tell me, or what is it about me in these pages. I just couldn’t find myself mutually connected to the warnings, because as far as my feeble mind think so, it is completely not related to my struggle and what i wanted from His Word is something specific to give me my resolve and so I will move on. But God showed me that His ways are so much different from my ways. I ignored what was sufficient for my daily soul food source. Closed fist in anger for not getting what I want, I had to closed my world, and closed my mind from Him.

Little did I know that I was slowly turning into the person God warned me about in those chapters. I was so busy trying to figure out how to get out of my inner battle in a way my hands and my feet only works, I have remove God from the equation. Yet I go to church on Sundays, I do cellgroups, I smiled and managed a laugh on our fellowships and discipleships. It was a well managed manner I formed within me. I’ve seen that I can do the ministry without God in it. It was a deception slowly snatching me, killing me, destroying the character of my Savior in me.

I became the person who, "...For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." in Romans 1:21. My thoughts, my actions, my words, my hands and my feet, all of me... everything in me never glorified Him as God, not even thankful. I lived those days always having my Bible in my bag, but not once did I opened it. Then convictions are starting to knock on my heart. they beat an angry thud'dum thud'dum and it drives me mad. Mad to the point that my big "A" is over me. I’m an attitude person that everything annoys me. Until God knocked my senses, opening my eyes to the amount of destruction I am about to cause if I continue walking down this path I’m wandering. I’ve seen so many of them, my family, my friends, my work, and even my body, all bruised up and slowly breaking into pieces. Everything once again is scattered. I got scared. I’m scared to see my hands filthy, contaminating all these beautiful gifts God has given me. I felt that all the goodness of God in my life is sinking, drowning in the face of depression.

It’s amazing that God is whispering in the midst of my chaos like telling me, “I told you so..." but in a most gentle way. It was like God has warned me of the things to come and I was just so consumed with the present. God sees far more clearly ahead of me than I can see with my own eyes. It seems that my faith back then is boxed with how far the eye can only see. But God teach me to look beyond, to close my eyes and trust His lead.

"For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” - Romans 1:17

Scattered Thoughts

Writing goes deep in my heart, deep into my soul... It’s hard though because I have to dig deeper into the silence of my own soul where my Creator, the giver of all beautiful things that will be poured out of me, whisper a soulful food for my hungry soul. To write is to bleed... There is a hungry generation waiting for the rain, the pouring out of what fills their thirsty soul. And I heard of this phrase somewhere, "that we must be filled if we are to pour out". And yes we are pouring out... investing a voice into this present generation. It’s just a matter of what kind are we giving or where do we get our pouring... we have to get connected to the right source. What are we listening to? What kind of voices do we get attached to everyday? There is a busy life, a busy street, and even a busy home that is waking us up every day of our life. It is simply calling us to join them in the rhythm of their heartbeat. And soon we join them. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. It’s just that, if we don’t get connected to God, the giver of our rest and peace, we will just allow the flow to overwhelm us, we get burned-out, and we swim along where everybody is going.

It’s a tough life but in toughness and hardships and struggles, we see the real beauty of living. It is simple. Life is simply life when it is lived intentionally for the true purpose we gain it.

It is a scattered day for me today. Burned out really. Hungry for God. And yet I am crying out, pouring out. It is my way of disposing junk from within me, that maybe blocking the creativity being handed over me. Because as much as I want to flow the life of Jesus through me, I can’t. I have to stop, to pause for a little while and find true meaning into what I have been doing. All that's within me right now is hurting me, hurting the spirit inside this body and my soul is restless. I have allowed the flesh to win in the battle of the supernatural. It is sad.

And for all this I may borrow a quote from one of the blogs I followed, "It's never cliché to admit I can't do a thing apart from Him. While He lives to intercede for me, my very breath depends on His mercy and grace. "

I’m gonna be away for a little while, and when I get back, I’m gonna let my cup overflow with all the goodness of the struggles God has allowed me to go through. I’m gonna need your prayers and yes, I will be praying too. Here’s me, not much to say, but so much to pray.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28

The Fight Song (My Song of Redemption)

In the depths of my wandering, I'm wandering away from the Light. I have made friends with the darkness because I like myself there. But even in the loudest noise in that darkness, I could only hear a cry. A small cry of a frightened heart. I dont want to hear it anymore but the cry breaks the noise even louder and louder...Louder than any other noise I could hear. I am reluctant to leave the dark but as the cry of that heart turns to be the only voice, the only sound i could hear, I cannot just take it for granted. It resounds a painful chords in my peace.

I'm finding out where the voice is coming from. I am digging deeper to where I last heard of it. And I am coming closer and closer and closer. It seems that the voice itself is looking for me, getting closer to me, searching me. Then comes the endpoint. I see my own reflection in the dark, like a dream I could not awake. The only light I cling to is the smallest light coming from the heart that cry. I have discovered for a thousand times now, that the voice I hear is the only hope I need to listen to for me to go back to the light, to where I first found hope.

The voice I hear is the voice of my own heart, the small portion of God's hope abiding in me in that dark, dark valleys.

Now this is the hardest part, the battle to go back, back to following the light, the new hope granted to me. I already know that there's nothing left for me in this darkness I'm dwelling, that everything I am meant to be is in the light.. But that to go back to the light requires me to leave behind EVERYTHING that belongs to the darkness. I need that heart to light a torch in my path, that I may go back to light. And I MUST LEAVE BEHIND EVERYTHING THAT BELONGS TO THE DARKNESS.

My song of redemption, my prayer, my worship is clearly described in the words of Psalm 69.