Do Not Be Afraid

We all have our own definitions of what fear is to us, but no matter what our fears may be, no one likes fear. So how do we live a fearless life? Is it possible to live life with not a single fear lingering in our hearts? 

Fear is one of the main factors that drives our actions. Where does fear lead you in life? Who do you turn to in the midsts of your fears? For me, my fear led me to lies that I believed would take away my fears. I eventually found out that my lies never took my fears away, rather they made my fears sink deeper into my heart. 

So how did my fears go away? Through Christ. 

Instead of trying to fix my problems and fears by myself, I took them to Christ. I confessed my fears and asked him for guidance. Once I gave Christ control over my life, my problems slowly disappeared and every fear that I had was taken away. 

Psalms 34:4 says, "I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears." When you take your fears to Christ, he takes them away from you. Don't be afraid to turn to Jesus because he is only here to love and help you. Jesus is here to replace your fears with his peace. 

It is ok to have fear, but let your fears bring you closer to God, not farther away from God. I made the mistake of letting my fears drive me farther away from him, which only hid my fears deeper in my heart. But once I allowed God to take control of my fears, he took them all off of my hands and slowly through Christ,  I found that every fear I had was a lie that only came from Satan.

Satan wants to use your fear to drive you away from God, but God wants to use your fear to drive you closer to him. 

When we come to Jesus, we no longer have to be a slave to fear because fear will then be a slave to Jesus. Fear will no longer take a hold of us because Jesus has already taken a hold of it. 

Don't be afraid to approach Jesus because he wants and expects us to come to him with our fears. Usually when we report our bad mistakes to higher authority or to those we love, we become afraid of their possible harsh response or reactions.  

But with Jesus, we do not have to be afraid to approach him. Many times in the bible Jesus tells us to not be afraid. When Jesus first met Mary and Mary Magdalene after he rose from the dead, the first thing he said to them was, "Do not be afraid.."(Matthew 28:10).

When we approach Jesus with our mistakes, we do not need to be afraid because he is there to take away our mistakes, not to point at them. Jesus is there to take away our fear, shame, guilt, pain, and sin. He will never be there waiting to point at your mistakes, but only to show you that his grace is enough to fix your mistakes. 

If you don't know Jesus today, I encourage you to get to know him because he will change your life. However if you do know Jesus, is he someone you turn to in the midst of your fears? 

Jesus wants you to come to him with your fears because he wants to be there for you. So is it possible to live a life with no fear? The answer is yes, and it is only through Christ. There is nothing in this world that can permanently take away every fear you have in your heart. The only guarantee you have is Jesus.

Turn to Jesus and you will find that he will take care of all your fears. No matter how much anyone loves you, no one loves you more than Jesus does. He simply exists for you. So remember, do not be afraid, just turn to Jesus. 

Looking Into The Heart

We all have our "lists" of people that we put on the bad list, and I can guarantee that they are on your bad list because they have hurt your feelings at least once. But have you ever stopped to think if it was even right for you to place them on your bad list? No matter how bad someone has treated you, there is a way to put them back on your good list. 

Recently, I have been going through some difficulty with my website developer. Many things just went wrong with the website and at the end, he refused to fix the issues. I was beyond upset and felt that he deserved my bashing and lashing. In my mind, he was already on my bad list and I did not care about sending him mean replies. 

"He deserved it", I said to myself. Seeing his uncaring actions, how was it wrong for me to put him on my bad list? But it was at that moment when God spoke to me and said, "Do you deserve how I treat you?"

Do we deserve how God treats us? His love, grace, and mercy.. do we all deserve this? For it says in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." This verse clearly shows us that none of us deserve God's love and grace. But despite our great sins, God does not lash out on us or say mean things to us. He sees our hearts and welcomes us with his loving arms. He tries to fix us by showing his grace and love, and that is what we should do to everyone who we think deserves to be on our bad list. 

In our eyes, those who hurt us do deserve to be on the bad list, but in God's eyes, no one deserves to be left on that bad list. Jesus came to this earth to show us an example of how to live; are you following his way in loving others? 

Do not treat someone the way they deserve to be treated because you are not treated by God in the way you should be treated. 

When Jesus was crucified on the cross, he said, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). How could Jesus say that to those who killed him for his innocence?

Because Jesus saw their hearts, not their actions. 

How can God still love us despite how much we have hurt him through our sins? Because he sees our hearts. God puts us in a vulnerable state so that he can love and save us from the doom of sin. 

I chose to change my perspective with my website developer and see his heart, not his actions. His actions may seem hurtful, but I know that deep inside he never wanted to hurt me in the first place.

Let us show God's love to others by looking at their hearts instead of their actions. It can be easy to let the harsh words and actions of others get to you, but look into their heart. If they knew what was truth and life, they would never have hurt you. They only did what they did because their hearts did not know what was the pure and right thing to do. 

Instead of putting others on our bad list, pray for them and say the words Jesus spoke, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do." Put others in a vulnerable state so that you may be able to show them God's full love. Bashing others will do no good, but when we show God's love to others, we are helping them run to God.

Don't let a harmful action block the chance for you to show God's love, because then you are working for the enemy. 

God's great commandment for us all is to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39). When you choose to look at people's hearts and show them God's love, you will find your life filled with more joy than putting them on your bad list.

No matter who you meet, sometime down the road they will hurt you. But will you let their hurtful actions stop you from pursuing the calling that God has for you? Forgive others so that you may be able to love them. So remember, look into the heart. 

How To Get Through The Unknowns

As much as we plan and prepare for the future, there will always be that feeling of doubt in the unknowns of life. We can't runaway from the fact that we do not know for sure what will happen to us tomorrow or years from now. So how do we secure ourselves for the future? How do we get through the unknowns of life?

I had that 5 year career planned out well before I even graduated college. My plan was to get my Bachelor's degree and work full time. Afterwards, I planned to pursue my Master's degree that I believed would set me up to a secure future towards a career in business marketing. This 5 year plan that I had worked hard on was a plan that I thought was best for me. 

But just because we think our plan is the best does not mean that God will think it is the best - that was exactly what happened to my 5 year plan. God wiped away my 5 year plan to a plan that only consisted of faith in him. 

He took away my plan to take Master's and replaced it to pursue his kingdom first through writing books. I recently finally decided to let go of my own plans to follow his, but doubts and worries started to stir in my heart. What if I can't find the resources to publish my books? What if my books don't make it to the market? What if I fail to accomplish my God inspired dreams? 

The only way for me to stand firm through the unknowns in life is to know that I have a God who knows my unknowns.  Jeremiah 28:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."

Your unknowns may be unknown to you, but your unknowns are known to God.

God knows your unknowns, so trust in his plans and not yours even when it does not make sense. We cannot be sure that our plans will prosper, but we can be sure that God's plans will prosper. 

The best way for you to go through the unknowns is to have faith in God and follow his map plan for your life. This world teaches us to plan our lives, but God tells us to let him plan our lives. Let God slowly reveal and guide you to his plan because he wants you to accomplish the prosperous plans that he has prepared long ago for you. 

Faith means to walk blindly with only God's hand guiding you. Do you have complete faith in God? Faith that applies to all aspects of your life? I'm not only talking about faith in God for your salvation, but what about faith in the things that he asks you to do even when it does not make sense? Faith that calls you to enter the unknown with full dependence on God? 

I challenge you all to ask God to reveal his plan for you, and to walk in it with complete faith. God's best for you can only happen when you walk in the path of faith. This will require you to put the world behind you, and to put God in front of you. 

You do not need to go through the unknown with a definite plan because you have a God who wants to be your definite plan; he wants you to want him, depend on him, and need him. He wants to be your God! 

Hebrews 6:19 says, "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.." It is possible to go through the unknowns with a firm and secure feeling, and that only comes through Jesus Christ. The Lord is your anchor to keep you still when you are going through the unsteady waves of life. The job of hope is to help you walk in faith with confidence in God through the unknowns. So remember, the way to go through the unknowns is to go with the one who knows. 

Do We Need To Have It?

Do you find yourself chasing after things with a mind that says, "I need to have it?" Putting your happiness in the things that you think you need to have? The question we should all ask ourselves is, "Do we need to have it?"

It can be dangerous to have the mindset of "I need to have it", because what if you don't get it? What if what you thought you needed ended up not being what you really needed? What if the things you thought would satisfy you ended up leaving you feeling empty handed and wanting more?

For almost my whole life, I had planned to take my masters after graduating and working full time. It was set in stone in my mind that I needed to take my masters...until the day that God challenged me to let it go. 

Months after, I still struggled with letting it go. I believed that my masters would make me satisfied with my life by giving me pride that I had the ability to achieve a higher education. I needed it and I wanted it. But deep inside, I felt guilty and I knew that my masters was not in God's plan for my life. I finally had to ask myself the question, "Do I really need to have this?" 

Ask yourself this question: "Do I really need to have it?" Do you need to have that 6-digit job? Or that one job you have been dreaming of? That man you have been waiting for? That big house you have been planning for? Do you need to have it?

There is only one thing that you need to have and that is Jesus. Only Jesus can bring you true fulfillment in your life because he is enough. Nothing else in this world can be enough for us. Everything else in this world will always leave you with wanting more - nothing will ever be enough for you except Jesus.

Philippians 4:19 says, "My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Jesus Christ." Jesus is the only thing you need because he is the source of everything you need. The things you may have planned might not be what God wants for you, so let it go and search only for what God wants for you because it is only he who knows what you need. 

For a while I thought that I needed my masters degree, but now I am trusting that God knows best. I am believing that he has something even more better than masters for me in this upcoming year. I challenge all of you to see that God is all you need to have. Putting God first in your life means choosing his way instead of yours. And when you do put God first in your life, you will see your life blossom in a way you never thought could be possible. 

Matthew 6:21 says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." What do you treasure the most in your life? If you are not sure where your treasure is, ask yourself what do you need to have, and there you will find the treasure of your life. Is it self-ambition that you need? Money? Or is it Jesus? If your treasure is in the things of this world, then your heart will be in the hands of this world. If your treasure is Jesus, then your heart will be in the hands of Jesus. 

The world can never guarantee you a happy life; only Jesus is a guarantee that you can trust and only he can give your heart the happiness and love that it needs. Once you find Jesus, you will find the treasure that your heart has been searching for. So remember, Jesus is the only thing you need to have.