January 22nd, 2017

The Great Unknown or Great Revelation?

 So here I am riding into the great unknown. D.C. is the header on the front of the bus. What will I do here? I don't know. One thing is certain I am on a mission from God. That said the Gospel must be in the center.
I have been learning the depths of the fear of the Lord this year. I am learning not only to keep my mouth shut, I must learn to limit my contact with people. When you allow yourself to become engaged in contact with others fruitlessly, you risk losing the anointing of the Lord. The glory must go to Him. At the same time, you must engage people; you cannot hide the Gospel. It is a fearful thing to be in the hands of a living God. This fine line that is in front of the preacher can only be stayed by the joy of the Lord. Odd, to realize that the joy of the Lord is the solution to the fear of the Lord. Perfect love casts out fear, and when you have humbled yourself you will find the honor of joy.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things unseen. I have no idea what to expect of tomorrow or the coming month for that matter. Still, I have been enveloped with the presence of God in such a way that I have expectation. This also brings joy.
Too long have I pushed through life gripped with fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of loss, and fear of the unknown. To know God personally is to know true courage.
The anointing allows you to see past failure and success, in Christ there is only growth. This is sanctification, and for the sake of this writing, I will define it as learning to yield to God. We often quote the scripture, Obedience is better than sacrifice, but seldom stop to ponder just what it means. Perhaps, the Gospel's answer to fear of failure is tied with this scripture, for if we obey God we cannot fail. If we learn to speak God's word, patiently, according to the unction of the Holy Ghost, we know that our words will not return void. Jesus said abide in me and my word will abide in you and you shall ask and you shall receive.
In the Gospel are the words of redemption and reconciliation, and at some point you will overcome rejection by the blood of Jesus. How long it takes seems to be different for different people. The key is knowing the truth the spirit of rejection is a spirit of darkness. Many believers go on shallowly unaware of the works of darkness. This ignorance is sinful, in light of the truth. Jesus said come as you are, this is the very essence of acceptance. Godly sorrow will make sure that you will not stay as you are and grace will accomplish every test. In the life of Christ, the only thing to be rejected is sin. Since sin is a deadly poison freedom from sin brings joy, which brings up the next point; the fear of loss.
What do you really possess? Is there anything more important than your soul? What is it that we fear we might lose? Paul said, to die is to gain but Christ to live. What life can be truly enjoyed other than a life which exalts Jesus? We are not our own, we are bought with a price. I was reading Aristotle earlier today and he acknowledged the place of servitude that is characteristic of humanity. Though he understood it, it was calculated and cold logic which brought him to that understanding. How much joy would have filled his writings had he known that this was the purpose to which God created mankind; that is to serve Him. What have you got to lose? Will you not serve one or the other? Will it be God or this cruel world?
Finally, knowing God and being His child, what of the final fear spoken of? Is there a such thing as the 'unknown'? If we have expectations in ourselves and still have our heart set on things below there certainly is. Yet, for those who learn to cut down the thorns that is let go of the cares of this world, there comes a childlike wonder. A child doesn't know where his meal will come from but trusts his father to provide. Seek first the kingdom and His righteousness and all things will be added to you, what are you afraid of?

*This was written January 18th on the bus to Washington D,C.