Fear of Man

Lately I have realized how much the fear of man has effected me. Even way before I was walking with Jesus I was told and most everybody else is, not to care what others think about you and just be yourself. That takes on a pretty deep meaning when it comes to your walk with Christ. Fearing what people think about you will get you nowhere. If you are listening to God's voice and trusting him with all the choices you make you should not let a man influence you otherwise. It sounds really simple, why would you worry more about what a man thinks than what the creator of the universe and the lord of heaven and earth thinks. that just makes us look stupid when we let the fear of man control our lives. We mine as well be praying to men and not God.

My whole entire life I have always struggled so much with how others viewed me. I wanted to please everyone and spent so much time trying to appeal to anyone and everyone. Sometimes it would get so ridiculous that I would change my personality just to fit in with certain people. Now that I am walking with my savior Jesus Christ I have got to get past that and be who he wants me to be rather than please anyone else. If I really believe in my heart that God loves me so much more than a human ever could and that I cant even comprehend how great and unconditional his love is for me, then the fear of man should disappear.

I am getting better with it but somehow still struggle with it every day. In a fallen world with so many people comparing themselves to others and striving for personal reputation I find myself letting these things take over my thoughts, which goes against my Lord because he says the greatest command is to love your Lord God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. 2nd is love your neighbor as yourself. I know that I am going to get better at it with God's help. If I really want to follow God's will for my life then I need to step out and follow him no matter what that looks like to he world, which did I mention is a fallen world anyways. My passion is with you Lord and please help me to understand that at the end of the day there is no one else I would rather be with than you. So knowing this, help me to feel your presence throughout the day and help me focus on your plan because you have made great plans for me under your will already. The fear of man will only lead me astray from your perfect will.

Here are some verses that go along with this topic that have helped me.

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind

2 Timothy 1:7

So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me

Hebrews 13:6

The fear of man bringeth a snare; but those who put their trust in the Lord shall be safe

Proverbs 29:25

But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened

1 Peter 3:14

Favorite Resources

These are some of my favorite sites to visit for sermons, blogs, and church conferences that are going on across the country.

Life Church

Ed Young's Blog

I am Second

C3 Conference

Online Bible Resource

Passion Conference

Sermon Search

Gotta Get It Out

Something has been eating at me a lot for the past year and it is something I never even took seriously before. It is idolatry. For the past year I have been struck hard with how many things in our culture represent idolatry. I could go on forever but some of the things are obvious if you just turn on a television set. The way I look at movie stars, rock stars, sports stars, or even something as stupid as a character on a fictional TV show blows my mind. I mean we even have a TV show called "American Idol" key word Idol. Without even realizing it I look at these people as better than me. I begin to depict them as something that isn't even a human because they can do things that blow my mind. I even idolize someone such as Paul in the bible because of all his many accomplishments, which is wrong even though he was such an amazing man. I have been trying to learn and put into practice for the past year how to have a good perspective on it all instead of subconsciously idolizing them for things that are of the world. Don't get me wrong, a lot of these people are great people and it isn't bad to watch them or appreciate them, it is just where your perspective lies. A lot of times it is more than people I idolize. I idolize sports and music sometimes more than I do God. I will put my passion into making sure I know everything that is going on in the sports and music world instead of striving for more intimacy with the one I will spend my eternity with. 

As a Christian I should be driving my thoughts and actions on how to become closer to Jesus and know more about him and instead I have been putting my passion into so many things before I begin to even think about him. I have been getting a lot better on this issue but it will be a lifetime struggle as many things are. I can only hope to keep pressing on towards the goal of eternity by working hard to get past the things of this world, this being a big one for me and probably a lot of other people.

I am amazed at how I have changed over the past year. My whole entire life my number one passion has been sports. I used to read ESPN almanacs in school instead of the science or social studies book I should of been reading. I would practice signing my autograph on church handouts when I was younger thinking I would be a pro athlete someday. I played every sport known to man at least one time in my life (except football ha i was way too small for that), and my life goal was to always play a professional sport. Even after the reality that I wasn't gonna go pro in anything set in (7th grade), I still based my life around sports. That is all I watched, did, and read about. Sports is an amazing thing and there are tons of people doing effective ministry in the sports field, but I had an unhealthy obsession with it. I don't know what happened, but all of sudden last year everything that had been so important to me didn't seem as important. The more I was getting into God's word, the more I realized where my true passion and hope lied. Something that is eternal and built with everything anyone truly desires. What a revelation for me. I still love sports and enjoy it very much, but my perspective on it has changed and I don't put my energy and time into it nearly as much as I did for all the years before. This doesn't sound very serious because we are talking about sports, but honestly it has changed me more than I can explain. I feel like my old passion helped me get to the real passion and I am now changed forever. Where does your perspective lie? What is your passion? Why do you throw your remote across the house because of a bad call (I do it all the time and probably will tonight)? Would you do that if it had to do with Jesus? It is all about your perspective on the things of this world. Lets not let anything, no matter what it is, rule our world over Jesus. he is life. Think about it. eternity!

1 John 5:21 Dear children keep yourselves from idols

Romans 1:25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the creator- who is forever praised. Amen

Romans 1:21-23 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. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images

Mark 7:8-9 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men. And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!"

Isaiah 44:10 Who shapes a God and casts an idol, which can profit him nothing.

Relax...

For the last couple of weeks I have been battling something that was not easy for me to get rid of and I hope it wont come again. Satan has really attacked me with a web of lies that burdened me for a good 3 weeks. The word to describe these burdens is "overwhelmed". When it comes to the Christian faith there are so many aspects of it, that I was getting overwhelmed with trying to keep up with them all. I was trying too hard to be a man of God that I was getting deeper and deeper into Satan's pit. I know that doesn't sound logical, but it is very true. and this is how.

I would go about each day and constantly have a checklist in my head to try and follow. Be gracious today, be humble today, don't gossip today, don't let anger take over today, don't worry, don't be greedy, don't look lustfully, read the word, be patient, feel content, love others, don't idolize, pray alot, and the list goes on and on and on. Now these are all good things to try and work on in your walk with the lord don't get me wrong, but when your mind is clouded with all these things all at once every day then you are burdened and worried about way too much, instead of taking the day as it is and following God's will for you by trusting him in your every step.

The thing I realized is that God's grace is way more than enough for me to even begin to grasp and also he does not want me to feel these burdens. God is not a God of burden. Those are all from the father of lies. I mean I got to the point about a week ago where I couldn't handle all of it and I broke down. I had to come to the Lord and see what he was going to do with this. After reading some verses, praying, and coming to a bunch of realizations I finally got out of the funk I was in. I realized I can't do it all. 

God views us in a way that we can't understand. here is how he looks at his Christ followers...

Romans 3:24 We are justified (declared not guilty of sin)

Romans 8:1 No condemnation awaits us

Romans 8:2 We are set free from the law of sin that leads to death

1 Cor. 1:30 We are righteous and holy in Christ

2 Cor. 5:17 We are new creations

2 Cor. 5:21 We receive God's righteousness

Ephesians 1:3 We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ

Ephesians 1:4 We are holy and blameless

Ephesians 1:7 Our Sins are taken away, and we are forgiven

Ephesians 2:10 We are God's work of art

Ephesians 2:13 We have been brought near to God

Ephesians 3:12 We can come with freedom and confidence into God's presence

Colossians 2:10 We are made complete in Christ

Colossians 2:11 We are set free from our sinful nature

2 Timothy 2:10 We will have eternal glory

Your Grace is Enough