No Fear In Love


Meditation

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
(1 John 4:18)

I know from all that God has done for me that God loves me unconditionally. He loved me when there was very little about me worthy of anyone’s love, least of all his. There still isn’t a great deal about me to love, but he has made me ten times the person I was before. However, I am still a fallen sinner and I don’t deserve his love. I can’t imagine why he loves me. It must be because he is love. When I face uncertainty, I can rest on that total love. Any fear I have about what lies ahead, even if it’s my own death, I can know he will take care of me. I have no fear about my place in eternity so long as my focus is on Jesus Christ.
That’s where I have difficulty; my focus. There are times when I lose that focus and start thinking about other unimportant things. My everyday life will cause me to become distracted. That’s when the devil steps into the picture. He’ll say, “How can God love you? You’re a disgusting sinner. You do things all the time that make it impossible for God to love you. God is not going to save you from hell.” It’s in the midst of those distractions that I sin even more. My fears of being rejected by God for my sins grows out of proportion. With my focus on my fears, I begin to listen to that devil, and think God might decide not to save me. That’s a terrible feeling because the devil is, at least, partially right about that. I am a disgusting sinner. Why would God love me?
Then I remember, if God has forgiven my sins, it means he has forgotten my sins also. He knows I’m a sinner, but he loves me anyway. He knows I’m a sinner, but he takes away my reason to fear. If I’m still afraid he’s going to punish me for past sins, I am the one rejecting his love, not the other way around. If fear of some sudden misfortune or calamity consumes my thoughts, my hopes lie in this world, and not the eternal hope he offers. If the fear of death has me paralyzed, then I have not fully put my trust in his perfect love. My fears are nothing but the whispers of the devil trying to tell me I’m not really forgiven, not really saved. When I finally come to my senses, I have to cast those fears aside and wrap myself in the everlasting mercy and grace of God.





Prayer Time

 What a wonderful God we serve. You are the creator of all things, you hold all the power of the universe, and yet you love us enough to die on the cross for us. The sacrifice paid by Jesus satisfied the price for our sin debt to the Father. Thank you for that cleansing blood. His resurrection from the grave, provides us the proof of everlasting life, and we can no longer have any doubt. Thank you for taking away our fear of death. It is nothing but the threshold to the next life. Forgive us, Father, when we forget about the security we have in the bosom of your mercy and grace. If we keep bringing our past sins up, asking for forgiveness, we’re saying we don’t really believe you. Forgive us when we let the scary moments in life take over out thoughts. Remind us that when we continue to hold on to the fear, we do not have a real relationship with you. Thank you, Lord, for replacing the fear of punishment that once filled our hearts, with the knowledge that you have forgiven and forgotten everything we’ve ever done wrong. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen!
Location: Hilton, NY 14468, USA

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