Thursday...August 20, 2020 | Who is your first love…fear or Jesus Christ?

​Hello everyone…and a very happy and blessed Thursday to you all! As we share this very special time together, I pray that our eyes will be open to the things that only attempt to keep us in bondage…and that we will truly come to see how God’s love can conquer all things within our lives…Amen!!
Today, I would like to begin by asking a question. What do you think causes fear? Personally, I think the process begins, when we look around us and size up the situations we face. At first, we see a problem that can seem like any other problem; but then our thoughts take us away from reality and the God we once had hope in…to visualize other things that could stem from the problem and even increase with time. While we are thinking on these thoughts; we don’t even realize that these moments are taking us away from our first love, Jesus Christ…to walk us in unknown territory that can cause us to fall prey to fear.
As we continue on, I would like to share two of my favorite Bible verses with you that relate to fear and they are found in Psalm 112:7-8…and we read… “They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD. 8) Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.”
I think the next question we need to ask ourselves is this… “Who is our first love?”  In other words…is Jesus Christ the one we seek after, through a deep heart of love and devotion or is that love not quite strong enough, to keep us from wondering down paths of fear and the unknown?
When I look back on my life, I remember many moments when I would allow fear to become my close companion. In fact…I would even stay up all night with this new found friend and converse on every problem that seemed to be surrounding me at the time…that is, until I woke up and found out where this so-called friend was leading me. When I saw how fear had been dragging me further and further away, from the One who was once my first love…I left fear behind, to run back into the arms of Jesus…and from there, I learned daily how to trust Him, rather than placing my trust in the problem…and once I took hold of trust; that is when fear began to fade into the background of my life. Yes…I still go through a lot in my life; but the difference I now see; is that fear is no longer keeping me up at night or distracting me from life itself.
With all that is happening in this world…and even our own personal lives; it’s so easy to fall prey to fear. As one thought seems to take us to another; we find that we are now seeing the worst of life…even before the worst has a chance to arrive.  
The only way we are going to be able to keep fear at a distance; is to place our thoughts on the One who can speak hope to us, during these difficult times. Once our hearts and thoughts are secure and closely connected to Christ; that is when we will be able to visualize triumph, rather than defeat.
As we close our time together, I want to encourage you and say that even though we are in the midst of what seems to be the very worst; we can find hope and anticipate God’s next move…but only when we are willing to keep the thoughts away; that only lead us to a roadblock called fear.
Have a very blessed day…and may you truly discover a love for Christ; that will help you to trust in Him, rather than the problem…Amen!!
It’s Always & Only Because of Him…
Diane