Reside in His Fortress, Not in Fear!

Wow, I had an amazingly intimate encounter with God last night! I woke up feeling refreshed and more alive than I have in a long time. My husband and I are about to move across the country and start a new life in a new location… I have felt so scared, because I have been hurt and left alone before. Even though I know my husband loves me dearly, I have been allowing the fear to seep in because it is scary to give up everything I love for the one I love. Last night, my perspective changed….

Psalm 27:1-3 (NLT) "The Lord is my light and my salvation –So why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident."

I have allowed myself to fear what has happened before, instead of facing what is ahead. A fortress is to stand on all sides and protect from danger… The Lord is our fortress to stand against all attacks, whether they are physical, emotional, or spiritual. He knows what we need, and we do not need to be intimidated! He never says it will be an easy road, but when we are attacked, He is there to protect us.

When an army is inside of a fortress, they are still prepared to fight when the time comes, but that wall protects them. When we are looking for God's best for our lives, we cannot put up our own walls and block everything. When we trust Him to take care of that, He is in control of the gate into the fortress; and we have to allow Him to let those people in that He knows are best for us. These opportunities could be the mate He has for us, the job He is providing, the big move, or anything else that you may be hesitant about. His plan is best and until we reside in His house and let His walls protect us instead of our own, we may never know what it may be! His walls usually require us to step outside of our comfort zone, and it may not always be convenient, but it will be worth it. He will be there for you, so fear no more!!

Relationship, Not Religion

So I had a completely different topic lined up for today's post, but that gets to wait til next time. Today, I feel that the other things I have discussed aren't possible without seeking the Source… A relationship with God and His son, Jesus Christ is a key element to allowing Him to work in you. A relationship requires actual time spent with a person, not just knowing about them. My dad had a great example for me when we spoke about this several months ago, and I feel that it is important to share. I'm not going to use exact context, but same concept. When you have a friend, a best friend, you know the kind. The one who knows everything about you and you know everything about them? There are also those people that you know about, like Brad Pitt, you may think you know a lot about him and his life with Angelina Jolie and all their kids, but you have no idea about the inner workings of their home, or lives. The difference here is that you can read about Brad Pitt every day, you may even meet him sometime in your life and remember that meeting the rest of your life…. But, most likely, a close friendship with him will never develop; because he knows nothing about you, and you will never have the time to spend to really know each other.

These two examples are the types of relationships people generally have with God, one or the other, sometimes, and acquaintance relationship, where you can talk when it works, but you don't need to speak to each other all the time. Unfortunately, God does not push himself into our lives, He is a jealous God, but not aggressive.

Jeremiah 29:13-14 (NLT) says, "If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you, says the Lord. I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land."

The Lord desires a relationship with us. The more we seek Him, the more of a relationship we develop and the more we know Him. He is able to bless us and help us better when we know Him, because we learn to know His voice. Just like when your best friend calls and leaves a voicemail with no name, but you know who it was because you their voice. It becomes second nature to finish each others' sentences because we know what they are thinking. When we know what God is thinking, we can do His work, and understand how. I will say though, that knowing Him and following His will does not always lead to immediate results. I have learned over the last few years that it is important to listen and it may be years before we understand why. But it is time to actively, aggressively, and affectionately pursue your relationship with Him. I promise it will be worth it. It does not count to read your Bible and not really READ it; it doesn't count to pray over your meal, and at bedtime. That is the religious part of Christianity, but it is so much more than that, it must be a real relationship. You must search for time with Him relentlessly. The more time spent with Him in worship and reading His Word as more than a book, the better your relationship will be. Allow yourself to be friends with God, not just know about Him, I promise it will be worth it!!!! J