[__ Prayer __] perfect love casteth out all fear

[Christ_empowered]

Me, yet again. Yes, yes, yes; I'm asking for prayer, lol.

Here's the thing...until Jesus saved me, I was a total and complete wretch. All my fault? Ugh...nah. Never is. Sin, satan, self, death, and the world. These are the factors that combine ot shape any unbeliever, until and unless that person comes to believe upon Christ. I was certainly no different, just...more obviously wretched.


Now, The Lord has moved mightily in all aspects of my life, and its time to put aside the fear. I've been praying that God will forgive me my fear and replace it with the perfect love that casteth out all fear. I ask that you will pray with me on this one.

Thanks.

 

[Eugene]

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[dirtfarmer]

Me, yet again. Yes, yes, yes; I'm asking for prayer, lol.

Here's the thing...until Jesus saved me, I was a total and complete wretch. All my fault? Ugh...nah. Never is. Sin, satan, self, death, and the world. These are the factors that combine ot shape any unbeliever, until and unless that person comes to believe upon Christ. I was certainly no different, just...more obviously wretched.


Now, The Lord has moved mightily in all aspects of my life, and its time to put aside the fear. I've been praying that God will forgive me my fear and replace it with the perfect love that casteth out all fear. I ask that you will pray with me on this one.

Thanks.

hello Christ_empowered, dirtfarmer here

You that all fear that has been cast out also includes the fear of physical death. There will come a time in the USA that being a believer will be a death sentence. It is happening in many countries in Europe and Asia

 

[Christ_empowered]

hey, dirtfarmer...

sometimes, i think i see the beginnings of persecution....and it seems to be happening inside the established church, oddly enough. i don't pretend to "get it," at all, but...david wilkerson had a vision he wrote down, way back in the 70s. a lot of it was about what would happen to american culture and the church in america. and now...just a bit after his death...its coming true, and a lot of it seems to be happening rapidly, too. churches saying gay unions are holy and of god. gender disordered people in positions of authority in churches, and that's a good thing (apparently). on the more conservative end, you have 'christians' who absolutely despise the least of these and glorify riches and violence...in positions of authority. meanwhile...

the lord saved me 4 1/2 years ago. when i say i had/have brain damage, i dont mean a lil bit. my own sins were bad enough, but...wow. leave it to psychiatrists to go all out. anyway, by the grace of god, i kept going, and then he moved on my heart, and i got genuinely, truly saved. im now: smart, healthy, bright eyed...remarkably whole, for once.

the response? great, you're a christian. take your psych drugs. at least he got saved. jesus didn't heal you. jesus doesn't heal people. etc. etc. etc. thing is...

before i got saved, i said jesus had healed me. it was hilarious to the community. then i got genuinely saved, and now...'healed' is really the word, more like...you must die to be born again. i was fully expected to be dead by 23. ill soon be 33. im also taller, healthy, smart, and my irreversible hair loss (scalp conditions, chemicals, malnutrition, stress, hair pulling from severe agitation...) has given way to incredibly thick hair. and yet...

i am also labeled schizophrenic. people yell at me 'jesus did NOT heal you," etc. i dont know how many brain cells i have, but my iq estimate has gone up a bit, so...yeah. not supposed to happen, obviously. all the more reason to call me 'schizophrenic' and prescribe tranquilizers, im guessing.

ugh. ive rambled. i just get frustrated, that's all. thanks for your reply+your prayers.

 

[AirDancer]

Part of the on-going process of maturing in our faith is the overcoming of fears. Sometimes, our Lord God will groups several fears together for you to conquer; sometimes, it's just one or maybe two. Many are the times you won't even be fully aware of what's occurring until you've conquered yet another fear.

Our Lord is amazing!

 

[dirtfarmer]

hey, dirtfarmer...

sometimes, i think i see the beginnings of persecution....and it seems to be happening inside the established church, oddly enough. i don't pretend to "get it," at all, but...david wilkerson had a vision he wrote down, way back in the 70s. a lot of it was about what would happen to american culture and the church in america. and now...just a bit after his death...its coming true, and a lot of it seems to be happening rapidly, too. churches saying gay unions are holy and of god. gender disordered people in positions of authority in churches, and that's a good thing (apparently). on the more conservative end, you have 'christians' who absolutely despise the least of these and glorify riches and violence...in positions of authority. meanwhile...

the lord saved me 4 1/2 years ago. when i say i had/have brain damage, i dont mean a lil bit. my own sins were bad enough, but...wow. leave it to psychiatrists to go all out. anyway, by the grace of god, i kept going, and then he moved on my heart, and i got genuinely, truly saved. im now: smart, healthy, bright eyed...remarkably whole, for once.

the response? great, you're a christian. take your psych drugs. at least he got saved. jesus didn't heal you. jesus doesn't heal people. etc. etc. etc. thing is...

before i got saved, i said jesus had healed me. it was hilarious to the community. then i got genuinely saved, and now...'healed' is really the word, more like...you must die to be born again. i was fully expected to be dead by 23. ill soon be 33. im also taller, healthy, smart, and my irreversible hair loss (scalp conditions, chemicals, malnutrition, stress, hair pulling from severe agitation...) has given way to incredibly thick hair. and yet...

i am also labeled schizophrenic. people yell at me 'jesus did NOT heal you," etc. i dont know how many brain cells i have, but my iq estimate has gone up a bit, so...yeah. not supposed to happen, obviously. all the more reason to call me 'schizophrenic' and prescribe tranquilizers, im guessing.

ugh. ive rambled. i just get frustrated, that's all. thanks for your reply+your prayers.

hello Christ_empowered, dirtfarmer here

I have never seen God work from the outside to the inside. He always changes the inside and that change on the inside, always works it way to the outside. That is how we understand who has been saved. Those that have never had an inside change that works it way from the heart to the outside, have never had their heart "operated" on by God. As we grow in grace and knowledge, we become less dependent on others for approval and become more and more dependent on Jesus Christ.

I really don't care what others think or say about me, but I do care what the Spirit reveals to me.

May God continue to bless and grow you into a mature believer in Christ.

 

[Christ_empowered]

hi. me, yet again.

as best i can tell, God has spared me throughout my life. I don't pretend to know why. 4 1/2 years ago, He moved on my heart, and I got genuinely, truly saved and forgiven. Miracle!

Now...I'm a New Creation in Christ Jesus. The --big-- deal, as Verna reminded me last night, is that The Lord spared me and then moved on my heart to believe upon Christ so I could be forgiven, washed and made clean. Its...interesting. The Lord has willed to make me healthy and remarkably normal and whole, despite all my sins, plus stuff that happens to the "the least of these" in a cold, uncaring, often hostile world. And now...

...now, I'm better able to understand that I was in need of forgiveness, above all else. Miracles? Absolutely, yes. Transformation? oh yeah, indeed. But...forgiveness, that's the big thing. was and is, always will be.

I wonder sometimes, why God would choose to spare me and now make me healthy and even attractive and normal enough to have a life without too much of a hassle. Well...as long as I'm on earth, I'll be living in a body. That's true of all of us. Life is hard when you're obviously brain damaged, sick(ly), effeminate. My life now, as who I am now in Christ Jesus, and who I am becoming in Christ Jesus, is going a lot more smoothly with a better face, healthy body, etc.


Rambling...point is, the fear --was-- incapacitating. I had my reasons. Now, The Lord has made me into a New Creation in Christ Jesus, and I see that...at this point, its not a "disorder" or anything, its a sin. Ouch. Nobody said being a Christian would always be easy.

Kind of like...Scripture also tells us to rejoice in each new day and be glad in it. Not optional. Not a suggestion. To do otherwise is sin. Me? I spent most of my existence, pre-Christ, in varying degrees of misery. Happens. And now...

I see that misery is not OK, not for a Christian. Neither is fear. I'm also finally seeing that I can't think my way out of it or...anything like that. Nothing I do in the flesh will do, not now. So, I've taken to praying forgiveness for my fear and for The Lord to take over, and replace it with the perfect love that casteth out all fear.

OK. I'll finish this now, LOL. I do appreciate the replies and the prayers and support. I see now that I get to grow up, at long last, in Christ Jesus. That's yet another miracle, believe you me. Real life...nothing like the books, the plays, the movies, the music, anything...especially as a Christian.

Thanks again.