PERFECT LOVE...

"There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love." 1 John 4:18 MSG

Fear, anxiety, and stress are well documented precursors to disease like, heart disease, diabetes, thyroid disease, respiratory disease, and drug misuse.

Fear is said to be a primal aspect of humans. It is said that fear is the result of the sense of threat, or of our safety being threatened.

From my Christian beliefs from the Bible I believe that from the moment sin entered the human condition in the Garden of Eden we have been plagued by fear.

FEAR IS DEATH

Above I listed a few of the known diseases related to fear/anxiety. Fear's effect steals or diminishes peace, joy, and love in our lives. It can kill hope and destroy people's lives.

Jesus summed up Satan's mission statement in John 10:10 when He said that "the enemy comes but to kill, steal, and destroy..." It seems pretty clear that fear is Satan's destructive work in our lives.

Satan is the source of sin, and sin, according to the Bible, is the source of death

LOVE IS LIFE

Ten verses back in 1 John 4, in verse eight, John says that God IS Love.

Jesus declared that He and the Father are one, and that if you had seen Him, you had seen the Father. (John 10:30, John 14:9)

Jesus said that He is the "life". (John 14:6)

Jesus is God; therefore, God is life. God is love; therefore, Love is life.

GOD IS LOVE

John says that fear affects us less and less as we grow more and more in the knowledge of God.

He says that as we learn more about God and how much He loves us, the less negative impact fear has upon us.

Satan is a bitter, hateful, bully. We see, more and more, especially in social media, of these characteristics on display through more and more people, all the time. It seems that Satan's influence is expanding in people.

Darkness is used to describe existence apart from God and His influence upon people. Darkness is defined as the absence of light. In the first chapter of 1 John, we are taught that God is light.

Jesus says of those who follow Him that we are the "light of the world; a city set on a hill whose light cannot be hidden."

WE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Holy Spirit's role in our lives is to conform us more and more into the image of God, who is Love, who is Light.

Light is not the opposite of darkness, that makes darkness too powerful. No, darkness is the absence of light. It is not true, or accurate to say that light is the absence of darkness.

If darkness is increasing it is only because light is fading.

Jesus says that one of our purposes in the world is to reflect His light in the midst of the darkness.

Earth's moon is a big, pock marked, ugly dust ball, with little intrinsic beauty of its own, no light of its own. And yet, as it is suspended in the night sky, it can be a beautiful and awe-inspiring sight to behold.

We, like the moon, have no beauty on our own, and yet, as we reflect the glory of our God, we reflect His awe-inspiring beauty. We are a ray of hope to those trapped in the darkness and fear of sin.

CONCLUSION

God is available to us, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. There is never a bad time for Him, and His schedule, when it comes to us, is always open.

We, like the moon, shine brightest the closer we are to the source of light. We just need to draw closer to the light, to God.

The beauty of what happens as we draw near to God is that both we, and those who see us, are blessed.

Nearness to God is not something about which He is passive. God LONGS for us to draw near to Him.

James chapter four and verse eight tells that as we draw near to God, He draws near to us.

We are promised that if we seek Him, we will find Him, if we seek Him with all of heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Drawing near to God does require sacrifice, saying no to the desires of our flesh. It isn't easy, but drawing near to God is well worth it to live free from the effects of fear and to lead others to that same freedom we have found.

Lean into God. Let Holy Spirit perfect your assurance of God's love for you. Not only will you be blessed, you will bless others around you.

Blessings, in Jesus Christ our Lord!

...Casts Out All Fear.