Tomorrow is our national elections, and for months we’ve been bombarded with misinformation. So many people are afraid of what the future holds! In Friday’s devotional, we made this observation:
When a culture is dominated by slippery and elusive “truth,” then people must be persuaded or coerced by FEAR because there is no universal truth to form a basis for communication by logic and reason.
When our source of truth is fluid, it produces uncertainty, and it totally makes sense that we must live in perpetual fear. But God did not create us to live in fear!
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of POWER and of LOVE and of a SOUND MIND.”
2 Timothy 1:7
God’s truth enables us to fully experience His love—which casts out fear.
God is love and He is never afraid. To avoid living in unhealthy fear, we must develop His mind—that is, “the mind of Christ.” To have the mind of Christ, we must develop a healthy respect for God and His law. Love fulfills the law. (Romans 13:10) Respect for God, or “fearing God,” is characterized by a lifestyle that is 100% completely surrendered to Him. My friend, this is the only healthy fear because it’s the only fear that produces the unmatched courage generated by His presence.
So how do we make the switch from unhealthy fear to healthy fear?
Well, one critical component is learning God’s truth. “Truth” is so critical that the Bible characterizes “truth” as a critical part of His armor:
“Therefore take up the WHOLE armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with TRUTH.”
Ephesians 6:14
God’s Word is the ONLY truth to guide and equip us for battles against the lies of Satan. Satan will NEVER tell us the truth. Through individual Bible study, becoming a part of a strong church community, and memorizing scripture, we become supremely confident of THE truth. God’s truth reveals the cracks and flaws in all other platforms of truth. It reveals JESUS, who is the way, the TRUTH, and life. (John 14:6).
When we know God’s Word…We KNOW who GOD is; We KNOW who WE are; We KNOW the ENEMY; and We KNOW our GREAT PURPOSE.
“Wearing” truth means it provides the foundation for how we think, talk, and act. God’s truth holds us together through the storms. When we hide God’s Word in our heart, it lights our path. (Psalms 119:11;105) We THINK, SPEAK, and ACT according to TRUTH. Throughout thousands of years of history, God commanded His people to lovingly obey His truth and make it the integral foundation for their life—NOT for salvation—but in order to dwell in the safety and goodness of His presence:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
“And the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 24
Remarkably, unlike other books, the Bible is not simply a collection of words of wisdom to memorize, it is the embodiment of Jesus—who not only spoke the world into existence—but is ALSO the Savior of all humanity! The Bible says:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
John 1:1-5; 14
My friend, there is no other word spoken by any human that is more powerful than the Word of God!
God, in His infinite wisdom, created set points of righteousness for our life to be able to operate at optimal performance. He is the God of love, and His love casts out fear. (1 John 4:18) To live without unhealthy fear, we must love God more than we love anything and we must discipline ourselves to LEARN God’s Word; THINK according to God’s Word; LOVE like God; SPEAK in line with God’s Word; and LIVE according to God’s Word!
