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From Fear to Confidence in God's Love · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Hey everyone, happy Tuesday this is friendly.
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  Back with y'all on in the stillness.
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  Also, happy Cinco de Mayo to all who celebrate.
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  I don't know what your week started off as yesterday.
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  I hope that it started off fresh and strong.
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  Maybe it's been productive, maybe it's been a little busy
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  and chaotic, but wherever you are at, I just want this to be a
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  space where you can slow down and actually receive a word and
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  encouragement from the Lord. If we're being honest, I think a
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  lot of us can get caught up in a mindset of trying to figure out
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  how God feels about us. Like asking yourself, am I doing
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  enough? Is God pleased with me?
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  Have I messed things up? And it can gravitate towards a
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  guessing game. But what I want y'all to hear is
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  God's heart is not confusion, it is confidence.
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  He wants you to be fully confident in His love today.
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  So with that, let's go ahead and jump into the scripture that
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  we're going to be in first John chapter 4, verses 17 to 18.
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  It says by living in God, love has been brought to its full
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  expression in us so that we may fearlessly face the day of
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  judgment. Because all that Jesus now is,
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  so are we in this world. Love never brings fear, for fear
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  is always related to punishment. But Love's perfection drives the
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  fear of punishment far from our hearts.
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  Whoever walks constantly afraid of punishment has not reached
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  Love's perfection. OK, so much to go through here,
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  but I do want to start with this.
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  God's truest desire is for you to have complete confidence in
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  His love. Not partially, not occasionally,
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  not just when you feel like you're doing good, but full
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  complete confidence. God does not have a hidden
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  agenda. There are no strings attached to
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  His love. He is not loving you to get
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  something from you guys. He does not need us.
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  He is after your heart. He wants you to live as his
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  fully known and fully loved. And what's powerful is that this
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  kind of confidence does not come from trying harder.
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  It comes through a relationship. It says by living in God that
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  communicates intimacy, abiding. That is you in Christ and Christ
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  in you, and that is what actually completes his love in
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  you. Now verse 17 is pretty wild.
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  It says because all that Jesus now is, so are we in this world.
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  That verb is present tense. So it's not just how Jesus was
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  when He walked the earth 2000 years ago, but how He is right
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  now. He is righteous, He is pure, He
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  is holy, He has been glorified, and He is seated currently in
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  heaven on the throne beside His Father and fully accepted.
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  Colossians 3 verse one through 4 talks about how our life is
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  hidden with Christ and God. In Ephesians 2 verse 6 says that
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  we are seated with Him in the heavenly realms.
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  Romans 8 verse 30 even reminds us what God starts, He finishes
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  and we are justified, so we are glorified in Him.
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  It is by faith, by faith alone that the righteousness of Jesus
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  Christ has been transferred over to you.
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  So if you are a believer, if you declare Jesus Christ as Lord and
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  Savior of your life, that same love that the Father has placed
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  on His Son, He has for you the same favor, the same delight.
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  He sees you through the same lens.
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  And because of that, listen to Ephesians 3, verse 12 In Him and
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  through faith in Him, we may approach God with freedom and
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  with confidence. So that communicates.
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  You don't have to hesitate. You don't have to clean yourself
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  up first and be perfect. You have access to God right
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  now. Now I also want to talk about
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  the day of judgment. Scripture is clear that there is
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  a day coming where all will stand before Christ and give
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  account for our lives. We will be held responsible.
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  First Timothy 5 verse 25 reminds us that not just bad things, but
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  also good things will be revealed and the Lord is going
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  to bring everything into the light.
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  But if you are in Christ, this day is not something to fear.
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  It's not something to dread. It is something that you can
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  look forward to with expectancy and with hope.
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  It is the end of evil's reign, the end of sin.
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  It is the beginning of seeing Jesus face to face.
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  What we have known in the Spirit is actually going to become
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  physical in the flesh. So I just want to ask ourselves
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  honestly, is there anything in your life right now that might
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  would make you want to shrink back before God?
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  Is there any unconfessed sin, maybe sin that you are managing,
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  something that you're holding onto and waiting to let go of
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  until later? That is a really slippery slope
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  guys, because we do not know when Jesus is coming back or
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  when God is going to call us home.
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  Psalm 139 is this beautiful prayer and it says, search me, O
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  God, know my heart. And I think this is a charge for
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  us, a great reminder for us to ask God to search our hearts and
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  to reveal any wayward way in us any sin that we are trying to
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  control or leave unaddressed. God is not asking for our
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  perfection. He is simply asking for
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  surrender. And I also want to talk about
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  the fear of the Lord, because it matters.
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  The fear of the Lord is not being scared of Him.
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  For so long in my life I think I had this misconceived perception
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  of what the fear of the Lord was.
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  But it is really just being in awe of Him, so in awe and wonder
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  of His Holiness, of His beauty, of His splendor and majesty,
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  that you have this desire to honor Him because you see Him
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  rightly. But fearful love, that is the
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  lie. That is the voice that says God
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  is probably mad at me. He's probably disappointed
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  again. And that's what can keep you
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  distant. Yes, it is true that God
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  disciplines those He loves. Hebrews 12 verse 6 says that
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  that he rebukes us, but it is never to shame you.
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  It is not to place you in condemnation.
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  It's always to propel you into freedom because everything that
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  the Lord does is rooted in love. God is love.
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  Remember that. He is perfect love.
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  And I want y'all to really hear this.
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  Let Romans 8 verse 38 to 39 just speak to your heart right now.
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  It says, For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither
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  angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any
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  powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all
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  creation will be able to separate us from the love of God
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  that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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  Guys, nothing, you did not earn his love, so you could not lose
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  his love. I was in church this Sunday and
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  we were singing an older song and it says tis so sweet to
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  trust in Jesus, how I've proved him or, and or and that is so
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  real because it is saying that his love is reliable.
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  In the verse that we read yesterday in the podcast says
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  that we know and rely on God's love and the word reliable, that
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  does not coexist with the word fear because reliable means that
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  it produces trust. So let this fear your reminder
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  that we are to rely on God's love, to lean into it, and to
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  let His perfect love drive out every single fear.
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  I want to go into a few questions for y'all before I
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  close out in prayer. First of all, are you living
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  like God's love is something that you have to earn, or
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  something that you already have and that you get to receive?
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  2 Is there anything in your life that you need to bring into the
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  light instead of managing in the dark?
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  3 When you approach God, do you come with confidence?
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  Or is it with hesitation? Is it with timidity?
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  His invitation is clear. We are to live fully loved and
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  to walk fully confident in that love.
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  So let's go ahead and close out in prayer.
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  Dear God, your love is unlike anything anything else in this
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  world. It is constant, it is secure, it
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  is unshakable. Thank You that it is
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  immeasurable and that there is constantly more and more to
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  discover about your love. We thank You that it is through
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  Jesus your Son that we have full access to You, freedom and
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  confidence to come close and draw near to you.
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  God, I pray that you would quiet every single fear that tells us
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  to pull away instead of drawing deeper into trust.
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  Would you search our hearts? Know us Lord, lead us in Your
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  truth and give us grace to surrender anything and
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  everything that we have been holding onto.
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  I pray that Your perfect love would just reshape and mold us
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  into how we see You and how we come to You.
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  May we fully rely on You. We place our trust in You for
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  everything that we face and encounter today.
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  Lord, I pray that we would take it step by step and walk by
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  faith, not by sight. We pray this in your precious
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  name, Jesus. Amen.
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  OK guys. Well that is where I'm going to
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  end today's podcast episode. I hope you all have a great rest
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  of your Tuesday and I'm looking forward to seeing y'all on the
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  next one.