Chris Lizotte looks @ a life without fear
2 Timothy 2:22 - Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue
righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the
Lord out of a pure heart.
This is a great passage
from the Bible as it is the key for what we all desire in life, which
is peace in our hearts. Where there is peace, there is no fear. Even
with all of life's trials, whether it is physical illness, financial
problems or relationship troubles. If we have peace in our hearts, we
can handle tough issues in our lives!
There are two
actions that the Lord is asking of us. One is to flee! The other is to
pursue! Flee evil desires. Pursue righteousness, faith, love and
peace. It makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Yet for some reason we
still seem to hang on to the evil desires thing! Like it's food for
our flesh! Which it is. But, the other pursuit is food for our soul!
And this is what we really need to find the peace that God has placed
in our hearts when we received Christ.
I've
spent a lot of my Christian life feeding my flesh, and at the same
time wondering where my joy had gone? All along totally forgetting the
reap and sow principle laid out in the Bible (Gal 6:7-8). And at the
same time living a defeated life because the enemy of my soul would
make me feel like a complete loser, like God was mad at me! Which is
the furthest from the truth. The way I became a Christian was He
healed me, and then I got saved! I was born with one leg extremely
shorter than the other. My Mom took me to a little church in Dana
Point, CA where the Pastor sat me in a chair and told my leg to grow
in Jesus name. Immediately my leg grew out to match the other! The
Pastor then asked me if I knew Jesus. I told him, "I don't know?" He
then led me through a prayer to receive Jesus in my heart! My point in
telling that story is that God loved me even before I knew Him. He
physically healed me to get to my heart! I Love that! Thank you
Father!!!
As Christians we have this wonderful privilege of having the living God dwell inside of us always. And sometimes we beat ourselves up for not spending enough time with Him. Don't get me wrong, it is wonderful to set aside alone time with the Lord! But I urge you! Take Him with you! Enjoy Him in all you do! Enjoy Him at your work. Enjoy Him when you're in school, or when you're hanging out with friends. I love (1 Thes 5:16-17, from the Bible) Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
It is a lot easier to flee youthful desires, and to pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, when we just include Jesus in everything we do. He is our best Friend! He will lavish you with His love, if you ask. There is nothing like His presence. Which is always there for you! To help you live A Life of Peace!
The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.