Conquering Fear

Session 5: Who God Says You Are.

Today we are going back to reflect on session 3. I told the story about how I spent 2 years believing I was responsible for the death of a little baby, and how it nearly destroyed me. But today I want to talk about the recovery, because it wasn't instant, and for many people, it won't be. 

So what do you do, when lies have destroyed everything within you? When you've become free of those, but now you're just kinda lost? The words of my pastor came back to me then; 'If God doesn't define you, something else will.'

The fact is, you have to replace the lies with truth. Even if lies haven't filled your mind yet, you must put truth in your heart and mind so you can keep the lies out.

I think of the Armour of God that the Bible talks about. There's the sword, the shield, the helmet, the breastplate, the boots, and the belt. But rarely is this armor explained fully, so allow me to do so;

The Sword of the Spirit; This is the Holy Spirit, which is in us. A weapon against the enemy.

Shield of Faith; This is about reading and believing the words of the Bible, and hearing and believing the words of The Holy Spirit. If you believe these, you will not fall into lies.

Breastplate of Righteousness; If we live in righteousness, we don't need to fear the enemy catching us in sin. He cannot stick an arrow into our heart.

Boots of Readiness; Being prepared and eager to spread the gospel will carry us wherever we need to go.

Belt of Truth; The piece that all else hangs on. If you do not know the truth and keep it on you, the rest of your armor will come undone. This is the first piece you must put on.

Ephesians 6:13-17

So, if we want to keep the lies away, and rebuild what they have destroyed, we must first put on the belt. Fighting with only the sword of the Spirit will not protect us in this fight. So how do we put the belt of truth back on?

First, I had to relearn who God says I am. This can be done several ways, through listening to God, reading His word, or how I had to start. I was at the point where I couldn't hear who He said I was very well, it was just too difficult, I didn't trust anymore whether I was hearing Him or myself. 

So I began to go through my journal, reading the things He'd told me in the past. From there I was able to relearn who I was, and then I began to be able to hear His voice again in that area. It was a slow, painful process, but so worth it.

Now I want you to try this. Right now, I want us to stop for a couple of minutes, or longer if needed, and ask God to remind us of how He sees us, how He feels about us. Write down whatever He says.

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This is something you need to do on a regular basis, to keep putting that belt on. I don't know about you, but I feel like, since it's nearly the end of the week, we should just spend some time worshipping God for what He has done.

So here's some song ideas, play them, sing them, listen while you worship some other way. Whatever you want.

Let's share; What has God done for you, either this week or in the past?