Love Casts Out Fear 6-23-06

Good morning, Lord Jesus. By Your grace and in Your power, I choose to depend on You. Be my wisdom, be my strength. Be my Father and my Savior. Be my Lord, my God, and my Best Friend. ... "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, 'Abba! Father!' it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ -- if, in fact, we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him" (Romans 8:14-17). It is the spirit of slavery that always tries to draw me back in to fear -- fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of trusting. But it is the Spirit of Adoption -- the Holy Spirit of the Living God living in me -- who is always trying to draw me forward into the fullness of the future to fulfill my calling and destiny in You. I am a son of God, and You are my Father. I am an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ. Your Spirit bears witness with my spirit of the deepest bonds of relationship with You in every dimension of Your Being -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. By grace, You have chosen to identify Yourself with me; and by faith, I have chosen to identify myself with You -- in suffering and in glory, in failure and in success, in this world and in the world to come. Keep giving me faith to live in this truth. Keep giving me grace to live in this bond of trust by Your love for me as Your child. Faith in Your love for me breaks the power of all fear and delivers me from every spirit of slavery. "Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:17-18). Abba, Father! Keep casting out my fear and keep filling me with Your love. As You do, You are casting out every unholy spirit and filling me with Your Holy Spirit, for You are Perfect Love. "God is love, and those who abide in God abide in love, and God abides in them" (1 John 4:16). Lord God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- keep abiding in me as I keep abiding in You, all by Your grace and all in Your love. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Dear Friends of Tommy Hays and Messiah Ministries, Please prayerfully consider giving joyfully and generously to the ministry of the Lord through Messiah Ministries as He leads you. Like a missionary, I raise my own funds for the work of our ministry. Our calling and vision is to do our part in the power of His Spirit to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God, to bind up the brokenhearted and set the captives free (Isaiah 61; Luke 4)! Messiah Ministries ... Ministering the Healing Love of God, Preparing the Way of the Lord. Our Address for Contributions and Ministry is: 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Our website: www.messiah-ministries.org Thank you and God bless you! Subscribe/Unsubscribe at MessiahMin@aol.com Daily archives of my devotional: www.morningbymorning.injesus.com