To many of us to be fearless means that we are not afraid of anything.

We're not afraid of spiders, storms, flying, the dark, public speaking, and many other things.

But I want to change up the question a bit.

What does it mean to be fearless in living out your faith?

That changes things a bit.

Many of us may not even take a minute out of our lives to think about what it truly means to live out a faith and be fearless while doing so.

It doesn't mean we can't be afraid of the things I mentioned above, but rather that we are not afraid of standing up for the faith we believe in. It means that we should not be afraid of the outcomes

that we may face because of our faith. We cannot let ourselves be afraid of what others think

or might say about us because of our faith. We should not be afraid of being persecuted

for our faith or being called out because of it. 

Being afraid to share our faith and to live it out in our day to day lives.

People in other countries are being beaten, burned to death, shot, murdered, imprisoned, and being persecuted in many other ways because of their faith and their willingness to live it out daily.

These people do not denounce their faith or try to hide it in order to make their lives easier.

They do not try to pretend that they do not believe to protect themselves.

These people are living out their faith fearlessly.

What are we doing?

How are we living out our faith fearlessly?

Are we even challenged to live it out fearlessly in our society?

We are extremely lucky to live in the United States because we have the option to worship freely in public arenas, public schools, even public parks.

We are not restricted to underground churches that constantly have to change location.

We do not have to worry about our church buildings being raided.

We do not have to worry about law enforcement coming into our place of worship and arresting us.

We are free to live out our faith in every arena that we are in.

Yet for some reason we do not.

We do not truly live out our faith fearlessly.

We have gotten so comfortable in our little churches and going to services and doing our mission trips to various geographic ares.

We have let ourselves settle into routine.

We are comfortable.

I think it is time we made ourselves uncomfortable.

We need to step outside of our boxes and outside of our comfort zones.

Some of the most amazing opportunities to share our faith is in those moments where we are uncomfortable and outside of our little bubbles.

If God wanted this life to be easy and comfortable He would have made it that way.

But I do not think that He wanted this life to be easy.

What would be the point of it all if life was easy?

Life is hard but that is the beauty of it.

And living out our faith fearlessly is not easy.

It is not going to be easy.

But God wants us to do it anyways.

We need to be fearless in our faith so that we can advance His kingdom, so we can bring many more people to Him.

We have a mission and being fearless in our faith is the way we will succeed.

We can do all things through Him who gives us strength.

God will empower us if we have the desire.

It is time to live fearlessly.

God will give me the strength I need!!

It's been a while since I have been able to post...(actually only like a week and a half...ish...)

There is so much going on my life at the moment and I feel like the devil is trying his hardest to push me over the edge, to push me to my limits. I feel like he is trying to tear me apart, especially on the inside. 

Everything with my parents divorce is coming at me fast. Financial issues, psychological issues and what I would call manipulation, emotional stress, and just stress in general.

I feel like the devil is using this situation to his advantage.

I constantly feel like this situation is defeating me. It is seemingly overwhelming and having a disastrous effect on my life. It is affecting everything from family relationships to my life 

here in Illinois with college and everything that goes with that.

I feel stuck and like I cannot do this college thing. 

Why??

Because of financial issues that have been brought up by this divorce. 

My mom cannot afford to pay for the bill and I do not have the money to do so either. 

Tax money was supposed to pay for the rest of my bill from this past year, but due to my 'father' not splitting the money with my mom like he is supposed to, my mom cannot pay the bill. 

This is leaving me to pay the bill with the money that I am working for this summer by working full time at my college all summer in the custodial department. 

I would not say that this is the ideal situation. For me or my mom.

The worst part of the whole thing is that I feel like the devil is using this to make me feel like I am failing and like I cannot get beyond this.

And I honestly would like nothing better than to get beyond this situation.

God provided the money for me to even be here to begin with, so I am not questioning whether or not I am supposed to be here. (Not yet anyways...)

Yet I have this feeling that the financial side of this whole college thing is not going to pan out for a second year and that scares me.

I do not want to leave Olivet. Not in the least.

Yet I feel like I am continuously at the edge of not being able to return this fall.

I know all of these negative feelings and thoughts are from the devil himself, as God would not put such thoughts in my head, but for some reason they seem like the truth. 

I need to let go and let God.

I cannot let the devil win over my thoughts and feelings.

I can do this with the help of the Almighty!

This situation is not me, but how I react to and deal with it will define part of who I am.

I cannot let the devil have any part in my reaction to the situation 

or how I handle the situation.

The devil will not win.

God will!!

God has!!

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength!"