"You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies." John 8:44 ESV
As I was riding into work this morning, "Fear Is A Liar" by Zach Williams came up on my iPod and it struck a chord in my heart. The words I heard had my head spinning as I thought about all the lies about myself that I have believed in my 38 years on earth. We all have these "lies" thrown at us by our enemy every single day. These lies will paralyze us with fear. They make us stop and question everything that we are doing and not in a good way. Now don't get me wrong, I believe that we need to question the motives for the things we do but we need to allow the Holy Spirit to help discern them and not the enemy.
As I have grown up, I have always struggled with insecurity about various things in my life. I have always felt less than good enough, making me always work harder to impress those in my life. I have always felt like I wasn't strong enough to make a difference in the world. I have felt like I wasn't made to fight the battles that have come to me in my life. I have struggled with my worth before the Lord, often times questioning why would God use me. It is something that has plagued me since I was a teenager. To make it simple to understand, I have always felt like I just wasn't enough.
These things have morphed into different struggles as I have grown up. Now I fear that I am not a good enough father to my kids because I don't see them a lot. I worry that I am making the wrong decisions at work due a fear that I will fail or cost my company something of long term value. I struggle with maintaining friendships due to my fear of abandonment. And before I met my wife, there was a time when I ran through relationships with women like water running through a flip flop. I believed that no one would ever love me and that I was destined to always be all alone in the world. I dishonored my relationship with my father and mother through disrespect and the lies that I believed caused me to run away from those that loved me and always have had my best interests in mind. I have always had a sense that I am searching for something somewhere but I have always been too scared and afraid to seek it out. All in all, I have sat on the sidelines, ashamed that I am so far from God, feeling like the prodigal, too dirty to come home to my Father. Often times thinking to myself that I am not the one, that the grace Jesus offered would never change me.
"Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning His Son." 1st John 5:10 ESV
What is the point of all this? Why am I laying my inner self bare for the world to see?
Simply put, God told me to and I am not afraid anymore.
I want the world and my enemy to know that I am not afraid anymore. And you don't have to be either. I don't believe that lies that he tries to tell me about myself anymore. I am worthy. I am special. God made me to reach others and tell them about the love and grace that has touched my life more times than I can count. Even when I have ran from God and tried to hide from Him, He has protected me and guided my steps.
When I start to hear a lie from the enemy, I have God's word to lean on and tell me my worth. When I am tired and the enemy tells me it's OK to quit, God tells me that He will provide me the strength that I need to finish what I started. When times of struggle come up and the enemy tells me to run away and hide, God will give me the strength to stand up and face down the battle that is coming my way with the knowledge that He is out in front of me protecting me. When I was lost in the world, He sent people to witness into my life and tell me that there was another way. When I lost my spouse a few years ago, He gave me the strength to stand up in front of our family, friends, and our community to speak about who she was, what she meant to me, and most importantly, who we serve. He gave me the courage to stand there on one of the worst of days of my life, my hands raised in the air, praising Him for His grace and mercy. He gave me the courage to accept the love a good woman again. He gave me my wife Hannah and a second chance at happiness even though for the last 2 years I've turned my back on Him by running away from my church and my friends, allowing the lies of our enemy to pollute my life. Well, no more. All my fears are cast into the fire of the Holy Spirit and I lean only on His wisdom and grace. He is what holds my life together.
Dear Fear aka the enemy,
Son, you have no power in my life or the lives of those I protect, am in charge of, or come in contact with. My life is off limits. My relationship with my wife is off limits. Her health isn't yours to play games with. She is under my protection and the protection of God. We will not allow you to have sway over any part of her life. My kids, all six of them, and their lives are hedged up and protected by me and most importantly by the Most High so stay away. My extended family is off limits, God will protect them and I will lift them up daily to ask for their protection. My home is off limits, that is my family's place of rest and you are no longer welcome there. My friends, new ones and old, close and far, are off limits. Their families are under the protection of God too. My job is off limits. God's word tells me that He will bless the work of my hands, so leave it alone and the folks I work with too. My ears won't be listening to your lies anymore. I will find a church for my family to worship the God that has provided the courage to take this stand. And it too, will be off limits for you. All in all, you are done scaring me, taking my strength, and making me an ineffective man. I am God's and God's alone. Will I be perfect? Nope. I will make a mistake or do something wrong along the way but I know that I have the ability and the privilege to come back to God and seek forgiveness that I know I need. God has given me a gift more precious than any I have ever received and I will not squander it any longer. To simplify it for you, so you can understand me, you and your lies are no longer welcome in my life. I belong to God and God alone.
Sincerely,
Matt Mosley aka The Sasquatch
Why the letter? Well, I sometimes have trouble getting all my thoughts out when I speak and I find that when I write things down I can clearly express what I mean and where I am coming from. But most importantly, I felt led to do so.
Somewhere, someone is struggling with the same fears that I have about myself. There is someone that needs to hear that God is there, waiting for them to turn around. That they don't have to listen to the lies of our enemy any more. They don't have to believe those lies for one more second.
It is never too late to stop believing him and his lies about yourself. You are beautiful. You are worthy. You are special. You're not alone. You are strong. You are good enough. You are loved. There is no reason to live in fear anymore. God will give you the strength to beat it. All you have to do is lean into Him, rely on His strength, and He will deliver you. If He can save a sorry man like me, then He can save you too. There is more than enough grace to go around and it is completely free.
Believe that!
"Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you." Luke 10:19 ESV
As I was riding into work this morning, "Fear Is A Liar" by Zach Williams came up on my iPod and it struck a chord in my heart. The words I heard had my head spinning as I thought about all the lies about myself that I have believed in my 38 years on earth. We all have these "lies" thrown at us by our enemy every single day. These lies will paralyze us with fear. They make us stop and question everything that we are doing and not in a good way. Now don't get me wrong, I believe that we need to question the motives for the things we do but we need to allow the Holy Spirit to help discern them and not the enemy.
As I have grown up, I have always struggled with insecurity about various things in my life. I have always felt less than good enough, making me always work harder to impress those in my life. I have always felt like I wasn't strong enough to make a difference in the world. I have felt like I wasn't made to fight the battles that have come to me in my life. I have struggled with my worth before the Lord, often times questioning why would God use me. It is something that has plagued me since I was a teenager. To make it simple to understand, I have always felt like I just wasn't enough.
These things have morphed into different struggles as I have grown up. Now I fear that I am not a good enough father to my kids because I don't see them a lot. I worry that I am making the wrong decisions at work due a fear that I will fail or cost my company something of long term value. I struggle with maintaining friendships due to my fear of abandonment. And before I met my wife, there was a time when I ran through relationships with women like water running through a flip flop. I believed that no one would ever love me and that I was destined to always be all alone in the world. I dishonored my relationship with my father and mother through disrespect and the lies that I believed caused me to run away from those that loved me and always have had my best interests in mind. I have always had a sense that I am searching for something somewhere but I have always been too scared and afraid to seek it out. All in all, I have sat on the sidelines, ashamed that I am so far from God, feeling like the prodigal, too dirty to come home to my Father. Often times thinking to myself that I am not the one, that the grace Jesus offered would never change me.
"Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning His Son." 1st John 5:10 ESV
What is the point of all this? Why am I laying my inner self bare for the world to see?
Simply put, God told me to and I am not afraid anymore.
I want the world and my enemy to know that I am not afraid anymore. And you don't have to be either. I don't believe that lies that he tries to tell me about myself anymore. I am worthy. I am special. God made me to reach others and tell them about the love and grace that has touched my life more times than I can count. Even when I have ran from God and tried to hide from Him, He has protected me and guided my steps.
When I start to hear a lie from the enemy, I have God's word to lean on and tell me my worth. When I am tired and the enemy tells me it's OK to quit, God tells me that He will provide me the strength that I need to finish what I started. When times of struggle come up and the enemy tells me to run away and hide, God will give me the strength to stand up and face down the battle that is coming my way with the knowledge that He is out in front of me protecting me. When I was lost in the world, He sent people to witness into my life and tell me that there was another way. When I lost my spouse a few years ago, He gave me the strength to stand up in front of our family, friends, and our community to speak about who she was, what she meant to me, and most importantly, who we serve. He gave me the courage to stand there on one of the worst of days of my life, my hands raised in the air, praising Him for His grace and mercy. He gave me the courage to accept the love a good woman again. He gave me my wife Hannah and a second chance at happiness even though for the last 2 years I've turned my back on Him by running away from my church and my friends, allowing the lies of our enemy to pollute my life. Well, no more. All my fears are cast into the fire of the Holy Spirit and I lean only on His wisdom and grace. He is what holds my life together.
Dear Fear aka the enemy,
Son, you have no power in my life or the lives of those I protect, am in charge of, or come in contact with. My life is off limits. My relationship with my wife is off limits. Her health isn't yours to play games with. She is under my protection and the protection of God. We will not allow you to have sway over any part of her life. My kids, all six of them, and their lives are hedged up and protected by me and most importantly by the Most High so stay away. My extended family is off limits, God will protect them and I will lift them up daily to ask for their protection. My home is off limits, that is my family's place of rest and you are no longer welcome there. My friends, new ones and old, close and far, are off limits. Their families are under the protection of God too. My job is off limits. God's word tells me that He will bless the work of my hands, so leave it alone and the folks I work with too. My ears won't be listening to your lies anymore. I will find a church for my family to worship the God that has provided the courage to take this stand. And it too, will be off limits for you. All in all, you are done scaring me, taking my strength, and making me an ineffective man. I am God's and God's alone. Will I be perfect? Nope. I will make a mistake or do something wrong along the way but I know that I have the ability and the privilege to come back to God and seek forgiveness that I know I need. God has given me a gift more precious than any I have ever received and I will not squander it any longer. To simplify it for you, so you can understand me, you and your lies are no longer welcome in my life. I belong to God and God alone.
Sincerely,
Matt Mosley aka The Sasquatch
Why the letter? Well, I sometimes have trouble getting all my thoughts out when I speak and I find that when I write things down I can clearly express what I mean and where I am coming from. But most importantly, I felt led to do so.
Somewhere, someone is struggling with the same fears that I have about myself. There is someone that needs to hear that God is there, waiting for them to turn around. That they don't have to listen to the lies of our enemy any more. They don't have to believe those lies for one more second.
It is never too late to stop believing him and his lies about yourself. You are beautiful. You are worthy. You are special. You're not alone. You are strong. You are good enough. You are loved. There is no reason to live in fear anymore. God will give you the strength to beat it. All you have to do is lean into Him, rely on His strength, and He will deliver you. If He can save a sorry man like me, then He can save you too. There is more than enough grace to go around and it is completely free.
Believe that!
"Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you." Luke 10:19 ESV
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