Experience the Impossible: Simple Ways to Unleash Heaven's Power on Earth (21 page)

When faith works through love, fear is silenced.

F
aith and love are the two absolutes expected to flow from a believer’s life. We cannot please God apart from faith (see Hebrews 11:6), and the greatest of these is love (see 1 Corinthians 13:13). Faith connects us to the power issue, and love represents the issue of character. Both power and character are needed to be fully effective in this life as God intended. They were never meant to be separated. They are the two legs we stand on. These are two sides of the same coin, as character is always to be the vehicle that power rides on.

And then we have the number-one command of Scripture, repeated more often than any other: Do not fear. It should not surprise us that the number-one tool of the powers of darkness is aimed at our supreme purpose, moving in love, displaying His power.

Fear cripples. We all know that. With it we lose our sense of balance, distorting how we walk. Fear usually starts with a bad idea that we take time to consider. Recognizing that such thoughts are illogical seldom helps in dealing with them, because fear is spiritual—fear is often a spirit. In other words, there is
an evil presence involved, adding power to the fear so that as we agree with it, it might be able to kill, steal and destroy.

Fear confuses. The longer I listen to fear, the more confused I become over what God has promised for my life. If I fall into fear, I forget what God has taught me, I lose sight of the tools He has given me, and I no longer anticipate the destiny God has promised. It is not that I blame God; I know better than that. I just personalize the fear so much that I feel disqualified from the fullness of God’s purposes in my life. In that frame of mind, I am likely to think that I am just not spiritual enough, or that I do not have enough faith.

Fear has a blinding effect. Oddly enough, I can even get to the place where I no longer remember much that God has done in my life. This tool is used to make me, a believer, feel inferior to the powers of darkness, when the opposite is true.

Fear can be successful only if it turns my attention from God toward myself or my problems. It is all downhill from there. But fear is easily defeated. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears in not perfected in love” (1 John 4:18). The answer is found in the love of God. There are times when I stop praying for the things on my list, and stop singing the songs I love that bring Him honor, and stop all other obvious activities that have great value for the believer. In their places I do one thing: I sit in God’s presence and say something like this: “I’m here, still, just for You to love me.” Then I turn my affection toward Him and wait. He is such a lover that He is drawn to our stillness, our posture of focused inactivity.

Something happens when we take a different route than mentioned a few paragraphs earlier—when I will not entertain the devil’s ideas, when I will not consider what could go wrong, when I will not feed myself on the fear of man, and I simply turn my heart to the God of my faith. When that happens, then I have caused the enemy of my soul great difficulties. Paul says
to stand “in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God” (Philippians 1:28). My not being afraid reminds the devil he is doomed, finished and sentenced to eternal judgment, while having to live with the fact that I am one of the redeemed ones, saved by the precious blood of Jesus, with unlimited blessings from a loving God.

Not fearing has rewards for me and torment for the powers of darkness. I would be happy with either of those results. But having both of them is certainly a bonus!

Prayer

Heavenly Father, help me to recognize when the enemy is trying to pull me away from Your promises, and from Your presence. I commit myself to a faith that flows through love, that You might be forever exalted.

Confession

Both faith and love are in my nature as a child of God. I will resist the devil, knowing he will flee from me. He is terrified of me because of my place in the heart of God. I will live in faith, through love, for the glory of God.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” ( John 3:16).

T
his is the quote of all quotes and the statement of all statements. It carries the heart of all I address in this book—faith, hope and love. These components are expressed beautifully in this one verse.

Love gives—the perfect Father gave us His Son. Faith receives the gift of the Father, His only Son. By believing in Jesus, we inherit eternal life and live forever in perfect harmony with God. Hope feeds on the promise of God both for now and eternal life. The provision of salvation for the body, soul and spirit has been given to us through Jesus. It is the Good News in its simplest form.

This verse profoundly reveals the heart of God, a loving Father. When we think of bringing heaven to earth through our prayers, it really starts with this theme: God loves people,
people respond to God, and whenever we respond to Him, His Kingdom is present.

This dominion of the Almighty is discovered through surrender. Our surrender is giving up on sin and death, and yielding to righteousness and life. It is being transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of light. This Kingdom has a Father, which means the entire function of the Kingdom is a family operation. Everything about it is healthy and progressive and has a future. But one thing cannot be forgotten:
God loved
the world
, the
whole
world! This is not about gathering just a few lucky souls that have the chance to hear the Good News.

By implication, this verse also commissions, for how can we stay where we are after hearing that eternal life is for all who believe? We have been commissioned to do as Jesus did: Destroy the works of the devil, announce that the Kingdom of God is within arm’s reach, and manifest what that Kingdom looks like when it touches the broken parts of life.

We do these things by remaining in love, always believing, and holding on to hope, regardless of circumstances. This beautiful privilege is given to all who believe. Eternal life affects this present life by the same means used to obtain eternal life: faith. Faith grows in the atmosphere of hope and is to be expressed through the vehicle of love.

Embrace the challenge, the invitation and the summons of God Almighty, our Father: Kingdom of God,
Come!

Prayer

Wonderful heavenly Father, I receive the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ, and rejoice in the salvation given to me. Help me always to be anchored in the hope of eternity. And help me always to demonstrate my faith through love. I purpose to live this way so that Your Kingdom will come and Your will be done on earth as in heaven. I pray these things that You might be forever glorified.

Confession

I love God with my whole heart, because He loved me first. My faith is in Jesus completely, for He is faithful. I live my life in such a way that His purposes are accomplished—on earth as it is in heaven. For it is my sole desire for God to be glorified in and through me.

Bill Johnson
is senior pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California. A fifth-generation pastor with a rich heritage in the power of the Spirit, he is the bestselling author of
When
Heaven Invades Earth
. Bill and his wife, Beni, serve a growing number of churches through an apostolic network that has crossed denominational lines, partnering for revival. Bill and Beni live near Redding, California.

Website:
www.chosenbooks.com

Facebook:
Chosen Books