I've just discovered that I have an enemy; his name is Fear. What does fear do to an artist? In my own world, one product fear produces is a negative attitude and that is a prescription for a very big artistic block.
In my own meditation searching for a way to conquer this fear in me I had to look honestly at my ego and pride. I have such a great fear of failing; a fear that someone more knowledgeable more professional will pronounce my work as the worst sort of amateurish work. All that is ... is fear of embarrassment rising from false pride. So I am confessing.
Repentance from false pride....
Proverbs 8:13 "The fear of the LORD [is] to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate."
Lord, forgive me and deliver me from false pride and arrogancy and the love of this world and all the false success of it. Remind me daily that all that is good in me is from you. Amen
Searching scripture this morning I came across these passages where the Lord admonished his children to not fear. There are two types of fear in scripture: one good one bad. Good fear is the awesome respect for the Power and Awesomeness of our Creator i.e. the fear of God is good for man. Bad fear is the opposite of faith.
These are the admonitions of the Lord:
• To Abraham God said..... Fear not, Abram: I [am] thy shield, [and] thy exceeding great reward.... also...fear not, for I [am] with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.
• To Simeon ... Peace [be] to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks:
• To Moses ... And the LORD, he [it is] that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
• To Isaiah ...For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
• To Israel ... Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called [thee] by thy name; thou [art] mine.
• To Jacob ... Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, [which] will help thee; Fear not...
• Jesus said to believers ...But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.
• This is the confidence we can have through faith ...In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
Since coming to understand my enemy, the negativity has gone for when an axe is put to the root of the problem, negativity is turned to positive attitudes full of faith that I am not my own; that the Lord has a purpose for my life and it is He that is directing it. What ever ability I have was given me upon my birth and may I diligently pursue to ever be mindful that I am learning, developing and discovering these abilities. I will have failure but it is in failure that often the greatest lessons are learned; that false pride will plant fear and we are debilitated. Fear is torment.
If I succeed in anything in this life, let it be to the praise of the Lord for this is what I believe:
Ephesians 2:6
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in [his] kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
I have been saved, I am being saved daily, and I shall be saved at the end of this life; this is the walk of faith of every believer. All of the works of our hands are directed by the Lord...therefore, fear not.
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6 comments:
I enjoyed the scriptural reminders about fear. I may need to copy it and tape it to my studio wall so I can read it everyday.
I like to remember these scriptures:
"Neglect not the gift that is in thee,..." 1Tim 4:14
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17
and then one of my favorites is:
"Behold thou hast a gift, and blessed are thou because of thy gift. Remember it is sacred and cometh from above."
~This one is from our church's Doctine and Covenants 6:10
You do have a gift Patti and it is a blessing to know where it comes from. The Lord gave you this gift and he will help you use it!
Susan ... the Word of God is a treasure for those who have eyes to see and hears to heart.
Thank you for commenting...my gifts bring me great joy.
Patti
Hi Patti,
Have you read the series of books starting with "Hinds' Feet on High Places" by Hanna Hurnard?
She has a bunch of others...although I think her later books go off track.
Eugene ... I have heard of that book but don't know anything about her or what it is about. Why would you recommend it after reading this blog? Curious.
Hinds' Feet on High Places is an allegorical novel similar to John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. I thought you might find it and the sequel "Mountains of Spices" relevant and uplifting. :-)
From Wiki.
"It is the story of a young woman named Much-Afraid, and her journey away from her Fearing family and into the High Places of the Shepherd, guided by her two companions Sorrow and Suffering. It is an allegory of a Christian devotional life. The book takes its title from Habakkuk 3:19, "The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places."
Eugene,
I've read Pilgram's Progress (which I love and need to read again. Few people today think as deeply as these old Christians from the far past in my view. I love how they challenge me to go deeper.) I will read the books suggested and ask for them for Christmas.
The thing about human beings I've learned is that we all are quick to point out everyone else's problems without realizing that the problem we are pointing is also a problem we have. If we are honest with ourselves. Watch...next time you hear someone criticizing another, see if he is exposing his own weakness.
How easily we deceive ourselves.
That was what Jesus was talking about when he said, "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam [is] in thine own eye?" ---Matt. 7:3
It's usually the very same beam.
Should we listen carefully to what we are saying to others?
For example, since I'm confessing, I had been admonishing my daughter not to be afraid but have faith ... as she began looking for her first job as if I had harnessed fear in my own life.
Thanks....I have found some great book suggestions on my blog.
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