“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” Luke 6:35

We all have some kind of enemy in our lives. Whether it’s the girl or guy that stole your high school sweetheart away from you, to the boss that you let you for a younger employee with less experience in the business. Sometimes it is even a neighbor whose lawn looks better than yours! An enemy doesn’t mean that you want to start a war with them. They are the people you feel resentment or even envy towards.

It’s hard not hating people sometimes. We feel entitled to a certain degree of respect, and other just don’t get that. Especially in school or the workplace. There is probably going to always be that person who scratches at your nerves constantly; but you cannot hate them. God tells us to love our enemies.

He loves every being, no matter the size of their wrongdoings. He doesn’t like it when someone antagonizes you! But He also doesn’t like it when his children hate each other either. The golden rule of loving your neighbor as yourself comes into play here..

“The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” -Mark 12:31

We need to realize that hate is the BAD type of four letter word. It is the antagonist while love is the protagonist. Make love your hero! Without love we wouldn’t have even been born. It doesn’t mean you have to hug that person and be overly friendly. Just rid yourself of resentment. And don’t forget to pray! Tell God your troubles and ask that peace be settled over your heart.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails…” -1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Most people think love is complicated and cannot be defined; but God lays it out for us His Word. Of course there are different types of love, such as the love you have for a friend, family member, and partner. But the general meaning of it is right there. It NEVER fails, but always perseveres. As being a part of the body of Christ we should strive to do as our Father asks and does Himself. It won’t be easy, but being a Christian isn’t easy. There are always antagonists who are going to try to put us down; but it is our duty to push past the evil against us and fight for our Lord – with love.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” -Deuteronomy 31:6

You are a child fearing the consequences of accidentally breaking one of your grandmother’s figurines. You are a teenager afraid of your teacher’s phone call home about your bad behavior and failing grades. You are the scared adult trying to figure out how you’re going to pay the car payment after being out of work for at least a month. You are the grandparent fearing you won’t see your grandchild’s graduation or wedding day.

Those are just a few of the fears we have as we go through life. We never really know what the next day will bring. We have our hopes; but along with them come the fear that they won’t be reached. It’s an epidemic in all our lives that we can’t escape from. There is no vaccine to prevent it; but there is an antidote. We just happen to overlook it a lot of the time. What is the antidote? God. He tells us many times in His Word that we should not be afraid. “Should” being a key term. He recognizes that we will have our moments when we are. It is only natural, and that is why He makes so many attempts to comfort us.

“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” -Psalm 27:1

What do you fear, really? Usually we can make a whole list of things, and even add a cause and effect that extends to many other fears all resulting in one thing. That one thing generally being death. Why are you afraid that you can’t pay the bills? Because you’d lose everything. If you lost everything you could potentially starve or get extremely ill and have no means to get better. If you don’t get better or do starve then you die.

We need to be confident. Fear shouldn’t be the word that drives us or outlines our day.. When you are afraid pray that peace be settled over our hearts. Often times we just get lost when we’re afraid. We become paralyzed or completely unfocused when in the midst of one of our biggest fears, or a fear that has caught us off guard. Like when you get a phone call that your child has had an accident at school and was sent to the hospital. You get so worried that you can’t find your keys. Finally you’ll realize they’re right in front of you.

God is our stronghold and peace in times when you are afraid. Life is compass whose direction is always changing. We can’t know what tomorrow brings, but we can pray for that sense of peace that will keep us from fearing tomorrow and give us the excitement and drive we need to make it a good day!

Being human, it is only natural that we stress over certain things. Whether it be school, work, family, friends, relationships, etc., there is always some kind of worry weighing us down. Sometimes it is easy to forget that we have someone amazing on our side, at all times. When we struggle we feel alone; but it isn’t true. We are always with the Father, whether at home or in the grocery store, He is there.

Often times we just need to sit back, take a breath, and pray. The bills have gone unpaid before, right? Or were late? You survived that time didn’t you? You’ll make it through this time; that’s a promise we’re given. God tells us in His Word that we shouldn’t let all these earthly things make us unhappy. Live in Him and be free of the depression we’re inflicted with when get lost in stress; and don’t forget to be thankful! We don’t get through the tough times without a little relief, and relief usually comes through some kind of blessings, which are a product of God’s love for us.

Always try to look at the positives of every situation to help you get through it. Bad breakup? If it ended badly it only means that the relationship would have been worse. There are many things that go “wrong” in our lives, but it doesn’t mean it has to rule us. We’re straying from the narrow path God has worked out specifically for us when we get caught up in the world. Most of our anxieties come from selfish desires and material things. That is wrong; we are God’s children and should be focused on His will for our lives. We are truly precious to Him. He doesn’t want to see us suffer, but be happy instead.

Also, we need to continue to pray. It really can’t be stressed enough how important prayer is for not only us, but God as well. It’s a time to vent all of our fears and troubles. He’s like a therapist, only better. We get the tools we need to survive through His Word and blessings, while still making our own decisions. Physically we do it on our own, but spiritually we’ve got a guide and stronghold that has kept us together and continually going. We don’t have to worry about who we’ve talked to either! There are no files that someone could potentially get their hands on. It’s one-on-one with God, who loves us unconditionally. It doesn’t matter to Him what has caused your pain, but instead, what will fix it. He feels the same emotions we do when suffering. We are, after all, a part of Him.

So stick those little black holes dug deep into our waning souls down the garbage shoot and take a dose of God’s peace! It is the healthiest and quickest way to happiness while we’re on this earth, awaiting the time when we’re called back to our Father’s side.

While it might seem like the sadness and mourning will last forever it won’t. You can use that time to grow in the Lord and get closer to him like never before. When you depend on Jesus he will take your mourning and turn around into dancing. You will no longer feel the burden that you did before. Your heart will be filled with joy and you’ll be smiling when you wake up in the morning. This kind of peace only comes from Jesus.

Sometimes it might seem like months and months before we ever experience this kind of joy but know that whatever you are going through that you are not alone. Jesus is right there waiting for you to give it all to him. If you fully trust and depend on Jesus go with peace knowing that everything is in his hands because it is! In this day and age not enough people have peace and the reason why is because they are not trusting in Jesus.

In John 8:32 it says: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” When you are a child of God and know the truth all of that should leave you. If you hold onto it then you need to ask God’s forgiveness. Jesus is waiting to help you. Don’t let these things hold you back. Some people die young because they refused to give these things over to Jesus. Cancer can come from smoking and other things but one of the main things that causes cancer is stress and not forgiving people. The reason why you should ask God to forgive you is because it is a sin to hate, and have pride. All of the things mentioned are sinful and will only cause you to fall. The other thing that it can do is cause you to have nightmares and not get the right amount of sleep that you need which will start causing problems in other areas.

After you give everything over to Jesus you will start feeling peace and joy again. If you know that you can experience these things then why keep that hate inside? Once you have that peace in your heart you will be able to sleep at night without having any nightmares. People will notice the difference and be able to count on your friendship and devotion again. Some people stay away from ones that have hate and anger buried in them because they know it could even cause them to fall. Don’t put that upon yourself. Hand everything over to Jesus, ask for his forgiveness, and don’t look back to your old sins.

In Isaiah 43:1-2 it says: “But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” It can seem that when things are going on that no one is there and that there will never be a light at the end of the tunnel. But fear not because Jesus has redeemed you. He has called you by name and you are his. It does not matter if you are walking through fire or worried about how you will eat the next day because Jesus is with you in all things.

Worry often leads to fear and stress. This can create health problems and other things to come up. In 2 Timothy 1:7 it says: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Whenever you start to worry about tomorrow or the night, rebuke it and trust in God. It is only in Jesus that you can find peace, power and experience the love of God.

In Isaiah 54:14 it says: “In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.” Trust in the Lord and know that he is watching after you.

It is easy to start taking things for granted such as the Israelites did when Moses led them out of Egypt. At first he feared how he would feed them but then they started getting manna from Heaven. In Exodus 16:15 “And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.” God provided for them and as a result they got spoiled by the miracles. People think that you can get spoiled only by money, good clothes and other things but that isn’t so. The poorest of poor can still become spoiled and take things for granted. This will cause us to not be grateful for anything that we have. Pride can start dwelling in our hearts when we become spoiled. When pride starts coming up terrible things can happen. Job 40:12 -”Look at every proud man and humble him, crush the wicked where they stand.”

John 5:44 – “How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?” That is exactly what starts happening when pride comes in our hearts. We neglect praise and thanksgiving because we start boosting to one another. How did the children of Israelites boost to one another? I am sure that they said things such as “We know it’s going to come, it always does!” or “We are never going to go hungry.” Instead they should have been saying “Praise God for the manna” or “Praise God, he always looks after us in our time of need.”

So while you are battling are even when things are going good still Praise the Lord despite whatever is going on. Show appreciation by just making simple statements of “Praise God for this battle”. When you start to praise him and show appreciation you will be amazed at how different you will feel.

According to Galatians 3:13 Jesus has given us many weapons that are mighty and divine to use. These weapons are prayer, faith, the name of Jesus, and God’s word. Remember that when you let fear become a problem that you are sinning and going against what the bible says in Philippians 4:6-7. “Be careful for nothing; but with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God And the peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”. When you give your requests over to God have faith that he is working on them and have peace knowing that Christ is there guiding you and protecting you through everything.

When fear starts to attack instead of backing down like a coward and without faith, start using words of praise and thanksgiving. Satan trembles at the word of God so use the scriptures and say them out loud whenever you are afraid. If you are uncomfortable with saying the verses out loud start with reading them out loud to yourself whenever you are reading the Bible and after that you will start feeling confident with reading them out loud.

If you feel fear instead of letting it rule you what you must do is learn how to tell fear to go away through the name of Jesus. In the book of Mark chapter 16 and verses 17,18 it talks about the authority that we have when we say in the name of Jesus. In his name miracles can be done and demons will flee but it is only through the name of Jesus. Whenever you are feeling afraid next time just simply say out loud and with authority, “Fear, in the name of Jesus, Be Gone!!”.