The practical thing to do since God is our Fortress and our High Tower is to surrender by faith to put ourselves and all our interests into this divine dwelling place. Then we must dismiss all care or anxiety from our minds. Since the Lord is our dwelling place, nothing can possibly come to any harm that is committed to His care. As long as we believe this, our affairs remain in His hands. The moment we begin to doubt, we take our affairs into our own hands, and they are no longer in the divine fortress. Things cannot be in two places at once. If they are in our own care, they cannot be in God’s care. And if they are in God’s care, they cannot be in our own. This is as clear as daylight, and yet, for the lack of a little common sense, people often get mixed up over it. They put their affairs into God’s fortress, and at the same time put them into their own fortress as well. Then they wonder why they are not taken care of. This is all foolishness. Either trust the Lord completely or else trust yourself completely; but do not try to mix the two trusts, for they will not mix. It often helps to put your trust into words. Say aloud, “God is my dwelling place, and I am going to abide in Him forever. It is all settled; I am in this divine habitation, and I am safe here. I am not going to move out again.” ~ ~Hannah Whithall Smith
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our Peace, Who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the Cornerstone, in Whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
~ paul, The Least of The Apostles, in Ephesians 2
Oh beloved, it is true.
We have this terrible problem. And apart from a solution we will – in no way – enter into the righteousness of G_d. Our sin will be eternal and unredeemed.
We will either believe, or we will die.
We will either Love, or we will die without mercy.
We will either trust, or we will be cast out.
We will either receive, or we will be rejected.
We will either put on tender mercies, or we will rot in bitterness.
We will live in the light of truth, or lies will drag us into their eternal darkness.
We will either forgive, or we will be damned.
And, there is no in between. Further:
There are no moods in the Kingdom of Heaven.
There are no variations or shadow of change in The Kingdom.
There is no “being angry at someone” in The Kingdom.
There is no depression or spirit of fainting in The Kingdom.
There is no hostility in The Kingdom.
There is oneness. There is unity. There is truth. And, there is peace.
Fear is the path to the dark side…fear leads to anger…anger leads to hate…hate leads to suffering.
~Yoda, The Phantom Menace
Can we see it?
So much of the crud we have in our own lives is because we keep on living our own lives. And we do this against the crystal clear reality presented in His Word, that we no longer live our own lives. We no longer call the shots. And our emotions are to be damned if they are in opposition to His Word.
His Word is clear. He Himself is our Peace. This is not some salve handed over to us from some deistic entity. It is, rather, the astounding reality that Peace is A Person – and His Name is Jesus.
When our emotions get out of hand; when we ‘feel’ down and out; when we hold anger or bitterness (even in the most infinitesimal way) – we are not a believer. We are not a Christian. We are whining like the slaves who had been set free from Egypt, only to wander and die in the wilderness for forty years.
So, are you struggling with ‘anger’ or ‘being upset’ or ‘not liking’ something someone else does? Do these emotions take you further into the flesh? May this fool of a writer preach for a moment? You are flirting, quite literally, will hell and damnation. Repent. Change your mind. Bitterness and anger towards your brothers and sisters is not admissible within the realm of The Prince of Peace.
Tonight is your night. Time to live like you already are: at peace with your brothers and sisters.
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when my fear is gone I will turn and face fear’s path, and only I will remain.
~ From Frank Herbert’s, Dune and the Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear.
