“My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you.” (Proverbs 3:1-2 NKJV}
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV)
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18 NKJV)
I have been called…
…to help the children of God realize that it is our Father’s desire that as His children we live strong long lives worth living, without limit or end, with nothing missing or broken; therefore He designed us to live lives filled with purity, passion, power, and purpose; as in partnership with Him we expand the manifestation of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth (here and now); regardless of our current age or condition.
While there is still much more that I could say about aging, it is time to take the next step (or huge leap) and begin talking about death. Before getting started, the Spirit is prompting me to address the thing that almost stopped me from travelling down this road…FEAR.
When my eyes began to open to the wonderful possibilities available to me (freedom from depression, victory over obesity, renewed youth, long life, etc.) I began to get reinvigorated and rejuvenated. I just got happy! Then I began to hit roadblocks. It was like two steps forward and then two steps back. There was always a surface level reason for the ups and downs, but I knew that there was something deeper going on. It appeared that I had developed a very effective lifestyle of self sabotage. Just when it looked like I was finally breaking through to victory, BAM!, another crash. But why?
Most of my adult life has been a roller coaster made up of highs and lows. My ministry and vocational life has consisted of a three to five year pattern of starting something new, getting recognized and promoted, and then having everything crash. My financial condition has followed this pattern closely (get a job and pay off the bills, get a raise and start saving for the future, lose the job and spend the savings to bridge the gap until the next job). For years I found ways outwardly to “blame” this pattern on things out of my control while inwardly growing in doubt, shame, and self incrimination. For all of those years I was blinded to what was truly taking place.
Since my reawakening in 2018 this life long pattern has greatly intensified. It has dramatically increased in severity and frequency. It really took off following Melody’s departure to Heaven in November of 2021, and persisted until as recently as two months ago. During a season in which my major focus has been on “Total Fitness” (spirit, soul, and body), my weight has gone from 240 up to 300, then back to 228 only to rise back up to 350, and now I am on my way back down, at about 300. In the midst of this, the Spirit has revealed very clearly that what has been taking place behind the scenes is that like the Apostle Paul, I have been living with a “thorn in the flesh.”
“And lest I should become exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.” (2 Corinthians 12:7)
Paul had received revelations that were beyond human comprehension. He was shown things that he was not even allowed to share yet. In the midst of this Paul recognized the potential harm of pride in his life so in obedience to God he humbled himself. As a result, just as promised in scripture, God was exalting him to a place of great influence and impact in the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth (here and now). He was in the process of writing Holy Spirit inspired letters that would become over half of the New Testament (those letters are still inspiring millions of people worldwide today). His “thorn in the flesh” (a demon assigned to him by Satan to stop him before he could get started) did everything possible to disrupt and destroy his ministry and life.
A “thorn” (demon) that has been assigned to me by the enemy to steal the Word, destroy my ministry and life, and kill me if possible, has been attacking my mind with the “spirit of fear.” The deeper the revelation of life that I have received from the Holy Spirit, the more aggressive the attacks have become. In my blindness, my flesh (fear of rejection and failure, low self esteem, and need for acceptance) had linked up with this thorn (spirit of fear) and the result became a subconscious response of self sabotage. As the battle increased, I would work for two months to lose 20 pounds and then take my eyes off the ball and put it all back on in two weeks. I would start writing daily blogs and then get side tracked and not take time to write for weeks at a time (the same with daily videos). This pattern of instability, inconsistency, and procrastination was taking its toll. BUT GOD!
Praise the Lord, when the Holy Spirit revealed this to me my response was to follow the example of Paul and humble myself before the Lord so that He could exalt me.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.” (1 Peter 5:6 ESV)
In doing this I received the same response from my Daddy (my heavenly Abba Father – Papa) that Paul received.
“Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT)
I have learned the lesson that Paul was teaching. Whenever I receive revelation for life the enemy will attack with the spirit of death. When I receive revelation about freedom from depression I will be attacked by the spirit of heaviness. And the most effective attack that the enemy mounted against me for many years was the spirit of fear. No More. In Jesus Name I declare, “NO FEAR!”
“So humble yourselves before God. resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7 NLT)
God’s response to the Apostle Paul was not that he expected Paul to cling to his grace in order to embrace this “thorn in the flesh” and patiently endure the pain. God did not give Paul the thorn and he did not want Paul to keep it. No! God’s response to Paul, and to all of us, is that His grace empowers us to take a stand against the enemy in our areas of weakness and watch him run away in stark terror! I don’t boast in my weakness about the fact that I am weak and will stay that way. I boast about my weakness because it gives me the opportunity to see God show himself strong on my behalf. I boast about my weakness because as I humble myself before God he exalts me to a place of influence and impact in and for the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth (here and now).
“Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak say, ‘I am strong’ “ (Joel 3:10 NKJV)
I share all of this because I believe that the spirit of fear is running rampant in the body of Christ and if allowed it will rob you of the opportunity to break free from the hold that the world’s view of aging and death has on those who follow Christ.
Far too much focus has been on fear…
..We use the fear of Hell to scare people into Heaven and then wonder why they later leave the Church in droves.
…We use an inaccurate depiction of the “fear of the Lord” to force an outward appearance of holiness and then wonder why people don’t grow close to the God that they are afraid of (the “fear of the Lord” that is the “beginning of wisdom” is an intimate reverence that draws me to the Father knowing that he uses his infinite power for me not against me).
…We open the door to the “spirit of fear” without realizing what we are doing and live in fear of listening to anything that steps outside of our doctrinal comfort zone even when deep inside our spirit is telling us that what we are hearing are words of life.
If it brings death it is NOT from God. If it brings life it is NOT from the enemy.
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10 NKJV)
“Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.” (James 1:17 NLT)
Good God! Bad devil!
God is good all the time! All the time God is good!
It really is that simple.
As we talk about death, please allow the Holy Spirit the freedom to examine your heart and mind in order to put a halt to any opportunity for the spirit of fear to rob you of life and freedom.
That’s it for…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 374: Late Life Assignment: Part 10 – The Promise: Strong, Long Lives: Part 6