OUR DAILY BREAD : PARANOIA IN REVERSE

[cimi]

July 11
Friday


PARANOIA
IN REVERSE

READ:
1 John 4:1-6,17-19
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There is no fear in love;
but perfect love casts
out fear, because fear
involves torment.
__1 John 4:18
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I remember watching television news reports in 1991 as the non-violent revolution took place in the streets of Moscow. Russians who had grown up in totalitarianism suddenly declared, "We will act as if we are free," taking to the streets and staring down tanks. The contrast between the faces of the leaders inside and the masses outside showed who was really afraid, and who was really free.

Watching the newsreels from Red Square on Finnish television, I came up with a new definition of faith; paranoia in reverse. A truly paranoid person organizes his or her life around a common perspective of fear. Anything that happens feeds that fear.

Faith works in reverse. A faithful person organizes is or her life around a common perspective of trust, not fear. Despite the apparent chaos of the present moment, God does reign. Regardless of how I may feel, I truly matter to a God of love.

What could happen if we in God's kingdom truly acted as if the words of the apostle John were literally true: "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4). What if we really started living as if the most-repeated prayer in Christendom has actually been answered__that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven? __Philip Yancey

``````````````````````````Far, far above thy thought``````````````````````
``````````````````````````His counsel shall appear,```````````````````````
````````````````````When fully He the work hath wrought``````````````````
``````````````````That caused thy needless fear. __Gerhardt````````````````
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Feeding your faith helps starve your fears.

*****************************Today's Bible Reading __ 1 John 4:1-6,17-19********************************

1 Beloved, do not believe
every spirit, but test the
spirits, whether they are of
God; because many false
prophets have gone out into
the world. 2 By this you
know the spirit of God:
Every spirit that confesses
that Jesus Christ has come
in the flesh is of God, 3 and
every spirit that does not
confess that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh is not
of God. And this is the
spirit of the Antichrist,
which you have heard was
coming, and is now already
in the world.

4 You are of God, little
children, and have
overcome them, because He
who is in you is greater
than he who is in the world.

5 They are of the world.
therefore they speak as of
the world, and the world
hears them. 6 We are of
God. He who knows God
hears us; he who is not of
God does not hear us. By
this we know the spirit of
truth and the spirit of
error....

17 Love has been perfected
among us in this: that we
may have boldness in the
day of judgment; because
as He is, so are we in this
world. 18 There is no fear in
love; but perfect love casts
our fear, because fear
involves torment. But he
who fears has not been
made perfect in love. 19 We
love Him because He first
loved us.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

First John 4:2-3 is used often by Christians as a test to determine if
one is demon-possessed. This ignores the context. John is warning
against false prophets who deny the humanity of Christ and teach
that Jesus only appeared to be human. A false teacher is one who
denies that Jesus Christ is both fully man and fully God.