Henry lost his mother just before he started first grade. He was utterly devastated, but his father, a man who never publicly displayed vulnerable emotions and only knew manhood by abandoning them, taught Henry this same practice. Henry’s dad was not a mean person and was as sympathetic with Henry as he knew to be, but his son’s continual tears presented such difficulty for him. Even at the tender age of six, Henry perceived that his sorrow was building a wedge between them. Terrified of losing another parent, Henry decided he would fight his emotions with all his might. He missed his mother terribly, but from then on, whenever tears welted in his eyes, he’d grit his teeth and fight them back.
As one might imagine, Henry never properly grieved the loss of his mother. As he grew into manhood, out of habit he stuffed his emotions further and further down. It made him feel unworthy, but he didn’t link this to how unhappy and powerless he felt as an adult. Very bright, he was a natural at understanding how things were built and might have been a great architect, but he lacked confidence. Gritting his teeth had become sort of a habit. He’d do it whenever he experienced anything disappointing, and this was a constant, because he felt as though he could never do anything to please his father. Even though he didn’t realize it, he was trying desperately to make up for the loss they both endured.
Many people live their entire lives feeling the pain and disappointment that Henry had bottled up inside. It is a dark cloud that looms heavy over their lives. Some try to deal with the symptoms through various ways, but never quite get at the root. When something devastates us to our cores, we lose a faith we didn’t realize we had. We no longer trust that life will not betray us. We see it as having taken things from us that are precious—things we treasure, and we feel powerless to do anything to prevent this from happening again. So, a fear takes hold internally, and its insidious because most of us don’t realize it. Slowly and methodically, fear takes root, and it begins to call all the shots.
Faith and fear are two extremely powerful states of being. Both behave like sleeves and everything we do is encapsulated and propelled by the one we have chosen. To live in fear is no one’s deliberate choice, and this is why it is so dastardly deceptive. Fear comes from the devil, and it is not real, we just believe it is. Our reaction to fear gives it the foot-hole into our lives that it seeks. This fear is darkness, and the only way to come out of darkness is to enter the light.
1John 1:5 tells us that God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all. Our Heavenly Father created us to be His children. 2Corinthians 4:6(NLT) tells us, “For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.” Our destiny is in Christ, but most people do not know this and therefore, they don’t know their identity. They don’t know who God has created them to be.
In the Garden of Eden, the devil swindled Adam and Eve out of the power that God had given them to live holy and to reign in the earth. Throughout the years, most people have paid very little attention to the incredible consequences and chain of evil events that transpired as a result of this treasonous plot. Adam and Eve sinned against God by bowing to the devil. Sin entered their physical beings and every individual born after them sinned as well. Every evil, every loss, every catastrophic event that happens to us or around us is rooted in the evil that satan began thousands of years ago. Adding to this awfulness is the fact that he has continued to blind the minds of most people. 2Corinthians 4:4(NLT) says, “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.”
Many of us believe so fiercely in the lie that fear tells that we cling more tightly to it than we do the truth. Because darkness is all we’ve known for so long, we can’t imagine the freedom and liberty that light extends. This is where faith makes its grand entrance. We must believe in what we can’t see. 2Corinthians 5:7 tells us that we must walk by faith and not by sight. Our faith must lift our eyes out of the dark pit of sadness, ineffectiveness, low self-esteem, fear and all the other remnants of darkness associated with it. If we will have the slightest hope in Christ, darkness will begin to crack, and his light can come into our hearts in a greater way.
Colossians 1:13-14(NLT) tells us, “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.” God rescued us from darkness through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. This was no ordinary rescue. Our powerful Savior and Redeemer is perfect. There is no sin or darkness in him at all. He is the light, love, and embodiment of God. 1John 4:10(NLT) says, “This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” Sin has a price, and the price is death. Jesus Christ took on all our sins and give his life, a perfect life, to pay for them. He wiped our slates clean for all eternity. Our sins were cleansed by his perfect blood, but this was only the beginning.
Death could not keep him in the ground. On the third day after his sacrifice, he got up from the grave with all power in his hands! He had a new, resurrected body, and he made it possible for all those that have faith in him to receive this newness. Because of the accomplishment of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit brings life to our spirits, and we become alive to God! We receive a regenerated human spirit and a new nature in Christ. This is the resurrection power of God through our beloved Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Our old dead lives were crucified with our blessed Lord, and God transferred us out of satan’s kingdom of darkness and into the glorious light of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ! Praise God for His Resurrection Power!■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“God’s Resurrection Power!”, written by JMack, 4theChristianMan.com© 2022. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.