F.E.A.R.

My mom used to always use this acrostic for "fear" when I was growing up. She always said that fear was "False Evidence Appearing Real." She also taught us this song that went "God has not given us a spirit of fear but he has given unto us, a spirit of power, a spirit of love, and a sound mind." However, it is still so easy to fear. Easier to fear than it is to actually have faith about whatever it is you fear. Fear can cause you so much trouble. It can lead you to make decisions that otherwise would not have been made. It can leave you confused and indecisive. It can rob you of your future and of your blessings.

The crux of Christianity is faith. If you possess not faith, then you cannot truly call yourself a christian. We must believe that God is all powerful, and more than able to fulfill his promises to us. That he is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we could ask or think. But we must be careful not to confuse fear with our spiritual discernment. If something is your spirit is telling you that something is wrong, then listen to it.

I have allowed fear to have FAR TOO MUCH reign over my life the past couple of years, and it's time for me to let it go and just have faith in God completely. Not just about some subjects, but all of them.

Incomplete Joy

John 16:22-24
22And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

23And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

24Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

I hear it all the time in the christian world that we are to be "complete", "joyful", and "content" with whatever situation we may be in. No matter what the circumstances are. After I read this portion of John 16, it led me to think that indeed our joy can be incomplete. It led me to think that there will be times that we wont be at our happiest for one reason or another. That time in which our joy would be incomplete is the time the fills the spaces between the the time we ask for something and the appointed time in which we receive it.

In verse 24 it says "ask and ye shall receive; that your joy may be full. So is this suggesting that our joy is not full until receive that which we have asked for. That it is necessarily implicit that the time we are waiting for what we believe for to come to pass we will be in a state of "struggle" of sorts?

I've just always tried to be happy and be "complete" because that was what I was taught. Though sometime I did feel like I could be more happy if my prayers were answered, I felt like it was wrong to feel that way. But this verse suggests that that feeling is normal.

What are your takes?