When I look at the church today I’m overwhelmed by the amount of people dealing with the destructive emotions of guilt and condemnation. We are looking to the past, others relationships with God, or the latest self-help book to answer our questions. We’ve tried prayer, fasting, and Bible reading but yet we feel no closer to God than when we first began our journey. We’re exhausted by the fight! At times, we seem to do good for awhile, telling ourselves we’ve made it up a few rungs on the latter or steps on the staircase. Only to find ourselves lying flat on our backs by something that came out of nowhere. How can we ever have something worth being proud of in this relationship with God when all we can see are the steps we’ve accumulated forward are only taken back with just one wrong move? Why fight when the fight gets me nowhere?
It’s all these destructive ways of thinking that have us beaten down and starving. Until we can truly understand the way God views us, it’ll be almost impossible to view Him in a way that will bring us closer to Him. We can no longer wait for the next big thing to deliver us out of our self created darkness. The Bible states, “Today is the day of salvation”. How long will we be cumbered down with these heavy burdens that God never intended for us to carry? Look at the sweet soothing words Jesus said to you and I, the hurting and struggling. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30 KJV).
God’s unrelenting, unwavering, and never failing love for you and I is what is going to set us free from all fear and doubt. It will lead and guide us into a discovery of the depths of Christ that we thought were only reserved for those who somehow could please God more perfectly than we ever could. It is His perfect love for you and I that will cast out all of our fears. His perfect love for you I will prove we too can please Him perfectly, and ultimately, His love will revel the beautiful plans He has for our lives.
Let these words that John wrote about God’s love help heal your soul. “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first” (1 John 4:16-19 NLT).
It’s time you and I were healed completely so that we can finally know His perfect love for us, and do His perfect will for our lives.
Mark Showalter's Blog 
Very good. How very important is 1 Jn 4.9-19! He reveals his love in Christ (9-10), we come to know and believe it (16) and it frees us from the fear of punishment (17-18) and transforms us to love one another (19). So precious! Tiny, tiny thing: “you and me,” not “you and I” (three times). Check by leaving off first term: “his perfect love for me” vs. “his perfect love for I.”
Thank you Pastor Showalter!! We all needed that. Life’s troubles and dealing with it day after day we do get bogged down and when we feel we’re are doing something wrong and let doubt creep in between our wonderful God and us. Love and miss you. Sister Licciardo