God began to teach me that to be really free and to continue to live free forever would mean that His Word could not be only in my heart, but it had to come out of my mouth too. Mind you, I went to an amazing Bible college that taught us these things. But something new happens when your very sanity depends on the reality of His Word in your life.
One Scripture that God really used to teach me about speaking His Word is Mark 11:23-24, which says, “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”
He began to teach me about the life-giving, mountain-moving power of speaking His words—His words and not my usual “I feel afraid” or “I can’t” or anything else I was so used to going around saying. I was not even aware of how much I did that. He began to show me that this was part of the reason I was so defeated all the time. However I felt and whatever thought dropped into my head was how I lived and what I made choices based on.
The Holy Spirit began to teach me to declare what my Father was declaring over my life. Second Timothy 1:7 was a huge truth that helped set me free. It says, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and self-control.” Those words, mixed with my faith, began to ignite an explosion of freedom on the inside of me. And the outside.
I could actually see the effects of His Word mixing with my faith, and it was so encouraging to me! To realize that life-sucking, victory-stealing fear did not come from God was gigantic for me. I was waking up to the reality of who God said I am in His Word and was learning to believe what the Holy Spirit was teaching more every day.
Little by little, I saw victory. For the first time I started to believe not only what came out of His mouth, but what was coming out of mine. And for the first time in my life did I start to believe and act like a victor instead of a victim. How refreshing! It was as if the Holy Spirit was blowing His fresh wind over my dry and broken soul. He will do it for you too. All you have to do is believe His words over your feelings and past experiences. His Word changes everything.
I would like to say something else about breaking free from fear. Sometimes we get the idea that when we truly realize that Jesus has set us free from fear, all of it will just disappear from our lives. I wish! Even though we are free from its ruling power, we do not always get to escape the feeling of it and have to press past the feeling of fear to do what God is asking us to do. Here again, Satan wants to trap, demean and degrade us if we feel it. Listen, when we really know who we are and who God is, we are just going to have to do some things while yet afraid. This is courage, my friend!
Excerpt from In His Footsteps, by Gabby Heusser (Creation House). Gabby Heusser has a passion to see people come to intimately know Jesus Christ. Her heart is for them to experience His love and presence in a very tangible way. She desires all to live in the freedom and wholeness that Jesus died to bring. Gabby graduated from Christ For The Nations Institute in Dallas, Texas. It was there she met her husband, Andy, and is blessed to serve alongside him in ministry. She frequently has the opportunity to share God’s love with women through teaching, writing, mentoring and praying with them. Together, Gabby and her husband have two daughters, Sarah and Emily, and live in Salem, Oregon.
