In the past few weeks, we have seen fear and panic on full display.  Empty store shelves speak of the collective concerns people have of being without essential products, necessities, and familiar comforts. In the midst of this current crisis, it seems as though the greatest fear of all…is the fear of being without.

To some extent, this is a perfectly normal reaction.  As human beings, we all have a natural survival instinct. When threatened, we tend to protect ourselves and the ones we love.  It’s only natural.

But, and this is the big question, is it natural for Christians to fear being without? To fear that we do not or will not have the supply we need. To be afraid that we will find ourselves without essential previsions, necessities, and comforts?

Has the fear of being without caused us to overlook what we already have? 

Recently, I saw this dynamic play out in a news story about a state representative who had been asking the government for supplies that, as it turns out, were already stored in an easily accessible warehouse. In short, he had been asking for something he already had. Besides being embarrassing, this story highlights the inherent problem of not being aware of what you possess.  If you don’t know what you have, you can’t benefit from having it.  It might as well not exist.

What you don’t know can cause you to be fearful, ineffectual, and might even destroy you. 

When Christian believers become fearful, overly penitent or even critical toward God, it is a good indication that they have a very limited understanding of exactly what God placed in their spirit (internal warehouse) at the time of their new birth.  In their “natural” state of mind, they assume God has not supplied because they don’t know what they already have.  They fear being without when the truth is, they have everything they need…they just don’t know it.

This is the situation to which Paul was speaking when he prayed for the eyes of the believers to be opened in Ephesians 1:18.

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,  [I always pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may grant you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation [that gives you a deep and personal and intimate insight] into the true knowledge of Him [for we know the Father through the Son].  And [I pray] that the eyes of your heart [the very center and core of your being] may be enlightened [flooded with light by the Holy Spirit] so that you will know and cherish the hope [the divine guarantee, the confident expectation] to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints (God’s people), and [so that you will begin to know] what the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His [active, spiritual] power is in us who believe.  ~  (Ephesians 1, 17-18 (Amp.).

Yes, that’s a mouthful but it emphasizes what Paul knew and why he was concerned. 

What Paul recognized is that it is hard to walk in or benefit from that of which you are not aware. You can’t implement or enjoy what you don’t know you have. 

So what exactly is our internal warehouse and what kind of supplies has God provided? 

This is where it gets good! 

When a person makes a decision to receive Christ and professes his belief in Christ, the Holy Spirit quickens or brings to life (regenerates) that person in his innermost being (spirit). 

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.  ~ (2 Corinthians 5:17,18, (NKJV).

To be reconciled with God is to be in harmony with God.  Old things have passed away (past tense), all things have become new (present tense).  Thus, at our new birth, our spirits become a repository of “every good thing that is ours in [our identification with] Christ Jesus.”  ~ (Philemon 1:6).

When we are aware, knowledgeable, and understand what God has placed in our spirit, in grace, through Christ, the rest of our Christian walk becomes a matter of learning how to appropriate and utilize all of the good things God has placed in our internal warehouse.

It becomes our responsibility to learn, discern, and put into practice the completed work of Christ, that dwells in us. 

“But solid food is for full-grown men, for those who senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law.” ~ (Hebrew 5:14, (Amp.).

So, what are some of the benefits, resources, and assets to which you have full access and are now sitting in your internal warehouse waiting for distribution? 

1. God has given you a spirit of power, love, and a calm, well-balanced mind, discipline, and self-control…not fear.  (Timothy 1: 7).
2. You have the same power living in you (as a believer) that raised Christ from the dead. (Ephesians 1:19, 20).
3. You are a joint heir with Christ and are seated with Him in the heavenly sphere. (Ephesians 2:6) (Galatians 4:7).
4. You have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:16).
5. You have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, “…Who is from God, [given to us] that we might realize and comprehend and appreciate the gifts [of divine favor and blessing so freely and lavishly] bestowed on us by God.” (1Corinthians 2:12, (Amp.).
6. You are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).
7. You live in the protection and the shadow of the Almighty, our Refuge and Fortress where neither plague, destruction, or terror of night, can touch you. (Psalm 91).
8. You can do all things through Christ. (Philippians 4:13).
9. You are the head and not the tail, you are above and not beneath. (Deuteronomy 28:13).
10. Your spirit is like Jesus, right now, in this world. “As He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:18).   

Are you beginning to see it? 

Are you beginning to get a feel for your true identity in Christ? 

Can you see the great repository of good things and the abundant supply that exists in your internal warehouse? 

It’s time for us to stop facing this present darkness as if we are unskilled, unprepared, and unsupplied footmen.  It is time for us to recognize and live in the fullness to which we have been called and in the richness of God’s supply. 

As children of the Most High we can rest in God’s faithful provision and pull from the limitless supply He has placed in our spirit.

In the natural, you can expect to be influenced by this present darkness, but remember, as children of the new birth, we have been given a new nature in Christ and are no longer subject to the old ways of thinking and being.  As believers in Christ, we have a massive internal warehouse, stocked to the gills with every good thing just waiting to be tapped and appropriated.

Take time to take an inventory of all of the good things God has placed at your disposal.  Learn who you are in Christ, and then begin to appropriate these gifts of grace through faith. 

You might just find that all of the things you thought you needed…are already yours. 

Love and grace,

TMarie  

Chrysalis Connections, LLC

Teresa M. Walters, MA, LMFT, LAC

204 Hobbs Street

Plainfield, IN 46168

317-760-0604