@FirstChurchofJerusalem
Today's Early Church Wisdom
“To those who ask us whence we have come or whom we have for a leader, we say that we have come in accordance with the counsels of Jesus to cut down our warlike and arrogant swords of argument into ploughshares, and we convert into sickles the spears we formerly used in fighting. For we no longer take ‘sword against a nation,’ nor do we learn ‘any more to make war,’ having become sons of peace for the sake of Jesus, who is our leader, instead of following the ancestral customs in which we were strangers to the covenants.”
~ Origen (185AD – 254AD)
This week's Psalm is Psalm 31 'My Rock, My Shield, My Song'

Reject the Spirit of Fear

Many are aware that fear has both psychological and physiological components, but not so many realise that it may also have a spiritual dimension. Demons of fear are part of the devil’s troops, and their mission is to fill human lives with anxiety and distress. As disciples of Jesus, we are equipped to resist and banish these foul forces in the supreme authority of Jesus’ Name. As Paul reminds Timothy, God does not give such a spirit: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). Those who choose to practice His presence daily and diligently listen to His voice will experience the fruit of the Holy Spirit, which includes a deep and abiding inner peace. This peace is so strong that it may remain even amid turmoil, danger, and strife. Those who know it understand that the presence of such peace does not necessarily mean the absence of anxiety. Even the apostle Paul said that he was anxious (Greek ‘merimna’) over the state of the churches. But it does mean that whatever anxious concern we experience is proportionate and manageable with His help. Let us therefore reject every spirit of fear and embrace the Spirit of Peace. Thus, we may play our part in bringing peace to a troubled world. May others say of us: “His (or her) presence was a benediction of peace!”