The Unlocked Heart

God was touching a dark place within that He wanted to enlighten by His Presence when He showed me the condition of my heart. I was in a cave behind bars. There were two very ferocious dogs barking at me. I was terrified. Which would put me in a better state? To remain locked in the prison, or to be free and face the dogs? I pushed the gate and it opened. With the realization that the gate was never locked, the dogs disappeared and the vision ended.

What is it that we keep locked up inside for fear of “what happens next” if our hearts get unlocked and what is held inside gushes forth unbounded and unrestrained? What if love, joy, and praise bubble with new life and overflow the boundaries we created. Spilling out on the world around us? What would happen if we stepped outside of the dark world we built for ourselves by fear? I will tell you what will happen. The kingdom of God will manifest in power through you and me.

Unbelief is a prison. Unbelief is sin. Unbelief is mis-placed faith. Those barking dogs represent fear and they have names. The names of your dogs may be different than mine, but our fears have names. John the Beloved writes in 1 John 4:18 that there is no fear in love, but that perfect love casts out all (types of) fear. The only force that keeps us clinging to our unbelief is fear. And the only force that can conquer fear is the love of God. It is the love of God that transforms us into someone we know deep inside exists, but is being held captive.

I think that we fail to equate God’s love with power. The word used in 1 John 4:18 for “cast” can denote either violent expulsion or deliberate placement. God’s perfected love is a power that violently expels our fears and deliberately places us under the flow of His love. No other place is as desirable, powerful, or fulfilling. Therefore, it is God’s love, and only God’s love, that liberates us from our fears so we can walk out of our prison of unbelief.
When we release our grip on unbelief, we can then embrace faith. Mark 11:22 tells us that we have the faith of God. Faith that can speak universes into existence. Faith that can move mountains. Faith to trust in God who is for us and loves us.

The good news is that the prison of unbelief guarded by fear is not locked. Your heart is already unlocked. The love of God does not muzzle our fears but obliterates them and sets us free to express the fullness of all that is God within.

Prayer: 
God, I confess the sin of unbelief and ask for Your forgiveness, which I receive now by faith. Show me your tender mercies as I draw near to You, and You draw near to me. I desire to experience your tender mercies as I linger in Your Presence. Intimate knowledge of your kindness and mercy releases the power of your love to cast out fear. I loosen my grip on unbelief and embrace faith. The faith of God working in me. Faith that You love me and delight in me. Faith that You will never leave me abandoned and alone. Faith that You will lead me and guide me into all Truth. Faith in God who is bigger than my fears. Faith in God who takes my troubles and turns them into victories.  Faith that works by love. In Jesus name