LOVE WILL CAST OUT FEAR!

Love will cast out Fear

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love”
(1 John 4:17-18 (NIV).

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid”
(John 14:27 (NIV).

Jesus gave us his peace that surpasses all of our natural understanding telling us that God is love. It is with His identity in His heart located within each of us that all fears of our imagination and tormenting voices must flee (1 John 4:16). Our Heavenly Father is a jealous Dad who will not allow any idols (fears) in His house (you). Even the power to remove the “tormenting fears” we struggle with daily belongs to God (Psalm 62:11).

How many deceptive voices are counseling your mind?

The fear of:
Death
Loss of job
Change
What others think
What is happening with my children
Concern with family or friends
Darkness
Health
Insecurity
Being a sinner or doing something wrong
Lack of finances
Falsely judged
Insecurity
Correction
Loss of control
__________________ (you fill in the blank)

We have not received the spirit of bondage to these or any other fears; but we have received the Spirit of God allowing us to boldly go before the throne of God calling Him Father (Romans 8:15). God did not give us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a righteous mind (2 Timothy 1:7).

The reason these fears enter our thoughts is not that God wants to condemn us, for there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus who gave us the Spirit of Life and Power. God has allowed these counselors of “fear” to come forth into the light of our awareness (His presence within us) so that the thoughts of our imagination are judged within ourselves allowing the perfect love we have in Him to cast out all our fears. Paul says 1 Cor 4:3-5, “I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. The Lord judges me. Therefore, judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God” (NIV).

God has allowed your fears and thoughts of the imagination to come forth so that He can reveal to you Christ within yourselves. The kingdom of God is righteous, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is not just in word, but also in His power that we manifest His presence through our faith in God. We are not to be afraid or tormented when our thoughts or imagination try to counsel us with “fear,” but to have faith in God that it is our Father’s good pleasure to give us His kingdom today (Luke 12:32).

It is with this understanding that our love, our identity in Christ, is made perfect. There is no fear in love, in God, and nothing is impossible for Him.

God’s perfect love in you will cast out all imagination of thoughts that is made perfect in His love. Bring your concerns and fears before the Lord allowing Him to remove them as He surrounds you with His peace. When we understand the reason that we were made aware of any fear is so that His presence, His love, His life, within you can cast out those “fears” allowing our identity in Christ to be made perfect. It is in this perfection that when others see us, they see their Heavenly Father…for it is Christ in us, the hope of His glory, which is manifested in the earth as the sons of God.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:3-9 (NIV).

Kick The enemy IN THE TEETH!!!

OK so I know on my blog I was doing some writing on some teaching about the Holy Spirit and I will continue doing that in the near future but today Jesus threw me a curve ball and told me to write about something that he has been teaching me through the many weeks of rest I have had. So let's dive in!! Day by day we must, notice I said we... illustrate our commitment to Jesus with a sacrifice that serves OTHERS in the midst of mounting opposition. Anything worth accomplishing requires great sacrifice in the lives of those that want to live out the great commission!! It's not easy as we walk by faith and carry our cross daily. There are times I myself as a follower of Christ want to throw my hands up and say "You know what the hell with it!" but there is something deep inside of me that wants to see people come to Jesus and myself mature and grow as a believer. NEVER NEVER let the enemy overcome who you are in Jesus. You are a child of God who has the king inside of you and with that YOU CAN DO ANYTHING. Step back for a second and just look at Nehemiah, read Nehemiah, heck read Phil. 4:13 YOU CAN DO ANYTHING IN THE NAME OF JESUS! Because there is mighty POWER in the name of our lord. MAKE SURE YOU DO IT FOR THE RIGHT REASONS! We must persevere til the end. Love you all. It is my prayer that you kick the enemy in the teeth and help the big C "Church" RUN UP THE SCORE. One Love, Jason Ashley

DJGF EMOTIONS!

The fourth century theologian Augustine: insights on fear. Augustine teaches that humans are created to love and designed to love. He teaches they are four principal emotions that shape us as we pursue love. They are DESIRE, JOY, GRIEF, and most of all FEAR! John Charles Selner, who studied Augustine and wrote many books on this subject, tells it like this, “Desire attracts us to what we love. Joy accompanies the experience of love. Grief is what we feel when we lose love. Fear is the emotion we experience when we believe we may lose love.” This is so true; I have felt this way many times in my life and as a matter of fact this week. You see pursuing love is an emotional battle. However these emotions can shape us if we let them. So many of us are control freaks. We try to control everything even love when the reality is we need to pursue love instead of trying to control it. I have never been great at this at times I’m sometimes lazy at pursuit. Whether it be planning a date night or just stopping and listening to my wife. You see that’s the secret to a successful marriage listening to your wife. Although I struggle at this from time to time I try my hardest to listen to my wife. That is all women want we as men to listen. If were honest we all struggle with pursuit in some way. Whether it is laziness, fear, or just not making the time to pursue. So do we acknowledge? Or do we ignore pursuit? Is today the very day you try harder to pursue your spouse? I am going to pursue like never before. Remember the four principal emotions that shape us as we pursue love. Desire, Joy, Grief, and Fear let them shape you! Have a Jesus filled day!

Move FORWARD!

When you placed your trust in Jesus Christ as your ETERNAL Savior, God forgave all the offenses you committed against him, adopted you in his AWESOME family and gave you an inheritance that he, himself, stands guard over in Heaven for you. God also filled you with the presence of the Holy Spirit, who has energized you for special service to God and ministry to everyone your life touches. This makes you special to God both relationally and functionally. Some days if your in ministry you may feel like giving up or like everything you touch doesn’t go as planned! Press on and move forward like Jesus did, carrying the cross wasn’t an easy task either. He could have stopped every time he got spit on, mocked, beaten and just give up, but his Passion to do what only he could do “SAVE THE WORLD” gave him the very strength to keep going! So when the days seem long remember you are a child of the most high and he reigns over everything. There is nothing our God can’t do, I’m living proof! I deserve hell but he shows me mercy, thank you Jesus Christ! To all my peeps I Love each and every one of you remember ONE GOD, ONE LOVE, ONE WAY(John 14:6) with Love for all Jason!

Personal and Ministry thoughts!

Good morning to all of you out there who may read this! What a beautiful October morning here in South Carolina. I want to just talk about whats going on in my life at the current moment and share some personal things with you. So here we go! As many of you know me and my best friend Matt Beasley started a non-profit ministry called the LOT project about 8 months ago and wow what a road it has been so far. We have seen God move mountains and tear down walls that seemed huge at the time. The one thing that has really rocked my world is the fact that we have a group of people that surround us right now that love God and love people! They are some of the most Godliest men and women I know. The one question me and Matt had when God placed this vision on our hearts was "I wonder who God is going to place in our lives to help us?" Then it was like wow we had so many people wanting to help. God has put what me and Matt call a dream team together, some crazy people that simply follow Jesus Christ and dream big dreams! Let me just go ahead and say this before I continue. I praise Jesus for who he has placed in our lives and we are very thankful for all of you. I was not going to do this but oh well. I am going to list some people who have really bought into the vision and are the ones actually making this thing happen many who have been behind the scenes. Dan and Leslie White and family, Tekedra Blanding and family, Kat Laun and her mom Cathy Spaulding, Andy Gibson, Matts,s mom and dad Mary and Donny Beasley, my wife Amber Ashley, Kerry "BROTHER" Bailey and family, Josh Evans, Hannah Bolt, Brian Narcisse, Josh Cline, Cherie and Shane Duffey, Crystal and Ernie Johns, Sandra Counts and family, Tara Payne, Kelly Anderson, Morgan and Jeremy Cobb, Matt Shulte, Michael Parker, Tommy Cross and family, Matt's Grandparents, Jed and Isaac Aho, Craig Walker, Tabitha Vasalis, Stephen and Elizabeth Carroll, The Wagners, The Coopers, Justins and Ashley Sheffard, All of THE SHOTGUN GUYS, and so many others who give of their time every week to serve the LEAST OF THESE. There is one more group I want to say thank you to and without these people the LOT project would not be what it is. To all of the Newspring Fuse youth that serve every week you guys and gals are awesome and we love all of you, keep following hard after Jesus! You see the one question we had was answered over and beyond what we had ever dreamed. Which leads into my next point when you plant a ministry God will take care of the details just follow him and listen to what he says and do it! Leading a ministry is a hard job but it has a ETERNAL IMPACT! So if God is leading you to plant a ministry just do it and watch God show off! Don't worry about how it will run me and Matt have both been busy, Me with raising a family and working and him with school and also working and it hasn't missed a beat! If ministry ever begins to be about you always being there you would have to ask yourself one question "Is it for you or are you doing it for Jesus?" I am currently taking 8 to 10 weeks off of ministry while me and my wife prepare to have our 3rd child. I am more excited now than I was when we planted the LOT project. Because I know God has placed people in our lives that love God and love people and that this ministry will continue to see growth because we have people that serve Jesus and desire to see change in our communities. I want to praise and thank Jesus Christ for his incredible favor on our lives and thank him for reaching down when I couldn't reach up. Please pray for me and my family while we are getting ready for our 3rd child. Please pray for Matt as he is finishing school and traveling a lot for this ministry. Also please ray for Andy Gibson and Kat Laun as they continue structuring and organizing this ministry. We are a blessed group of people and it's only by God's grace that we get to do what we do! I know this has been a long post but I pray it encourages you. Have a blessed day! Love Jason Ashley

Up or down?

Have you ever wondered how you can be in such a great mood and then one thing just ruins your day. Or maybe you wake up and nothing seems to be going your way. As Christians we can be so pumped up and motivated. Maybe we just seen a life long friend come to know Jesus, we just led someone to Christ, or even we in our own walk got our world rocked by a life changing message. They are many other things that can set you on fire spiritually! But what do you do when things just seem to steal your joy, take away from your life, or maybe you feel like your running on empty? Lets face it life is a challenge and being who Jesus called you to be and obeying him is very challenging but we have to press on. I'm going to share some scripture with you that helps me when i get down and out! Proverbs Chapter 3 Verses 1-10. 1 my son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart,2 for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. 3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck write them on the tablet of your heart.4 Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. You can continue this reading of scripture in your bible! I hope this lifts you up and gets you in the 66 book love letter he wrote to us! Have an awesome day!!!! Jason

Giving God your ALL!

Let me just say before I write anything we at "The LOT Project" give Jesus Christ all honor, all glory, and all praise for what he did through this family's situation. The very fact that he would choose us humbles me as i write this. It all started when I got a phone call at 9:30 pm on a Friday night from a ministry leader here in Anderson. He said "I have a 28 year old single mom who has been in an abusive relationship. She has a nine year old, a 21 month old, and a newborn. She has packed up diapers, wipes, i hamper of clothes, and she is headed to Anderson. That's all she has. She has nowhere to go". He told me that he had called every program and every woman's home in the upstate and that there were no openings anywhere. Then he said something that at the time made my heart scream. He said "You guys are our last hope. Jason, I know you guys can make this happen". So I immediately went to the Lord and prayed "Use us. Have your way with us. Bring your people, together to make this happen." I didn't know how? I didn't know when? I just know Jesus spoke very clear to me and it literally sent chills from my head to my feet. His exact words to me were "I will give you strength, I will give you resources but you are going to have to step up and lead this situation and know that I've got you." I met the mother and the 3 children at Wendy's off exit 19 in Anderson. Seeing those children and that mom in need broke me to the point that I would do anything to help them and that's what I told Jesus! We took them to a local hotel owned by a friend and put them in a room for five days! With some help from other folks we stocked them with food. Then I began looking for a house. I made 1 phone call and boom we had a house. I was told the house needed a lot of work and that if we wanted to redo it we could. So on Sunday we began working on the house. I called all our volunteers, shared the story and they were all in! Many of them dropped everything they were doing, even their jobs (They took days off from work!) and began helping! The Haven of Rest in Anderson replaced the porch. We replaced all the carpet. The bathroom and parts of the kitchen were redone. We painted and boy did we clean. We were able to paint the outside of the home and even landscape the yard! Then came the fun part decorating and moving furniture in for the family. We got the house finished, which only took 4 days (yes I know our God is HUGE!). Other folks were able to fill up the fridge and cabinets with food, cleaning supplies, dishes, pots, pans, Heck everything! It was one of the most fulfilling things I have ever done, but I assure you it was not easy! I learned several things through this. The most important thing I learned however was that God has surrounded our ministry with people that truly LOVE serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! We as a ministry are 6 months old and God is doing huge things. That rocks my world! I pray this story encourages you but at the same time challenges you to get out of your comfort zone and trust Jesus to lead you! If it's God"s will, its God's bill. We all do things like this everyday if we unite as one body!!!! Thanks again to all who pitched in to make this happen. This family's life has been forever changed! Check us out on the web @ www.thelotproject.com. We are also paying this family's bills for a year so get on board and help us help others! You can donate online and it's safe and easy JUST DO IT! Love you all through the LOVE of Jesus thanks again to all who helped, Jason Ashley.

Thank You

In the ministry it is a tough but awesome job and every once in a while we get a simple encouraging letter or even just a sentence to help us along. The day Jennifer sent this to me I was exhausted but her encouragement lifted my spirits! I encourage you to lift your Pastors and staff up on a regular basis! They pour out so much and they need to hear encouraging things to give them more and more motivation to push a little harder! Here is one letter short and sweet that JACKED ME UP! Thank You Jennifer! "Keep it up Jason! I am so proud of you! I remember that it wasn't that long ago you was telling me that you felt God calling you into the ministry but he had not revealed his plans yet.....seems like you are following his will! :-) Thank you for what you are doing to help others! Jennifer Campbell"

WORK

Good Morning to all off you! I pray this very short post will encourage you! In scripture Philippians 1:6 says "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." So who decides it? Who performs it? Who should your confidence be in? Christ Jesus! I pray today that all of you will be at ease knowing that Jesus who started a work in you will complete it. But we as Jesus Freaks have to listen and obey! Have an AWESOME day and please pray for me and the lot project team as we are taking some big steps of Faith. We all Love you! To my readers no that I Love You so so much and remember DO IT UP BIG TODAY, SPREAD JESUS ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE! with much love Jason

Digging for DIRT?

I would like to start out today’s post with a question I think we all need to answer. Are you going for dirt or gold? Please! Let me explain. Encouragement is a great thing; we all like it and want more of it. In a very negative world encouragement is hard to locate. It seems like everyone’s out to get dirt on somebody. We see it in Hollywood everyday, it also happens in the workplace and yes even churches all across this country. The fact of the matter is some people would like to see you screw up more than see you succeed! I know it’s sad but these types of people are not happy and they screw up so much they like to see you screw up just to make them feel better! Thank God not all people are like this! There are still people out their willing to look past the dirt to what’s behind it GOLD! You see gold miners often have to drill through tons of dirt to get to 1 ounce of gold. They are determined to find something great! Lets face it we are all not good people, but we all have positive attributes about us! So realize this, we all have gold behind our dirt but often people would rather see your screw ups than your success! Jesus Christ makes no mistakes and when he created you he created something beautiful and he has an incredible plan for your life. YOU HAVE A PURPOSE! So try today to look at the positives in each other; people you work with, family, friends. Look past the dirt “We All Have It” and look for the gold. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 says “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up….” We must encourage not discourage! Let me hit you with a rhyme for one second “You see Jesus is the up not the down. Not the bottom, he’s the top. He’s the left, he’s the right. He’s the go, he’s the stop. He’s the light of the world that never burns out; he’s the author of the book so he knows how it turns out!!!” This rhyme or rap as some would call it is so true. Jesus is the up so look up today. Encourage one another and smile with love in your heart at someone today! Your smile may be the only one they see all day! With love to ALL! Jason

EXPOSED

Good evening everyone! I would like to talk today about EXPOSING! Nobody likes to here the word Satan but I’m going to be talking about him today. I will be exposing him! Please pay attention to this verse especially the first part! 1 Peter Chapter 5 verse 8 says. Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour! As I unpack this text it may get very personal, but that’s OK. The first part I think is the most important be SELF-CONTROLLED AND ALERT! You have to be constantly aware of your surroundings and use the knowledge the lord gives you. Some people think they can live like hell 6 days a week and then come to church on Sunday and everything is OK. Newsflash its not, if your doing this you have no self control and you’re using Jesus as a prostitute! Yes I said it a prostitute, you go to him whenever things get hard and turn away when things are great! Sometimes you may do this and be so caught up in the motions you don’t realize it. Others may know they are doing it and really could care less and that’s sad. If you can do this every week and feel no conviction it may be time for a salvation check! We must live in a constant state of repentance and not give the Devil one inch because he can come in and rule your life if you allow him to. A lion is very sneaky and after he has made his kill he will always roar! Why the roar? Is it because he is getting emotional about the kill? The answer is no. Often when a lion makes a kill a pack of scavengers will come up and run him off! You see the lion roars to make everyone think he is big and bad when the truth is he is submissive. So basically he is a wimp with a big mouth! Sound familiar Satan has a big mouth and it’s filled with lies! He will lie to you. He will tell you God does not love you, you’re worthless, you will never make it, etc….. Folks I’m telling you we don’t have to listen to that garbage. We must realize we can keep Satan in proper perspective. He is submissive to God and if God lives in you. You can resist him! You see we are children of the most high and he created us for a purpose. He has a great life already planned for us! You see 1 John 4:4 says, He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. So if you are struggling and Satan is attacking you! Tell him Go to Hell! Jesus Christ is Ruler not him! He will flee! If your on the front lines for Jesus he wants to destroy you more than anyone so always be Self-Controlled and Aware! If this offended you take it up with God he told me to blog about this today and I will be held accountable for what he ask me to do! So get over it and smile! Have a great evening! Love Jason

Hearing our CRIES!

Whats going on to all my peeps out there! I am going to be blogging about God hearing our cries and defending his people. You know i don't have to tell you life is HELL sometimes! Life is what happens why your making plans! We all have our own issues and problems and I will be the first to admit to you I'm a screwed up individual. However I think God uses screwed up people to reach the lost! If you don't believe me read the Bible! Back to our lives and God hearing our call for help, our cries begging him to get us out of a mess we may or may not have created! As I read scripture I see an AWESOME verse and I have to share it with you. Psalm 10:17-18 "You hear,O lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and oppressed, in order that man , who is of the earth, may terrify no more."You see God hears our cries and he will always be here to encourage us as believers! Life makes no sense to us sometimes! We lose people we love, we lose jobs when we least expect it, we have multiple unexpected bills pop up out of nowhere! We have friends and family who we love dearly who just can't seem to grasp the Gospel! Jesus did say "In this life we will have trouble" he meant every word to! I have been through a very rough abusive childhood, I have battled depression for years, I am no different than many of you out there we all have something going on in our life! It's never easy but there is one thing I do know Jesus is REAL and he has helped me through some tough times and situations! I Love Jesus so much! I can promise you one thing Jesus Christ is the TRUTH and if you follow his teachings and apply the things you learn you will always have HOPE! So you may feel like today your far from God and he doesn't hear you NEWSFLASH he does, so seek God today he loves you very much and only wants the best for you but he also wants the best from you! With Love to all!!!!!! Jason