A Fearless Heart
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
Published by angelcasiano
An independent thinker with a profound call to see the orthodoxy of the church and passion for Christ manifesting together. Angel was born in Brooklyn, New York in April of 1968, he was raised on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico where he earned his B.S. degree in Sociology with a minor in Education from the Inter American University in San Germán in 1991. That same year he moved to Jacksonville, Florida. After working construction jobs for a year and learning the English language, his first job working with foster-care children in the capacity of youth care worker was with Jacksonville Youth Sanctuary in September of 1992. With JYS he was promoted several times as group home supervisor, legal caseworker, and program director. While in Jacksonville, Angel studied a couple of martial arts styles. After earning his black belt, he became the founder of Good Fight Ministries as he used martial arts as an instrument to preach the gospel. In 2004 Angel was selected Martial Arts Instructor of the Year for the State of Florida and in 2005 Angel was inducted in the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame where he also received the Christian Spirit Award. In July of 2005 Angel accepted his call to pastor a bilingual church in Winton, NC where he served for a couple of years. Five months later he lost his first wife to cancer in December of that same year. This initiated a deep valley of suffering in his life, a mountain of costly mistakes and the embracing of lifestyles of sin that are well documented through this blog. In August of 2012 Angel moved to Fairbanks Alaska with his wife Rayette Casiano and six children who are now adults. In Alaska, Angel continued his social work-related career and his ministry of preaching, teaching and writing. Angel is the author of two books, Hope for the divorcee: Forgiving and Moving Forward and 7 Banderas de Esperanza: La Bendición de Yokdzonot. In January 8th of 2020 Angel and his wife moved to Arizona. View all posts by angelcasiano
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I always thought of perfect love as a goal; and not as an immediate result. Even Paul admits he hasn’t attained it. It is, however, a goal. As Paul writes, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14). Most versions translate this verse “I press.” Most of the time when we use the word press; it has a feeling of pressing up against an immovable object. For most of us that has been our experience as Christ followers. We don’t seem to make a lot of progress, but we are diligent to keep pushing. The original Greek had a meaning in the world of track and field of which the Greek culture was so keen. It was the word used to describe a sprinter coming across the finish line. A more illustrative description for the faithful is the effort that is required of all of us. Sprints are won by thousandths of a second. That last effort makes the difference.
I wonder sometimes what would happen if Christ followers, no matter what their condition, focused all their energy on developing a strong faith to follow Jesus no matter what! We often hear of how our faith helps us to survive the struggles of life. Faith does help us persevere and find strength when we need it. Paul, however, is a guy who took all of his strength and energy and offered it to Jesus Christ. I think sometimes I get a little soft around the edges and forget that, though my relationship with Jesus is through grace, He is looking for fearless followers to stretch towards the finish line, giving all they have to reach the goal of perfect love.
That’s the way I want to live my life. Maturing, growing, stretching, right up to the end, pursuing my relationship with Jesus Christ, in gain or in loss; in victory or in defeat! I must ask God to forgive me for trusting in my works, my good deeds, and my religious rituals. I want to trust only in Jesus Christ and the power of His resurrection. I am in this race to the end! No matter what happens, I will endure because Jesus endured suffering for me! I must grow in holy living because Jesus told his disciples to “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. ” (Matt 5:48). This is the standard that God set for his people. Therefore, “let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1). Let us “press toward” the goal of perfect love that God has for us so that “we might also are delivered from the torment of fear into the glories liberty of the sons of God.
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