"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
Our Sunday paper gets the insert magazine, Parade. Today right on the cover was "Let's Stop Scaring Ourselves" by Michael Crichton. Funny because he wrote Jurassic Park and some other "scary" books. The very message we received in church today was being freed from fear.
Apparently fear abounds in the world today, but as Christians we are to be freed from the bondages of the fear that drives unbelievers. In fact, we can be free to share with unbelievers the freedom of Jesus, whether they threaten us or not. Paul said to live is Christ and to die is gain. Either way, as Christians we win! So what is there to fear really but fear itself.
Fill in the blank here: the opposite of love is? What did you answer? Did you answer hate?
If you answered hate, you'd be wrong. The opposite of love is fear not hate although hate is a part of fear. The opposite of faith is fear also. If we have fear our faith and love are greatly lacking. You see God gives us the love we have. It doesn't just manifest out of nowhere, God is infusing us with His love in order that we might love others as an extenstion of His love and grace. When we fear, we are playing right into the devil's hands. He wants us afraid and focused on anything but the love and grace of God.
God does not want us to live our lives stricken with fear because then we are not living in faith. Fear affects us in so many ways, including phyiscally. Fear begins when we buy into the lie. That's what the enemy wants - for us to buy into the lie.
I don't know what is going on in each of your lives as you sit and read this today but I can tell you what I've gone through recently. It rather tickles me when people tell me "Oh, you have your own business you must be raking it in!" The hours alone you put in when you run your own business or businesses is enough to make a 9 to 5er be sick. Well, I recently have grown a bit tired and yes, a bit frustrated. I've never been a patient person. Positiionally I'm in a great place but the waiting is agony! I got rather down.
When I get like that, I always go to my knees. I "wrestle" in prayer, wanting to understand, wanting to fulfull God's purpose in my life NOW, lol! He just pats me on the head in His loving way and says, "Kim, just wait upon Me. My timing is perfect. Don't fret, don't fear." Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." (John 14: 1, NIV).
When we fear brethren, it will result in our disobedience to God. God wants us to step out in faith and He will give the victory unto us for the glory of His name. If we don't take that step though, we are not obeying Him. Our fear is hindering us which means that the paralysis of fear is equal to unbelief, not trusting God to fulfull His promises and that my dear brothers and sisters in Christ is sin.
Fear can lead us down a road of compromise, not allowing God to work in our lives. We can imagine all sorts of things going wrong, fear starts to reside, and then our imaginations run rampant causing ultimately our disobedience to God, resulting in sin. But how do we face our fears??
We face our fears by seeking the Savior, Jesus. "You will keep in perfect peace him who mind is steadfast, because he trusts you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal." Isaiah 26: 3 - 4.
We fight fear with fear. Huh? We fight this earthly fear with the fear of God. Remember the fear of the Lord leads to life. The Bible tells us that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. If you've ever read through the Book of Proverbs you'll see this constantly stated. Does it mean to tremble and go ill with fear? No, absolutely not. The word fear here means, to stand in awe of, in reverential respect and awe of our God. To know that He is in control of all things. If we die, we are with Him, if we live we are living out our lives for His good will and purpose.
Like our pastor said this morning, we know the end of the movie. God gave us the final chapter in human history. We know how this world ends. We have nothing to fear if we are His. Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Jesus IS the truth and He is the way. He IS eternal life. Satan is ever prosecuting us to God but because of the blood of Jesus, we can stand without fear of the eternal judgement of God. God provided us the way to eternal life with Him through His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus.
We need not fear if we've recognized our need for a Savior, repented of our sin and relinquished our lives to Him. We don't need to stay in fear. Fall back on the truths of Jesus, and know that He dealt with death and sin on the cross at Calvary over 2000 years ago. Jesus IS eternal life. Jesus IS the way without fear. Jesus IS the Light.
No fear.
Kim Bloomeris a natural pet care consultant and also publishes a pet wellness RSS channel, http://www.Aspenbloom-WellPet.com and Christian RSS channel, http://www.sharingspirit.net. Go to http://KimBloomer.com for details. Coming soon - "All God's Creatures" audiozine Your Voice Audiozines, http://www.yourvoice.biz
Buddhism is a teaching which has spread worldwide absorbing the... Read More
We met at a Saturday afternoon fund-raising and promotional rally... Read More
There is no doubt in my mind that the quality... Read More
There is continuous creation, out of the new ideas discovered... Read More
1. Faith is a "spiritual substance" on the inside of... Read More
Chronically-ill Christians who do not believe in spiritual healing of... Read More
He Showed 'Compassion'He made lots where there was only little.... Read More
The subject of this document is so unpleasing to the... Read More
Using a good tool over and over doesn't make it... Read More
There is a sharp contrast in Ephesians between the "light"... Read More
The Dead Sea Scrolls continue to be found and there... Read More
"Religion is the fashionable substitute for belief." - Oscar WildeA... Read More
The story of Joshua and Caleb is one of the... Read More
Murders are so frequent in our country that a single... Read More
As I am sure you all can tell by now,... Read More
The Caribbean is the site of another thing which some... Read More
The Christian Church believes that at the close of the... Read More
In these interesting times of change, millions of people the... Read More
So often I am asked, "How do you know that... Read More
Stories have been told about the only thing that saved... Read More
Why does every one believe that Jesus is the son... Read More
Prv:18:2 A Fool Receiveth Not The Words Of Prudence: Unless... Read More
The ark must have been much larger than the dimensions... Read More
As the Chritmas season approaches, I figured it's a good... Read More
One cannot begin to appreciate the early struggles of Christianity... Read More
In five words Paul enunciates the basic principle of the... Read More
The shapeless and formless Tao brings about various elements and... Read More
Over the last few months hundreds of thousands of people... Read More
The framework for the message this morning will consist of... Read More
Rebuilding society and the tax protest movement: A Biblical Opinion... Read More
Memory is a very tricky thing, at least for me... Read More
All of the various denominations of professing Christians may be... Read More
Of a truth, the physical manifestations of God's answers to... Read More
Without question, the greatest story in the Bible of someone... Read More
The Emmaus Journal The Standards Of This World Are Not... Read More
The farmer handed buckets to us, the blueberry pickers. "You're... Read More
These 7 judgments will more than likely occur during the... Read More
In the name of Jesus, what shall we do in... Read More
Many Mexican and Latin Catholics are dismayed that the Cardinals... Read More
It's not necessary to go to church in order to... Read More
To live "under the law" is to live under the... Read More
I am not a particularly pious person and I certainly... Read More
Some people imagine what glory will behold them at the... Read More
I was meditating the other day and contemplating the thousands... Read More
The human being is endowed with ability. We have the... Read More
Have you ever wondered what is power and where does... Read More
Today we are looking at one of the most beautiful... Read More
For it is written in Proverbs 1:7 it says The... Read More
About forty women squatted in small clusters on the floor... Read More
Jesus made her famous, now Amy Grant cashes in one... Read More
The question is not whether terrorism is now a world-wide... Read More
I am with you heart and mind..."Do all that you... Read More
One point many Christian Working Moms who have been interviewed... Read More
Just compare yourself to these two sisters.Even though they were... Read More
Church retreats are an excellent way to involve the church... Read More
This article was in response to an email about someone... Read More
A father savagely murders his nine children. A stay at... Read More
Their high achievement comes as they spend half the money... Read More
Being in the Ministry for a few years now, I've... Read More
Although I've never met Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, I... Read More
As the human race maps out the genome and unlocks... Read More
As believers, we have a responsibility to care for those... Read More
Anyone who has read their Bible would have to concede... Read More
This article is for worship leaders. And as such, I... Read More
Some may ask, why can't I have a lot of... Read More
The power of the Holy Spirit is so profound it... Read More
Religion |