What do we have to fear?

Mary did not have anything to fear. She had found favor with God. In the world’s way, she had lots to fear. An unwed mother with a stunning story of how it happened.

In God’s world, she had nothing to fear. Nothing is impossible with God. If you know you have favor with God, you will not fear anything. The two are connected. Do you know you have favor with God?

• We have found favor with Him.
• We have nothing to fear.
• Jesus was born, lived a life of supernatural courage, died to take care of our problems and rose again in Power.

But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.” Luke 1:30-31

Why worry?

God lights my path. God saves me. Simple but straightforward truths about our amazing heavenly Father. I am participating in His new plan for my life. I am hearing great news today. God is smiling. He shows me his grin.

Why should I be worried? Why should I be afraid? If nothing is impossible with God, why would anything seem like a big deal?

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

 May I rely on the stronghold of my life. May I have no fear.

Worrying always results in missing God’s goal

Worrying always results in missing God’s goal. Fear paralyzes and keeps us from acting on what God has planned for us right now.

May I trust Him.

Completely.

Always.

“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” ~~Albert Einstein

We have all been in situations where fear took over. Fear of making a mistake. Fear of being found out we are a fraud.

We couldn’t move forward.

We have also experienced freedom from fear. Working in an environment where we know it is ok to try something new. Knowing we will learn something valuable if it doesn’t work.

“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” ~~Albert Einstein

 

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Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to God. Connecting with Him brings peace. Why worry?

Fear looks. Faith jumps – and never fails to obtain God’s goal!

When Jesus says “Jump”, we jump. That is the essence of faith.

Our enemy. fear, whispers in our ear to look around and see what bad things could happen to us. We become afraid, loose faith and don’t achieve God’s goal.

Fear looks. Faith jumps – and never fails to obtain God’s goal!

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What will I lack?

We are asked to stand in awe of our mighty God. He is God. And there is a promise. If we do, we will lack nothing. Now this also requires that we go after Him. He is available to us but we have to go after Him. No sitting around and waiting. Jesus would go off and spend time by himself hearing and seeing what His Father was up to. Hearing and seeing what God wanted to happen.

We can also be taught how to stand in awe of Him. There are those people of God around us that have insight for us. They have prophetic words for us. They have words of wisdom for us. They see the way and can guide us

We need to tell the truth about God and His ways. Opportunities abound. The harvest of souls is ready. The worst lie is the unspoken truth about God being God, good and great. Opportunities abound!!!

Fear the LORD, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. Psalm 34:9-14

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“Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear.” ~~Corrie Ten Boom

Will I weather the storm?

Jesus didn’t cause the storm to arise. The storm wasn’t His doing at all. He didn’t “weather” the storm although he was sleeping and not concerned or afraid one bit. He did tell it to stop and it did. Completely. It became perfectly calm. No wind. No waves. Just calm.

They were amazed because He is amazing. He did what He saw His Father doing. That is all.

May I see things as He does. May I do what I see Him doing.

He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” Matthew 8:26-27

 

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Where does all my planning get me?

A friend sent me this quote. I have reading it over and over. Not sure who to attribute it to but thought it was worth sharing.

“You will not find My Peace by engaging in excessive planning:  attempting to control what will happen to you in the future.  This is a commonly practiced form of unbelief.  When your mind spins with multiple plans, Peace may sometimes seem to be within your grasp; yet it always eludes you. Just when you think you have prepared for all possibilities, something unexpected pops up and throws things into confusion. 

I did not design the human mind to figure out the future.  That is beyond your capability.  I crafted your mind for continual communication with Me.  Bring Me all your needs your hopes and fears.  Commit everything into My care.  Turn from the path of planning to the path of Peace. “

 

No fear

In our Father’s house there are many, many rooms. But the one thing there is no room for is fear. Every room is filled with His love. In fact, the more His love forms in me and matures, this love just pushes out all fear. It is banished!!

Fear can cripple me and my faith. So I pursue my Father’s love. I seek to have it mature in me. Be well formed. That pushes out the fear.

There is no fear in love ; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 1 John 4:18

Power and love

I don’t have to be timid or shy. Fear can’t grip my heart. He has given me His HOLY Spirit. The Spirit gives me power that I have never known. I can be bold.

I have His love drenching my heart and soul. With His sensible care I persevere. His love is a gift to me.

The discipline He brings into my life makes a difference. I can focus on His daily direction. I can move according to His long range goals for me. That direction and focus drives out all fear.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7

“We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.” ~~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Shouldn’t we be afraid?

You know, if you really think about it, we should all be terrified of God. Anybody that can create the Universe with a word, light up the stars by the millions and breathe life into mankind is simply awe-striking. The sheer power of our God should have us all on our knees trembling in fear, shouldn’t it?

But, Love has been added to the equation. While we are on our knees, it is God’s Love that lets us feel His hands on our cheeks. And He is turning our face upward to Him. He is telling us that He loves us and He is saying that He even knew us before we were born. And we can hear Him. And there is no need at all to be afraid.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Romans 8:35

Take Heart

Many days, there is a whole lot of worrying going on. Fear can cripple. How many times does God come to us and say, “Fear not”? That is one of His great themes. Trust in Him. He is in control. He didn’t bring us this far to leave us now.

Here is the good news. Jesus has overcome everything. He is seated at the right hand of the Father. All is well. It is finished.

 

“But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

—– Jesus,John 16:33

 

Great things are coming

Our Father cares for us. He has great things in mind for us. He is doing it.

What we are concerned about is what we are concerned about. He will complete the good work in us. He hasn’t brought us this far to leave us now. We need to stand firm. He cares for us!! How can anything happen that won’t complete His good work? Everything is working for our good and His glory.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

May we have absolute trust in Him. May we know how much He cares.

Killing Desire is not Sanctification: God is not a Hard Man

Jesus told of the man who entrusted three of his servants with thousands of dollars, urging them to handle his affairs well while he was away. When he returned, he listened eagerly to their reports. The first two fellows went out into the marketplace and doubled their investment. As a result, they were handsomely rewarded. The third servant was not so fortunate. His gold was taken from him, and he was thrown into “outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” My goodness. Why? All he did was bury the money under the porch until his master’s return. Most of us would probably agree with the path he chose-at least the money was safe there. But listen to his reasoning. Speaking to his master, he said, “I know you are a hard man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it” (see Matt. 25:14-30 NLT). He was afraid of the master, whom he saw as a hard man. He didn’t trust his master’s heart.

The issue isn’t capital gains-it’s what we think of God. When we bury our desires, we are saying the same thing: “God, I don’t dare desire because I fear you; I think you are hard-hearted.”

Even though we may profess at one level a genuine faith in him, at another level we are like the third servant. Our obedience is not so much out of love as it is out of carefulness. “Just tell me what to do, God, and I’ll do it.” Killing desire may look like sanctification, but it’s really godlessness. Literally, our way of handling life without God. The deepest moral issue is always what we, in our heart of hearts, believe about God. And nothing reveals this belief as clearly as what we do with our desire.

Fear and no loathing

Nothing is impossible with God. Do we have confidence in Him? Do we know, deep in our inner being, that He loves us and won’t leave us behind. Fear can be crippling. Fear comes from the lack of supernatual courage.

When there is a crisis out, and they do come, our confidence must be in Him. Our courage is with Him. He can, with a word, reverse the crisis.

He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Matthew 8:26

May I trust Him and have His courage.

Always good news

There is always good news with God. He is always happy to have us back when we miss His goal for us. He is strong and never grows tired. His love brings us peace and calms us. He is tickled pink to delight us. He is in a good mood and not upset with us.

Yes, there is always good news with God.

Jerusalem will be told:  “Don’t be afraid. Dear Zion, don’t despair. Your God is present among you, a strong warrior there to save you. Happy to have you back, he’ll calm you with his love and delight you with his songs. Zephaniah 3:16-17

May I be open to the good news and see that God is with me, powerful and delighted with me.

Monsters in the closet

I remember as a child not wanting to sleep in the dark. There were monsters in the closet and under the bed. The light helped. It always does.

There is something about the light. Jesus is the light. He drives out the darkness and all fear.

The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? Psalm 27:1

Ma

Courage

99 out of 100 things we worry about never happen. And yet, we continue to be afraid. Jesus is ever present letting us to know that we need to take courage. He says “It is I”. He is here. Do we hear Him. He says “Don’t be afraid”. Do we hear Him.

He gives us courage in His world. His world is here and now. On earth, as it is in heaven right now.

Jesus said, “Take courage! It is I.
Don’t be afraid.” Mark 6:50

May I take courage. May I have courage. May I hear Jesus.

Fill in the blank

Fill in the blank. But because of __________ I would not confess my faith for fear I will be kicked out of _______ . Because of my colleagues at work? Because of my friends? Because of my family? Because of my boss?

Whose acceptance am I striving for? Whose rejection do I fear? Where does my identity come from?

May I care more what God thinks of me than my colleagues, boss, friends or family. May I seek to please Him in all I do.

Yet at the same time, many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God. John 12:42-43