Psalm 55:18

He ransoms me and keeps me from the battle waged against me, though many still oppose me. Psalm 55:18

Fear: What it IS and What it IS NOT

Fear is something that everyone struggles with from time to time.

Now that I am a parent of two small (albeit amazing) children, fear in general has become a bigger mental and spiritual battle for me.

Now, I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again: we as humans thirst for Truth.

What is Truth?

Truth IS reality ACCORDING TO GOD.

Not reality according to your emotions. Not reality according to your desires or dreams.

And (God forbid) not reality according to reality television.

How do we know then, what God views as “real” or “truth” or universally consistent and good and just?

Lots of people will spend their whole lives looking for this, when all they need to do is open up the Bible, or the Living and Unchanging Word to know what is REALLY going on.

The Devil has all kinds of tactics to keep us away from realizing the Truth.

My pastor breaks these tactics down into three steps:

1. To DEFEAT you: He does this by keeping you out of Heaven’s gates, in other words, “unsaved.”
2. To DECIEVE you: If he can’t keep you from being defeated, he will continue to distort your emotions and deceive you to BELIEVING that you are defeated … when IN REALITY, with CHRIST you are NEVER defeated…but you can sure FEEL that way.
3. To DISTRACT you: When all else fails, this tactic is to keep you focused on everything besides the promises of God. Distractions are anything that keeps you from God’s plan for your life, from experiencing God’s immense blessing, and/or from working to further The Kingdom.
1.  (“Fear” for me lately)  

Here’s what the world tells us about fear: “Haven’t you seen the news lately? We’re going nowhere fast and there’s nothing you can do to make anything better. Things happen to good people all the time and it’s completely unfair and random and no good ever comes of it.”

Here’s what my emotions tell me about fear: “If I just keep control over everything in my life my family and I will be safe. If I can just make sure I do this and stay away from that, I can, through my own actions, protect myself and those I love.”

Here’s what the REALITY is:

All things work together for the GLORY and HONOR of THE LORD.

Let’s break this down.

One of my worst fears is having my house burn down (with all my stuff in it).

I’m not at all fearful of losing the sheets and the television (my husband might disagree with me on that) and the dishes.

I’m fearful of losing the hundreds of organized photo albums and scrapbooks and my son’s teeny tiny hospital shirt that he wore the first two weeks of his life

But, here’s the reality:

If it will bring Glory and Honor to The Lord by my house burning down (with everything in it), I could sit in the house 24 hours a day constantly pacing between turning the knobs on the stove and unplugging the hair straightener and keep all my documents in super expensive fireproof safes … but the Lord’s will would prevail and some “final destination” stuff would go down and my house WOULD burn down (with everything in it).

And, on the other hand, if it will bring Glory and Honor to The Lord by my house NOT burning down (with everything in it), the whole city could be ablaze and my house would remain neither scathed nor scorched by a single ember. 

The fear of the LORD leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm. Proverbs 19:31

So, is the conclusion here to go get drunk and walk around Tijuana at 2:00AM female and alone because we’re “saved?”

Absolutely not. God gave us better wits than that, surely.

But rather, the decision is to remain faithful in our walk with God and to rest assured that everything, EVERYTHING, EVERY SINGLE THING, will be used for GOOD in our life.

If you know how to give good gifts to your kid, how much more will your Father give good gifts to those who ask him!

Matthew 7:11

And we know that in ALL THINGS God works for the GOOD of those who follow him! Romans 8:28

I’ll close with one of my favorite stories/parables.

There’s a man whose amongst a great flood and he’s standing on his roof as his city fills with water.

A boat comes by and shouts to the man on the roof, “Climb aboard! We’re headed for safety!”

The man responds, “No, I am waiting for my Lord to save me.”

A helicopter comes and the pilot hollers over the radio, “We’re sending someone to down to you!”

But again the man responds, “No thank you, I am waiting for my Lord to save me.”

So, the city fills up with water and the man on the roof drowns and goes to Heaven.

The man, annoyed, asks God, “Where were you?! I was waiting for You to save me!”

And God responds, “Who do you think sent the boat and the helicopter?”

Jesus' Resume

Okay…this blog may be considered a lazy entry.

But I just thought this was too good not to pass on.

The following is from my pastor’s Easter sermon.

What I find most powerful from this excerpt of his sermon is the amazing eloquent way that he sums up exactly how Jesus in ALL ways conquered the “World’s” definition of success…all by simply being who He is.

The World (and the devil) so distorts both the goals of success and the paths on which to get there.

In adjoining Christ to your heart, by accepting Him as your personal savior, you are privy to these amazing successes as well.

Jesus loved you and therefore He did it all.

And He did it for you and He did it all by himself.

Our instincts say, “Climb!” Jesus Christ says, “Climb aboard, and I’ll lift you and I’ll bring you where you need to be!”

We believe in the incomparable Christ.

More than 2000 years ago there was a man who was born contrary to the normal laws of nature.

This man lived in poverty, he was raised in obscurity.

He traveled very little crossing the boundary of His own country only one time during His exile in Egypt. He possessed neither wealth nor influence. His relatives were inconspicuous. He had no training nor formal education.

In infancy, He startled a king.

In childhood, He puzzled the doctors of theology.

In manhood, He walked upon the waves as pavement and hushed the sea to sleep.

He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for His service.

He never wrote a book, and yet, perhaps all the libraries of the world could not hold the books that have been written about Him.

He never wrote a song, and yet, He has furnished the theme for more songs than all the songwriters combined.

He never founded a college, but all the schools put together could not boast of having as many students.

He never marshaled an army, nor fired a gun, no ever drafted a solider, and yet, no leader has ever had more volunteers under His orders nor make as many rebels drop their weapons and surrender without a shot being fired.

He never practiced psychiatry, and yet, He’s healed more broken hearts than all the doctors far and near.

His enemies could not destroy Him.

The grave could not hold Him.

He is the risen, ever-living savior, Jesus Christ.

Aren’t you tired of climbing?

Haven’t you done all you can do and it’s still not enough?

Shift your paradigm. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Can I get an AMEN?!