No doubt, the events happening in the world today are scary and can bring much anxiety. But we who belong to the Lord must come to Him with our fears, anxious thoughts and troubles. He says, “fear not” throughout His Word.
Let’s look at some of those verses:
Psalm 56:3-4: “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?”
This passage of Scripture speaks to us, the Body of Christ. We love and trust Him. We praise His Holy Word. HE is Creator of the universe, and yet He is Abba Father (Daddy) to us. He has written our names in His Book of Life. Glorious!
Compare that to what mere men can do to us. The very worst they can do is kill us. As I’ve heard others say, that will simply change our address.
“Absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).
HE is with us!
Deuteronomy 31:6: “Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”
When I read the passage above, I always think of Stephen who was stoned for his faith in Jesus.
Stephen Put to Death (Acts 7:54-60)
“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’
But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!’ Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them!’ Having said this, he fell asleep.”
Stephen endured the pain of being stoned, but his focus was on what he saw in heaven. He was overcome with joy, knowing that he would soon be with his first love. He was so filled with God’s love that he asked Him not to hold the stoning against them.
Psalm 27:1: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?”
Isaiah 41:10: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand”
Matthew 10:28: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
I see some Christians who are fascinated by conspiracy theories. I believe that the Lord does not want us reading about things that may happen, and of which we have no control. We are giving the devil room for his fiery darts when we focus on things which bring fear to our hearts. God’s Word chases Satan away, and fills us with peace that only God can give.
We belong to Almighty God! Isn’t that the most glorious thing in the world? He never sleeps and is watching over us every minute of every day.
Romans 8:15-17: “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Suffering
Will we suffer in this life? Absolutely. Our Jesus suffered on that horrid Cross for SIN that He had never committed—and willingly. He knew what was waiting on the other side of the Cross. He knew that His sacrifice would result in reconciling us to His Father. He gave us His righteousness. We deserved hell.
LOVE sent Yeshua to that Cross.
The apostle Paul knew that his suffering would advance the message of salvation. He knew the impact his imprisonment would have on those who were watching. They wondered, “How is this man still worshiping his God?”
The Gospel Is Preached (Philippians 1:12-15)
“Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, 13 so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, 14 and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the Word of God without fear.”
What do you fear?
2 Timothy 1:7: “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”
Do you fear the Muslim Jihadists?
How about our own government?
Do you fear retirement?
Do you fear for your children who have walked away from God?
Do you fear for your health?
In 2 Timothy 1:7, God is telling us what He has not given us, and what He has given us.
He did NOT give us a timid spirit. He DID give us power and love and discipline.
1 John 4:18: “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.”
Can you remember before you were born-again from above, how the thought of death brought you such anxiety? If you were anything like me, you were convinced that God was going to punish you harshly for all of your sin, and cast you into hell.
I love the part of 1 John 4:18 which says “perfected love.” Those who do not know Him, are not perfected in love. They fear punishment, and rightly so. They find themselves still under the law, which they cannot keep. They feel doomed to failure and the fear of punishment looms over them.
Those of us who belong to Christ know that we were “perfected in love” – HIS Love. The better covenant of grace perfected us and made us holy. We know that we can approach the throne of God boldly. We know how much He loves us.
He showed us how much He loves us when He sent His Son to pay the penalty for our sin, so that when we leave this body, we can stand in His presence—clean and blameless!
So, the next time you are overcome with fear, read the Words from our Lord which comfort and assure us that He is with us, and He will not ever leave us. Brethren, this is true. God cannot lie.
When His peace sets in yet again, do what Paul did all of the time:
Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!”
MARANATHA!
Blessings to you in Yeshua.