Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this beautiful day. It is going to be one of the ten best days. We will gather for our mid-week gathering for food and fellowship this eve at 6 PM and for Bible study and the children's ministry at 6:30 and Choir practice at 7:30 PM.
It is written in 2 Timothy 1:7, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Somebody has said it in this way, "Reject the diagnosis of fear and get a second opinion from God!" This is a recurring biblical theme. There are many places in the Bible where we are told that we, as Christ's followers, do not need to live in fear. Fear should never dominate us or control us. Fear is one of Satan’s biggest tools to rob us of the healing God has for heartaches.
There is a fascinating story about Mordecai written in the Book of Esther. Mordecai publicly showed his displeasure with Haman's wicked plot to destroy the Jewish people by entering a period of fasting and crying out to God for help. He stood firm in the face of the threats to himself and his people and fully relied on the providence of the Lord to provide a way of escape from the danger.
Whatever it is that threatens our spiritual, emotional, relational, mental, or physical well-being, we are called to reject the diagnosis of fear. Sometimes our heartaches are magnified because we inflate our fears instead of deflating them.
During his reign of terror between 1875 and 1883, Black Bart was credited with stealing the valuables from twenty-nine different Wells Fargo stagecoach crews. In journals from San Francisco to New York, his name became synonymous with danger on the frontier. The most remarkable thing about this is that this professional thief accomplished his escapades without ever firing a shot!
His weapon was his reputation. His ammunition was intimidation. A hood hid his face. No victim ever saw him. No artist ever sketched his features. No sheriff could ever track his trail. He never took a hostage. He didn’t have to. His presence was enough to paralyze. He was Black Bart, a hooded bandit armed with a deadly weapon - FEAR!
As it turned out, he really wasn’t anyone to be afraid of. When the authorities finally tracked him down, they didn’t find a bloodthirsty bandit from Death Valley. They found a mild-mannered druggist from Decatur, Illinois. The man the papers pictured storming through the mountains on horseback was, in reality, so afraid of horses he rode to and from his robberies in a buggy. He was Charles E. Boles - the bandit, who never once fired a shot, because he never even loaded his gun!
In Esther, Haman’s wicked plot to murder all the Jews was cause for deep concern, but there was no chance that God was going to let that edict of death take place. God had made promises to the Jewish people. He had made a covenant to bless all the nations of the earth through them. (Genesis 12) "And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather be afraid of Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two little sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s leave (consent) and notice." Matthew 10:28 (NCV)
"I told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have trouble, but be brave! I have defeated the world." John 16:33 (NCV)
The Lord has put us where we are "for such a time as this."
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHdcyue0bSw
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment