Put on the full armor of God …
Summary: We live in dangerous times, both physically and spiritually. Only one of these realms is eternal, and that is where the greatest danger lies.
Continue reading “Ephesians 6:11a – Fear Can Be Deadly”Matthew 6:25 – The Antidote
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life …
Summary: Worry is a word that describes us imagining things that could go wrong. The fear that results from worry causes us to react. Driven by fear, we fall into the temptation to seek false safety.
Continue reading “Matthew 6:25 – The Antidote”Revelation 19:5 – Before The King
Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small!
Summary: Why do we fear God? That is a question that will be easily answered when we shed this life and discover what is beyond the grave’s veil.
Continue reading “Revelation 19:5 – Before The King”1 Peter 3:6 (b) — Displaced Fear
You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
As a kid, one of my favorite things to do was to play in the dirt. If there was water nearby, that was even better. When I was about six years old, there was a small creek that ran through the woods at the end of the road by our house. As an adult, I wouldn’t look twice at this “creek.” It was just a trickle of ditch water that meandered away from the road under the trees. As a kid, though, it was a world unto itself.
In the mind of a six-year-old boy, the woods and the creek took on mythic dimensions. Lit only by the soft green light of the sun filtering through the trees, shadows added another dimension of mystery. Sticks, rocks, and mud all transformed from the mundane into magical building materials. Within the space of an eye blink (time did not exist in this place), the trickle of water had transformed into a lake behind a large dam. There were roads, causeways, canals, and rivers. It was a peaceful and idyllic miniature world — until disaster struck!
Continue reading “1 Peter 3:6 (b) — Displaced Fear”1 Peter 2:18 — Modern Slaves
Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.
The word “slave” has become a kind of dirty word these days. It is a word like any other. The condition it describes is not pleasant nor is it desirable, but slavery has existed for thousands of years. Even God’s own people, when they lived in Egypt for 400 years were slaves to the Egyptians for most of that time.
Do not misunderstand me. I am not condoning slavery. Yet, look around. How much of the world is free? If people are not free, aren’t they the same as a slave? Slavery still exists and always will until Jesus Himself comes to rule the earth.
Continue reading “1 Peter 2:18 — Modern Slaves”1 Peter 2:17 (c) — An Appropriate Kind of Fear
… fear God …
Are you afraid of God? Should you be? Peter seems to think so.
It seems to me that if God can create and sustain the universe if he created life as we know it, and if he became man and died for our sins, he is a bit beyond our comprehension. We can’t outthink God. We shouldn’t even try.
And let’s talk about power. How much power does God have?
Continue reading “1 Peter 2:17 (c) — An Appropriate Kind of Fear”Fear – John 12: 46
I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
Why would anyone want to stay in darkness? I can think of one reason: They don’t want to be seen.
And why would someone want to avoid being seen: Maybe because they don’t want to get caught doing what they are doing?
To believe in the light is to want to be in the light. Not everyone who wants to be in the light can be. In Jesus’ day, slavery was rampant. The Jews themselves were subject to the Romans. Lives were difficult and physically demanding. Achieving wealth was possible only for the very few. Today we live in a deeply divided world. Not only are we divided by wealth into the haves and have nots, but we are divided by our fears.
Those who live in the darkness of their fears are sometimes trapped by those fears. Some want to get out. Some believe in the fear.
Jesus offers us an alternative to fear. It is as simple as believing in Jesus. When that happens, the light breaks in and the darkness starts to fade.
Continue reading “Fear – John 12: 46”Rare Flower – John 11: 49-52
Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, ”You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.
It is interesting to me how our reasoning works when survival is at stake. The Pharisees were afraid. They were afraid that Jesus would trigger some event that would cause the Romans to “take away their temple and their nation.” They believed that their survival was on the line.
It is important to note here that their fears were only fears. They could not know what would happen. The future is always a blank page. We do not know what will happen until after the day has passed. Yet even though their fear is one possibility out of millions of things that could happen, it seems real to them. So real that it must be avoided at all cost. Even the cost of a man’s life.
Continue reading “Rare Flower – John 11: 49-52”Without Fear
In verses 69-71 (“Horn of Salvation”) we looked at the difference between how the Israelites viewed their enemies and who God sees as the real “enemy.” In this passage, Zechariah returns to that same theme but here he explains the reason why this is important.
…the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
Luke 1: 73-75
To serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness is a picture of great beauty.
Continue reading “Without Fear”