Psalms 112 Fear and Love

Psalm 112 Excerpts

¹ Praise the Lord.

Blessed are those who fear the Lord……….

⁷ They will have no fear of bad news;
   Their hearts are steadfast,

Trusting in the Lord. ………

Their hearts are secure; They will have no fear……..
…….. But the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.

What are you afraid of?

Put a different way………

What carries weight in your life?

Or……

What do you take seriously?

Personally, I have a great fear of……..

Failure…..

Embarrassment…….

Being seen as weak…….

Not being taken seriously……..

By  mere men.

I have wasted a great deal of energy in this life worrying.

Worrying over…….

Fearful of……….

What men would think of me.

It has paralyzed me at times…….

I wonder if it’s even possible to Love men

As long as we……..

Fear men.

Dominated by a fear of men,

Our longings will come to nothing.

Ah……. but Living from a fear of God-

God who is Good,

God who Loves me,

God who is able to do more than I can ask or imagine…..

Living from the Power and Love of The One who lives in me and through me……

Oh, living from that place……

Yes, Living from that place where we no longer fear men….

Yes, Living from the fear of God......... maybe……

Just maybe……..

We can truly Love men.

Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit,

Move deeply  in me today to live from a fear of You

To live from the weight of Your Glory

So that I am empowered to Love the people You bring my way.

Amen

What are you afraid of? (Part2)

The fears that isolate. The fears that cripple. The fears that steal Life. I thought maybe that little excerpt from the last blog could use some elaboration. I am afraid of rejection. I am afraid of embarassment. I am afraid of being exposed as a weakling. I am afraid of being exposed as inadequate. I am afraid of failure and disgrace. I am afraid of letting God down. Now these are the biggies- These are the ones the enemy uses to cut to the heart. I thought maybe just taking a minute to list some words God has given might be helpful to us all as we deal with some of these and other fears and lies the enemy uses against us.

Psalm 87:6-7 The Lord will write in the register of the peoples; This one was born in Zion (born again). And as I make music I will sing, All my fountains (Life) are in You my God.

Psalm 89:33 God has said, "I will not take my Love from you, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness"

Psalm 91:14 "Because you love Me says the Lord, I will rescue you; I will protect you , for you acknowleges My Name."

John 15:9 Jesus said,"As the Father has Loved Me, so have I Loved you. Now abide in My Love."

Romans 8:38-39 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life,

neither angels nor demons,

neither present nor future, nor any powers,

neither height nor depth,

nor anything else in all Creation will be able to seperate us from the Love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Hebrews 13:5b-6 God has said,"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So that I may boldly say," The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid."

In the end I think overcoming these kinds of fears comes down to trusting God's Love for us and His Goodness towards us.

More and more- little by little-

I am finding my identity and worth in realizing the Truth-

I am His-

His child-

A child of the Great King.

Still......... it is a slow process.

Father God seal to my heart the truth-I am Yours.

Holy Spirit help me feel it every day-

from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.

Lord Jesus, Thank You for making all this Life possible.

Amen

What are you afraid of?

I am afraid of monsters. When I was a kid- I guess about 5 or 6 years old- We lived in a house that sat up on brick pillars- I suppose you would call that a crawl space- The thing was though that this crawl space was open all around the house. Somehow- I don't know how- I got the idea that monsters lived under our house. They were there- I was sure of it- In the dark recesses of this horrible underworld. Maybe it was my trickster brother who planted the idea- I'm not sure- but I was certain of one thing- There were monsters there- They were waiting to get me if I ventured too close. Well I guess I have gotten over the fear of monsters in the dark- Although there are still times when I might be alone at home- Late at night- The house dark and quiet- Except for those sounds a house seems to make- When you are alone- Late at night- The house dark and....... In those times it is so easy for a mind to run wild- Dancing to the tune of a real monster- The devil himself- He is a fear merchant- A master of subtle deception. He raises many of those old fears- The fears that make the hair stand up on the back of your neck- The fears that isolate- The fears that cripple- The fears that steal life.

John 10:10 Jesus said, "The thief has come to steal and kill and destroy, but I have come that you might have Life and have it to the full."

There is no shame in being afraid-

In many ways I think it is those very fears that drive me to my Hero-

The One who has bested all my fears-

The One who says-

Be strong and courageous, for I am with you.

I will never leave you or forsake you.

I have given you a Spirit of Power and Love

Behold I am coming soon.

Take Heart, I have Overcome.

Father God, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit- Rise up in me today and every day to be courageous. Help me to minute by minute live in the reality of Your Love that casts out fear. Help me to take to heart Your Love for me and live out of that Love as your Child- One who need not fear anything of this world or my enemy. Help me to say truely along with Your servant David that,"Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death- I will not live in fear, because you are with me."

Amen

Come to think of it- there's no reason to be afraid of monsters any more.