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“The Lord is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?” Psalms 27:1
Fear is one of the most paralyzing tools of the enemy. He uses it to keep our eyes off of God and on our problems. Fear is almost always focused on the future and the unknown. Even if your fear is based on something from your past, the fear concerns the consequences of your actions.
From a human perspective, the level of fear we have is based on our ability to handle what’s coming. If we know we have the knowledge and resources to handle what’s ahead, our fear is minimal. But when the unknown faces us, and we aren’t sure we have the resources to tackle the challenge fear takes over.
Fear can keep us awake at night. Fear can take away our appetite. Fear can destroy relationships. Fear can kill you! The saying “scared to death” can actually be a reality!
Fear is often synonymous with darkness and danger. The Psalmist writes that “God is our light…” The smallest light amount of light can penetrate the deepest darkness. You don’t need a large amount of light to see your way through the darkness. You don’t need a large amount of faith in Jesus to see your way into the unknown.
If you can allow God‘s light to shine on your fears, he will, through the power of his Holy Spirit that lives within you, give you his peace that passes understanding. He’s given us his Spirit of power, not fear so you can face the future knowing you have the resources you need to overcome.
He is your light. He is your fortress. He alone is your salvation.
I’m over six decades old, I lived through the Vietnam war era. I remember the hatred. Remember the violence. I remember the anger and the destruction. Yet, never in all of my life have I seen the level of hatred anger and violence that we see today.
There is no respect for life, there’s no respect for persons belongings, there’s no respect for persons feelings. I think the saddest part is I see no difference between the verbal abuse of those who claim to be Christians in those who claim not to be Christians. It seems like the entire human race, in United States at least, is devouring one another with our judgmental attitudes, our words and violence.
To be honest, that doesn’t surprise me in one sense. The ruler of this world is Satan. He is the great deceiver. His intent is to destroy us. It would seem for now as though he is winning.
Yet the words Jesus speaks in Luke still ring true today. As believers in Jesus we should never be guilty of speaking evil against anyone. That’s hard to do in our culture. But it’s what Jesus did. We are called to love our enemies, to giving to them, to be understanding of them even when we don’t agree with them.
When I say I love you it doesn’t mean I agree with your actions. When I say I love you it’s not based on how you feel about me or what you say about me. My love for you isn’t based on what you do or how you look or how you act. My love for you is based on the love Jesus has for me.
If you are a believer in Jesus today let me encourage you to make it a matter of prayer to love those who are abusing you. To pray for those who are bound with the chains of evil and blinded by the darkness. Remember, our battle isn’t against the left or the right, or Republicans or Democrats, for this race or that race. Our battle is against the forces of darkness and those who listen to the prince of this world, Satan.
His time is short. The victory will be ours someday. But in the meantime, let us as followers of Jesus show the world what real love and real acceptance and forgiveness is about. We were sent here to be salt and the light of the earth and negativity will never do that. Let love be our guide and the Holy Spirit be our power to accomplish what Jesus has sent us to do.
““The sin of Judah is inscribed with an iron chisel— engraved with a diamond point on their stony hearts and on the corners of their altars. Even their children go to worship at their pagan altars and Asherah poles, beneath every green tree and on every high hill.” Jeremiah 17:1-2
In these verses God describes the sin of his people against him. The sin he describes is chiseled into the alters of their hearts with a diamond point. That implies a very deep engraving by the people. A permanent mark against them.
We aren’t told exactly what the sin is but if you are familiar with the nation of Israel they were continually going against God. They continually wanted to go their own way. They sought the pleasures and comforts of society rather than the holiness of God.
I think we could sum up the sin of Israel with one word and that word is pride. Pride tells us that we’re better than other people. Pride tells us that we are the victim. Pride tells us that revenge is the best strategy and grace should never be considered. Pride tells us our rights should be placed above everyone else’s.
Pride is the one thing that Jesus constantly reprimanded his disciples for. Jesus says in the Gospels that he did not come to be served but to serve. Those who are full of pride can never be servants because they see themselves as superior to others.
As believers in Jesus we need to ask that our pride be forgiven and our focus be on others and not on ourselves. In that way we will glorify God, live in peace with others and spread the love and grace of Jesus to others.
“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6:33
There really are only two kingdoms. There is the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of Satan, our enemy. There is no middle ground.
The kingdom of God is a kingdom of light and love and forgiveness and acceptance.
The Kingdom of Satan is the kingdom of darkness and hate and anger and doubt.
Within each of us there is a battle as to which kingdom we will follow. Our passions and emotions scream at us to take care of ourselves and fight for our own rights through our own power. Those are the voices of the kingdom of the enemy.
God‘s kingdom is completely different. To the human mind God’s kingdom makes no sense. While the enemy screams at us that we need to take care of ourselves, God’s Kingdom quietly tells us we need to give up ourselves and trust God.
It doesn’t seem logical, but the more I give up, the more I gain. With God’s kingdom less is more because when we give ourselves entirely over to him he needs our emotional and spiritual needs. When we find that contentment, the physical becomes less important and the spiritual becomes our passion.
When we align our lives with God’s word, our desires will follow. So don’t listen to the voices to tell you your destiny is your responsibility. Give God your destiny and he will give you a peace that passes all understanding
When people think of generosity, they usually think about money. When you think of a generous person you generally think of someone who is willing to give you financial support. A greedy person is the kind of person who holds onto everything and trusts no one.
But there’s another kind of generosity that’s even more important than financial generosity and that is found in the emotional or spiritual realm.
As a rule, greedy people are unhappy people. Their focus is on themselves. On their possessions, their opinions, and their social standing. They get their identity from themselves.
Generous people are usually content with what they have and who they are. They get their identity and contentment from something outside of themselves.
The same is true in our spiritual lives. When we become self focused in our spiritual lives we only think about our rights and our opinions and our desires. But when we think of others, our focus turns away from ourselves to other people.
That’s how Jesus was. He did not think about himself. He did not base his feelings about other people on who he was. Rather he looked at their situation and saw life through their eyes. That’s why he was willing and able to reach out to those who were prostitutes and drug dealers and other people of immoral character.
A greedy person will never make a difference in the lives of other people because they are focused on themselves. A generous person will make a difference in the lives of others because they are willing to give what they have to better the situation of other people.
As followers of Jesus we need to make an impact in a world is becoming increasingly dark. We can do that by allowing the light of Jesus to shine through us and allow us to be an encouragement to those who are struggling. Anger, hate, and violence will never be defeated by using anger or hate or violence. The only way we can defeat the darkness of anger hate and violence is through the light and love of Jesus.
My hope today is that you will be able to share the love of Jesus with those around you. There are a lot of people that are afraid. There are many who are angry. There are many who are confused. As followers of Jesus we can make a difference in the lives of others through the power of the Holy Spirit by encouraging them and showing them the love and forgiveness of Jesus.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 