God Hears You and He Values You

 

You Don’t Have to Be Afraid!

Romans 8:15 says, “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”

When you compare the word ‘fear’ found in Romans 8:15 with the word fear found in Proverbs 14:26, “In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge,” (KJV), you will see that they are actually two very different words. The fear in Proverbs means ‘reverence’, while the word fear in Romans means ‘terror’.  God is not about terror. God is about love. He is big and powerful, but He’s not out to get us.

“In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge,” Proverbs 14:26 (KJV).

We can have confidence by fearing or reverencing the Lord, and not just confidence, but strong confidence. He will provide for us, we just have to trust Him.

Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed,” (KJV).

God actually goes before us. He sees what trouble there is long before we do. He is already there and prepared for it. What do we need to be afraid of? Not only does God get there first, He goes in with us. We never have to face any trial alone. God is there. He, Himself, is there with us. Indeed, God will never fail or forsake us.

We are commanded to fear not. Who do you trust more? Jesus or your circumstances? Who do you love more? Jesus or your own personal comfort? There are some pretty scary things in this life, but we need to choose to trust God instead of what our five senses are telling us. We all like the idea of miracles, but it can be tough to be the one needing one. Yet, when we trust God, He blesses us beyond all that we could ask or imagine.

To ‘fear not’ is not always easy, but it’s good.

Matthew 10:28-31 says, “Don’t be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands. “What’s the price of a pet canary? Some loose change, right? And God cares what happens to it even more than you do. He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries,” (MSG). Satan is out to lie, kill, and destroy. Don’t let his tool, ‘fear’, fool you. You are precious and beloved. God hasn’t forgotten you. He is just taking you down a road that you will come out shining like a diamond at the end.

–Portions of this blog are excerpted from the book: Defeat Fear Forever.

 

Benefits of Knowing Jesus

What We Have In Christ:

A love that can never be fathomed; A life that can never die; A righteousness that can never be tarnished; A peace that can never be understood; A rest that can never be disturbed; A joy that can never be diminished; A hope that can never be disappointed; A glory that can never be clouded; A light that can never be darkened; A happiness that can never be interrupted; A strength that can never be enfeebled; A purity that can never be defiled; A beauty that can never be marred; A wisdom that can never be baffled; Resources that can never be exhausted. –Author Unknown.

Jesus’ love for us is truly unfathomable, that He would spend over 6000 years sending prophets and putting into place the perfect time for His personal appearance here on Earth to die for us and then raise Himself up again is unbelievable. The very fact that He was willing to take on sinful flesh for our sakes still amazes me. Then, He kept that flesh. He still wears that flesh and rules, not as an incredibly large being, but as flesh, like me and you.

God wants to sit next to me and you. In fact, He wants us to sit on His throne—next to Him! That kind of love is more than I can even understand. I pray that I may learn to love Him more, to show it in my daily life, to respond to His love, rather than just take it for granted. The rest of the poem is also worth dwelling on, life everlasting, untarnished righteousness and peace that passes all human understanding. Jesus doesn’t just offer me hope in the life to come, He offers me eternal life, LIFE, starting right now. That righteousness the author talks about is not my own. It’s His and can’t be dirtied by this world. I don’t have to work so hard to be righteous ON MY OWN. I can receive His help and truly become more like Him. That’s where that peace comes in. My hope isn’t in my own skill or talents, it’s in Him. It’s ALL in Him.

Of course, the poem goes on to list more that we have in Jesus. The thing is, if you sat down, I bet you could list even more than the ‘unknown author’ did. The question for you (and me too!) is this: What kind of a difference is this knowledge about what we have in Christ going to make in our everyday lives? If we simply read it and think, ‘Hey that’s cool,’ then go on our merry way, it means very little. However, if we read and apply, our lives will be changed. –Excerpted from Defeat Fear Forever, chapter 8.