9 posts tagged “fear”

Read Psalms 139

            Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.     Psalm 139:23

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            David never tried to hide his negative thoughts from God. Instead, he poured them out to his Heavenly Father, knowing he would be understood. He said, O LORD, you have searched me and you know me… you perceive my thoughts from afar… Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. (vv.1,2b, 4) When he feared for his life, he trusted God for his safety saying, "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (v.16) When he wondered if he was doing the right thing he said, “See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (v.24)

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            Dear Father, I too have anxious thoughts. What a comfort to know that you had plans for me even before I was born and all of the days of my life were known by You – past, present and future. “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.”(13) Help me to quiet my heart with these precious truths from Your Word.

            I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.    Psalm 131:2

DOUBT AND WORRY

Read Psalm 86

“Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. For great is your love toward me… “ Psalm 86:11-13a NIV

READ PSALM 9

I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell others of all your wonders.
I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

Lord, you are my refuge,
a stronghold in times of trouble. 
I will trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

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[52]

 Read 2 Kings 6:8–23;   Ephesians 6:10–18

            "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."     2 Kings 6:16 NIV

            The king of Syria (Aram) made war against Israel, but every time he planned where he would camp, God would speak to Elisha who would warn the king of Israel. When the king of Syria found out that Elisha was the informant, he sent horses and chariots and a great army to capture him.

            Elisha’s servant arose early one morning–and there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. Elisha prayed, and said, "LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." and the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.  (2 Kings 6:17 NKJV)

            As we read the miraculous events in the lives of Elijah and Elisha, it is difficult to relate. But God's Word tells us that we too are surrounded by angelic protection. We are in a spiritual battle just as real as the physical one Elisha experienced. But God has promised that “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

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            Lord, I pray for your protection for my family and my church as we seek to glorify You and share Your precious Word in our community and throughout the world. Help us to be prepared by putting on the whole armor of God. (Ephesians 6:10-18)

           “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”  Ephesians 6:14-16 NIV

I have been looking through my personal journal over the past few months, since I have entered the world of blogging. Certainly it has been a blessing, far beyond anything I expected, and it has also been a challenge as I have interacted with those who oppose the message of God’s Word.

I thought I would share some of my entries in the hope that it may encourage other Christians to step out and share their faith. Some of these entries are direct from Scripture on a day when I needed it, and some are from writings by Oswald Chambers.

• Jeremiah 20:9 “His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones. I was weary of holding it back and I could not.”

• 2 Timothy 1:2 “The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.”

• Jeremiah 10:23 “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.”

 
• Oswald Chambers – “There is no responsibility on you for the work; the only responsibility you have is to keep in living constant touch with God, and to see that you allow nothing to hinder your cooperation with Him.”

 
• Oswald Chambers – “God engineers everything; wherever He puts us our one great aim is to pour out our whole hearted devotion to Him in that particular work.”

 
• Oswald Chambers – “Spiritually we cannot measure our life by success, but only by what God pours through us; and we cannot measure that at all.”

 
• Acts 18:10 – The Lord said to Paul, “Dismiss your fears; go on speaking and do not give up, I am with you and no one shall attack you or injure you; for I have many people in this city.”

 
• Acts 11:23 – About Barnabas - “He encouraged them all to remain with fixed resolve, faithful to the Lord.”

 
• Acts 4:20b Weymouth – “As for us, what we have seen and heard we cannot help speaking about.”

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Read 1 Samuel 17

            When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are … you came down only to watch the battle." "Now what have I done?" said David. "Can't I even speak?" He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter…     1 Samuel 17:28‑30

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            One cannot help but smile in reading this interaction between the oldest and youngest of Jesse’s sons. God had already put it into David’s heart to lead Israel, though neither David nor his brother knew it yet. David would have to go through many trials before God gave him the throne as king, but he was anointed by Samuel while he was still a boy. Now, as he faces Goliath, it becomes obvious why God chose him. But God also had plans for David’s brother Eliab, just as he does for all of His people.

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            Lord, I have no idea what you have planned in the future for my children. But my deepest desire is that they will follow You and love You with all of their hearts. As we faithfully ask You for wisdom to teach them; speak to their hearts and lead them to walk in Your perfect will.

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             Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand …”

1 Samuel 17:45-46a NKJV

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GIDEON

Read Judges 6–7

When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us?" Judges 6:12 13 NIV

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      For seven years God had allowed the Midianites to attack Israel, and they so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help. (6:6)  Israel had repeatedly returned to idolatry, followed by defeat and desperate prayers for help. Then God would send a leader to deliver them from their enemies. Once again God listened to their cry, and this time, His choice of a deliverer was a young man named Gideon.

 
     The Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon saying, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." Surprised by this greeting, Gideon questioned, "If the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?” Gideon could not understand how God was going to use him–the youngest member of his family in the smallest tribe–to lead Israel to victory. The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have…Am I not sending you?" (6:13–14)

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      Lord, like Gideon, sometimes we don’t understand why certain things happen the way they do. But I know that You have promised never to leave or forsake us. Give us the faith to trust Your provision in our lives, even when we cannot see how You are going to do it.

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Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5–6 NKJ