Tag: fear

Hope For Today

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“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13 NIV

As you look to the future today don’t look to the past to determine its possibilities.

Don’t look around to what is going on around you to determine how you feel about it.

Look to the God of hope who surrounds you with His love.

Look to the God of love who has broken the power of sin on the cross.

Look to Jesus who will fill you with all joy and peace as you trust Him.

Regardless of what is going on around you, His love is for you.

Jesus died and rose again so that your hope would not lie in the power of man but in the power of God.

May you live in the fullness of His love today, tomorrow and every day after.

A Careless Life

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There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.”

Matthew 6:25, 26 MSG

Life with God is about being filled with His love and then pouring it out on all those around you.

It is worshipping Him when we wake, when we walk, when we clean, when we work, when we eat, when we get dressed.

It is knowing you are saved by grace and reconciled to Him because of the sacrifice of Jesus.

It is knowing He loves you because you are His kid and He enjoys spending time with you.

My friend, you are a child of God who is cherished, chosen and provided for.

Live in the freedom of His love.

Live care-less in the care of God.

Live more in this truth and less in the lie that you are valued because of what you look like, eat, wear or do.

This life, this love, this security comes from Jesus and is unshakable.

The rest is frosting.

Do Not Fret

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“Do not fret”.     ‭‭
Psalm‬ ‭37:1‬ ‭NIV‬‬
 
This is a command, not a suggestion.
 
Why? 
 
Because fretting or incessant worrying steals your focus, burns up your energy and leaves you with a crispy attitude.
 
The word for “fret“ is “charah” in Hebrew.
 
It is a word picture of something that burns until it is charred.
 
It means to be kindled with a spark of anxiety or worry then whip it up into an inner frenzy and feed it facts or wonderings until it is a voracious fire in your soul that burns long and hot like oil fires in the desert.
 
What is the best thing to do when a spark of fear ignites a frenzy of anxiety?
 
Stop, drop and roll:
 
 – Stop the thoughts.
 – Drop to your knees.
 – Roll in God’s love for you. 
 – Repeat as needed.

“Quiet down before God, be prayerful before him. Don’t bother with those who climb the ladder, who elbow their way to the top.  Bridle your anger, trash your wrath, cool your pipes—it only makes things worse.”

Psalm 37:7-8 MSG

 
 
 

Small Worries

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“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”

Luke 12:25, 26 NIV

Small worries can become big distractions.

They distract you from living loved and loving fearlessly.

What are you worried about today, my friend?

Is it something that is in your hands to change or something out of your control?

If it is something within your power to change, I am asking Jesus to give you the courage to do it. To step out in faith, following His leading and do what you can do.

If it is something out of your control, something you have no power to change, I am asking Jesus to meet you in the place of your fear and give you the power to release it to Him. You may not have the power to change it but He does.

Jesus is bigger than your fear and able to provide what you need.

May a small worry be transformed into a powerful moment to release and trust in the One who holds the universe (and you) in the palm of His hand today.

How You See

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Perspective is powerful.

Jesus said how you see the world around you, impacts you:

“Your eyes are windows into your body.  If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!”‭‭

Matthew‬ ‭6:22-23‬ ‭MSG‬‬

How you look at the world around you impacts how you experience the world within you.

Do you see the world and the people in it with wonder and delight or in fear and distrust?

Have you “pulled the blinds” and given up?

If so, you are in a dark place.

Jesus came for you.

He came to unleash heaven’s light and love in you.

He came to heal the hurts and tend the wounds that fester distrust and fear.

He came to restore wonder.

He came to restore you.

What Are You Worried About Today?

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What are you worried about today?

“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down.  It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”

Philippians 4:6-7 MSG

Worry is not meant to be the center of your life.

Worry will keep you distracted and you will miss the small moments of joy that are sent by God to let you know He loves you.

Worry is not meant to be the center of your life, Jesus is. His love for you is a much better rule of life than worry. Love is a better way to make decisions than fear.

Hand over what you are worrying about to Jesus right now.

Put it in God’s capable hands.

Instead of worrying, pray.

Then allow a sense of God’s wholeness to fill your soul.  

Then get busy loving the people He has placed in your life.

What is worry stealing from you today?

Pause the Panic

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Monday

“This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply.”
Matthew‬ ‭6:7 MSG

What is causing you to panic right now?

Panic is defined as sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety.

All kinds of things can cause panic to rise within you and when it does, I am going to ask you to pause.

To wait before you react.

To take deep breath in and out.

To pray and ask God for His perspective.

He is your Father and He knows you. He knows why it is happening and why you are responding to it that way.  He also knows how to lead you down the right path, not just the first one that presents itself. Jesus knows if there is a higher way, a better way or a healthier way to deal with it.

He knows how to calm your heartbeat and clear your mind.

When you go to God with your panic, He will give you the wisdom and guidance you need to deal with it.

Pause the panic and pray.  Your Father in heaven loves you and knows what a one-word prayer like “help” means.

Before You Face the Storm

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ThursdJesus stood on the shore alone. He didn’t look for a boat or wait until He found one. He just walked right into the storm and walked on the water.

Today, you may feel like you are facing a storm and looking at an impossible situation.

Good news: your Savior knows how to handle it. He knows how to do impossible things.

22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.

Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

25 Shortly before dawn, Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.

Matthew 14:22-25

Before you face the storm, get alone with God.  Get to a quiet place so you can hear His words to you:

“Before you face the day, get face to face with Me. I will bring you through it. I know the way”.

What Drives Out Fear?

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Tuesday

What drives out fear? Love does.

Don’t believe me? Think back to a time when you were in love with somebody. How bold were you? How much hope did you have for the future? Did you do any crazy things with them because you were in love with them?

Right this minute, you are loved with a perfect love from a sinless Savior who sacrificed Himself so that you could live unhindered by fear.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.”

‭‭1 John‬ ‭4:18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The word perfect here doesn’t mean flawless, it means complete. It means complete love.  Not a temporary infatuation but a deep developed love that stands the test of time and eternity.

His was a love that bleeds when the lash tore open His back and the splintered wood of the cross dug into it. A love that persevered through the unendurable physical and spiritual pain of the cross until He could utter the truth, “it is finished”.

When fear rises up to dismantle your faith or weave it’s tentacles around your feet to trip you up, you must remember this fact: You have nothing to fear. You are in love. 

Christ took your punishment completely so that you could be immersed in His love and be made whole.

Jesus walked the earth, spoke truth to all who would listen, healed broken bodies and restored broken souls to God. It was His love that breathed life into the first lungs of man and His word that drove the darkness and chaos back before that and it is His love that sets you free to love as freely and completely as you are loved.

What drives fear out?
Love.

The love of Jesus.

Hang your hat on it and get down to the business of loving others with the confident abandon that comes with it.

Faith or Fear?

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Tuesday-DW

Are you living today in faith or in fear?

This faith journey with Jesus is just that, a faith journey.

It is not a fear journey.

Faith and fear are both ways to walk into the unknown and I have a secret to tell you – every new day is unknown. You don’t know what will happen. It could go as planned or go completely different. Sometimes better different, sometimes not so much.

Fear holds you back, faith releases you forward.

I’m not suggesting that you ignore your fear or be in denial of it. I’m encouraging you to not let fear decide what you do or don’t do.

Give Jesus all your unknowns and allow Him full access to the places in your heart that are ruled by fear.

Let His love flood in and wash away the fears that are holding you back today.