What Fears?

by rebekahbeene

Early yesterday morning before daylight I heard something akin to a chicken cluck in one of our bedrooms. Deciding it must be a toy, Danny and I went into the bedroom to investigate. Finding nothing, we had our coffee and Danny headed out for the day. As I was enjoying my last cup of coffee and having my quiet time I heard it again, a little louder. After hearing it the third time I knew there was something inside the house making a noise. The third noise was louder and longer. I could not locate that noise no matter how much I looked. We had already looked in the toy room, so it couldn’t be a toy. How can I protect myself from something that is yet unidentified?

Imaginations run wild at times. Imagined or real threats tend to startle us and give us great concern. When I got home that afternoon it turns out it was in fact a toy, but a toy that had been left in the bathroom after the grandkids tried to play with it in the bathtub. Once it got wet the barn animal noises it makes just went off randomly (and weirdly because of low batteries). What seemed to be something real was actually nothing.

I read a quote from Dr. David Jeremiah that reminded me of a truth that I must embrace no matter what I am dealing with: “Protection in one hand, blessing in the other. No sheep in God’s flock could ask for more.”

The sheep of God’s pasture are much like the sheep of the field. Without God’s care things can easily spook the sheep. They will run helter skelter and not watch where they are going. A noise in the bushes or from the hill and they are startled and ready to bolt. But we are not mere sheep of the pasture; we are HIS sheep, in HIS care, with blessings in one hand and protection in the other! We have mortal enemies – the satanic realm – but they have no hold on us. We don’t have to be startled and run scared for our Lord is our Shepherd. At night He gives us sweet protection in our sleep. During the day He guides us, leads us, feeds us and nourishes us with everlasting water that will never run dry.

God wants you and I to know all this so that when we are faced with adversity – whether it’s a sound from the other room or the sounds of rejection from a person, depression from the enemy, or conflict from within or without – we will stand still and see God do what only He can do.

Oh beloved, He will do it for you! He will do it because He loves you. He has called you to walk in blessings, journey protected and delight in His will for your life. No other human being or spirit being can remove those blessings and protections from you. You are HIS.He wants you to know that the more you speak the Truth over your life the more you will walk in it. The more you walk in it the more powerful you will be and fear will have to leave. Troubling things may come your way but you will never face them alone. You are always watched over by the Shepherd of your heart.

God loves you, He is for you, His hand is on you and His will is being formed within you. Rejoice and be glad! You are HIS!

Psalm 27:1-3 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread? When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear; though war arise against me, in spite of this I shall be confident!

Isaiah 25:9 And it will be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us! This is the LORD for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation!”

Hebrews 13:6 So we can say with confidence, “The LORD is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?”

Psalm 23:4 Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me. Your rod and Your staff protect and comfort me.

God Will Birth His Plan in You

Danny’s cousin in California is expecting a grandchild any day now. The due date has passed so it won’t be much longer. The expectations of this child, a girl, are great. Everything is just right, as with all first babies, and all they are doing now is standing by in anticipation. This is their first grandchild by their only daughter. So they are holding their breath every time the phone rings.

Although their daughter has to go through the birth process, they are full of anticipation of the wonder of holding a newborn baby in their arms. The nine months of preparation followed by the few hours of concentration will bring forth a wonderful gift. As great as the 9 months may have been, the birth process cannot be avoided. It’s just part of it.

We know God has a plan for our life. We live in anticipation of the realization of plans too wonderful for us to imagine. We give our life to Jesus and then we expect things to go well. Too often though, expectation and anticipation give way to worry and fear. We knew we wanted God to birth a plan in our hearts, but we didn’t know it might hurt. We think “hey I’ve given my heart to Jesus, He will give me something good to do and life will be just right”.

We want a neat and tidy life. We don’t want birth pangs. We don’t want the reality of our walk with Christ to go past our expected due date. We definitely don’t want hard situations and yet God even uses these circumstances to grow our faith.

Oh beloved, whatever you are going through today, God has already been there. He’s doing behind the scenes prep work and He’s clearing the way for your life to be a beautiful birth of His wonderful love. It may be really rough right now, as you weren’t expecting what’s happening. But God is with you. Your life is meant to be a shining example of His glory and grace.  When you go through the growing pains of faith, your ultimate outcome is beautiful. It’s worth it. Don’t give up in the middle of it all, for there is a wonderful reward awaiting you. And what a blessing it is that you don’t have to go through it alone. Always present, always leading, always teaching, always holding you safe in His arms – God is there with you. He will see you through. He has promised to be with you all the days of your life and on that you can rely. Hard times won’t last forever, so hold on and talk to the Father often. He will soothe your weary brow, He will speak His love Words over your situation and together you will make it.

Whatever it is, God is here.And he will birth the plan of God in you to its complete fulfillment.   He loves you and He’s for you and that’s all that really matters as you trust Him to make your life beautiful and your faith grow as you live in the light of His Word.

Romans 5: 1-5 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.  And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;  and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;  and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Philemon 1:6 and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ’s sake.

1 Peter 1:7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ

Colossians 2:6-7 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Psalm 16:8 I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me.

Looking for Refuge?

A few days ago a friend posted that it was a family anniversary. Just one year ago they were given the news that their daughter had lymphoma. They were broken hearted as their world literally stood still.  Yet one year later, they are rejoicing that the diagnosis, treatment and cure is behind them. Their daughter is healed and resuming her life –with her precious little girl and wonderful husband. She said in her post, “My life is forever changed and cherish the blessings we found along the way.” 

She’s not the only person who has been through trauma. Some of you are going through it even now. We have friends who have lost their lives in the battle. We have acquaintances who’ve struggled and hoped and prayed. Some were healed here, some were healed in heaven. But God gets all the glory. 

We don’t know what we’re really made of until life comes apart at the seams. We think that we are going to drown. We can’t breathe. We can’t talk or move. Our shoelaces are untied. Our slip is showing. Our heart is poured out everywhere. Our guts are writhing and we just want to run, but where? We want to quit breathing forever, but we can’t. We’re undone.  We are absolutely certain we won’t make it.

But God comes in. He steps into the situation, into our shoes and does the remarkable. He helps us. He stitches us back together with His truth. He resuscitates us with His presence. He speaks to our dry bones so they move again. He ties up our shoelaces, readjusts our demeanor and holds us tight – oh so tight!

Oh beloved, do you hear that? That’s God speaking! He’s saying to you this morning, listen beloved. I AM going before you into this situation and I AM going to walk you through it and back out again. Hear that? It is My Word comforting your fearful heart. Feel that? It’s My arm holding you up. It’s My hand guiding you down this narrow path of darkness and dread. See that? It’s My light shining in your presence so you can walk without stumbling, dance without music and leap without knowing what is ahead. I AM that I AM and because of that, you can trust Me no matter what you are going through. In the disappointment, in the sickness, in the bad news, in the valley of the shadow of death.  I will make your hard times, hard places and hard reports into a testimony of My love, My care and My faithfulness – no matter what.

God loves you, so what have you to fear, what have you to dread? God is for you, so let Him sew you up, pick you up and stand you up. Life is sure to have its ups and downs – way down at times. But with God, we can make it because regardless of what’s at the end of the tunnel, God is with us and that’s all that really matters anyway!

Isaiah 40:31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.  They will soar high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

Psalm 112:7 They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.

Psalm 23:4 Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me.

Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!

Psalm 57:1 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to You for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of Your wings until the danger passes by.

You Were Meant to Travel Light!

While working on my boss’s travel to Washington DC last week, I noticed that he had two tickets for baggage. Each time he checked his baggage, it cost him.  It wasn’t a whole lot of money, but if a person had to declare their baggage and pay for it every week it would count up.  I understand that some airlines charge for baggage even more when it weighs more. The heavier it is and the more bags you’re carrying, the more it costs. You can be charged on one airline for heavy baggage, large baggage and too much baggage. Three prices added up makes for expensive travel.  Imagine if you had to carry your heavy, large and overloaded amount of baggage onto the plane yourself? It would be so tiresome that some folks would just give up trying to fly.

We all have had baggage. Some of it was of our own making. We gave our hearts to the Lord but we didn’t know how to give our problems, our past, our regrets, our fears to Him. So we kept hauling that stuff around with us everywhere we went.  It makes for expensive travel. It bears so heavy on some folks that they are totally bent over with the load. Without having anyone to carry their baggage for them, they are destined to live under the load, tiring out easily and always out of breath. They can neither travel the high mountains of extreme joy nor make it through the valleys of trouble. It’s a rough life to walk around with excess baggage.

We were meant to travel light. We were never meant to carry the stuff we had before Christ with us forever. We aren’t meant to gather new baggage either. If we insist on carrying our own stuff, we will be so burdened that we won’t be able to share God’s love and tell others how He heals, sets free and delivers.  We won’t be able to do that because we won’t be walking in freedom from the load.

People are looking for someone to lighten their load. Nobody intends to live burdened lives with all that junk stacked in their hearts and minds. Nobody wants to have to pay daily for excess, too large or too much baggage.  It’s hard to feel you can never let it go. It’s a rough life to walk around with all your fears and animosity, your troubles and regrets drug behind you like an anchor in the sea.  You know people are looking for an answer to this oh so heavy load, because there are so many self-help books on that subject. Trouble with self-help books is they all point you to you!

Oh beloved, this morning God is walking beside you and He’s telling you that He will lighten your load! He will say to you were never meant to carry that stuff around with you eternally. He says to you, lay your burdens on Me. Let’s look at those things you’ve been carrying far too long and talk about each one. There – that Unforgiveness? I can relieve you of that. For I forgave you at the cross and already made arrangements for all of that.  There – those Regrets?  You don’t need to carry them around with you for I don’t even know about them – they are in the sea of forgiveness never to be brought up again. Fear? Oh my beloved, you were never meant to carry one ounce of fear, not for yesterday, not for today and certainly not for tomorrow. I AM your load bearer, I AM your lifter and your lightener. If you will let Me I will remove your baggage and together we will travel to My anointing and My plan for your life.

This morning the Baggage Carrier is calling out to you, I love you, I love you, I love you! And because of His incredible, unending, eternal, perfect love He will lighten your load, carry your burdens for you and give you a travel plan that’s out of this world!

 

Matthew 11:28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

Psalm 55:22 Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

Psalm 146:8  The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down. The Lord loves the godly.

Feed Your Faith and Fears Will Flee!

“Lions and tigers and bears oh my!” one of my favorite lines in The Wizard of Oz. In the original movie, there were lots of scary things appearing and lots of scary situations going on! It was so full of scariness that my mother wouldn’t let me watch it until I was older. I was sure that there were monsters under the bed, in the closet and around the corner.

They were taking a trip together but found themselves entering a dark forest. They began discussing the dangers that could appear along the way. One moment they were embarking on a delightful trip and the next moment the Scarecrow was thinking he might meet a straw eating villain along the way. The Tin Man tried to encourage them but instead scared them more as he said, “…mostly lions and tigers and bears”.

The life of faith is a wonderful trip. We have an incredible destination! We’re blessed that like-minded believers walk along the path with us throughout our lives. It’s of great encouragement to have folks who believe the Word and heed God’s call along the way.

While most folks are sure of the destination, others aren’t so sure about getting there.  After all bad things happen. People get sick. Friends get transferred. Kids grow up. Parents pass away. Pastors go to new congregations. Jobs go away. Hobbies change. All these things can be pretty scary.  Other people’s perceptions of you, discussions of you or pronouncements can keep you cringing in fear.

As Dorothy and her comrades discussed the dangers that could happen, they began to feed one another with fear instead of faith. Soon they were cowering together and certain that the worst would happen.  They were losing hope and not sure if they’d make it out alive!

How important it is that you walk the walk of faith with those who live out their faith! Fearful situations will come along, but we can be fearless for we know Who walks with us. When we have troubles we consult the word of God first and friends next.  It’s imperative that we seek out strong people of faith to walk alongside us and keep God ever before us!  He is the True Light of the pathway, shining brightest in our darkest moments. He is the keeper of the Destination, guiding all the way to our ultimate reward.

Oh beloved, are your cringing in fear? Are you feeling hopeless? Are you feeding on that fear rather than feeding on faith? Run to the Word and speak it aloud! Tell God how you feel, but tell that fear to get out of the way for you are coming through.  You have the Lord God Almighty who lights the path. He not only lights the way, He is the Light! He loves you so much that He will always guide you, always keep you safe and always honor your faith. Speak faith today and your fears have to flee! Speak love today and hate has to vanish! Speak the Word today and lies have to scurry back into the darkness they came from!  You have a changed heart and a badge of courage given to you from God and He will never take it away!

I Corinthians 16:13 Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. NAS

2 Timothy 1:7  For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline

2 Corinthians 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight NAS

Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

picture from www.dailylifeverse.com