Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Living Fearless!



2 Timothy 1:7: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
The Lord never promised that our time spent here on earth would be trouble free. In fact the Bible warnes us of perilous times near the coming of the Lord. I think we would all agree according to scripture that we are living in the last days. 2 Timothy 3:1 says, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come." In Matthew 3 Jesus describes His return to the disciples. Matthew 24: 3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Yet though these times are promised to come, the Lord is very direct in His word that we should fear nothing and pray about everything. The Lord promises time and time again to never leave us, that He will be our refuge and strength. He is our shield, our strong tower, our loving Father. These times may test our faith, but we are promised power, and authority over our circumstances and adversaries if we put our trust in Him. We are more than conqueror's through Christ Jesus! The Lord reminds us to let not our hearts be troubled with things of the world, but to keep our eyes and hearts on Him. "He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord'' (Psalm 112:7) So what really do we have to fear with the Lord on our side? "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind'' (2Timothy 1:7). The world may be filled with trouble and uncertainty, however... God is our only certain hope in time of trouble, our ever present help, His love is endless and never fails! We must live each day praising God and giving thanks for His grace and mercy. Keeping His word hidden in our hearts, and our minds focused on Him and His very soon coming!