Do not Be Afraid - In His Word

Do not be afraid… in His Word -12-21-15

Do not be afraid for I bring you tidings of great joy… quoted Linus from Luke 2:10

Do not be afraid is what the angels spoke to the shepherds, God spoke to many people in the Word of God and today, I speak it to you. Do not be afraid; only believe!

Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 1 John 4:18

Many people are afraid to believe that there is a God who loves them enough to die for them.  It may be because they live in a world that is full of hateful and harmful people who are untrustworthy. It may be because they are afraid to believe.

Joshua was about to step into his promised land adventure and God told him not to be afraid or discouraged He would be with him wherever he went. In the same way Jesus is with us.

“Don’t ever be afraid or discouraged,” Joshua told his men. “Be strong and courageous, for the Lord is going to do this to all of your enemies.” Joshua 10:25

God does not want us to look ahead in fear for our lives, He wants us to live with hope and peace and direction for tomorrow, next week or next year. He wants us to put our trust in Him! Proverbs 3:5-6 He wants us to be strong knowing that yes He is real and yes He will never leave us nor forsake us. 

He wants us to know that He is a personal God. We no longer have to have someone else to pray for us, we can go directly to God Himself and request, cry out in pain and sorry and become comforted, and give thanks for all He has done. We can continually do this if we believe in the Lord, but we have to keep moving forward and not going back to where we were. 

⁹ “Pray to the Lord your God for us, or we will die!” they all said to Samuel. “For now we have added to our sins by asking for a king.”²⁰ “Don’t be afraid,” Samuel reassured them. “You have certainly done wrong, but make sure now that you worship the Lord with all your heart, and don’t turn your back on him. ²¹ Don’t go back to worshiping worthless idols that cannot help or rescue you—they are totally useless! 1 Sam 12: 19-21

Today, do not be afraid of a God that will punish you but be afraid of not believing in God and finding out you are wrong.  I mean think of it this way; if we live our lives as if there is no God and find out we were wrong it would be fearful to die. But if we choose to believe in Jesus as a savior to us all who killed death’s sting and gave us something to look forward to at deaths edge then we can live a life rejoicing, fellowship with other like minded people. We can have peace that passes understanding and hope for tomorrow to be better than today trusting that our God will provide all our needs according to His riches in glory. We can live a life of loving one another and doing good to one another, forgiving as He forgives us; then who cares if we are wrong? We had a blessed life in the mean time!  So why are you afraid?

I say let go of the fear of believing!

Put away the things that bind you to unbelief, give over to God and start the new year ahead with Him on your side!

So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. ² Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, ³ now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness. 1 Peter 2 1-3

Once we decide to believe we find the people we used to think were judging us are not really, instead they have been praying for us and are ready to help us in a time of need!

It’s amazing the things God shows us when we choose to believe in Him.

Its funny really, people believe in Santa; who claims to see you when you’re sleeping and knowing when you are awake, who knows if you have been bad or good… but they won’t choose to believe in a God who does all those things whether or not you choose to believe in Him.

This year when you walk through this week think of the true things of God. His love, peace, joy, hope and direction will always be there we just need to accept it and follow after Him.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you that your perfect love casts out fear. Help us to share your love this season, this coming year and every day as we walk through life with you In Jesus name, amen.

Suggested reading: 1 Peter 2:1-25, Philippians 4: 1-23, 1 John 4:1-21 and Luke 2: 1-52