| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “How to inhabit time” Our Bible verse for today: ‘For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but (He has given us a spirit) of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline (abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control.)” 2 Timothy 1:7 (Amplified Bible) Our thought for today: “Resolve to reject fear” Reject fear. Let me say it again, reject fear. God’s people are not to live in fear. Let me ask you this: Are you the recipient of God’s love? and, is God’s love perfect? Those are rhetorical questions. The answer to both of them is “yes”. You are the recipient of God’s love and God’s love is perfect. 1 John 4:18 tells us that “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear.” God’s perfect love in you drives fear out of you. In our individual lives we have to confront and deal with fear in many ways, including with regard to food, shelter, clothing, income, health, the well-being of loved ones, the future, and dozens of other things. One of the ways we train ourselves to combat fear is by memorizing and claiming the promises of God. In the Bible there are at least 365 verses and passages which instruct and empower us to reject fear (one for every day of the year). Those promises pertain to the full range of issues we have to deal with in life – everything from the promise of provisions, to the promise of His watch-care over us in times of danger, to dealing with temptations from Satan, and so much more. This is why at Oak Hill Baptist Church on Sunday nights we’re studying Max Lucado’s great Bible study “Unshakable Hope: Building your life on the promises of God”. It’s all about living our lives upon the firm foundation of God’s promises. So how do we, as Christians who are determined to reject fear, deal with this? Let me take you back to 2 Timothy 1:7: “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but (He has given us a spirit) of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline (abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control.) Let me add to that Peter’s word of caution from 1 Peter 5:8 to “be sober-minded”. That means to be calm, realistic, reasoned, and reasonable. Not easily excitable. Not given to fear or extreme thinking. We are the people of God, and we do not live in fear. Do we take proper precautions? Yes. Do we take common sense steps to be prepared to deal with evil and potentially bad situations? Yes. Do we acknowledge that there are bad actors in the world and therefore we cannot and should not be naïve? Yes. But we do it with boldness and confidence as we simply live life and go forward on mission with Jesus. Don’t waste your life living in fear. Resolve to reject fear – and anything that looks like fear smells like fear or sounds like fear. God bless, Pastor Jim |
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