Losing Fear

By Jarrod Spencer –

It lurks around, a g-force, always present and more powerful than gravity, keeping you down. It is fear. It lurks even in the daylight. It doesn’t have to jump out to scare you anymore; you’re already past that point. You know it is there. It has encompassed you to the point that you think about it throughout the day.

What causes this fear for you? Would you like to be free of that fear? Would you like to be fearless?

To identify the possible fears that many people share would be a writing that would be way too long. But, all fears have similarities. They consume. They errode common sense thinking.

Jesus’ followers also were afraid when the storm came while they were on the water. They exclaimed in panic, “Lord save us!” Similarly, in a loud voice, since it was in the midst of the storm, Jesus replied, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?!”

In the midst of your storms, times of panic, or times of desperation Jesus is calling these same words out to you.

Perhaps we can use this section of text to help us conquer our own fears. First, make a list to identify your fears. Writing them down may make it easier to visualize, which may make it easier to confront and overcome.

Secondly, remember that as the thunder roars, Jesus snores. Imagine trying to sleep on a hammock while it was being tossed back and forth. I don’t know if the storm was that rough, but Jesus was able to sleep in the midst of it. I find value in the fact that He was able to sleep, which should bring peace to me in my storms, knowing that I can “sleep” as well.

Thirdly, you’re not just a “number.” We are so valuable to God that He knows the numbers of hairs on our head and our worth is greater than the sparrow (Matthew 10:31). God finds so much value in you that He gave up His son for you.

Finally, Jesus is always available. He is on call “24/7”. So, “do not let your hearts be troubled” (John 14:1-3) and take advantage of that availability whenever you feel fear weighing you down.

PRAYER: Father, thank You for calming the storms in my life.

BIBLE VERSE: “Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” (Matthew 8:23-25 NIV).

Gettin’ Schooled on Faith

By Hally Franz –

I am now down to one semester left. My baby boy, my eldest child is one semester away from completing elementary school. We have been tormented by a big decision for several months. While he has attended a wonderful Christian school since kindergarten, that school goes no further, and we must now determine where he will go to high school.

My husband and I have spoken with our son about this numerous times, but I think both the males in my life have become exhausted by my examination of the problem. By now, I think they’ve checked out and are leaving it up to me.

There is so much to consider. Do we go public or private? What’s the distance from home, how much will tuition and gas cost, are there extra-curricular options, and which school has the best quality of education? Where do his friends attend? Will he resist peer pressure, and what about a Christian environment?

Recently, a good friend of mine gave me a pocket-sized spiral notebook. We had been talking about the habit of memorizing scripture, and I commented that I needed to make that a priority. So, she had written a few of her favorites in the notebook and given it to me for my own. I began writing verses I liked a few months ago, and I revisited these today in a few minutes of study.

I came across one that I had written from the Book of Joshua. It was just the one that I needed to be reminded of now that I am in the midst of this school decision. Isn’t it funny how God has a way of doing that? He brings us the piece of information we need when we need it, if we take the time to ask. Sometimes, my minister seems to be talking directly to me, because his messages seem so timely. He may not be aware of it, but our God is.

We parents have to invest time and energy into the decisions we make about our children. We must take our jobs seriously. However, we can also be assured that God is working with us. We’re not alone in our parenting efforts, nor are our children ever alone, either. Even if I’m unsure about my son’s high school, I know this to be true, because the Bible tells me so.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, guide my children’s steps wherever they may go each day. Be my partner in parenting, so that these children will grow to be servants of You.

BIBLE VERSE: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9).

Cop Magnet

by Liz Cowen Furman

A cop magnet. That’s me! Once those flashing lights even appeared behind me when my cruise control was set. Go figure. Recently, I whined about my plight to my Mom-in-Love’s doctor. He suggested maybe this phenomenon occurs because I am a redhead. Ha!

He went on to say, “You know what a redhead is, don’t you?”

“No, pray tell what is a redhead?” I asked.

“A redhead is a hot blonde.”

Double Ha! I told him his theory was seriously flawed. A person trying to pick someone up would not give her a speeding ticket. Giving someone a ticket would not be very conducive to romance in my book.  Besides, most of the policemen I’ve met lately are young enough to be my sons. I think maybe I am just in too big a hurry. Tote that barge, lift that bail; or in my life, pick up that kid, make that dinner. On and on it goes. What I discovered in the last few years is that I need to make a conscious effort to slow down. Not just behind the wheel, but in my life; and especially in my relationship with God.

In January many folks make New Year’s Resolutions they have every intention of keeping, until life happens. In light of this I thought I would share a great idea our pastor, Pastor Jeff Clark, gave us a few January’s ago. He proposed that in lieu of some empty resolution to lose a hundred pounds or exercise forty-five minutes every day, as good as those may be; maybe we could start a quest to know the heart of God.  He made the case that if we want to know the heart of God we need to learn about the kingdom of God. When we learn about the kingdom of God we will find it to be all about righteousness, peace, salvation and it will all point to the Glory of God. Knowing this, it occurred to me, would make it easier to trust the Savior with all that concerns us today. Pastor Clark suggested we could learn this information by reading the Bible.

His idea? Get a journal and every morning (or evening depending on your personality) search through the Bible looking for a nugget aimed at you that day. Start in the Psalms, he suggested. When you find a verse that speaks to you, write it in your book and journal what it is telling you.

Several years before his proposal, I began praying that the Holy Spirit would put a burning desire in my heart, and the hearts of those I love, to be in the Word daily. While reading the Bible regularly, honestly, often I didn’t get much out of it. Knowing I needed to be in His Word daily became a habit of hurrying to read and get that job done. Did you ever get to the end of a page and think, “What did I just read?” only to have to then go back and read it again?

Taking the good pastor up on his idea has transformed my life. Now a couple years in, I have moved past the Psalms and currently am loving Isaiah! These days, if I don’t read my Bible every day it feels like I didn’t get dressed; like walking around without my clothes on. Not a good sensation at all, feels very vulnerable. That visual image gives a whole new meaning to putting on the full armor of God doesn’t it? And strangely enough the busier the day before me, the more I need to take the time to spend some with Jesus.

I find it amazing that just changing my reason for reading the Word has transformed the way it speaks to me. Many days I just open the Book and start reading, looking for that nugget. Often I am shocked when a verse I read addresses an issue that I am dealing with that very minute. Also, some days reading a verse I’ve read hundreds of times in my life speaks to me on a whole new level.  Guess that’s why the Bible is called a living document. I have definitely slowed in my quest for growing my relationship with my best friend JESUS, and as odd as it seems that has been just the ticket for going deeper in our relationship. Wish I could say the same for my driving.

Getting Fit With Jesus

By Kim Stokely –

Jesus waved to me while I rode along the bike path this morning. He showed up at my step aerobics class too.

I blame my kids. Not for driving me insane (although they’ve come close) but for creating an animated Jesus that appears on my Wii Fit game. I bought the system as part of my resolution to exercise more. For those of you who don’t know, the Wii computer lets you create cartoon versions, called avatars, not only of yourself, but anyone else you’d like to populate your virtual world. So along with our two dogs, King Tut, Sean Connery and Sarah Palin, they made a Jesus character that periodically appears while we’re playing the various games. They did a good job with the avatar. He’s dressed all in white and sports the long brown hair, beard and mustache I’ve always pictured Jesus as having.

I’ll admit, it’s a little strange and at first I thought it might be sacrilegious. But I soon noticed something, my heart lightens when I see the Jesus avatar waving at me as I jog in the virtual world. And when he’s clapping for me at the goal of the obstacle course, I’m reminded that Jesus really is cheering me on to the finish line.

It’s also served as an eye opener in my spiritual life. I realized as I jogged with Jesus the other day how much I try to compartmentalize my faith. I may have a morning quiet time and attend Bible studies and church, but I often forget that the Lord is with me through every moment of the day. It’s easy to remember that when I’m reading scripture or singing a praise song, but when I’m making dinner or folding the laundry I tend to forget.

Psalm 139:2-3 says, “You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways” (NIV). Seeing the avatar of Jesus is a great reminder of that passage. It helps me keep my focus on God, not on the minor irritations of the day like traffic jams, overflowing laundry hampers and burnt dinner rolls.

Of course, I still find it strange when Jesus knocks me down with a direct hit in the “Snowball Fight” game. But my kids just laugh and tell me I’m being purified and made white as snow!

Watches of the Night

By Heather Allen –

As long as I can remember there has been a yearning within to know God. There are many things material and immaterial that people place hope in. I have read about the mythological beliefs of the Greeks and Romans. They share something with every other culture, gods fashioned in human likeness. But as much as mankind desires to promote self-worship, there is a craving for something so much larger than self. There in the bitterness when sin runs its destructive course is the looming questions; is there nothing more?

This past month was filled with restless nights. During these dark watches I was in agony over sin. I have never experienced anything like it before. I have been studying the gospels and have been struck anew at God’s imperative love. We have no hope without a covering for our sin. Yet as I twisted and turned my way through repentance for myself, family, and our nation, what stuck was a new understanding of what it meant for Christ to become sin.

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV).

As I lay there grieving I could not imagine the terrible load Christ carried on the cross. The only relief on those nights has come from the Lord; I cannot imagine my distress if He turned his face from me.

He is mercy. I longed to understand what was happening to me on these sleepless nights. I have heard friends talk about intercessory prayer but I have never before felt this type of weight or grief over our nation. A close friend called and unknowingly began to describe the same scenario. She described waking at the same times and crying in repentance to the Lord. Unexpected joy surged through me as she shared what God has been teaching her through this. And as I re-read the account of Jesus’ last night in Gethsemane I was soul struck at His instructions to watch and pray.

The disciples were sleepy. Jesus acknowledged their reality “the spirit is willing but the body is weak” (Matthew 25:41b NIV).

But He admonished them three times to keep watch. He told them to pray so they would not fall into temptation. Interestingly enough, the instructions are the same in Mark 13:33 “Take ye heed, watch and pray, for ye know not when the time is” (KJV). Only this passage in Mark is referring to the end of the age.

The night of Jesus’ arrest must have seemed the darkest of all nights. His disciples scattered, except Peter who was left to grieve, denying He was Jesus’ disciple. Jesus had told them what to expect. Yet I have to wonder what raced through their minds that horrific night, and when they woke to the grim reality that their Messiah was convicted despite perfection. The world would have seemed incalculably evil. Did they lose heart that Passover?

What seemed the darkest hour in history became the pinnacle moment of redemption. They did not understand like we do not understand. Because when we draw near to the end of the age and all seems depraved and lost it is then when we will look up and see our glorious redeemer drawing near. This hard fought battle will be done. Until that day watch and pray.

Next Page »