Thursday's Thought & Friday's Footnote

Isaiah 35:4

 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

Deuteronomy 31:8

 And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

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.

Good evening, family & friends!

Well, I did it again... failed to blog yesterday, so now I am giving you two spoons full of tonic one more time. I hope this doesn't become a habit!

Just a few words about fear. Max Lucado wrote this in his book Fearless: "Fear will always knock on your door. Just don't invite it in for dinner, and for heaven's sake don't offer it a bed for the night." Now that is good advice!!

Fear truly has torment. It can actually feel like paralysis, rendering its victim unable to move and function. God does not give us the spirit of fear; but He gives us the spirit of power, love and a sound mind. Max Lucado also wrote this in his book, "Let's embolden our hearts with a select number of Jesus' "do not fear" statements."

I like the verse from Isaiah that I posted above - advice to those with fearful hearts... "Be strong, and fear not..." -  our God is coming to save us!! God wants us to trust HIM; not our feelings or emotions. We are to look beyond what is seen with our natural eyes and see through faith what God sees. We may see the heat of the battle but God sees the victory.

We can fill our hearts and minds with "what ifs" but these accomplish nothing but enhancing fear. Another excerpt from Lucado's book, "Fear may fill our world, but it doesn't have to fill our hearts. The promise of Christ is this: we can fear less tomorrow than we do today."

I will close with this song by Carman:

Fear Not My Child

by Carman

In myself I failed the Lord

And was afraid to try once more

That fire in my soul had fled

That's when Jesus came and said

My Spirit gives the strength you need

To raise you up and to succeed

And for vision in the night

To you I'll give these words of light

Fear not, my child,

I am with you always

I feel every pain

And every tear I see

Fear not, my child,

I am with you always

I know how to care

For what belongs to me

He said, my child, don't look behind

Discouragement is all you'll find

Don't watch the waves that roll the sea

But just focus your eyes on Me

And I will make you strong and then

Your shattered courage I will mend

And if you fall and should get hurt

Remember these eternal words

Fear not, my child,

I am with you always

I feel every pain

And every tear I see

Fear not, my child,

I am with you always

I know how to care 

For what belongs to me

God is good, and when we trust Him, then fear has no place to stay.... it leaves!

Trusting you have a good night's rest, and hopefully, I will share tomorrow's spoonful with you earlier!