Your Daily Crossroad
How Should I Answer The Fears of My Own Heart?
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18)
This has always been one of the hardest things for my heart to process. Mentally, I know that God loves me and that He isn’t out to get me, but I still fear the bad things that He may allow to happen to me in this broken world. I am still a work in process, slowly being perfected in the love of Jesus. But in the meantime, how should I, and others like me who struggle with fear, answer the fears of my own heart and the doubt in God’s perfect love that causes those fears?
First, we ought to remind ourselves that God is powerful and loving. God’s power goes beyond our comprehension of power and His love is beyond our understanding. This means that what God allows in our lives, even that which we fear most, is only allowed because He loves us and wants the ultimate best for us.
Second, we ought to remember that God is no stranger to fear or to painful situations. Jesus experienced mass alienation by His community, was betrayed by His closest friends, abused by society and the government and ultimately killed in a horrific and painful way. He begged the Father to remove the burden of the cross from His shoulders. He knew fear and anxiety. He understands when we feel those same things. We do not follow an unsympathetic, uncaring God. We follow a God who has wept bitterly and who has promised to one day wipe every single tear from our eye.
Some of us fear things that may never come to pass and we can become paralyzed by our fears and anxiety. And walking through this process mentally and emotionally can be difficult, especially when we have to do it time and again. But we have been called to pick up the cross and follow Him. Nelson Mandela said, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” We can feel fear and yet move on in spite of it, trusting that someday, we will be forever united with Christ in a place where fear cannot exist and where we are finally and fully made perfect and fearless in the love of Jesus.
I recently read this and incase there are those out there dealing with fear, my prayer is that this strengthens you in some way and gives you hope. Today let’s triumph over fear and set whatever it is aside and remind ourselves that no matter what happens in this life, we win! Live for Christ every day and one day fear will not exist. Wow! I am looking forward to that day.
Have a wonderful day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is 1 John 4
Hope
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. (Romans 15:13)
One definition for hope is: To look forward to with confidence or expectation. We must bring the Word of God with all its hope to someone who does not know it is real. When we bring hope, we bring life. It is life changing to finally believe again. It is more than just asking God for something we so badly need; we must expect our miracle. Somewhere in the midst of asking, believing, and expecting God to answer, we will find what we are looking for.
I have felt for a long time that the biggest problem we have in the world today is there are so many people who have lost hope. There seems to be so many hurts, problems, sicknesses, troubles, financial woes, family problems, world issues, political concerns, etc. It seems the world has no hope.
Apart from God, it is an awful, hopeless place. But with God’s help, we can make it. I want you to know that whatever situation you find yourself in at this moment, there is hope. You may not be able to see or feel the hope, but it is there for you. How do we find the hope? There is only one place where hope can be found, and that is in Jesus Christ.
Trust God. He wants you to trust Him. You need to agree with God about your situation. What does God say about who you are and what His will is for your life? Don’t go by your feelings. Instead we should remind ourselves that God only has plans for us that are good. Jeremiah helps us remember what God has to say about us. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jeremiah 29:11).
We do not need to be disappointed and feel alone. We can have hope! God’s love in our hearts will ignite the flames of hope we have buried deep inside our hearts. God’s Word can encourage us as we read it with great anticipation and faith.
I don’t want this to be just another Devotion. I want it to bring life to you. Pray out loud the words of hope into your life and your situations. I have hope! My hope is in the Lord! I will be strong and wait on the Lord. I trust God with my life and the life of my family. Speak these words every day. Hope Is Real. It comes from God! He has placed it in your heart. Speak it out and watch what God will do for you. Amen!
As I prepared to post a devotion one word kept coming to my mind this morning, Hope! I feel someone needs a little hope today. When I read this devotion I felt someone needed to read it and my prayer is it touches someone in a way nobody could ever know but God. Hope in God! He will never fail you.
Have a wonderful day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Psalm 31:24, Psalms 119:74, Isaiah 40:31, Romans 8:24, Romans 12:12
Be Strong and Courageous
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. (Joshua 1:9)
Moses had just spent forty years leading the Israelites through the wilderness. He was the only man to talk to God face to face (Exodus 33:11). He was a great leader and man of God, but his time was up. He was to pass the reins to a new leader who was to lead God’s people to the Promised Land. This man was Joshua.
The first 9 verses of Joshua Chapter 1 is comprised of God giving him a pep talk in preparation for his task. As you read this, note that there is one thing that God mentions over and over, “be strong and of a good courage.” God doesn’t tell Joshua to take it slow and to pray over every little detail. He doesn’t tell him to seek the council of five Godly men before he makes every decision. He tells him to be “strong and courageous.” God had already set in Joshua’s heart what he was to do, and He wanted him to do it.
As Christians, we can often spend much time trying to discern God’s will for our lives. This plays itself out in us stopping at every intersection in life to cast our lots or waiting for a voice from God. How many times has God given us this pep talk and told us to be “strong and courageous,” and we become timid and cowardly upon advice from those around us. Remember, Joshua was one of two men who said God could help them take the promised land while the other 10 were afraid (Numbers 13:30). God can call you to do great things as He did with Joshua. Be strong and courageous today in your walk with the Lord.
How can you walk in greater boldness with the Lord and still maintain wise counsel? What will this look like in your life, or those around you?
Have you been instructed by The Lord in times past to go and do great things for him? How many opportunities to make an impact have you passed up because you were timid and cowardly so the opportunity passed you by? When I read this my first thought was, guilty, we are flesh, we make mistakes, we allow intimidation to sometimes overtake us but it’s what we do once we get real with ourselves and say yes, guilty, and ask God to give us the strength and courage to go out and do what He has commanded us to do. Let us not allow one more day to pass us by but take advantage of today and be obedient. We are not guaranteed tomorrow but God has given you today. You can!! Be strong and courageous!!
Have a wonderful day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Ephesians 6:10-20
Faint or Faith
If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. (Proverbs 24:10)
I recently read, Adversity is a mirror. It’s a microscope. It’s the scalpel that opens us up and shows us what’s inside. Adversity, pain, and trials are what shake us.
When things are comfortable, we’re like a tranquil pond. Lilly pads quietly float atop the crystalline water below. Things are good. But then, the rocks of trial come hurdling down. Our water gets stirred up and the silt explodes into an inky cloud. Our once-pure pond is ruined! All of the gunk that’s lain silent is riled up and exposed. Suddenly, we discover facets, depths, and wrinkles in our hearts we’d never known were there. Maybe anger or resentment. Maybe greed or lust. Or any other number of things that come crawling out when the pressure’s on.
In trial, we find out who we really are, what’s really inside of us (Proverbs 17:3). In times like those, we have two choices: faint or faith.
We faint when we’re overwhelmed, when we’ve built the structure of our lives upon the sand. Finances can be shaken and shattered. Health can be gone before we finish crossing the street. Relationships can vanish with the wind—sweet for a moment, bitter the next. The problem is that the junk at the bottom of our pond is often the foundation we’ve built our security upon. But it shifts and shivers and shakes when adversity comes.
We faint when we’ve nothing left to stand on. We faint when our faith has been entrusted in ourselves, our bank accounts, our relationships, our still beating heart—really, our anything… But we learn from Jesus that the wise man built his house upon the rock (Matthew 7:24-27), and when the storm came, it stood. He weathered the hurricane because he’d entrusted the very foundation of his life, his family, and his hope to the great rock. Jesus is that rock. Our identity, value, and worth are both found and secured in him.
Adversity is painful. It is daunting. It is uncomfortable. But we shouldn’t spend our lives running from it.
Remember, Jesus was made perfect through suffering (Hebrews 2:10). Why should we think it will be any different for us? Should we really want it to be? Press into faith and stand in your days of adversity.
My prayer today is that I stand firm in my faith and not faint when the going gets rough. Faith in action. He is The Way maker. Trust Him!
Have a wonderful day in The Lord
Today’s Reading is Proverbs 24:10