Peace:

            Not given us spirit of fear:

2 Timothy 1:7

7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

            A lot of people in the world, including Christians, are afraid of something. Is there something that you are afraid of? There is nothing to be ashamed of. As Christians, though, we’re not supposed to be afraid. That can make it even harder on us. We know we’re not supposed to be afraid. All of our friends tell us we’re not supposed to be afraid if we mention our fear to them. We feel guilty for being afraid, and we don’t mention our fear to anyone else. We’re afraid to be afraid.

            It is true that God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear (King James). So, if we’re afraid, it’s not from Him. If you were as powerful as the latest superhero, would you still be afraid? Probably not. Well, the Spirit that God gave us is more powerful than any superhero and more powerful than anything that we will ever encounter. When we feed on His Spirit instead of on what we fear, we begin to sense the fear subsiding. It will try to come back. If we let it, it will prevail. Feed your spirit on His promises of who you are destined to be. If after an interval of time, the fear remains, try to find someone you consider to be spiritual that has a sympathetic ear. Perhaps they will either have a solution or know someone who does.

            God’s Spirit of power, love, and discipline (sound mind – King James) will help you to be strong and courageous like Joshua.

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "There is nothing to fear in Me. You have overcome through Me, and there is nothing that you have to fear. In Me you are overcomers; so why do you look with fear and trembling at what lies ahead? I haven’t chosen you to be fearful and tentative. I have chosen you to be bold and courageous in Me. You are overcomers and should act like it. The world is before you to conquer in My name. You have My name and My authority to overcome everything that is in the world. Don’t act like you are losers, but act like you are winners; for that is what you are in Me.”

            61. God has given me a spirit of power, love, and discipline. I will no longer fear anything.

His grace lavished upon us:

Ephesians 1:7-8

7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

8 which He lavished on us.

            We were sold out by our forefather, Adam. We were enslaved to sin and were by nature sinners. When Jesus died on the cross, He paid for our redemption.

            This was just like someone who pawns something precious and later redeems it. In our case, Jesus didn’t pawn us. Adam did. He pawned our future to be like God. Jesus redeemed us so that we might become like God … walking in holiness of the truth. It wasn’t something we earned. He paid for it. It was through His grace. It wasn’t just a little dab of grace, either. He lavished it upon us. Through the riches of His grace, we were set free from slavery to sin and death.           

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You are My chosen ones. I did not choose you to belittle you or to bring you down. I chose you to be more than conquerors. It is through the blood of the New Covenant that you are what you are. You have overcome because of this blood of the Lamb. It is through Him and His grace that you stand complete before Me. It is through Him that you will obtain your inheritance. It is not through your own merit, but though His. You are the light of the world and have overcome because I have chosen you to be overcomers. It was not an afterthought. I deliberately chose you from the beginning to reign in life through Him.”

            60. Jesus redeemed me through His blood and lavished His grace upon me.

Luke 12:8

8 “And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God;       

            We are blessed with Abraham:

Galatians 3:9, 14

9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.

14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

            Are you of faith? Then you are destined to be blessed along with Abraham. Now it doesn’t say those who have faith; as if you had to “earn” it. If you are a believer, then you are of faith.

            There are many kinds of blessing. This one is a most important one. The believers in the Old Testament may have experienced the Holy Spirit in their lives on occasion. We, however, can experience Him continually in our lives. He resides in us permanently. We didn’t have to be physical descendants of Abraham to receive this blessing. Even a Gentile could receive this most precious gift … simply by believing.

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You are as special to Me as Abraham was. He was My special friend, and so are you if you follow My Word. I will be with you and will guide and protect you like I did Abraham. He was special to Me, and so are you. Let Me be Lord of your life, and you will overcome all obstacles. You are the light of the world; act like it! You have everything you need from Me through My Spirit who indwells you. Trust Him, and He will guide you into all the Truth. He is the way for you to come into My fullest blessings. Rely on Him to show you the way into My Kingdom living.”

            59. I am of faith and therefore am blessed with Abraham, the believer. I have the promise of the Holy Spirit indwelling me.

How much more will He take care of you?

Matthew 6:30

30 “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!

            Too many Christians believe that God isn’t all that interested in what happens to them. He’s too busy with more important things. That couldn’t be farther from the truth! He is intimately concerned about what goes on in our lives. He wants the best for us. He wants us to succeed more that we ourselves want to succeed. This verse emphasizes that. If He cares that much about something as insignificant as the grass of the field, how much more does He care for the ones He sent His Son to die for? Truly we are precious in His sight. Don’t you ever forget that! He is never too busy to listen to His children and to help them in whatever way they need it!

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "There is nothing that I would do for you, My children. There is nothing that can stand in your way when you are in My will. You are My children, and all that happens to you is important to Me. You are the light of the world; for I am that light that is in you shining into the world to bring it out of darkness. You are My children, and don’t you ever forget it. Would you let your children come to harm? Then why do you think that I would? I would no more let harm come to you than a mother animal would allow harm to come to her child. You are My special ones, and I will overcome the world through you, if you allow Me to operate in your lives as I would like to do.”

            58. God cares more for me than He does for His creation. Therefore, He will take care of me even better than He takes care of it!