Now the end begins

Now the End Begins!

God is With Us – Fear Not! “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” - 2 Timothy 1:7 There is no doubt that the events happening in the world today are scary, and can bring much anxiety.

But we who belong to the Lord must come to Him with our fears, anxious thoughts and troubles. He says “Fear Not” throughout His Word.

We all watched the horrific events which happened in France. The Islamic terrorists love to instill fear in people all over the world. They want us to be crippled by fear, wherever we are. They want to keep us off balance, looking over our shoulders when we are out. I wish I felt that things were going

to get better. I think that things will probably get worse.

As Christians, we must look to His Word to help us during these times. This also presents us with opportunities to share the Gospel with the lost.

They are afraid too, and we have the BEST news in the whole word to tell them! It is during times when people feel so vulnerable, that they just might be more open to the message of Salvation.

Let’s look at some of the verses about fear: “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.” – Psalm 56:3-4 This passage of Scripture speaks to us, the body of Christ. We love and trust Him. We praise His Holy Word. HE is Creator of the Universe, and yet He is

Abba Father (Daddy) to us! He has written our names in His Book of Life! Glorious!

Compare that to what mere men can do to us. The very worst they can do is kill us. As I’ve heard others say, that will simply change our address.

“We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” – 2 Corinthians 5:8 HE is with us!

“Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” - Deuteronomy 31:6

When I read the passage from above, I always think of Stephen who was stoned for his faith in Jesus.

Stephen Put to Death “When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried

with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” Acts 7:54-60 Stephen endured the pain of being stoned, but his focus was on that which he saw in heaven. He was overcome with joy, knowing that he would soon be with his first Love. He was so filled with God’s love, that he asked Him not to hold the stoning against them!

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” - Psalm 27:1 “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” - Isaiah 41:10

“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28 I see some Christians who are fascinated by conspiracy theories. I believe that the Lord does not want us reading about things that may happen, and of which we have no control. We are giving the devil room for his fiery darts when we focus on things which bring fear to our hearts. God’s Word chases Satan away, and fills us with peace that only God can give.

We belong to Almighty God! Isn’t that the most glorious thing in the world? He never sleeps and is watching over us every minute of every day.

“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of

adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.� - Romans 8:15-17 Suffering Will we suffer in this life? Absolutely. Our Jesus suffered on that horrid Cross for SIN that He had never committed; and willingly! He knew what was waiting on the other side of the Cross. He knew that His sacrifice would result in reconciling us to His Father. He gave us His righteousness. We deserved hell.

LOVE sent Jesus to that Cross!

The Apostle Paul knew that his suffering would advance the message of Salvation. He knew the impact his imprisonment would have on those who were watching. They wondered “How is this man still worshiping his God?” “But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will.” - Philippians 1:12-15 What do you fear?

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.� - 2 Timothy 1:7 Do you fear the Muslim Jihadists?

How about our own government?

Do you fear retirement?

Do you fear for your children who have walked away from God? In 2 Timothy 1:7, God is telling us what He has not given us, and what He has given us.

He did NOT give us a spirit of fear.

He DID give us power and love and a sound mind!

1 John 4:18

“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.”

Can you remember before you were born-again from above, how the thought of death brought you such anxiety? If you were anything like me, you were convinced that God was going to punish you harshly for all of your sin, and cast you into hell.

I love the part of 1 John 4:18 which said “Made perfect in love.” Those who do not know Him, are not made perfect in love — they fear punishment, and rightly so. They find themselves still under the law, which they cannot keep. They feel doomed to failure and the fear of punishment looms over them.

Those of us who belong to Christ know that we were “perfected in Love” – HIS Love! The better

Covenant of Grace perfected us and made us holy.

We know that we can approach the Throne of God boldly. We know how much He loves us.

He showed us how much when He sent His Son to pay the penalty for our sin, so that when we leave this body, we can stand in His presence – clean and blameless!

So, the next time you are overcome with fear, read the Words from our Lord which comfort and assure us that He is with us, and He will not ever leave us.

Brethren, this is true. God cannot lie.

When His peace sets in yet again, do what Paul did all of the time: “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.” – Philippians 4:4

MARANTHA! Blessings in Yeshua