Stand In Him

This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture that reject fear in any form. Fear is described as a spiritual force used by Satan to keep people down. The focus is on championing faith as allegiance to God and trusting in Him. The importance of not being swayed by conspiracy theories and focusing on God's sovereignty is emphasized. It is acknowledged that the world is chaotic and filled with issues, but choosing faith over fear is encouraged. Persecution is mentioned, but the promise of eternal blessings and rewards is highlighted. The power of worship and trusting in God's promises is emphasized. The message ends with a reminder of God's unconditional love for us. Welcome to Fear No Fear. Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit embrace you today. This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture. We reject fear in any and all forms. Fear is a spiritual force, the currency of darkness and ignorance. It's what we inherited when Adam gave up his faith and Satan uses it to keep people down. His only weapon is words. If he can get you believing or looking at words of fear, he's got you. Instead, we champion faith as an allegiance to God, as a belief and trust and loyalty to the Lord God Almighty. We accept the evidence of His Word as unvarnished truth, as is, just as it's written. We get close to His perfect love through the Word, and perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4.18 All scripture is taken from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Visit eBible.org 1 Peter 3.14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. Don't fear what they fear, neither be troubled. And he quotes Isaiah 8.12 Don't call a conspiracy, all that this people call a conspiracy, don't fear their threats, or be terrorized. Now isn't it funny that the Word is always up to date, that it is always relevant to humanity? We have conspiracies on top of conspiracies coming out of the woodwork these days. Everything from particular politicians being shady, to organizations plotting things, to secret labs, to Illuminati-style governments, to tax returns, to who knows what. And the thing is, some, or none, or all of it could be true, and it still wouldn't matter to my day-to-day life as much as other things do. And face it, some of it could be true. That's all world stuff, flesh media. Well, what about the spiritual? Well, there's lots of prophets who are saying a lot of things about what is coming. And while it is true that some could be missing it, the better assumption is that whether we understand what they're saying, or whether or not we can imagine it coming to pass, and whether or not we agree with it, it is most likely true. Don't knock prophecy. Don't malign prophets or prophetic words. If they are accurate and true, then they will come to pass, period, done. The thing to remember in the natural is that a conspiracy and a warning are two different things. The thing to remember in the spiritual is that the Lord God is almighty and will win the day. When dealing with anything that doesn't touch on the free will of mankind, God acts however he wants, whenever he wants. When dealing with something that touches on the free will of mankind, all God requires is one person to give him permission to move. With 8 million people on this planet and growing, it is highly likely the Lord can find someone who is eager to give him permission. In the natural and in the physical, there is a lot going on. The world is a swirling in a chaotic pattern these days. Supply chain issues, diseases, war zones, political upheaval, etc., etc. There is hardly a corner of the globe that isn't in some kind of flux right now. The news media is right there recording it and spreading it. We're getting to see more and more of what is happening around the globe. We're more connected and more informed and more aware of all of the interconnectedness of the globe than we ever have been before. And people are getting anxious, and people are getting worried, and people are getting fearful. Looking at the headlines and clickbait, they aren't to be blamed, except... Remember that the basic principle we operate on is that we can choose fear. John 14, 1. God would be wrong to tell us not to fear if we could not make that choice. And we can. We can choose to have faith instead of having fear. Proverbs 29, 25. We can choose to see the problems and issues that surround us, but choose not to let them dominate our thinking. It isn't about being in trouble or not being in trouble. It's about letting trouble not be your focus. God should always be our focus. Hebrews 13, 5-6. We have issues, we take them to God. Where is God? God is in heaven on his throne. So we take them to him there. How do we get in? We go before him with thanksgiving and praise. Psalm 100, 4-5. We aren't to go before him sniveling and crawling. We can walk in heads high praising and thanking him, Hebrews 4-16. And then we talk about our troubles, Ephesians 3, 12-13. And then we thank and praise him some more and go home. When we're at home, we keep up the thanking and praising him, both by doing it and by reading the word and the promises he has made to us, until the problem resolves or until we're given specific instructions. But we treat it as a done thing. Every time we feel fear or trouble starting to stir up anxiety, we stop. We say, no, I refuse that. Or I refuse to fear. I refuse to be troubled. Or God has it. God's dealing with it. You want to talk about it? You go take it up with him. Me and mine, we will praise the Lord. And then you do just that, even a thank you, Jesus. You're Lord of this, Lord of me, and Lord of all. I worship you, before you go back to doing the laundry. The reality is that Jesus told us we would be persecuted. John 15-20. They persecuted him. But they'll do it to us, whether it's ridicule, a loss of what society has decided are our rights, imprisonment, or death. We may not enjoy it, but it won't last forever. It will be a moment, a moment within the long life that we will enjoy. Eternity is a long time, after all. Jesus also said, Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5, 10-12. Paul suffered a lot. His attitude was that as bad as it got, it wouldn't be forever. Days, months, or even years are nothing compared to eternity. While praising God, anything is better. The early church sang for being beaten, Acts 5, 41 and 16, 25. Others were killed, beheaded, crucified, fed to lions, boiled in oil, burnt, and more. None of it was happy. All of it physically, in the natural, hurt. But the Spirit of God was on them, and they didn't suffer as an unbeliever suffers. In some cases, there was no suffering at all, only peace. We have not been promised happy good times. We are blessed, 2 Corinthians 9, 8. We are favored, 1 John 3, 21-22. We have victory, 1 John 5, 4-5. We are prosperous in all things, 3 John 1, 2. But we are promised that victory that we have. We are not promised happy circumstances. In war, victory comes as an overall achievement. Individuals can be lost, battles can be lost, whole campaigns can be lost. But victory, in the end, achieved. It shows us that victory isn't tagged to 100% natural success and well-being. There are times when victory isn't pleasant to our flesh. But that is a narrow viewpoint. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us. Romans 8, 18. They overcame him because of the Lamb's blood, and because of the word of their testimony, they didn't love their life even unto death. Revelation 12, 11. Now, those two verses don't sound pleasant. But they do sound very victorious. We might not like what might happen to our flesh. But we can choose not to fear it. We might not like to suffer. But the Lord Jesus can rescue us from its effects. We might think there's a lot of smoke, so maybe there's some fire during those news reports. But we can choose not to be troubled. Those headlines and reports can be things that are just happening. But not things that are inducing anxiety, worry, depression, or fear. We can stand on Jesus Christ, our rock. We can read the promises in the word and say, Yes, I believe and I receive, and it will come to pass. Not in a positive thinking way, but in a trusting God way. God promises to protect us. Psalm 91, stand on it. God promises to keep us safe and guide us. Psalm 23, stand on it. God promises never to leave us or forsake us. Joshua 1, 5. Matthew 28, 20. Hebrews 13, 5. Stand on it. God has promised us victory. Revelation 12, 11 and Revelation chapter 20. Stand on it. God is to be trusted. Jesus has it right, and he said, Don't let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful. That's all choice, choice, choice. So, embrace his peace today. Choose not to fear. Choose not to be troubled. Choose to stand with him. Our daily affirmation of God's love is Psalm 100. It doesn't matter when you're reading these verses. What year, decade or epoch of history, they will apply. It doesn't matter if there is a major test looming. Money issues, custody issues, identity issues, food issues, school issues, work issues, roof over your head issues, focus issues, health issues, or being believed issues. It doesn't matter if you think you've handled or are handling your issues, or whether everything is out of control and you are in no way focused, okay, or managing. That's all temporary things. And we have an outlet, a spiritual reset button, a way to have everything be okay, even if nothing changes, to step out of our anxiety like an old pair of pants. We can worship the Lord. Not abstractly or sitting in a dust-filled, shag-carpeted, white emaciated Jesus on the wall Sunday school room. Not in a prayer closet or in a prayer meeting of like-minded humans. But before the throne itself, at the feet of Father Almighty, we are watched over, shepherded, given all we need, and led into His presence where we can, in spirit, truth, and joy, worship Him for being Him. What favor! What a privilege! No petitions, no begging, no having to be worthy, no striving for enlightenment or purging ourselves, or anything. Not giving up name or identity. We get to be in Jesus and for Jesus, in the throne room, in His courts, living under the blessing of His loving kindness, faithfulness, and mercy. What love! And it's for you. Yeah, you! He loves you. As we close, remember that you have birth. You are precious and valuable. Declare this. Today, God loves that I, now you, fill in the blank. Was it a meal you made? Was it a smile you gave? Did you get out of bed? Read? Put on socks? There's no wrong answers here. There is no end to God's love, and no end to the things about you that He loves each and every day. Pick one. And remember, the Lord loves you, just because you're you. 1 John 4 9-10 tells us, By this, God's love was revealed in us, that God has sent His only-born Son into the world, that we might live through Him. And this is love. Not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. His perfect love turned away God's wrath because of sin, and it casts out our fear too. See verses 18 and 19. We love because He first loved us. He just loves us. Can't get enough of us. And that is wonderful. See you next time.