THE 3:16 VERSES OF THE BIBLE: PART 24: "STRONG HANDS HOLDING ON"

"In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not be afraid, O Zion; do not let your hands fall limp" (Zephaniah 3:16)
The last several 3:16 verses of the “Old Testament” are full of major End Time coming events which the men who wrote down these divinely inspired words, could not comprehend! One prophet after another described EVERYTHING from the conditions on the Ground during the Second Coming of Christ (Habakkuk Chapter 3) to the Armies of Heaven fighting the Final Battle of History. While they were doing this, they accurately predicted the Fall and Destruction of Jerusalem in the 6th Century BC (Before Christ).

God used His select few prophets, sometimes for decades of prophesying, so as to give people time to repent and be restored to Him. Today, in the 21st Century AD (Anno Domini - in the Year of Our Lord Jesus Christ), He is giving modern man the same amount of Grace to turn back from the edge of the cliff. Today, modern man is even more corrupt than ever, and refusing to so do. But the work of the Lord continues.

Another prophet of old, who was prophesying against the corrupt city of Jerusalem at the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian invasion (along with prophets Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Habakkuk and others) was Zephaniah.  Even he (Zephaniah) was speaking of the end times we are currently living in, as well as the pending destruction by the marauding Babylonian army.  Zephaniah was very highly regarded as he was the great, great-grandson of King Hezekiah – the famous king whom God gave 15 extra years to live. Hezekiah was the king whose reign featured the prophet Isaiah and the well-known incident with the Assyrian King Sennacharib, where God Himself destroyed 185,000 of that Assyrian king's army which had laid siege to the Holy City.

Zephaniah Chapter 3 is very unique. Only the first seven verses pertain to the coming Destruction of Jerusalem and Judah by the rampaging King Nebuchadnezzar. The rest of the chapter (verses 8-20) are all Words about the Age yet to come - the End of Days. What is unique in this entire chapter is that the list of indictments which caused the complete destruction of Jerusalem in order to cleanse it, is the same list - on steroids - against ALL of the world today. The following is the list:

Destruction and Sorrow awaits the City (Jerusalem…and any people today) for the following reasons:

-   Their arrogance have made them smarter than God, in their own minds. So they listen to no one. They will not even think critically to an eye of correcting course where necessary. (Verse 2a)

-   Because of their arrogance and idolatry (then – in Jerusalem and now, where mankind rejects God is fiction), they will not put their Faith and Trust in their Creator God. Because of this rejection, they will not even seek and talk to Him. (Verse 2b)

-   The leaders of 6^th Century Jerusalem, namely its kings, princes, legal system,  captains of business and the clergy are all predators….always seeking to satisfy  their own physical needs and lusts of the flesh. They seek to devour more and more. Their consumerism and lusting after power, material goods and more have made them predators against the weak, poor and the followers of Jesus Christ – now AND then. (Verse 3)

-   If you read the prophet Jeremiah, the preponderance of false prophets lying to the political leaders of the country will be immediately obvious. God Himself says that He did NOT send these fakes, that they are lying and He is about to permanently remove them. Today’s false prophets are not just those who are treated with awe and respect, even though all their so-called prophesies have been wrong. But it is the leadership (and by extension, membership) of a vast majority of those calling themselves Christians are proclaiming deadly error by getting involved in everything which has nothing to do with the Gospel or making disciples. In fact, they major in “social gospel” (socialism with bible verses); politics and even cultural transformation. (Verse 4a)

-  Just before Nebuchadnezzar, following God’s instructions, headed straight for the Temple and sacked it to pieces,  the priests of God’s Temple were bowing down to pagan idols in secret INSIDE the Temple, while pretending to worship God and doing His Will as laid out in the Torah. They not only brought these vile practices into the Lord’s House but endangered the souls of an entire population of their nation.  Church and ministry leaders today are doing the same – they have brought the corrupt secular culture and world’s standards to the Altar of Christ and expect Him to bless it. (Verse 4b)

Even with all these indictments,  all 6^th century Jerusalem acted just like the world acts today.  He warned them over and over. He warned them with different prophets and circumstance, but they lied to themselves that it will all turn out fine in the end. Sounds familiar? The majority do the same thing today.  When there is a calamity or horrific event like a mass shooting or even 9/11 on September 11, 2001 – churches are filled and the talk of “thoughts and prayers” fill the air like Jingle Bells at Christmas time.

Herein lies the other indictment – there is no Faith or Belief in the God Whose wrath is obvious all the time to those who rebel and reject Him.

In the first eight verses, we see the parallels of Jerusalem’s pending destruction with life in any city or country today, and it is uncanny. In the rest of Zephaniah chapter 3, we see exactly what God is going to do – not just to Jerusalem but the nations around today. He never does anything in secret. Man has created all kinds of secret societies with weird symbols and rings. God has spoken several times, EXACTLY what He will do. Yet people ignore….and at their own peril, may I add!

In quick succession, here is what is coming down, very quickly (from Zephaniah 3:8-11):

1. God will accuse and indict all nations of the world (then and today).
2. God’s Courtroom will be packed with EVERY rebel nation (God says ALL nations) and evidence demanding a 100% guilty verdict will be presented without question.
3. Judgment will be swift and fiery. This is not some American courtroom, but God’s Recording room with every act of rebellion pulled up, with the Book of Moses’ Law as the Plumbline of Truth.  Because none of these nations of the Earth are followers of Jesus Christ – NONE of them – they will be judge righteously by the penalties required by the Ten Commandments. Those are not pretty. Read all the consequences of every of those Laws of God in the books of Leviticus etc. Nothing will be left standing. When it is over – only Jesus Christ and the New City of Jerusalem will be left standing.
4. The Remnant that remains (God’s people – Christians) will be cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb – in thought, word and deed. The dead in Christ will already be risen by the Rapture. The remnant will be those who were persecuted by the nations but are still alive.  The Lord will prepare them for the Heavenly Kingdom, in order that they will worship properly in Spirit and in Truth.
5.  However, the majority of mankind, those who are awaiting judgment and those alive now, have a lot of cause to worry. Verse 11 promises complete removal from the eternal life. Oh, they will live in eternity, just not in the way they expect. God has promised again and again, no unholy, unworthy, unrepentant and unredeemed people will live in His Holy Presence.

The amazing thing about the Lord is with the promise of pending punishment is the guarantee of gushing Grace - grace upon Grace....for those who love God. Romans 8:28a promises that ALL things work together for those who LOVE God. Our Heavenly Father does NOT leave those who are born-again and love Jesus to hang out and dry. Read verses 12-20 below. 

The hope promised in Zephaniah 3:16 is fleshed out, big time in the rest of this chapter. Still, this is not even the half of it. But for those who fear, for those who care, for those who are waiting for answers to appear, the Lord says this:

-  Hold on a little longer.  Don't give up now. Keep holding on to Him even stronger and don't let your grip "go limp" (3:16). The stronger you and I hold on to Yahweh, the easier it is for Him to hold us up.

-  God will be in our midst. This promises our future residence in the Millennial Kingdom where the enemies will not even be around. Only those who love God will be allowed in this Kingdom. He has the following in store for us: love, joy, peace, a purpose, a plan and the Son of Man - Jesus, in person...in Jerusalem, the Capitol of Peace.

-  Here is what the Lord says is the coming reward if we hang, with strong hands and stronger faith (verses 19-20): And gather the outcast, and I will turn their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. “At that time I will bring you in, even at the time when I gather you together; indeed, I will give you renown and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the Lord.

Do not let go. Stay by His side. Hang on to Him. God is good.

Zephaniah 3: Woe to Jerusalem and the Nations

1Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled,

The tyrannical city!

2She heeded no voice,

She accepted no instruction.

She did not trust in the Lord,

She did not draw near to her God.

3Her princes within her are roaring lions,

Her judges are wolves at evening;

They leave nothing for the morning.

4Her prophets are reckless, treacherous men;

Her priests have profaned the sanctuary.

They have done violence to the law.

5The Lord is righteous within her;

He will do no injustice.

Every morning He brings His justice to light;

He does not fail.

But the unjust knows no shame.

6"I have cut off nations;

Their corner towers are in ruins.

I have made their streets desolate,

With no one passing by;

Their cities are laid waste,

Without a man, without an inhabitant.

7"I said, 'Surely you will revere Me,

Accept instruction.'

So her dwelling will not be cut off

According to all that I have appointed concerning her.

But they were eager to corrupt all their deeds.

8"Therefore wait for Me," declares the Lord,

"For the day when I rise up as a witness.

Indeed, My decision is to gather nations,

To assemble kingdoms,

To pour out on them My indignation,

All My burning anger;

For all the earth will be devoured

By the fire of My zeal.

9"For then I will give to the peoples purified lips,

That all of them may call on the name of the Lord,

To serve Him shoulder to shoulder.

10"From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia

My worshipers, My dispersed ones,

Will bring My offerings.

11"In that day you will feel no shame

Because of all your deeds

By which you have rebelled against Me;

For then I will remove from your midst

Your proud, exulting ones,

And you will never again be haughty

On My holy mountain.

A Remnant of Israel

12"But I will leave among you

A humble and lowly people,

And they will take refuge in the name of the Lord.

13"The remnant of Israel will do no wrong

And tell no lies,

Nor will a deceitful tongue

Be found in their mouths;

For they will feed and lie down

With no one to make them tremble."

14Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion!

Shout in triumph, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

O daughter of Jerusalem!

15The Lord has taken away His judgments against you,

He has cleared away your enemies.

The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;

You will fear disaster no more.

16In that day it will be said to Jerusalem:

"Do not be afraid, O Zion;

Do not let your hands fall limp.

17"The Lord your God is in your midst,

A victorious warrior.

He will exult over you with joy,

He will be quiet in His love,

He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

18"I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts-

They came from you, O Zion;

The reproach of exile is a burden on them.

19"Behold, I am going to deal at that time

With all your oppressors,

I will save the lame

And gather the outcast,

And I will turn their shame into praise and renown

In all the earth.

20"At that time I will bring you in,

Even at the time when I gather you together;

Indeed, I will give you renown and praise

Among all the peoples of the earth,

When I restore your fortunes before your eyes,"

Says the Lord.

New American Standard Bible (NASB) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

www.bible.com

Image Credit Here

THIRTY ONE DAYS OF BIBLE TRUTHS - DAY 1 (LIGHT)

Today, the first day of 2016, in between studying the Great Prayers of the Bible and the Methodology of Prayer, we look at a different Truth each day to get the year off firmly planted in the Word of God. The first thing we, who are called by His Name should draw into our very consciousness on this day, is WHO we are as a Christian. We are His children and He is a good, good Father. It is Who He is.

VERSE: "While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light " These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them". (John 12:36)

TRUTH: Jesus is the Light of the World. He is the Light that came into the World to cast out darkness and draw many unto Him. Most have rejected Him, choosing the darkness and the deeds performed in darkness, rather have the blessed transparency that comes with being living a life which is being transformed into the likeness of Christ - the likeness of One in Whom there is no sin or darkness. So today, if you hear His Voice, do not choose to be like those who live in rebellion, but like the One Who calls us "son" or "daughter".

 (Free Clip Art Image Credit Here)

"THE I AM STATEMENTS OF JESUS CHRIST" - PART 2

The book of John has Seven of the Great "I AM" statements of King Jesus, the Lord of the Universe - your Lord and my Lord and Savior. In Part 2 of this PLUMBLINE program, we look at the rest of the story. The great author/commentator Warren Wiersbe had a great exposition of the I AM statements of Christ and I exhort you to read them here, along with watching this program:

SEVEN "I AM" STATEMENTS FROM THE BOOK OF JOHN
1. The Bread Of Life
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35)

2. The Light Of The World
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

3. The Gate
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. (John 10:9)

4. The Good Shepherd
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)

5. The Resurrection And The Life
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26)

6. The Way, The Truth, And The Life
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

7. The Vine
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

"THE I AM STATEMENTS OF JESUS CHRIST" - PART 1

The Lord Jesus, in His Ministry on earth, said many things while alive as a man. While His Biblical Name - YHWH ( Yahweh) - literally means "I AM WHO I AM", His "I AM" statements are both stunning, educational, instructive and inspiring. Here is the first of two parts of "THE I AM STATEMENTS" of Jesus Christ, from the PLUMBLINE Television show, now seen worldwide on ROKU, on the BARAK TV network. 

SUPERIORITY OF CHRIST - PART 1 "THE HISTORICAL JESUS"

The profane and those bound for perdition use His Name in Blasphemy.
The pagan and the politician use His Words to create ungodly policy.
The professing and the prosperity pretender fool themselves and millions others into sure eternal separation....and all of this in His Name.
The professors and media promote Him only as some moral teacher.

The real story of Jesus is not just the one which the western world pays attention to around Christmas and Easter. 
The real story of Jesus is not just the Famous Verse (John 3:16) we see in the end zone at football games.
The real story of Jesus is not just found in His Sacrifice and Atonement for all sin for all time at the Cross of Calvary. 
But the continuing real story of Jesus can be found in the FRUIT of that Sacrifice over the past 2000 years!

There is NO other belief system in the World which has benefited mankind than Christianity. In the next post on the Superiority of Christianity to any other so-called "belief" system in the world. You will see the power of God vs the corruption of man's systems, which are designed only to keep other men and women in bondage.

Therefore, which this full look into the Historical Jesus, from the Beginning, as we lay out the Foundation to show the world, WHY and HOW Christianity is the only belief system designed by the REAL GOD of Heaven!

SHOULD CHRISTIANS STAY SILENT WHEN TRAGEDY HITS

PRAYER VIGIL IN NEWTOWN, CONNECTICUT

Well, the answer to that question is NO! As America faces Judgment (yes JUDGMENT) from God for its mounting sins against Him, more and more events like Hurricanes Katrina (2005), Sandy or Tornadoes that destroyed Joplin Missouri (2011)...or the current horrific massacre like the loss of over 20 children in Newtown, Connecticut are going to draw people's attention to the time-worn question of "HOW CAN GOD LET THIS HAPPEN"?!!!

Whether it is an earthquake in Haiti or a Tsunami in the Far East where hundreds of thousands of lives are lost and millions affected, God always gets the blame - either the blame FOR it, or the blame for ALLOWING it to happen! We can go even farther than that - World War II and the Holocaust where six million of our Jewish brethren were murdered by the Germans and Hitler. Did God cause that? When the great American President Franklin D. Roosevelt REFUSED to allow the SS St Louis to land in the United States 1939 with 937 Jews fleeing Hitler by ship, and they were forced to return to Europe and sure death, did God cause that? NO! FDR did! They even made a movie out of it called the VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED.  We can look at the ill-fated voyage of the SS St Louis some other time. By the way, the Prime Minister of Canada Mackenzie King did the same thing as FDR!

Apart from natural disasters like tsunami, earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes, criminal acts like what happened in Newtown are simply acts of Evil. 
It is the same evil of national socialism (Nazism) which caused the Nazi Holocaust.
It is the same evil of communism and Stalin killing 30 million Russians.
It is the same evil of communism and Mao killing 40 millions Chinese, some of it in an effort to wipe out Christianity.
It is the same evil of demonic tinhorn dictators like Castro, Pol Pot, the Ayatollah, Saddam....and on and on....
It is the same evil and political calculation to stay as far away from getting involved by FDR and Canadian PM Mackenzie King (re: the Voyage of the Damned).
It is the same evil at Columbine, Aurora, Waco, Jamestown Guyana...and now Newtown, Connecticut.
It is the same evil of 55 million abortions in America since Roe vs Wade in 1973.
It is THAT evil which entered the world in Genesis 3 and the Fall of Man.

The world refuses to blame Satan and the evil he has wrought on mankind since he ushered in SIN into the world, because the world has walked hand in hand with what the Bible calls 'the god of this world'. Former Pastor and Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was asked by Fox business anchor Neil Cavuto the usual question which secular media people always  asked "How could God let this happen?" During Hurricane Sandy, people in the media, who do everything to dishonor, disregard and just plain "diss" God from their "exalted" chairs on ABC, NBC etc were asking the same question.

Maybe, as both a pastor and political commentator, Gov. Huckabee's answer was not as fully fleshed out as say Rev. Franklin Graham's or David Wilkerson's would be, but he was on the right track. Huckabee said "It’s an interesting thing. We ask why there’s violence in our schools but we’ve systematically removed God from our schools. Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage? Because we’ve made it a place where we do not want to talk about eternity, life, what responsibility means, accountability. That we’re not just going to have to be accountable to the police, if they catch us, but we stand one day before a holy God in judgment…  Maybe we ought to let [God] in on the front end and we would not have to call him to show up when it’s all said and done at the back end".

Well, the good former pastor is now catching a lot of flack from it from secularists in the public square, both on the left and the right. Forget what those people think, was Governor Huckabee CORRECT? Yes. Should he have answered it that way? Maybe or maybe not, but he WAS asked a question. What was a man of God supposed to say? This is going to be a debate coming up soon, right before the evil and corrupt American culture tries to enforce laws against Christian speech, but watch for this phrase in the next two years "Freedom of Worship". US government officials at the highest levels are starting to use it both in this country and abroad. It is meant to silence Christ followers from proclaiming God's Truth of Salvation, Hope, Love, Sin, Pain, Death, Evil and the coming Judgment....and to prevent men like Huckabee from saying precisely what he said above. It is okay to preach inside your church, but "just don't take your Jesus" into the marketplace of ideas. 

When horrible shootings like Newtown or Virginia Tech happens, and well-known American pastors do not speak up, they leave a vacuum for secularism, pluralism and the growing "inter-faith" movement. You are moving to see more and more of this as the True Hope of Jesus Christ is watered down, as the followers of the god of this world play into the Hands of Biblical Prophesy. When the tragedy of Columbine happened, the good people of Colorado allowed a deeply moving service led by Rev. Franklin Graham where he brought the true comfort and hope of Christ to a grieving nation. However, we have not seen that sort of Gospel-centered message since (in response of national tragedies), except for Franklin's dad, Billy, at Washington DC's National Cathedral a few days after Evil from the Middle East hit us on September 11, 2001. 

So it is up to the people of God - us Christians - to pray for the salvation and comfort of the people of Newtown and especially the families of those who lost their precious young children, who are now in the loving Care of the Savior. It is up to us, the followers of Christ, to keep sharing the Gospel of our Lord and Savior...to keep sharing how folks can be saved from their sins...to keep sharing how to be delivered from evil and temptation and sin...to keep sharing, no matter what the world will say about us. Remember, my friends, the world hated our Lord Jesus, long before they hated us. What makes us think that they will love us now?! So be mindful WHO is watching us - God. He has the power of life and death - both now and in Eternity. He is the One to Whom we are accountable first and foremost. Let us now go and love others to Him. Evil is going to ramp up in these last days. God will get the blame. But the world will be sent to eternal shame.  Let's win many to Glory and Heaven, while there is still time. 

So, should Christians stay silent when evil and tragedy like Newtown hit? No...and a thousand times NO! We speak loudest when we speak directly to our God in prayer and through our love to our fellow man, regardless of what the world says.
Amen

HOW DID I GET TO THIS POINT?....Part 2

"But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first"...Revelation 2:4

A lot of people - men and women - appear to make through life intact, but then fall apart at the end (or close to it). Think of it as a runner, who runs out of steam right at the Finish Line.  Many are the opposite of the great Triple Crown thoroughbred horse - Secretariat. Secretariat won the third jewel of this Triple Crown of horse-racing by a stunning 31 lengths, a feat which as never been repeated! This magnificent creation of God was going so fast, it could have gone another dozen or so lengths...but it would have died! The faster the horse went, the faster its heart was beating. If the distance was any longer, the heart would have exploded.

This is contrary to how many finish the race of life today. We do not give it all we have. Many have built their lives on one of the following: 

-  A lie (whether it is in a loveless marriage, dead end job, or even a double life of sin)

-  A false promise (the western or American dream of a high paying job/lifestyle that makes you happy)

-  A misconception of what we are really here for (are we here to satisfy ourselves or satisfy God's calling on our lives).

For some reason, less and less of us are giving it all we have as we see the finish line.  

We are seeing men and women getting divorced in their late 50's or 60's whom you would never imagine would 'go there'.  

We are seeing people coming out of closets who have been living in sin, with their lies and their sexual deviancy for decades. 

We are seeing churches filled with carnal Christians corrupted by culture because there was no conversion to the Gospel of Christ to begin with. 

We are even seeing so-called good churches producing the future 'pagans of America' by sending out youth into high schools and colleges to turn their back on our faith, because they came of out of churches led by preachers more interested in maintaining their own stranglehold on a church and organization, which was/is not theirs to begin with.

Solomon was that kind of man. He finished horribly because, among a variety of disgusting sins, he turned his back on the One True God Who gave him everything. Solomon sought after his own fleshly pursuits by trying to sleep with just about any woman of every color, class, creed and strange religion he could find. 

He not only had illicit sexual relations with them, he brought them into Jerusalem and corrupted the Holy City. 

He not only consorted with them, he bowed down to their evil strange and demonic gods of fire, human sacrifice and death. 

He not only did all of that, but had a stranglehold on the economy of Israel. 

He was a horrible taskmaster who taxed the daylights out of his people so he could live like the flesh-serving king he was.

We are no different today. While the culture shapes society, we help it by buying their indulgences. 

We pursue leisure. 

We pursue the latest toys. 

We pursue pleasure. 

We preach restraint..for everybody else but ourselves.

We mortgage the future to satisfy the present.

We give in to almost every sensory temptation...and some go even further in violating their marriage vows....and on and on....all in pursuit of the good life....and all is vanity!

You want to know how both Solomon and we get to the point were we become the anti-Secretariat? We get there because we have left our first love - Christ.  As a society and an "Ekklesia" (the body of Christ - the church) church leaders from all levels, in the past 100 years, have pursued the culture, and tried to blend it with Christ. It has never worked...and never will.

TOMORROW - PART 3

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FEAR DOWN, FAITH UP!

Fear is the natural human reaction of the unknown. 

In the natural we fear walking down a dark city street at 11pm, after going to an all-night Walgreens for some emergency orange juice or something. We fear driving to a big city for, say a visit to a medical specialist, at 7 am because the gridlock outside of Dallas/Fort Worth or the Twin Cities because it may be something you are not accustomed to.

We look at our sweet children and fear for their future. The politicians have saddled our grand kids and their children with so much debt and hopelessness that they face horrible financial burdens, from the minute they are born. Even worse, they are being told that while they may have "the freedom to worship", they dare not  exercise those timeless, God-given values outside of the church building.

We fear for our futures, our families and our faith. All of these fears are legitimate. Mothers of all ages know the stress and burdens of keeping families together while a shrinking number of responsible men trying to keep their heads above water.....you get the picture.

Due to the political expediency of 'divide and conquer' politics, one group lives in constant fear of the other.  In all the aforementioned, we can nothing uplifting about any of this. Therefore Fear HAS to be a factor of the god of this world. Fear has to be a facet of a life of little faith....and it is.

For our exhortation today, I won't be-labor the point with my own thoughts, but would let the Word of God speak for itself. You and I can kid ourselves and put on the cheap band-aid of pop psychology to soothe our shattered nerves over the pressures of living, or we can go for the Truth and let the true peace of God wash over us and guide us unto the path of rest in His arms.

Mark Twain once said "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear. Except a creature be part coward, it is not a compliment to say it is brave". But how do we get such courage? For one thing, it is not something easily acquired. It takes a lot of FAITH! Yes - it takes TRUST in the One Who gives and gives and gives and just asks for Love, Respect and Obedience in return!

If you were to see what He protected you from, day after day, you would fall on your face and bawl your eyes out. For those of us who make it to Heaven, because we have repented and been forgiven of our sins, by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we fear not the unknown, while having a Healthy Fear of God which the Bible demands.

Therefore, conquer your fears by just keying into these next few verses today and praying to the One who gave them, that we may rely totally on Him. It is only through this that we may come to rest secure in the Knowledge that He, literally, 'has our back'.

Do not be afraid of sudden terror

or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes,

for the LORD will be your confidence

and will keep your foot from being caught.

(Proverbs 3:25-26 ESV)

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

(1 John 4:18 ESV)

Be strong, and let your heart take courage,

all you who wait for the LORD!

(Psalm 31:24 ESV)

There are so many more Scriptures I can provide here, but these three should start us off on a journey today, of beginning to tap into the Tree of Life, from the Giver of Life. It's like making maple syrup.  One gallon of sweet and delicious Maple Syrup comes only after you have tapped 40-50 gallons of sap from the maple tree! Yes...it takes 50 to make one! 

So it is with Faith. You see, it takes a lot of Faith and it does take some work, to produce a life that is so sweet and precious to both the Lord and those around you! Won't you consider this today and let the Lord have your fears? We have to constantly tap into the sap which flows from Him, His Word and His Son - Jesus Christ. Are you ready to jump in, head first? Pray with me:

Father in the Name of Jesus, I trust only in You, completely in You and surrender ALL to You. I love, adore, worship, bow down and say now, Father, that I am through trying to do this all myself in my pride and arrogance...I give all my cares, fears and tears to You and rely in the Healing Power of Christ, the Author and Perfecter of my Faith in You. I camp on these Scriptures above, from Your Holy Word and claim the Victory which was won at the Cross as mine only because Your Wonderful Son, the Lord Jesus, won it at the cost of His Life, for me.
It is in His Name I pray, amen and amen!

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