Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Do you fear death? I’ve seen too much death in my lifetime, but I’ve seen those who are incredibly afraid of death and those who accept it as just the passage from life to life with no fear in their countenance at all. What’s the difference in them? Stick around and we’ll talk about it.
Scripture
John 5:24
Jesus: I tell you the truth: eternal life belongs to those who hear My voice and believe in the One who sent Me. These people have no reason to fear judgment because they have already left death and entered life.
Devotional
A few years ago I was suffering from some physical symptoms that scared my wife pretty bad. I couldn’t walk more than thirty or forty feet without stopping to suck in all the air around me. I just couldn’t get enough air to satisfy the needs of my body.
Check for asthma
Check for pulmonary edema or other lung problems
Check for cardiac problems
Check for neurological problems
Found nothing except I couldn’t get enough oxygen
Family feared for me
Several mechanical problems to be labeled as a disabled veteran
Nothing life threatening
Now I couldn’t get enough oxygen to pass into my blood to satisfy my body
For me, no fear, overwhelming peace
Knew the status of my heart
Knew my destination
Knew the next step if i took my last breath
Pain but comfort in pain
Eternal life belongs to those who hear My voice and believe in the One who sent Me. These people have no reason to fear judgment because they have already left death and entered life.
Did I want to die
Too much left to do and see
Not anxious to get to the other side
But not afraid of death
Good feeling to know death is not as frightening an experience as Satan tries to get us to believe.
A lot of unknown
Watch the faces of believers and non-believers
Peace versus fear and anguish
Personal experience from what should have been frightening experiences
Death approaching is okay when God’s spirit is in you
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Luke 12:4-7 Jesus: Listen, My friends, if people are trying to kill you, why be afraid? After you’re dead, what more can they do? Here’s whose opinion you should be concerned about: the One who can take your life and then throw you into hell! He’s the only One you should fear! But don’t misunderstand: you don’t really need to be afraid of God, because God cares for every little sparrow. How much is a sparrow worth—don’t five of them sell for a few cents? Since you are so much more precious to God than a thousand flocks of sparrows, and since God knows you in every detail—down to the number of hairs on your head at this moment—you can be secure and unafraid of any person, and you have nothing to fear from God either.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
There is so much unwarranted fear in our country right now. I’ve been amazed at what’s been coming across the media since the elections showing the fear in so many segments of our society. But what about? What are we so afraid of? Do we think that the sky will fall because we have a Republican president? Will the world stop spinning because the elections didn’t go the way CNN said they would last week? Will cows stop giving milk and chickens quit laying eggs?
The fear that runs across the country is really ridiculous if you ask my opinion. And the fear would be equally ridiculous if Hillary Clinton had won the election and Republicans claimed the world had come to an end. Neither of these two individuals or their staffs have that much influence. Some might think they do, but trust me, they don’t. God is still in charge of this world. He allows things to happen, but He is still in charge. His plans will come to fruition whoever sits in what we think is the seat of power in this country.
So, why are so many people afraid? I doubt if next week or next month or next year there will be any squads sweeping through the streets dragging people out of their homes and taking them to the gas chambers. We don’t live in that kind of country. Neither candidate, neither party, none of the leaders we elected in the last few days would condone or put up with any such behavior. Both love our country too much to allow any such nonsense to take place here.
But there is something we should fear. We should fear the lies that Satan keeps planting in our brain. We should fear the division that keeps creeping in between us. We should fear the hatred that spews from the mouths of those that call themselves Christians in this time. We should fear the One who set the rules in place as to how we should behave in any culture, not just a republic or a democracy or a dictatorship or a theocracy. We need to read God’s rule book and obey the things He laid out for us.
The thing to fear are those who would tell us that God’s word doesn’t need to be followed. The thing to fear are those who lead us to certain destruction by lulling us into thinking God doesn’t care about what we believe or that a God of love would not let anyone be doomed to an eternity without Him. The problem with that thinking is that God isn’t the one doing the dooming. He isn’t the one sending us there. God isn’t the one who make the choice about our eternal destiny.
God takes His hands off of that decision. He lifts His omnipotence in that one area and gives that choice to each of us. We decide if we will spend eternity in heaven or hell. We decide if we will follow Him or not. We decide if we will face eternal reward or eternal punishment. God is love. That’s why He made a way for us to be with Him forever. But He also expects us to choose His way. If we choose not to follow Him, He has told us the consequences. There is no doubt about the outcome. We are empowered to choose the path.
So now what do we do? Should we fear the paltry issues the media seems to throw in our faces to raise their ratings and get us to watch their newscasts? Should we shed crocodile tears over the meaningless headline that won’t last another week before something else hits the news and takes its place? Should we fear these false Armageddons that society tells are happening all around us that might disrupt our personal comfort and pleasures?
I think it’s time we pull out the rule book of the One who will be our final judge, the One who checks our actions against our stated beliefs and looks into our hearts to see how it all matches up. I think it’s time we figure out He’s the One we need to start paying attention to and live up to His expectations. If we choose not to, then it’s time to really be in fear. Then it’s time to check the sky and see if this is the day He comes to take out His vengeance on those who fail to follow Him.
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Luke 5:10 Jesus: Don’t be afraid, Simon. From now on, I’ll ask you to bring Me people instead of fish.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
If you’ll remember, Jesus said these words to Simon after Simon told Him he should not be around Him because he was a sinful man. Simon’s words remind me of Isaiah’s vision in the temple when he saw God sitting on His throne high and lifted up. Isaiah knew he was about to die because he was a sinful man and was in the presence of God.
Daniel did the same. John on the Isle of Patmos did the same. Everyone who comes into the presence of the Almighty falls to their face and recognizes their sinful state as they see the purity and holiness of His very essence. Simon felt the same way. He heard Jesus preach from one of his boats that he had pushed off from the shore so He could be heard better by the crowd. It was a common practice for speakers to large crowds in that day. The speech would echo off the water and create an amplifying effect rather than standing in the middle of the crowd where the robes and turbans and tunics would muffle the sound.
Simon was just minding his own business, literally when Jesus borrowed one of his boats. He and this fellow fishermen were mending their nets. But while he was working, he heard the message. He saw this preacher from Nazareth. He heard this man expound on the scriptures in ways he had never heard before. Simon knew there was something different about this man. That’s why he trusted His command to cast his nets into deeper water.
But when Simon saw the evidence that this man was more than just a carpenter turned preacher, he was shaken. Simon knew this man was more than anyone he had ever met before and he had met some important people in his many business dealings. Simon knew this man had a special relationship with the God of the universe. I’m not so sure Simon understood yet that Jesus was God incarnate, but he certainly knew he was in the presence of a holy man with power over nature.
Isn’t it interesting that our first reaction is to get away from the presence of God instead of toward Him when we find ourselves in our sin? Just like Adam and Eve, we want to hide. We want to get away from Him. We don’t want to be in His presence for fear we will experience an outpouring of His wrath because of our sin.
But Jesus tells Simon, don’t be afraid. Come close. Just like God called Adam after his sin in the Garden of Eden. God didn’t want Adam to fall. He didn’t want Adam to leave His presence. That was Adam’s choice because He failed to obey God. But then God instituted ways to get back to Him. He showed us how to get back into a right relationship with Him. He set up a means of redemption with that very first sin.
He says, “Don’t be afraid. I want to restore your relationship with Me. I want to bring you back home. I want to put your life back on track. Don’t be afraid. Come close. I have good news for you and for everyone who will listen. You don’t have to stay estranged from Me. You don’t have to stay mired in your sin. You don’t have to be separated from Me. You can be cleansed. You can be made whole again. You can have your sins forgiven.”
We are so afraid of what other people might think if we go to an altar to ask God to forgive us of our sins. We’re afraid someone might think we are a sinner! Well, guess what? All of us are. None of us escape that title. So the question is really whether you will let someone else’s thought about you destine you to an eternity separated from God or whether you will use some common sense and fall on your face before a forgiving God and beg Him for cleansing from your sin.
It is ironic the response we have when God wants so desperately to bring us back into His kingdom. He created us to worship Him. He created us for a relationship with Him. He even came to live with us in human flesh to show us how much He longs to restore that relationship with us. And when He came, He told Simon and us the same message. “Don’t be afraid. I have a message for you and I want you to give that same message to the rest of the world.”
So will you trust Him like Simon did and do what He says? Or will you continue to do like Adam and hide from Him. As always, it’s your choice. Make the smart one, choose to stop hiding and live for Him.
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Mark 4:39-40
He got up, shouted words into the wind, and commanded the waves. Jesus: That’s enough! Be still!
And immediately the wind died down to nothing, the waves stopped. Jesus: How can you be so afraid? After all you’ve seen, where is your faith?
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
The headlines in the news for the last several months seem a little scary to many people. Vacation plans to Europe cancelled. Vacation plans to America cancelled. Our State Department issuing warnings about travel and violence in various countries around the world and the need to exercise caution when traveling. Three countries now issuing warning about entering our country and exercising caution with our law enforcement. There is a lot of fear in the world.
Gun sales are at an all time high. People who would never consider purchasing a weapon because they had always felt safe in their homes, now own weapons and keep them loaded by their beds because of the fear of invasion that runs rampant across our land.
The headlines across our news papers and social media seem to want to spark racial tension and civil war. As the headlines work to grab people’s attention to the rest of the article, the headlines exaggerate what the rest of the article will share in facts, but we read the headlines and it incites hatred, anger, fear, protest, revolt, emotions that cause us to rise up against each other, often in violence.
Fear is the terrorists’ greatest weapon and they are using it well around the world. Terrorism has touched the shores of every continent and invaded the shores of our nation. And many in our nation fear for their safety because of the recent events that claimed the lives of so many people snuffed out without warning. One of the difficulties in dealing with the terrorists we face today is their willingness to die for their cause. When someone values their own life, they will stop the violence short of sacrificing themselves, but when they disregard their own life and are willing to use themselves as the device for destruction, it is very difficult to stop them. Just what we’ve seen in incidents like those in Orlando, Paris, and Nice.
We fear the things we cannot control. Whether it is terrorism, cancer, heart attacks, communicable diseases, storms, we fear these things we cannot control. That’s what was happening with these seasoned sailors. They got caught in the middle of a storm that rose up on the Sea of Galillee while transporting Jesus from one shore to the other. The winds came out of the north whipping up the waves and producing the kind of violent storms that sometimes plagued the area.
They didn’t expect it. They didn’t think the storm would come in like it did. They knew how to read the weather and this storm wasn’t predicted. But it came just the same. And they couldn’t control its effects on their small vessel. If it continued, the vessel would surely sink. They were afraid. But Jesus was with them. And that makes all the difference in the world.
He controls things we cannot. He controls the results of the storm. In fact, He should the disciples and those in all those other boats that traveled with them that He controlled the storm itself. With just a word the winds stopped, the waves calmed, the rain ceased. The storm obeyed His voice.
So what do we learn from all of this? I think it tells us that despite all the evil around us, we do not need to be afraid. Yes, there are terrorists that want to kill innocent people to advance their cause. We can’t control them, but God can and we don’t need to be afraid. He will either protect us from our enemy or use us in those moments to advance His plans for His world. He is still in control. Not the terrorist. We don’t need to be afraid. Do I understand why He allows all those things to happen? No, except perhaps He is still delaying the outpouring of His wrath in the hope that just one more will ask for His forgiveness and join the ranks of the redeemed in His kingdom.
We can be like Paul as he wrote in prison, which is better to live or die? If we live we get to continue to do God’s work, see more people won to Him, help to grow His kingdom, experience His mercy and grace here. If we die, we are ushered into His presence where we can rejoice with Him forever. So why should we fear the circumstance we face but cannot control. Things we cannot control will continue to happen all around us. But if Jesus is with us, we don’t need to be afraid. He is still in control of all things and still knows what is best for us. His actions and His timing is perfect. We may not understand it right now, but He is God and we can trust Him.
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 28:9-10 Jesus (greeting the women): Rejoice.
The women fell down before Him, kissing His feet and worshiping Him. Jesus: Don’t be afraid. Go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee. Tell them I will meet them there.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
You’ve probably seen the popular TV show, actors portray different scenes in public and hidden cameras watch unsuspecting bystanders to see what happens as the action plays out before them. You know the punch line – “What would you do?” Sometimes the actions are pretty bizarre and we would like to think we know how we would react when put in those situations. But do we?
Put yourself in the cemetery on that first Easter morning. You go to the tomb to finish preparing the body of the man you thought would lead your country to freedom. You listened to His words and just knew He was must be the Messiah, but then He was arrested and killed like a common criminal. All your dreams are dashed. But you still want to carry out this last act of respect.
The guards are laying around the tomb either unconscious or so terrified they just can’t move. The stone is rolled away from the entrance. You see an angel sitting on top of the stone. The tomb is empty. Then the angel talks to you and tells you not to be afraid. What would you do? I’d probably be scared out of my gord no matter what the angel said. He just took on a whole Roman squad by himself and rolled away a stone too massive to for any man to move alone. And did it all without getting a speck of dirt on him.
I bet I’d fall on my face in fear. But then Jesus appears, but His skin is no longer ripped to sheds by the thirty-nine lashes He took. His brow shows no sign of the crown of thorns that pierced it. The bruises are gone. The blood that covered His body when you laid Him in the tomb is gone. The almost unrecognizable figure of a man that went into the tomb three days ago is not the same figure that stands before you now.
No, this is the same Jesus you walked with and talked with every day. This is the One who sat with you and explained the scriptures so perfectly. This is the man who loved everyone and taught you to love even your enemies. This is the man you thought you’d never see again until the final resurrection. What would you do?
I would probably faint dead away. I’d probably just fall on my face and pass out cold from the instant fear that ran through my whole body. That’s what I’d probably do. I’ve seen some really strange things in my life and been in some pretty scary situations, but to see Jesus resurrected on that first Easter mornining? Not sure I’d be standing up.
But Jesus says, “Rejoice!” “Tell my brothers to go and meet me in Galilee.”
Wow! I don’t think John Quiñones could put anything like that together. But if he did, I wonder what kind of response He would get? I’m afraid today he wouldn’t get much of one. People would assume it’s some sort of Hollywood special affects or slight of hand. Folks would look for those hidden cameras thinking that since this couldn’t be real, there must be some wizard behind the curtain and start looking for him. I’m not sure with all the SciFi and fantasy worlds we create for ourselves as entertainment, many would even see this scene as the incredible, historic, supernatural, spiritually awakening invitation for all mankind it really was.
But it happened. Jesus spent enough time in the grave to assure everyone in Jerusalem He was really dead. The Roman soldiers who crucified Him testified to it and they knew their job. They had no doubt about His condition when they took His lifeless corpse from that cross. When Joseph of Arimethea put Jesus in his tomb, no one doubted He was dead. No pulse. No heartbeat. No breath. Bled out. Dead. And even if He was alive, He certainly couldn’t have move that stone and walked around three days later after the physical ordeal He went through. Even with our modern medicine, He would spend months, maybe a year or more in the hospital recovering from His wounds. Walking around talking in three days? Healed? No way. Alive? Impossible.
Jesus told the women who came to finish their burial ritual to rejoice. And they did. They fell at His feet and kissed His feet and worshiped Him. Any question they had about His being the Son of God disappeared in that encounter. He was God incarnate.
Then Jesus gave them a job to do. Go tell My brothers I’m alive and I want to meet them. You know He gives us the same message to tell others when we recognize the incarnate, resurrected God of the universe in Jesus, the Christ, the Anointed One. When we finally figure out who He is and let Him be Lord of our life, He tells us to rejoice. Then He tells us to go and tell His brothers He wants to meet them.
Have you told anyone lately that Jesus wants to meet them? He has risen. He is alive. The message is clear. So what will you do?
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 14:27 Jesus: Be still. It is I. You have nothing to fear.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
I love this story. Many of you probably know it well. Jesus sends His disciples ahead of Him across the Sea of Galilee in a boat while He goes up the mountain to pray. That’s what He came to this secluded area to do in the first place. Then one of those sudden storms come up on the sea and the disciples are rowing with all their might to get to the other side. Suddenly, they look up and they see something in the distance that looks like a man.
But they’re in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. The water is deep. It’s not possible for anyone to walk on the water. This must be a ghost. Then one of them says, “It looks like the Master!” The debate goes on as the figure gets closer. It’s a ghost. It’s the Master. It’s some creature from the sea. It can’t be a ghost. I’m telling you, I think it’s Jesus. It can’t be, how can He walk on the water. I know it must be a ghost. No, look, He walks just like Jesus and the storm doesn’t bother Him at all.
Then out from across the water they hear a voice, “Be still. It is I. You have nothing to fear.”
Really? There’s this storm all around us and we might sink in the waves, there’s this figure of a man coming closer to us that seems to be walking on the water. Don’t be afraid. Are you kidding me?
Life does that to sometimes, doesn’t it? The waves crash around us. We don’t see any way out of the predicament we’re in. The enemy seems to hem us in on every side. We don’t know how we will win the battle. And then it gets worse. We don’t seem to get through to God, instead we seem to just see shadows moving in the distance.
But then from those shadows we hear a voice calling, “Be still. It is I. You have nothing to fear.”
It is so hard sometimes to stop and be still. It is hard to stop churning and doing and fretting and working to just look out into the fog and see who it is that is coming through all that mist and spray that seems to surround us. With everything pouring in, it’s hard to stop and take the time to look over the bow and focus on the figure blurred by all the commotion and noise and lightning and thunder to see that He is walking toward our rescue.
That’s what He tells us to do, though. When we are in the middle of our greatest storm, it’s sometimes best to stop and focus on Him. I’ve been part of a good many disaster operations in the last forty years both in and out of the military. One of the first things I learned from a great operations officer by the name of then Major David Bramlett was combat patience. He later became the Commander of United States Army Forces Command.
Combat patience says that the first thing you hear or see about the development of a battlefield situation is probably not true or at best a half truth. It’s not that people purpose try to misinform, but in the excitement and rush of those first few moments of battle, confusion reigns. It isn’t until the battle is fully engaged that good, solid information comes out from those on the line. That’s what Jesus is telling His disciples. Don’t get too excited about the situation. This might look bad, but it’s not. Just be still and look around. Take inventory of what you have and the directions you’ve been given.
If they had stopped to think a few minutes. They all believed Jesus was the Son of God. God incarnate. He told them to meet Him on the other side of the lake. They didn’t know how He was going to get there, but if He said He was going to meet them, well… How could they possible not make it to the other side? He was God walking around in human clothes. They would make it to meet Him. He’d see to it. Just be still. Stop and collect your wits about you. Remember what I told you to do, and do it.
Then He came out of the shadow. The mist cleared a little. They began to focus on the figure in front of them and Jesus said, “It is I. You don’t have anything to fear.” You see, when Jesus is around, the world can’t hurt us. He has already defeated sin and death and the grave. If He lives in us, the only things that can hurt us have been defeated. What do we have to fear? The answer is, Absolutely nothing. Paul explains it well in Romans. We die to the flesh and live according to the Spirit. When we do, the only authority who can condemn us is Jesus, but He sits at the right hand of the Father pleading for us. So who can condemn us? No one! Nothing! Not any created thing! We have nothing in this world to fear when He is Lord of our life.
Are you in the middle of a storm? Be still. Jesus is in the mist and fog walking your way. You have nothing to fear, if He lives in you.
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 10:28-31
Don’t fear those who aim to kill just the body but are unable to touch the soul. The One to fear is He who can destroy you, soul and body, in the fires of hell. Look, if you sold a few sparrows, how much money would you get? A copper coin apiece, perhaps? And yet your Father in heaven knows when those small sparrows fall to the ground. You, beloved, are worth so much more than a whole flock of sparrows. God knows everything about you, even the number of hairs on your head. So do not fear.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
We fight the wrong battles today. The media fills our heads with the ills of society and we fight the wrong battles. Every day we hear more stories, each more horrific than the one before about what we do to each other because of racism, poverty, greed, power, fame, jealousy, just name the vice. We fight against these things and think we are doing great things. But there’s a problem with our fight. We aren’t focused on the real battle.
Before we figure out there out strategy is wrong, each of us struggle with this enemy inside us that we try to satisfy with the things the world says will satisfy it. This hole in our life can only be filled by God, but we try everything else to fill it. Sometimes we try to act nice, do good things, but it doesn’t fill the spot. Sometimes we try bad things, things we know displease God, but we bend to the temptation in front of us and find after all the running from God and pleasing our selfish desires, the hole still stays.
Then someone tells us about religion and we race to our churches and synagogues, temples and cathedrals. We participate in all the rituals, give the institution our money, even take on some responsibilities, maybe even teach a Sunday School class. Those things make us feel good about ourselves, but that still isn’t the solution to our problem. None of those things, as good as they might be, fill the void in our heart that only God can fill. However, we let Satan make us believe they take the place of faith in Christ and following in His footsteps.
So we try, fairly unsuccessfully to fight this inner battle of right and wrong in our strength. It doesn’t work, though, because we are fighting the wrong battle. Paul reminds us the battle isn’t against flesh and blood. It takes place in spiritual realms. It happens in areas where we have no personal strength. We’ve already shown that by our failure to live the life God wants us to live. So what do we do? How should we fight? What battles are we supposed to engage in?
Let’s look back at Jesus’ words. He is in the middle of His sermon to His disciples as He is about to send them on their missionary journey within the borders of Israel. Their message is His message, “Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He has instructed them to use the hospitality of trustworthy men in the villages they visit, but they can also expect resistance wherever they go. And they will stand in court to defend their faith. Soon executions will begin. Floggings with strip away their flesh. Families will tear themselves apart over the message the disciples will deliver for the Master.
But with all that goes on in the spreading of His message, Jesus says, "don’t be afraid of mere humans. Fear the One who will decide your eternal fate. He’s the One you should listen to and obey. He’s the One you should spend your time getting to know. This body is ony temporary. In a flash it will be gone, but after that comes the judgment and the One who can destroy body and soul is the One to please. He’s the One to fear.
When we believe in Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, though, we do not need to fear punishment. This fear is the awe that God deserves from us when we remember exactly who He is. He is God. The Creator of the universe and all that is in it. He deserves our worship and our awe, our fear. Jesus goes on to say, though, that we are worth far more to God than the smallest creatures He takes such good care of every day. His example of the swallows God feeds and shelters helps us see how much we must be worth to God.
God knows everything about us. He knows what we have tried to fill the void in our life. He knows the path we have trod to finally discover our broken, depraved, seemingly hopeless condition in our sins. He knows the price He already paid for our salvation. God knows more about us than we know about ourselves. He knows the number of hairs on your head. Do you think you could ever count them? Don’t worry about those authorities that might want to arrest you, beat you, even kill you. Fear God. Follow His directions. He’s the One that sets the standards and makes the rules. Probably a good idea to please Him if He will be the final judge.
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 8:26 Jesus: Please! What are you so afraid of, you of little faith?
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
Fear, one of those deep-rooted emotions that keeps us alive at times, but also keeps us from accomplishing much if we don’t learn to control it. It’s interesting that the second most common fear in the world in the fear of death. The first is the fear of public speaking. Strange that we fear talking to a group of people more than we fear dying, but that’s what the literature tells us. And from those two phobias come a long list of things we fear.
Some of our fears just seem silly to most people, but if you suffer from them, they can be debilitating. You’ve probably heard stories, if you don’t know someone with the fear of the heights, or the fear flying, or the fear of roller coasters, or the fear of the dark. Those are just the tip of the iceberg, though. We fear almost everything as the human race. Someone, somewhere will be afraid of just about anything you can think of, so we can’t slap around the disciples too much since they were in the middle of a storm on the Sea of Galilee.
More than half of these guys were seasoned fishermen. They knew how to handle storms. They’d been caught out on the Sea of Galilee before when a storm came up. Storms weren’t anything new to them. But this one must have been a whopper. They were afraid. They didn’t know if they would make it to shore. And here was Jesus, the Son of God, just sleeping in the back of the boat. Maybe even snoring a little.
So they wake Him up. “Don’t you care that we’re going to die? How can you sleep when we’re risking our lives here? Can’t you help us keep this rickety boat afloat? Do something!”
I can imagine their angst in the middle of that stormy situation. Have you ever been there? Wondering what would happen next? Wondering how you would survive the next blows that came your way? If you live long enough, you’ll go through some of those times. No one is exempt from the troubles of the world. It doesn’t matter how rich or how poor you might be, everyone faces those times. Maybe it’s a financial crisis. Maybe the doctor just spoke the big “C” word. Maybe you don’t know where your next meal is coming from. Maybe your best friend and partner for life just passed away. We all face those storms in our life. Jesus promised we would. It’s part of the curse of Adam’s race. Sin entered the world and from the time we’re born this physical frame begins the process of dying in this physical realm.
And along that journey of life, we learn to fear. Some people fear more than others. But we all fear.
I find it fascinating, though, that every time God sends one of His messengers to earth to talk to one of His followers, and every time Jesus talks to someone in crisis, their first words are usually, “Don’t be afraid.” Fear can have a strangle hold on us and freeze us in place. It can paralyze us into inactivity so we are good for nothing. It can keep us from taking that necessary next step that leads to the release and freedom we so desperately seek. But we are afraid.
I love to watch little kids at playgrounds. They show us what’s it’s like not to fear. Watch them. They hang on the bars upside-down without a care. They race and climb and jump and sometimes they fall. It’s not until adults intervene and tell them something isn’t safe that they begin to curb their appetite for play. Little kids will do just about anything within their ability with no fear. They just do stuff. They exercise faith in their ability and their invincibility. We parents are the ones that instill that fear in them. We stop them cold and tell them they’ll get hurt. Don’t climb too high. Don’t swing too far. Don’t run too fast. Don’t … Don’t… Don’t… And so we build fear into them.
I’m told the only fear infants have is the fear of falling. Everything else we teach them with our constraints and dire warnings. Have you ever thought about had sad that is sometimes. So maybe we have taught out children, by our actions, to fear coming to Christ for salvation. Maybe our actions tell our children it’s not safe to give your all to the Master. Maybe we have demonstrated those dire warnings to our children that you better fear doing too much for Christ.
Can you trust Him with everything you have and everything you are? Can you get rid of the fear that keeps you from serving Him completely? Can you avoid the words His disciples heard in the boat, “What are you so afraid of, you of little faith”? Are you ready to act like a child and boldly step out and do the unthinkable when and where He leads you? I promise you, Jesus will never ask you to do something He and you cannot do together because He never fails. Never! So what are you so afraid of?
Revelation 15 1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing: seven messengers with seven plagues—plagues that marked the end. With these the wrath of God reached its end. 2 And then I saw something like a sea made of glass mixed with fire flashing through it. Those who had been victorious over the beast, its image, and the number of its name were standing on the sea of glass, holding the harps of God in their hands. 3 As they stand and play their harps, they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. Victors: Great and amazing are Your works,
Lord God, the All Powerful.
Right and true are Your ways,
King of all nations. 4 Who will not fear You, Lord?
Who will not glorify Your name?
Because You alone are holy,
all the nations will come
and worship before You,
For Your righteous judgments have been revealed. 5 After I had taken all this in, I looked again; and the inner part of the tabernacle of witness opened in heaven. 6 Out of the temple came seven messengers, clothed in pure linen, bright and shining, their chests clad in a golden sash, carrying seven plagues. 7 Then one of the four living creatures stepped over to give to the seven messengers seven golden bowls brimming with the wrath of God who lives throughout the ages. 8 The temple was full of the smoke billowing from the magnificent glory of God and from His power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven messengers accomplished their God-ordained end.
Today’s Devotional
From today’s background scripture God might say:
Let Me remind you again of the song the victors will sing as they stand on the sea of glass before the throne.
Great and amazing are Your works,
Lord God, the All Powerful.
Right and true are Your ways,
King of all nations.
Who will not fear You, Lord?
Who will not glorify Your name?
Because You alone are holy,
all the nations will come
and worship before You,
For Your righteous judgments have been revealed.
Right in the middle of that song you will find two questions. Who will not fear you, Lord? Who will not glorify your name? The answer is – no one. All the nations and every individual of all the nations will fear and worship Me.
But there are two kinds of fear. Everyone will experience one of those two types depending on whether you follow My precepts. The first type of fear is reserved for those who have not follow My ways. That type of fear and trembling comes because of fear of punishment. It equates to the horror of what will befall those damned to eternal punishment. Those who choose their own path choose eternal separation from Me. They choose to face the horror of eternity alone with no support, no love, no light, nothing. They will face eternity absorbed by the horror of complete isolation from their only source of hope, Me.
Think of the synonyms associated with this type of fear, the definition most people think about when they consider the word fear: dread, fright, alarm, panic, terror, trepidation. All negative terms that evoke that fight or fright reflex in you, except when you face My wrath, there will be no fight for I will already be victorious over evil and there will be no flight for there will be no escape from My wrath. There will be only the horror of what is to come forever for those who choose their own path.
But for those who choose to follow Me, there is another kind of fear. Seldom to you hear about that definition today, but My word uses the term “fear God” often. So what does it mean for those who follow Me? For that group, you do not fear punishment and the wrath those who follow their own way do. So what does it mean to fear Me? It means to tremble in awe and reverence.
Let Me give you a simple example. Suppose you had an opportunity to meet the president or the queen face to face. They are ordinary people, but have positions of great political power. You would probably put on your best clothes, make sure your hair is just right, brush your teeth and eat a breath mint or two before your appointment. As his or her staff members check you through the security measures, bring you to the outer offices and begin to move you through the spacial rooms toward your appointment, you probably begin to get a few butterflies. You may tremble a little thinking about the coming meeting. Your tongue might get a little thick and your palms a little sweaty and your fingers a little clumsy as the appointed time approaches. Maybe when you step forward to introduce yourself, you have a hard time getting your words straight because you’re in the presence of one of the most powerful political figures in the world.
That’s the fear My word talks about. Awe and reverence. But now imagine yourself entering the presence, not of a powerful political figure, but the presence of the Creator. The One who performed the miracle that gives you life. The One who put the universe and all its physics in place to hold everything together so you can enjoy the spendor of this vast universe. Imagine yourself coming into the presence of the One who truly holds the power of life and death. The One who cannot be bound by time because I am eternal. Can you begin to understand what fearing Me is all about, now?
Can you begin to understand what it means to enjoy the privelege of coming into My throne room in prayer? Do you understand the awe that comes from My loving you enough to walk in flesh for you? Do you begin to connect with that feeling of fear I want you to have when you come into My presence? I don’t want My followers to experience the negative side of fear, I want you to know and experience the awe and wonder and reverence of entering My presence. Fearing Me is the beginning of wisdom.
Remember, as the song of the redeemed says, everyone will fear Me. Which definition will you choose to embrace? Follow your own way and you will experience the fright, terror, and panic that comes as a part of My wrath. Follow Me and you can tremble with awe and reverence in My presence. You get to choose the path you will take.
2 Chronicles 20:1-30 1 After Jehoshaphat had solidified his throne by fortifying the nation and appointing regional judges, the Moabites, Ammonites, and some Meunites decided to attack him. 2 Jehoshaphat heard about their plans.
Messengers: A huge army is quickly approaching Jerusalem. They are coming from Edom beyond the Dead Sea, but they have already reached Hazazon-tamar (that is Engedi on the shore of the Dead Sea, about two days southwest of Jerusalem).
3 Jehoshaphat was afraid, so he sought the Eternal and required all Judah’s citizens to fast. 4-5 Everyone gathered together in Jerusalem from cities all over Judah to seek help from the Eternal. Jehoshaphat joined the assembly in the newly restored court at the Eternal’s house and 6 prayed before the people.
Jehoshaphat: O Eternal One, the True God of our ancestors, You are the True God in the heavens and the ruler over all the kingdoms and nations! You are so strong that none can survive when they oppose You. 7 O our True God, You demonstrated that power when You exiled inhabitants of this land for Your people, Israel, and gave it to Your friend Abraham’s children forever. Please demonstrate it again, now, as we are attacked. 8 We have lived here and built a sacred house honoring Your reputation. Now we will remind You of Solomon’s words: 9 “If we encounter disaster or disease from wars, judgment, pestilence, or famine, then we will come to this house where You are and where your reputation is honored and beg for Your help. You will hear our cries and rescue us.”
10 Now is the time to ask for Your help. Men from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir (the region in Edom which You stopped Israel from destroying when they left Egypt) 11 are rewarding our ancestors’ mercy by coming to steal our inheritance, which is Your land and which You gave to us. 12 Our True God, won’t You judge them? We can do nothing to stop this huge army from attacking us; we don’t know what to do, so we are asking for Your help.
13 All Judah (men and women, children, and infants) were waiting in front of the Eternal’s temple when Jehoshaphat asked this. 14 There, the Spirit of the Eternal descended on a Levitical singer, Jahaziel (son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite son of Asaph).
Jahaziel: 15 Listen to me, all Judah, citizens of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. The Eternal has responded to your pleading: “Do not fear or worry about this army. The battle is not yours to fight; it is the True God’s. 16 Tomorrow, they will travel through the ascent of Ziz. Meet them at the end of valley before the wilderness of Jeruel. There, I will be watching. 17 Stand and watch, but do not fight the battle. There, you will watch the Eternal save you, Judah and Jerusalem.”
Do not fear or worry. Tomorrow, face the army and trust that the Eternal is with you.
18 Jehoshaphat bowed his head low, and all the assembly fell prostrate before the Eternal and worshiped Him with reverence. They trusted the Lord completely. 19 Meanwhile, the Levite families of the Kohathites and Korahites stood up to praise the Eternal One, True God of Israel, with very loud voices.
20 Early the next morning they went out to the wilderness of Tekoa. There Jehoshaphat’s message to Judah was not about courage in battle.
Jehoshaphat: Listen to me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Trust in the Eternal One, your True God, not in your own abilities, and you will be supported. Put your trust in His words that you heard through the prophets, and we will succeed.
21 Having addressed his people, Jehoshaphat asked those who sang to the Eternal to lead the army and praise His magnificence and holiness.
Chorus (singing): Give thanks to the Eternal because His loyal love is forever!
22 As they sang and praised, the Eternal was ready to cause great confusion in battle for the men from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir (in Edom) who had come to attack Judah. They were utterly defeated, turning on one another. 23 The Ammonites and Moabites attacked the men from Mount Seir, destroying them completely. Then, the Ammonites and Moabites turned on each other. 24 When all was quiet, Judah looked out of the watchtower in the wilderness and saw a great army of corpses fallen on the battlefield. No one had escaped. 25 Then Jehoshaphat and his people took various goods, clothing, and valuables off the dead bodies and seized the abundant livestock. There was so much that it took three days to recover it all. 26 On the fourth day, they assembled in the valley of Beracah, where they had blessed the Eternal and where He had blessed them with a victory, and named the place, “The Valley of Beracah,” as it is still known today.
27 Every man of Judah and citizen of Jerusalem followed Jehoshaphat back to Jerusalem, joyous because the Eternal defeated their enemies. 28 They paraded into Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets and up to the Eternal’s house.
29-30 For the rest of his reign, Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was peaceful because the Eternal had fought the Southern Kingdom’s enemies, making all the surrounding kingdoms fear the True God.
Today’s Devotional
From today’s background scripture God might say:
It’s okay to be afraid. The question is what do you do with that fear? Do you trust in Me or do you try to handle those fearful situations in your own power?
Jehoshaphat and the people of Jerusalem were just two days from facing a huge army made up of the combined forces of three of their most feared enemies. The warriors from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir wanted to avenge the defeats they suffered at the hands of Jehoshaphat’s predecessors. This was their opportunity.
Rather than fold under the fear, though, Jehoshaphat took the right action. He went to the Temple and prayed. He asked his people to join him in fasting and praying that I would protect them and defeat their enemy. He trusted Me despite what he could see in front of him. That’s what faith is all about.
The next time you face an impossible situation, think about Jehoshaphat. His trust in Me paid off. He gave Me his fear and I showed him what I can do. All his enemies destroyed themselves. Jehoshaphat and the citizens of Jerusalem just looked over the valley and watched Me take care of the forces against him. There was nothing for his people to do except pick up the spoils from those who died in their attempt to thwart My people.
I take care of My children. You don’t need to fear those around you.
