No Trash, Just Truth! - Proverbs 9:10 Ministries

Episode 124 - Transformed to Crush the Fear Factor - Be Transformed Part 5

January 31, 2022 Chris Paxson & Rose Spiller
No Trash, Just Truth! - Proverbs 9:10 Ministries
Episode 124 - Transformed to Crush the Fear Factor - Be Transformed Part 5
Show Notes Transcript

Throughout history, there has been no shortage of things to be fearful of. While the objects of fear may have changed through the ages, people being afraid hasn't. The United States and the entire world looks very different than it did even just 3 years ago. As studies have shown, recent events have changed what people fear the most. The world can change drastically in the blink of an eye. And along with changes in the world, comes changes in what people fear. Fear is relative. So how can we be transformed to crush the fear factor, no matter what the prevailing fear may be and no matter how dire the consequences of it may be?

Join us as we continue in our transformation journey. In this episode, we can be transformed to crush the fear factor!

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Episode 124 – Transformed to Crush the Fear Factor

         Welcome Back! We hope you are enjoying our Be Transformed series and we hope that you are seeing as we go along, that none of the topics that we have covered so far– God’s greatness, God’s goodness, derailing our transformation – exists in a vacuum. They are all connected. And that’s going to be the case as we continue. That’s because true transformation requires that we look at the whole big picture. If we just say okay, I like that God is good, I’m going to just focus on that, we may grow a little, but will probably hit a plateau where our sanctification is stunted. R.C. Sproul said, “The whole Christian needs the whole Bible.” So, we encourage you as you take this journey of true transformation with us, to see that everything is connected in how we cooperate with The Holy Spirit in our sanctification 

         Yes! Today, we are going to talk about an important aspect in our transformation. Being transformed to crush the fear factor. Chris, we love looking at secular studies and research and comparing them to Biblical Truth. For this episode, we have 2 studies, both done in the United States. First, a study was done in 2015. People were asked what they feared most. The top specific fears people had in 2015 starting at #10 are credit card fraud, #9 Running out of money, #8 Economic collapse, #7 Identity Theft, #6 Bio Warfare, #5 Gov’t tracking personal information, #4 terrorist attack, #3 corporate tracking of personal information, #2 cyber terrorism, and the #1 fear of people surveyed in 2015 was corrupt government officials.

Another study was done just last February. Same premise, but just 6 years later, the answers changed. Here are the top 10 fears in Feb. 2021. Starting at #10 – Biological warfare, #9 – Pollution, #8 – Cyber Terrorism, #7 – Economic or financial ruin, #6 – Another pandemic or epidemic, #5 – widespread civil unrest, #4 – Loved one becoming seriously ill, #3 – Loved ones getting covid, #2 – Loved ones dying, and the #1 fear in 2021 was corrupt government officials. Some similarities, but you can tell that the events in 2020 definitely had an impact on people’s fears.

         And the answers are different because the United States and the entire world looks very different than it did even just 3 years ago. This is a good lesson on how the world can change drastically in the blink of an eye. And along with changes in the world, comes changes in what people fear. Fear is relative. We’ll give some examples. Tacitus was a Roman historian in the 1st and 2nd centuries. In his records, he refers to Christianity with the designation superstitio illicita, which is Latin for illegal superstition. He tells of the hatred not just the Roman government, but the Roman people, as well, had for Christians. This, despite the fact that Christians in these early centuries lived exemplary lives. They promoted virtue. They honored the emperor. They had a work ethic that set them apart. They had loving families that showed genuine concern for each other. Yet, they were seen to be a criminal “element and enemies of the state.” They were hated—not because of their behavior, but for their belief in Christ and in the gospel. Ultimately, Christians were hated because their beliefs challenged the status quo of the pagan culture.” Probably, if you did a study on the biggest fears of early Christians during the first and second century, many would have said they feared the Roman people and the government.

         Between the years of 700 – 1,000, Europe was terrorized by the Vikings, who originated from Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. While exploring the coast of Europe and the North Atlantic, even reaching America, they conquered and raided parts of England, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy. They would quietly row ashore and then attack an unsuspecting town by burning it and killing the inhabitants before plundering everything in it. If you had asked the people living in Europe in 700 – 1,000, they would have probably answered that the Vikings were their biggest fear.

         In the mid 1300’s, the Bubonic Plague, or black death, was rampant in Europe and Asia. It was spread both through the air and through the bites of infected fleas and rats. It started in China, India, Persian Syria and Egypt, but quickly spread to Europe by 12 trading ships that travelled from Asia to Sicily. It killed between 75 and 200 million people, which is 30 to 50% of the population of Asia and Europe. If you had asked people during the peak years of the Bubonic Plague from 1347 to 1351, what they feared most, I’m sure the answer would have been contracting this deadly disease.

         When the calendar turned to 1500, there was just one church for Christians – the catholic church (small c). However, it was corrupt and the to quote Martin Luther, “The theology was rotten to the core.” However, unlike the church today, the church and the pope then were very powerful and tied in with the government and politics. The church had the power to tax its people as well as prosecute them if they didn’t obey church law. Those who opposed the church could be arrested as a heretic and executed. Even though, reformers like Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin rose during this time to oppose the corruption of the catholic church and start the protestant church, many people paid with their lives for following them. If you had asked the average person in the 1500’s what they feared the most, they probably would have answered the power and punishment of the catholic church and the pope.

We’ve all heard the horrific stories of the holocaust and Hitler’s 3rd Reich in the 1930’s and 1940’s. But it wasn’t just the Jewish people that Hitler had tortured and killed in concentration camps. In addition to six million Jews, more than five million non-Jews were murdered under the Nazi regime. Among them were Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, blacks, the physically and mentally disabled, political opponents of the Nazis, including Communists and Social Democrats, dissenting clergy, resistance fighters, prisoners of war, Slavic peoples, and many individuals from the artistic communities whose opinions and works Hitler condemned. Germany even turned on their once ally, Russia, double crossing it and invading lands he had agreed to stay away from. If you had asked people in Europe in the 1930’s and 40’s what they feared most, they probably would have said Hitler and the 3rd Reich.

On February 15, 2015, 21 men were killed in Libya at the hands of ISIS for their Christian faith. Leading up to their death, ISIS captured and tortured these men who traveled 1,200 miles to Libya from Egypt to find work and support their families. ISIS tortured them to persuade them to denounce Jesus in return for their lives. When they all refused, they were barbarically executed. It’s recorded that during their execution, they kept repeating, “Lord, Jesus Christ.” If you asked people living in Libya then what they fear most, they would probably answer ISIS.

         Right now, in China, Churches have been closed and demolished. House churches have been raided. Pastors have been handcuffed and arrested mid-service. Christians are being arrested, interrogated and imprisoned. Crosses have been removed from church buildings. There’s now a Chinese law that has led to a widespread crackdown on Christians throughout the country. If you ask Chinese Christians what they fear most, they will probably say the Chinese government. 

Australia right now is a prison state. If you are unvaccinated, you are not allowed out of your house except to get medical treatment, buy groceries, or care for a family member who cannot care for themselves. That’s it. Even going to work or sitting out in your back yard for fresh air is not a valid reason to leave your house. Unvaccinated people are being arrested and put in prison camps all because they refused to get the covid vaccine. If you ask current Australians what they fear the most, I’ve little doubt their answers would be things like government overreach, a corrupt government, and Australia becoming a police state.

         We could spend hours on stories of fearful things people have faced throughout history. If you watch the news, you can get a pretty good idea of what people fear right now– fear of covid, fear of lies about covid, fear of government overreach and corruption, fear of food shortages, fear of inflation, fear of society’s rapidly declining morality, fear of conservatives and Christians being more and more marginalized and ostracized, fear of persecution – fear, fear, fear. Things are changing rapidly, and all indications are that they are not getting better anytime soon. As it has been throughout history, for the Christian, there are 3 possible responses when things in the world seem scary and out of control - cower, cave, or contend. 

         Will we cower? Will we hide in our homes or in the crowd in fear hoping whatever we are afraid of just passes? Will we turn off all news and media so we don’t have to hear the bad stuff that is going on in the world? Will we stay isolated from people, so we won’t contract a virus or have to get involved in anything messy? Will we lay down and just give up without fighting for our God, our family, or ourselves? Will we just keep our head down and our mouth shut and hope no one notices us so we never have to say anything confrontational or be vocal about our beliefs knowing it will probably come with consequences?  This is exactly what the Apostles did after Jesus was crucified. It took Jesus physically showing up to get them out of that room. It’s what Jerome, the writer of the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible did. In 395, when the Roman Empire fell, Jerome was so terrified of what would happen to him, that he took off and went to live in a cave. He spent the last 25 years or so of his life hiding from the world in a cave because of fear.

         The other option is to cave. Will we cave to mounting pressures and fears by capitulating to the world around us? Will we give into unreasonable demands made by those in power over us so we don’t get into any trouble? Will we water down God’s Word to make it more amiable and palpable to people so they won’t hate us and think we are narrow minded or bigoted? Will we compromise truth just a little on our end, hoping maybe the other side will, too? Too many pastors to name have done just this. They water down and / or deny God’s Truth in the name of being a “peacemaker.” For example, they will claim the Bible says homosexuality is only a sin if it’s not in the context of a committed monogamous relationship. Another example is Josh McDowell, a well known, and formally solid pastor and theologian who wrote, More than a Carpenter. After being called a racist for saying that Critical Race Theory is one of the biggest dangers facing the church, he apologized and recanted his statement. We see it, also, with churches allowing themselves to be shut down for almost 2 years now in some parts of the world because of a virus. 

         Cowering certainly doesn’t seem like the right option. In fact, Scripture is pretty clear that it isn’t. Jesus issues a sharp warning in His Sermon on the Mount telling believers to not hide their light under a basket or lose their saltiness. To do either, He says, is to be useless in the Kingdom of God. Rev. 21:8 says, “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” So for Christians, cowering is definitely not an option.

         And neither is caving the solution.Jesus, again, has sharp words for those who think their best option is to cave when fears arise. Jesus says in Matthew 10:33, “but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”  He has another sharp warning about caving to the church in Ephesus in Rev. 2:4 – 5, “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 

         There are few things the world celebrates more than when a Christian cowers or cave. They celebrate and applaud it. And why wouldn’t they since they themselves are dead in their sin and have absolutely no love for God, and have Satan as their master. Our memory verse in the last episode was resist the devil and he will flee from you. Cowering or conformity is the opposite of resisting the devil. It’s giving the devil a foothold. So what do we do when real, debilitating fear assails us? When our physical safety, the safety of those we love, our finances, our home, or our overall well being are threatened by corrupt leaders and governments? Scripture gives us only one appropriate response – contend. 

         Jesus’ brother, Jude tells us in his epistle, “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” Jude wrote his epistle in approximately 68 AD. By this time, Jude and other disciples had seen James, the Apostle, James, Jesus’ brother, Andrew, Thomas, Phillip, Matthew, Peter, and Paul all killed for their faith. And things were not getting any better – in fact, they were getting worse. Jude had every reason to be fearful. Yet it was into this atmosphere and at that time that Jude told followers of Jesus to contend.

         So how do we contend when we have legitimately scary things going on around us? How do we contend when we are fearful, we or someone we love will die of covid or some other disease? How do we contend when society around us is rapidly declining morally and we are the outcasts whose views and beliefs are met with hostility and sometimes, even hate? How do we contend when we feel almost paralyzed with fear? How can we be transformed to crush the fear factor? Let’s look at some practical helps. 

The first step is knowing that while the world can change rapidly around us, God never changes. We talked about this in the last episode. God never changes. He remains the constant no matter how turbulent or scary things in the world look. His purpose and plan never waivers. He has had a plan for the world since before He created it, and that plan has continued forward undeterred since creation. As Job realized in Job 42:2, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” And Proverbs 19:21, “Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand.” God is the one constant throughout all of eternity.

The next step is to gain wisdom so you will be able to make the right decision, the God glorifying decision when it’s necessary. And you may be surprised to know that the way we get wisdom is to have fear – the right kind of fear. Proverbs 9:10 says, “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Often, “fear of the Lord” is defined as a healthy reverence for God. And we aren’t disputing that definition, but it’s a narrow definition. Romans 11:33 says, “Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand His decisions and His ways!”

The reason fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, is because fear of the Lord is an understanding of who God is.  God is great – so much bigger than us! He is the almighty God who created, sustains, and is sovereign over all of the universe. As Paul says in the next line of Romans 11, “For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give Him advice?” The way we attain wisdom is to acknowledge that we are not wise on our own. We certainly are not  as wise as God, yet today, we are surrounded by a culture that thinks it knows better than the Bible and better than God. Being transformed to crush the fear factor starts with making sure we have a healthy fear of God. We should have a reverent awe towards Him, knowing that what He thinks of us is eons more important than what anyone else thinks of us. As Jesus says in Matthew 16:26– 26, “what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?[l] Is anything worth more than your soul?”

The next way we crush fear is by knowing our magnificent, unchanging God is with us every step of the way. God doesn’t expect us to do this on our own. 1 John 4:18 says perfect love casts out fear. That perfect love is God’s love for us. It certainly isn’t our love. Our love isn’t perfect, only God’s love is. How is God’s perfect love for us manifested? In Jesus – God with us! We can contend no matter the circumstances, because God is right beside us.

Joshua 1:9 says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” The book of Joshua opens after the death of Moses. Joshua was appointed the Israelites new leader and the one to lead the new generation into the Promised Land. God called Joshua to annihilate or completely drive out entire people groups. Joshua knows this is an impossible task for him and the Israelite army. If you remember when they were going to go into the Promised Land the first time, Joshua was one of the spies sent in. He agreed with the other 10 spies that the land was strongly held and on their own strength they didn’t stand a chance. But Joshua, along with Caleb, reminded the Israelites that they weren’t going to be fighting on their own strength – God would secure their victory.

The book of Joshua opens 40 years later with the Israelites getting ready to finally take the Promised Land from its current pagan inhabitants. An absolutely impossible task had God not been with Joshua and the Israelites. But God is with them. As He tells Joshua in Joshua 1:5 that He will never leave nor forsake Joshua. That’s why God tells Joshua 3 times in this section, “Be strong and courageous.” Joshua’s strength and courage were not to come from confidence in himself or even confidence in the Israelite army. Joshua’s strength and courage came from God’s presence with him – a presence God promised never to take away. 

And God makes the same promise to us. Likewise, God’s next directive to Joshua applies to us as well. God tells Joshua to “Meditate on my Word day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.” Chris, this is going to be a shocker, but another way we crush the fear factor is study The Bible. But to really be able to be transformed to crush fear and live in confidence that you can contend no matter happens, you need to make sure you are studying the Bible correctly. There is a proper way to study God’s Word and that called exegesis. Exegesis encompasses contextualizing Scripture, meaning that you read it in light of its original audience and read the surrounding text in the passage, chapter and book. Then, you put it up against other Scripture. That is exegesis, and that is the correct way of studying God’s Word. 

In contrast to that, there is what is called eisegesis. And, sadly, eisegesis, is probably the method a majority of Christians use. Eisegesis, like moral relativism, interprets Scripture based on the interpreter’s life experiences and biases. Eisegesis is what people use when they want Scripture to fit their agenda. It’s what they use when they want God to fit into their life, their box, their definition of Him. People who read the bible eisegetically, think every line of Scripture is about them personally and directed to them personally. These are the ones who rip Phil. 4:13, “I can do all things who Christ who strengthens me,” out of context and apply to every area of their life whether its running a marathon, starting a business, or overcoming an illness.  

And, sadly, we see many churches are doing exactly the same thing. They are pulling the “Jesus is love” card to condone all kinds of sexual immoral, and other immoral behavior. They also use it to coerce other Christians that behaving in a certain way or into believing something is their Biblical duty. It’s what God wants them to do, even though there is absolutely nothing in Scripture that backs that us. So what does exegesis and eisegesis have to do with crushing our fear? It will be hard to be courageous when faced with fearful things if we aren’t grounded in God’s Truth. We will be, as Jesus said, like the foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” 

Having a bad foundation like basing your interpretation of Scripture on Eisegesis won’t make a big difference in your life while it’s nice and sunny out. You won’t be transformed, but you’ll get by. However, when the sun disappears, and the storms of life wash over us, what we have built our life on suddenly becomes crucial. When we are faced with crushing fear whatever it is, we won’t have the rock foundation of God’s Truth under us. We will have the sand foundation of our own experiences and biases. And that’s not going to serve us well. We need to make sure that what we are building our life on can sustain us through a storm.  When people go through crises and disasters, or face really fearful things, the difference of how they withstand them is directly related to what they have as their foundation.

And one more truth we need to know to be transformed to crush the fear factor. This life is not all there is. That may sound ridiculously obvious, but we need to live in light of that truth. Happiness and contentment on earth was never God’s goal for His people. Colossians 3:1- 2 says, “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” Titus 2:11 – 13 says, “For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. 12 And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, 13 while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.

Now, of course, we are to make the most of every minute we are on this earth, but when we understand that we are, as C.S. Lewis said, “permanent beings in a temporary place,” and begin to have an eternal perspective on things, it will make all the difference in how we see things. Those who ridicule, ostracize or even persecute us because of our belief in Jesus will have less affect on us because we know that there is something much bigger in store (for them and us!) A virus or other sicknesses and maladies will be easier to deal with because we know that someday they will all disappear. We can even deal with physical or financial pain we may have to suffer knowing they are temporary. 

 Knowing that God never changes, that He is with us always, that His Word is true and holds everything we need to know, and that there is so much more than just this life, will crush fear. It will be the difference between being frozen by fear, anxiety, worry, stress, and just having concern about what is going on around you.  It’s what makes Christians be able to courageously contend with the calamites and trials of the world instead of cowering or caving. Lately, we have been hearing many people telling us, “you can’t be too safe,” or “we all need to be safe.” But God never promised us safety on earth. We aren’t to pursue safety at all costs if it means we have to cower or cave when we are faced with opposition to our faith.

There’s a line from C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Susan asks Mr. Beaver is Aslan the Lion, who represents Jesus, is safe. Mr. Beaver says, “Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you." The goal of being transformed is so that we more and more resemble Jesus, glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Jesus didn’t take the safe route when faced with what would have been debilitatingly fearful for us. He could have called angels down, smite those who were mocking Him and trying to kill Him, and gone back to receiving His due glory in heaven. But if He had, we would be enemies of God. We would be the one God will crush. We would have miserable lives without any hope. Because Jesus faced that, which for His human nature, was scary, we are sons and daughters of God. We are heirs to God’s Kingdom and we get to spend eternity with Him. We don’t know what God will do through the fears we have to face. We don’t know how God will use it. The Apostles probably had no idea that their martyrdom would go down in history to inspire others. The reformers probably had no idea that their sacrifices, imprisonments, and for some death, would spur millions back to being Biblical Christians.

And if you are thinking, I’m not an apostle and I’m not in the midst of a major revolution like the reformation, listen to this. In April 2021, Päivi Räsänen, a member of the Finnish parliament since 1995, was accused of hate speech after an anonymous citizen filed a complaint against a 2019 tweet where Räsänen quoted Romans 1 and questioned her church’s support of a LGBTQ Pride event. After a police investigation, the Prosecutor General brought three criminal charges against the 62-year-old over her tweet, a 2004 pamphlet on sexual ethics written by Räsänen and a 2019 interview with Finnish actor, Ruben Stiller. In both the pamphlet and interview Räsänen expressed her support for the historical Christian view of marriage as between one man and one woman. Räsänen has on multiple occasions, affirmed the “the divinely given dignity, value, and human rights of all, including all who identify with the LGBTQ community,” but hate speech charges have still been brought against her for publicly supporting a classical Christian position. Her official charges are “ethnic agitation against a group.” Possible sentences for this crime in Finland include fines and up to two years imprisonment.

On more than one occasion she has been interrogated by Finnish police concerning the charges, and questioned for over four hours.“It is a baffling, surreal experience to be ordered into a police interrogation over the teachings of the Bible,” stated Räsänen in a press release, “and in a country which has such deep roots in the freedom of speech and of religion. We are accustomed to hearing news like this from a totally different reference group of nations, places like North Korea or the former Soviet Union. The freedoms of speech and of religion are the cornerstones of democracy.” Freedom of religion and of speech are heavily protected rights in the Finnish Constitution and in international law, and the Bible itself is completely legal. However, the charges brought against Räsänen and Pohjola indicate a different reality, one where publicly expressing certain opinions and beliefs that don’t align with state-held orthodoxy is considered unacceptable, harmful and worth prosecuting. 

Her trial began on Jan. 24. In short, the ruling in Räsänen’s trial will set a precedent for hate speech cases in Finland and throughout Europe. Everyone is watching this case and thinking if someone can be investigated by the police for tweeting a picture of some Bible verses and a pamphlet that was written [18] years ago, then really are any of us safe? Is any of our speech safe?” said Paul Coleman, executive director of Alliance Defending Freedom International, which is assisting in Räsänen’s defense. “I will defend my right to confess my faith, so that no one else would be deprived of their right to freedom of religion and speech,” Räsänen has stated. “The more Christians keep silent on controversial themes, the narrower the space for freedom of speech gets.” “This indictment shows that right now is the time to defend these foundational freedoms and rights,” said Räsänen in a press release.

Things are changing rapidly in our world. Who knows what fear we will have to face today? Maybe it will just be a spider in the bathtub or a mouse running across our kitchen. Maybe it will be a bad prognosis from a doctor or the loss of a job. Or maybe we will find ourselves facing criminal charges for vocalizing Biblical Truth. What will get us through when we feel scared and alone? It’s knowing that God never changes, that He is with us, that He has given us the solid foundation of His Truth, and that ultimately, we will be home with Him. And while contending can be a lonely road, there is always at least One on that road. And that One makes all the difference because that One has travelled this same road. And that of course is Jesus. As He said to His disciples in Matthew 28:20, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” 

You know, I have heard a lot of people wishing for the good old days lately. They fear for their kids and their grandkids future. But our sovereign God is both great and good. He put us in this exact time for a reason. He put our children in this exact time for a reason. Not only is He not surprised by the corruption and moral decline we are seeing all around us, He has a purpose and a plan for it! And we are part of that purpose and plan. 

And we can contend no matter what. Whatever we have to face – whether it’s something minor or a major upheaval of our life, we can contend.  We don’t have to fear anything because Jesus is with us always – even to the very end of the age. James 1:12 says, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can be transformed to remain steadfast under trial. We can crush fear. And a good place to start crushing our fear is by meditating on this week’s memory verse. It’s a familiar one, we stated it earlier, but it is an excellent verse that shows both the greatness and goodness of God. Joshua 1:9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Lloyd Ogilvie in his book, Facing the Future without Fear noted that there are 366 “Fear nots” in the Bible. That’s one for every day of the year, even including Leap Year! God doesn’t want us to go a single day without hearing his word of comfort: “Fear not!” And that’s a good place to end for today. Have a blessed day, everyone!