FEAR NOT! Part 3

His Grace is sufficient, enough, powerful & far reaching 

Africhrist Podcast final episode in series at www.africhristpodcast.com

This episode concludes our FearNot series. I encourage you to listen to the last 2 episodes and/or read the accompanying blog posts at www.prayingwithimpact.com. 

 

Re members we started the series as a follow up on a previous topic “What to do when you receive a bad report”. We used a medical report as a backdrop but went on to explain that it could be any bad report. We then looked at  seven of the many possible emotions such a report can induce. We used scriptures from three Bible personalities. David, Psalms 23, Moses, Psalms 91 and Joshua, Deuteronomy 31 all of which fell within our theme that encourages us to “Fear Not”, since God was with us!

 

We used these scriptures as a backdrop as we traveled through these scenarios of valleys of life examples given in the Bible.

 

We went through the valley cast by the spirit of death that David describes in Pslams 23. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil”, because God’s hand was there for him to hold onto.

Then in Psalms 91 Moses showed us another valley with a secret shadow of protection that was cast by God himself. “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide  the shadow of the Almighty

 

◦          So let us quickly review our list of 7 possible emotions elicited by bad reports that we used as examples in our series:

 

1.         Anxiety

2.         Lonesomeness (different from loneliness) 

3.         Helplessness

4.         Humility

5.         Believing the reality of God’s Assurance

6.         Actually feeling God’s presence

7.         Learning to let go and let God

 

In this final episode and blog we are going to see that God’s Presence is what takes away our fears. Throughout our journey of life, we like sojourners on a train, temporarily own our rented seat or place in the suite or room on this train we call life. There’s only one engineer piloting the train. He knows the itinerary as in Jeremiah 29;11 “for I know the plans I have for you, they are for good and not evil…”

 

Once you believe in God’s plan for your life and those he has entrusted you with, then the fears especially of your exit as your destination station is getting close, it gives you confidence to fight on or prepare for exit if that’s the case. Paul put it very well in 

 

2 Timothy 4:7-8 KJVAAE

 

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

 

So let us finalise our series by starting on point number 5 on our theme list:

 

Believing the reality of God’s Assurance

 

Deuteronomy 31:6-8 NKJV

 

“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” 

 

Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, 

 

“Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.””

 

So let us go back and go line by line bringing this scripture to life. Remember this is the Living Word of God. 

 

Encouraging Joshua but letting him know it requires some effort not Jusr wishing and quoting then sitting to wait. An inheritance requires work and maintenance. Today people who are lazy feel entitled to just take over after death of the elders. 

Accountability: Then he is reminded that God is watching and will assist you but also hold you accountable. This is the only way a legacy is sustained. The will of the father alone is not enough without God’s wisdom and our work and effort.

 

This reassures us that God is real and is ever present but he wants us to use the resources he has provided in order for us to overcome. Follow your doctor’s instructions if you’re sick. Get and follow wise financial advice if it’s money issues. Look for employment, God will lead you. Just GET UP!

 

Actually feeling God’s presence

 

In Genesis 28 below,  when at times you feel as though he is not with you, God reassures you that he will bring you back in the “land” or spiritual place  where you once felt his presence. He is able to give you the comfort of his presence despite what hardship you may be going through. 

 

Genesis 28:15 NKJV

 

“Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.””

 

Read His Word, meditate and worship. If you can’t sing like me, make a joyful noise:

Psalms 98:4 KJVAAE

 “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.”

 

God actually uses what I call the authoritative love command to Joshua to stop being fearful. God is showing Joshua and the rest of us that expressing the emotion of fear is forgetting and therefore doubting His word and presence 

 

Joshua 1:9 NKJV

 

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.””

 

 

 

Finally, accept that God is able and he is in control. He is the pilot of this train we call life

 

Learning to let go and let God

 

 

God reminds us that the spirit inside of us is is transformed into His spirit the same Spirit that raised Jesus  and is not a Spirit of fear but, power, love and a clear mind that thinks rationally

So let us finish with several scriptures to encourage you in that respect

 

What we need to do: Psalms: 55:22 NKJV

 

“Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.”

 

God’s assurance: 2 Timothy 1:7

 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

 

God is more than enough:2 Corinthians 12:9-11

 

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

 

He sees the finished work of Christ in us: II Corinthians 5:21 NKJV

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

 

So let us be strong in the Lord and let him lead us into his presence because Psalm 34:19 says:

 

Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord delivers him out of them all.

 

Be blessed in Jesus’s Name

 

Fear Not! Part 2 :Humility the key to the intrinsic Power of Grace

 

As we continue to explore our theme of how to deal with being faced with a bad report, let us review briefly the resulting emotions we listed 2 episodes ago.  

 

Notes For the podcast: at www.africhristpodcast.com

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◦             So our list of 7 possible emotions elicited by a bad report in our series are:

 

 

1.         Anxiety

2.         Lonesomeness (different from loneliness) 

3.         Helplessness

4.         Humility

5.         Believing the reality of God’s Assurance

6.         Actually feeling God’s presence

7.         Learning to let go and let God

 

In part 1 we went through emotions 1, 2 and 3, that is anxiety, lonesomeness and helplessness. We also explained the difference between lonesomeness and loneliness. For the sake of time I encourage you to listen to the episode or read the notes on our accompanying blog at www.prayingwithimpact.com.

 

In this episode Fear Not Part 2 we will deal with emotion # 4 and then in part 3 we will finish the series with emotions 5,6 and 7 above.

 

I Peter 5:6-7 NKJV

 

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”

 

 

Let us start this episode with a deeply meaningful but imaginary scenario. In order to get the full meaning let’s look at both of our “Fear Not!” episode series 1 and 2 header graphics and scriptures. Imagine you are David walking through this valley called Psalms 23. There’s a dark and evil shadow cast by a spirit called “fear of death”. But you David the sojourner, believe and say that you fear no evil, because The Lord is with you. You boldly keep moving but with humility you relinquish your knowledge of the route of your path to The Lord.  According to 1 Peter 5:6-7 you cast all cares unto him under His Mighty Hand.  

 

You now see another mountain ahead, with a brightly shinning light. Its a light that evil cannot extinguish and prophetically in Psalms 91 you see yourself dwelling in this secret place of the Most High. “He that dwells in the Secret Place of The Most High, shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty”, Psalms 91 assures you.

 

You are humbled again by the care promised in 1 Peter 5:6-7.  God’s Grace is sufficient for you according to 2 Corinthians 12:9 .  Grace is unmerited favor that God makes available to all of us. However in James the Bible says that when we express humility, the key to Grace is given to us in addition to lifting us up

 

James 4:6

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

 

James 4:10

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

 

Again we see more of God’s Grace being opened up in full when we humble ours selves in 2nd Chronicles. Humility teaches us how to repent of anything that keeps us distant from God. Humility allows God’s forgiveness to freely flow and healing that goes beyond the individual to the whole land. The onus and key to the intrinsic power of humility is put on believers according to this scripture, however few they may be. We may recall Abraham’s conversation with God in 

 

 

2Chronicles 7:14

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

 

 

We may recall Abraham’s conversation with God in Genesis 18:23-33. Abraham kept pushing the threshold for destruction of Sodom if there were so many of righteous people from 50, 45, 40, 30, up to 10. Each time God said he’d spare the city on the account of them. You are that important to him.

 

This brings us to the final scripture of this episode. It is depicted in our episode icon graphic, Mark 2:4 the story of the paralytic. When you have gone through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalms 23 ), and the you enter into the valley of the secret place of the almighty ( Psalms 91), you experience the Mighty hand of God ( 1 Peter ch5 ). 

 

When we go through the valleys of life, God always raises up people in our paths, the intercessors who stand in the gap for us. When we are at our weakest he is strong for us through others. He provides the friends who will carry our case, the ones who will carry our bed right before Jesus as they the friends of the paralytic did. The four, the ones who will go out of their way to dismantle the roof holding us down to lower our bed of issues to Jesus. Jesus will be there in the pit of life to meet us. 

 

In that scripture we see that Jesus first cleaned the table by forgiving the sins committed. The paralytic was now the righteous of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21)  God does not let our past get in the way of the unmerited favor of Grace. Your portion of Grace may be different than that of the paralytic, but Grace nevertheless. 

 

So let us Fear Not, for the Lord God is with us even in the lowest pit of our lives whatever it may be.