Fearful words?

Fear brings out the worst in us! History’s ugliest moments were often made possible by fear that grew irrational or that was wrongly focused, giving grounds for atrocities unthinkable in more peaceful times.

Frightening tales of impending doom can provide powerful motivation for change. Tragically, people can be, and often are, exploited by leaders who use propaganda to stoke fear and gain cover for making war, building concentration camps, or persecuting some minority group.

In the book of Numbers, which tells the story of the people of Israel to the Promised Land, we learn that the Lord told Moses to send 12 men into Canaan to scout the land for the invasion. What they saw was amazing! "A land flowing with milk and honey," they reported. They also saw some challenges – strong people and fortified cities.  Fear possessed ten of the men. They "spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size." (Numbers 13:32, NIV)

That report went viral! Overnight, these people who were led by the Lord, who were fed daily by miraculous manna, who had the promise of His ongoing Presence, became irrationally fearful. From that fear grew a demand to return to slavery in Egypt. Fear so blinded them that they preferred the familiar past to God's promised future! In days, they were plotting a rebellion, even attempting to kill Moses at one point! Then, God drew the line and pronounced His judgment - "You will not enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. " ‘You said your children would be carried off as plunder. Well, I will bring them safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised. But as for you, you will drop dead in this wilderness." (Numbers 14:30-32, NLT)  For the next 40 years, the Israelites remained a refugee nation as the entire generation died off, one by one.

Such is the ripple effect of fearful words that create panic and rebellion!

Twelve men saw the real difficulties that were part of the process of owning the Promised Land, but only two had faith. Ten failed to set God’s faithfulness against Canaan’s difficulties. Fear owned them. Their negative report destroyed an entire generation.

Disciple, do you live with faith or fear in control of your mind and heart?

Faith doesn't ask us to ignore reality. Some mistakenly think that acknowledging that life is hard, or that circumstances are not favorable, or that the future is unclear are evidences of a lack of faith. Not at all! The mission of the men sent into Canaan was to gain a truthful, reality-based view of what was ahead. Moses told them to "See what the land is like, and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many. See what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls, or are they unprotected like open camps?" (Numbers 13:18-19, NLT)

Knowing the challenges could have given reason to exercise faith in God and His promise. "Go up and take the land!" Their mission was not to be a feasibility study. It was to prepare a strategic plan to implement the will of God. When we really know what we are up against, but choose to be obedient to God's direction - we show the most authentic faith!  Fantasy has nothing to do with real faith. Dreams are often just the product of our wishes unfettered by reality. Vision is faith-based, seeing the world as it could be as the Spirit leads us to become catalysts for change.

So, what is the real situation in your life today?

You can complain, react in fear, and refuse to follow the Lord. If you do, your fear can create terrible consequences for your family, your church, and your community.  Or, you can choose faith. You can say, "I couldn’t be more sure of my ground—the One I’ve trusted in can take care of what He’s trusted me to do right to the end." (2 Timothy 1:12, The Message) Faith also has a ripple effect, infusing entire communities with hope, stirring people to accomplish wonderful things with God's leading.

Our word from the Word is a familiar one. As you read it, pray that the Spirit will still voices of fear and give you ears for His leading.

"What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith." (Hebrews 11:1-2, NLT)  "So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." (Hebrews 11:6, NLT)

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Who You Say I Am

(Listen to this anthem of faith at this link)

Who am I that the highest King

Would welcome me

I was lost but He brought me in

Oh His love for me

Oh His love for me

Who the Son sets free

Oh is free indeed

I'm a child of God

Yes I am

Free at last

He has ransomed me

His grace runs deep

While I was a slave to sin

Jesus died for me

Yes He died for me

In my Father's house

There's a place for me

I'm a child of God

Yes I am

I am chosen not forsaken

I am who You say I am

You are for me not against me

I am who You say I am

 (Oh) (Yes) I am who You say I am

Ben Fielding | Reuben Morgan

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CCLI License # 810055

The Benediction

Yesterday, Father’s Day, my children sent me words of appreciation, thanks for ‘being Dad.’ Their words are precious gifts!  They are a reminder of who am I and what I mean to my family… and others. Words are amazingly powerful, aren’t they? A caustic comment can burn a hole in my heart for days. An encouraging note can turn a hard day into a hopeful one. Are there any more beautiful words in the world than “I love you” spoken tenderly?

Moses taught the priests of Israel to speak this blessing over the people of the LORD.

“The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26, NIV)  

The passage ends with this, “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them." (Numbers 6:27, NIV)  God said that by speaking those words of blessing, the people would be stamped with His identity, reminded of who they were, and thus enjoy His Presence and provisions!

Disciple, you can speak priestly blessings. That privilege is not reserved for religious professionals or ordained ministers. In Christ, we are all called to holy service, to pray for our friends, family, and neighbors; and to represent God before our world, bearing His Name and Word on us. Peter says this: “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you.”  (1 Peter 2:9)

I would not suggest that you stand in front of your office today, arms outstretched, pronouncing the benediction as your pastor may at the end of a worship gathering. They will likely assume you have lost your mind. But, you can, speak affirming words, offer hopeful words, use your words to connect the Lord of Glory to the people among whom you live.  Your life can, and should, be a source of godly blessing. Words that are dark – filled with defeat, criticism, offense, pride, jealousy, and unbelief – are abundant. We all fall into the trap of speaking those kinds of words like a curse over others.

Let’s pray earnestly for the Holy Spirit to change us, inside out, so that we pour out sincere words that bring the light and life of Christ Jesus to others.  We can, we should, we will! This Monday ask God to make you His priest, putting His Name on others, teaching them to know Him richly.

Our word from the Word is a caution from James, followed by an affirmation of the Psalm. May you know the wisdom of God and live in it this day. Amen

“The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can’t go on. A spring doesn’t gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it?” (James 3:7-8, The Message)

"I will praise the Lord, and everyone on earth will bless his holy name forever and forever." (Psalm 145:21, NLT)

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Abba, You have gifted me with Your love, with rich grace.

Teach me this day to gift my world with words of blessing.

Secure my heart in You so that the overflow of my heart

will be true praise, honorable thoughts;

that reflect my true identity that is found in You.

Jesus, thank you for the privilege of representing You,

as a holy priest.  Equip me that I will do it well,

for the glory of God.

Amen

Steady as she goes!

 “Steady as she goes” was the captain’s direction to the helmsmen on ships of old, meaning ‘hold this course.’  I have reminded myself of that old phrase many times in the last couple of months. After making the decision to close the Christian school ministry attached to the church which I pastor, the winds of criticism kicked up. The anger directed at me by people who are disappointed is hard to endure gracefully. The financial stresses that brought the decision and those that followed have caused sleeplessness and driven me to prayer.  And, when these gale force winds are blowing, I listen for the voice of the Spirit Who counsels me – “Jerry, steady as she goes.”

Nobody likes it when the preferred life path, plan "A" - so to speak - is disrupted. The wise have a plan "B" in place for such moments. Perhaps there is even a “Plan C” for what we think is possible but unlikely. But our best efforts, our most carefully developed plans sometimes disappear when a hurricane brings destruction on a scale that we never imagined in our worst nightmares!  There are the circumstances that develop unforeseen in our lives, that change everything. Losing my wife several years ago to cancer was the worst storm in my life, making the current storm seem like a mere gust of wind by comparison.

Years of experience have taught me that allowing myself to get swallowed up by the storms, raging at God, responding to every critic, personalizing the attacks that come my way, is toxic, leading only to bitterness. Honestly, I do succumb to moments of fear and/or anger, but thanks be to God and good counselors, after the thunderstorm of emotions passes, hope is restored. It is far more than sunny optimism. My hope rests a bedrock faith in God’s love and grace, a sure conviction that He knows me better than I know myself, and that He is able to use all things; disappointment, sorrow, success and failure, to bring glory to Himself if I will walk ‘steady on’ with Him.  When we resist Him, when we decide to react rather than to press on, we turn into embittered, miserable people.  But, if we let Him guide and lead, He will use our tears to water the seed from which grows the beauty of Jesus in us.

In the book of James,  the Spirit urges us to faithful acceptance.  “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." (James 1:9-12, NLT)   Let’s not confuse his counsel of acceptance of God's reign with resignation to 'life as it is!'  He tells us to trust and to pray … " Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray.  . . . The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results." (James 5:13, 16, NLT)  Those 'wonderful results' are often not at all what we expected!   They are what God, in His infinite wisdom, prepares for us.

Disciple, let your faith grow deep, beyond demanding pleasant circumstances and sunny skies. Let the Holy Spirit of God do His work in you. He is not always 'fair' in the way that we would determine fairness.  His ways are not always pleasant as we would desire.  But He is always good, always present,  and as the Word promises, "always working for the good of those who love Him and who are called to His eternal purposes."   So, steady as she goes!

Here is a word from the Word. It comes from that book in the Old Testament that asks us to trust a God Whose ways are sometimes inscrutable.  Join Job in this declaration of faith today.  "But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside." (Job 23:10-11, NKJV)

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My faith has found a resting place

Not in device or creed

I trust the ever living One

His wounds for me shall plead

Enough for me that Jesus saves

This ends my fear and doubt

A sinful soul I come to Him

He'll never cast me out

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