Fear Not!

Saturday morning, 7/23/16, as I was spending time with the Lord and reading His word, I was in Isaiah 43:1-4; which reads:

But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you.
    O Israel, the one who formed you says,
“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
    I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you go through deep waters,
    I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
    you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
    you will not be burned up;
    the flames will not consume you.
For I am the Lord, your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom;
    I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
Others were given in exchange for you.
    I traded their lives for yours
because you are precious to me.
    You are honored, and I love you.

And I was reminded that our God is a promise keeper – unlike us humans, which give a promise and break it all in the same breath … or so it seems.

But the God we serve today is the same God that brought Israel out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the Promised Land. Our God is the same God who showed Moses His glory in the midst of the storm, and all while hiding him in the cleft of a rock wall on a high, steep cliff. Our God is the same God that gave us His son as our savior; sent Him to earth to live among us, heal the sick and afflicted among us, die on the cross in our place to rise from the dead so that we could live with Him forever in His Glorious Kingdom of Love and Light.

This is the God I serve …. Not some idol of wood, clay, silver or gold, but a Truly Holy Spirit who tells us to FEAR NOT. HE gives us this command not once, not even two or three time, but 170 times throughout the Old and New testaments. So why do we allow Satan to put fear into our hearts and minds?

We know it is the Enemy of our souls who brings these fears, for the Bible says in 2 Timothy 1:7:

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

And again in John 10:9-11 Jesus says:

I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

So Fear Not! 

But, as Proverbs 3:5-12, The Message Bible, says:

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
    don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
    he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
    Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
    your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
    give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
    your wine vats will brim over.
But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;
    don’t sulk under his loving correction.
It’s the child he loves that God corrects;
    a father’s delight is behind all this.