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A Song for Friday

I have had this song cycling in my head yesterday and this morning.

That’s a catchy little tune to keep you focus on the right things.

Be strong and courageous each and every day.

“‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.’ Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, ‘Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their forefathers to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.'” Deuteronomy 31:6-8

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Chariots and Horses

Many of you know that I write this every morning mostly to encourage myself.  I tend to believe that we are all fairly the same, and if I am dealing with something, someone else out there is probably dealing with something very similar.  I am on the verge of making a pretty major change in my daily life, and I find myself everyday in a battle between keeping the faith and freaking out. It seems that I get myself in a great place and then five minutes later I have created another worst case scenario in my head, and back to pacing and freaking out.  ARGH!

Am I alone is this ridiculous pattern?

I have a lot of confidence in believing I am not.  That’s pretty comforting to know that I am not alone, but it doesn’t remove the frustration that I experience in this crazed loop-t-loop.  Overcoming the immobilizing fears that we create feels like a major step in this whole “turn it all over to God” thing that followers of the Christ profess.  The Christ himself knew that difficulty. The writer of Psalmsunderstood it as well.  And of course the Proverbs echoed it as well.

If you do this, both God and people will be pleased with you.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and he will show you the right way. Never let yourself think that you are wiser than you are; simply obey the Lord and refuse to do wrong.  Proverbs 3:4-7 Good News Translation (GNT)

So, today, I cast my trust away from chariots and on to the Lord.

Here goes!

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I Am With You

I have written about fear a lot in the past on this blog.  I am sure that is somehow connected with Jesus’ discussion about it, as they were often.  Probably more so it’s connected with the 84 commands to not be afraid.  Yet, I still find myself cowering in fear at what the future might hold.  Today I share these last words of the Christ on the Earth which has rattled around in my mind bunches this morning.

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20

It’s hard to really be afraid or fearful of the future when this guy is with you.  Now, if I can actually convince myself of that truth!

 

And oh, by the way – Happy West Virginia Day!

 

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Fear for Friday

Yeah, it’s Friday. The end of week where I have been giving a lot of thought to what success and failure in this little world of ours really means.  Earlier in the week, I rediscover this little gem from one of ‘muh favs’ – Mr. Francis Chan.

 “Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.”–Francis Chan

That’s a pretty chilling comment.  One that for me produces a bit of introspection each time I reread those words.  What are you succeeding at that really doesn’t matter?  Are you winning the argument, but losing the person?  Are  you making money to buy stuff that just doesn’t really add value?  Are you the best at the worst possible thing?

Spend a little time in introspection today and remember these little thoughts from that guy who well succeeded at some really important things.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. — Jesus Christ

 

 

 

 

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Fearless

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ . . . not frightened in anything by your opponents (Philippians 1:27-28).

I spent the day and into the evening going back to what I wrote about yesterday. Fear. One of those phantoms that we all battle in some way, and something that Christ knew we would deal with, as he spoke of it quite often. In contrast to how fear uses us, look at those words Paul penned to the church at Philipa. What an encouragement. What a simple way to encourage us to become fearless. Think about it. If we believe God is in control, then he is in control of not only us,but also our opponents, which mean we as long as we bring Glory to him we have no need to worry about our opponents. God has that covered.

What are we afraid of?