No Fear

Sweetly, Lord, have I heard you calling, "come, follow me!" And I see where thy footprints falling lead me to thee. 

Though they lead o'er the cold, dark mountains seeking his sheep; or along by Siloam's fountains, helping the weak;

If they lead through the temple holy, preaching the Word; or in homes of the poor and lowly, serving the Lord;

Though, dear Lord, in thy pathway keeping, I follow thee, through the gloom of that place of weeping - Gethsemane! 

If thy way and its sorrows bearing, I go again up the slope of the hillside bearing my cross of pain;

By and by, through the shining portals, turning my feet, I shall walk with the glad immortals Heaven's golden street.

Then at last when on high he sees us, our journey done, I will rest where the steps of Jesus end at his throne. 

Footprints of Jesus that make the pathway glow, I will follow the steps of Jesus wherever they go.   

( I personalized these lyrics by changing the pronoun to I. )

Where he leads me, I will follow, 

Where he leads me, I will follow, 

Where he leads me, I will follow, 

I'll go with him, with him, all the way. 

Tell me, oh Lord, how you want me to give your life to the world where there's no hope. 
Tell me, oh Lord, how you want me to give your love to the world where love went cold. 

Do you see all the people sinking down? Don't you see people aching in the darkness alone?

Send me Lord, send me Lord, I am willing to give all. Send me out to those who need your hand. Fill me Lord, fill me Lord, fill me with your love for all. Reach your hand to hold them once again. (Korean song called "Send Me, Lord by Mary Chikagami Lee)

Real Christians, who have the Holy Spirit living inside them, have no reason to fear. Now naturally situations arise which trigger momentary reactions of fear, but this is not what I'm referring to. 

People hang on to "What if" questions daily. 

They allow fear to control them.

They dwell on being scared. 

The most repeated command in the Bible is "fear not." I thought about this and perhaps the reason is that we humans are so hard-headed sometimes, we have to hear the same thing over and over, many different ways, many different times. And even then, we still don't get it. God tells us in his word to not fear over 300 times. Why then are so many Christians fearful? They fear life, death, the future, rejection, loss, other countries, other people, doing right, elections, sickness, difficulties, etc.  Why???

Whenever God says not to fear, it's most likely linked to his presence or protection. 

Isaiah 41:13 - "For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee."

Isaiah 41:10 - "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." 

Psalm 118:6 - "The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?"

Deuteronomy 31:6 - "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for thy LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Psalm 27:1, 3 - "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident." 

Matthew 10:31 - "Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows." 

You can certainly look up and find hundreds of verses relating to this topic. You can read them every single day. But if you never apply them, they won't help you. 

I think the reason many Christians don't follow God and don't give their life wholly to him is because they have allowed fear to rule their life. They might not recognize it, but they have created a habit of making excuses as a mask for their fear.

"God wouldn't send you to be a missionary."

"There's nowhere in the Bible where God says that..."

"People in America need the gospel too."

"I can't quit this now because I don't know about tomorrow." 

Christians use excuses to stay in their comfortable zone. They won't sincerely devote their life to God and ask him to use them to make a difference. They won't trust in him with all their heart. 

They love material things and money so henceforth they invest their time and energy into making and getting more. (I'm not against making the most money at all. It's just that this has become a mindset.) Why? They have to be prepared for the "what if" that may be coming. (I'm also not against planning and saving and investing, etc. This isn't the point.) 

But the problem is 2 Peter doesn't tell us to add to our finances or material stuff. It tells us to add to our faith. 

I've heard preachers who keep preaching about not fearing - often they are talking to believers who are still babies. They have to keep circling the same lesson instead of moving forward because these baby Christians have never strongly built on the first steps. They believed in Christ for salvation (that's faith) but never grew in the knowledge of the Word. Reading the Bible every day 365 days a year does not = growth. If you're not applying anything you read it does not help. When you actually know the Bible, not just in your head, but it's a part of your life and you apply it, you'll be able to live without fear of the future because you know God personally. He's your father. Your help. Your protection. Your security. Your provider. Your shepherd. Your hiding place. Your God. 

More evil days are coming. If you haven't built upon your faith and made sure your foundation, you'll fall. The Christian martyrs who stood for God in the face of the death and didn't back down were ones who built upon their faith. You know how I can tell? Because if they hadn't, fear would have ruled their hearts, and they wouldn't have surrendered their lives to God. 

I aim to have this kind of strong heart and deep trust in God. 

What about you?