"Fear Factor"

As we grow up, the future becomes more of a significant subject to ponder upon.  No longer are we "comforted" by the daily routines already planned out by the major we have chosen, but find ourselves in discomfort.  We're having to make many new decisions and having to face changes that seem so sudden.  The fear of uncertainty or the unknown hit us hard and we are left in the grips of worry.  A person once said, "A man who is afraid will do anything."  I was a history major and believe me, history has proven this statement to be true.  Fear is a powerful emotion.  "Fear will prevent you from doing things you normally would do, and cause you to do things you normally wouldn't do.  Fear has caused proud men to beg, strong men to cry, loving men to hate, and peaceful men to be filled with fury. Like a slave master, fear is controlling."

I too, have many times fallen into the stronghold of fear and lately it's been wanting to squeeze me even tighter, with its clutches of uncertainty.  But why fear?  In 2 Tim 1:7 Paul write, "For God has not given us a spirit of timidity (fear)." Nor has He give us a "spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but we have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"

Dr Lloyd Jones explains:

"Our fears are due to our failure to stir up, a failure to think, a failure to take ourselves in hand.  You find yourself looking to the future and then you begin to imagaine thins and you say: 'I wonder what is going to happen?' And then your imagination runs away with you.  You are gripped by the thing; you do not stop to remind yourself of who and what you are, this thing overwhelms you and you go down.  Now the first thing you need to do is take a firm grip of youself, and speak to yourself.  As the Apostle puts it, we have to remind ourselves of certain things.. In the book of Timothy, the big thing Paul is saying to Timothy is, "Timothy, you seem to be thinking about yourself and your life and all you have to do as if you are still an ordinary person. But Timothy, you are not an ordinary person. You are a Christian, you have the Spirit of God within you..."

That's right, I'm not just an ordinary person who relies on my own strength and fight fear through my self-confidence. Lets face it, I'm not great; I'm not powerful, I don't have control over my cirsumstances, and when I trust in myself, I find myself disappointed. I let myself down constantly and no matter how much I believe in myself I will fail. My confidence should not be in myself and what I have done, but rather who God is and what He has done. In Eph 1:18-19, Paul wrote to believers: "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know...what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe." Paul didn't pray for us to have more power, but rather he prayed that we might know the power that is ours in Christ.  Paul also, wrote in Rom 8:11: "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."  Meaning that the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is in me, and if He could raise Jesus from the dead, He certainly is able to give me the strength to deal with the problems that are going to arise in my life.

I also realized that when I am dominated by fear, worry and anxiety, my problem is that I'm too self-centered.  Most people might think that the opposite of fear is a spirit of power, but according to the bible it's a spirit of love. "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear.." (1 John 4:18)  When my eyes are on myself, that when I start to fear. "What about my this or how am I going to do that?"  All believers should be characterized by a spirit of of love, not a spirit of selfishness.  We should be marked by an awareness of God's love for us, a true and deep love for Him, and an overflowing love for others, leaving no room for fear to creep in.  And we must remember, for not death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Lastly for today, fear produces confusion and chaos in the mind. It causes tremendous damage and creates irrational thinking.  A person who is scared is going to ramble on irrationally allowing hypothetical extreme sitaution be their reasoning.  We tend to forget the commandment, "Love the Lord with all your mind." We need to be immersed in the Word and battle fear with truth, to stop confusion and irrational thinking. This type of fear creates an eagerness in people to stay safe and protect themselves.  So many different types of insurances for so many different things and so many different types of saving plans. I'm not saying these things are bad, a lot of those things are actually really good, but what are they motivated by?  If you are consumed with your own protection (physically, emtionally, mentally, etc) over God's glory, you will have no peace, you will be dominated by fear worry and anxiety.  Aren't we always afraid to tell people of the gospel because we fear what they will say even though we'll probably never see them again? Don't we make decisions based on what will be most comfortable for me instead of thinking what will bring most glory to God? Is your cirsumstances so big that God can't do anything?  Do you want things to be a certain way so badly that you won't let  anything oppose it, even God? Do I really believe in the all knowing, all powerful God? Do I really believe He is Sovereign and Good and that even my trials are design with love?

We need to stop being controlled by our circumstances and be controlled instead by the Spirit.  We need to make pleasing and glorifying God our top priority regardless of what may come our way.  What's the worst that can happen, death? Well Christ already conquered that! My pastor John MacArthur once said, "We are immortal until Christ comes back or God calls us home."  Our joy and courage doesn't come from something changeable, like cirsumstances, but it come from Someone Who never changes, God Himself.

Though I am far from doing all these things well, I wanted to share my thoughts with you and encourage you to slowly take steps foward in conquering fear through our Lord! Would we find confidence in/through Him to give us a spirit of courage, love, and sound judgement for His glory! 

"For God has not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (2 Tim 1:7)

Contentment

Your relationship with God allows you to enjoy genuine contentment

"Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU, so that we confidently say, "THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID.WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?" (Hebrews 13:5-6)

This was the quiet time passage I was going over and meditating on today. Contentment is a very difficult concept for people because we always want more. And some people might not actually have very much so contentment could be even more difficult for them. I admit, being content is hard for me too. But contentment or satisfaction becomes hard because I look for it in the wrong places. Contentment can only be found through God and His promises. These are a few things I learned today through my quiet time.

1) First we must realize God's goodness and believe that as His children, He will take care of us.

Romans 8:28  "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

There's this saying that I picked up in college. You probably know it too. It goes like this : "God is good, all the time & all the time, God is good!"

2) Second, we must take comfort in the fact that God is Omniscient and Omnipotent and Sovereign.

He knows all things including things we want and the things we need, things we don't need and when and how, etc. And He is not a feeble God that just knows and can't do anything about it.  He is all powerful and is capable and willing and desires to provide everything we need, for His glory.  He is a God that recognizes our individual needs long before we ever do and even before we pray about them. What an awesome God!

3) Third, we can learn to enjoy contentment by remembering that what we want or need is one thing; what we deserve is another.

"I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which Thou hast shown to They servant." (Gen 32:10)

When people ask my college Pastor (Rick Holland) or CJ Mahaney, how they're doing, they reply, "Better than I deserve." So one time my friend Mike used that when Adam Tyson (former CSUN shepherd) asked him the same question. Then Adam's reply to Mike's reply was, "That right, you deserve hell my friend!" haha It's funnier if you know who Adam is, but it's so true. Our salvation alone is more than enough reason to be satisfied.

"Contentment will more likely be yours if you consider that God's smallest favor or blessing to you is more than you deserve." - J Mac

But all this is only possible through Jesus Christ, so ultimately contentment can only be ours if we have vital communion with God through Jesus Christ, in other words we have to be saved. And only then can these truths be satisfying to us and like the apostle Paul, temporal things will not matter so much:
"I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I mat gain Christ." (Phil 3:8)

"Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes." (Ps 37:7)
"There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God." (Eccl 2:24)

Danny & Deborah's Wedding

It was a pretty big wedding. A lot of people came and the ceremony was really good.

Reception at Twin Palms - Very NICE!

Taeree took this picture of the cake. Amazing huh? This picture looks professonal. Something you might see in a magazine. Nice looking cake ~ It tasted pretty good too.

Me and Taeree w/ Mr & Mrs Bae .Look at Jay in the back trying to be all sneaky.

We had a really good time at the wedding. Danny and Deborah, may God bless your marriage and may your union together bring more glory and honor to Him. ~