“Fear Not!” It bears repeating

You can be certain that in the last days there will be some very hard times. People will love only themselves and money. They will be proud, stuck-up, rude, and disobedient to their parents. They will also be ungrateful, godless, heartless, and hateful. Their words will be cruel, and they will have no self-control or pity. These people will hate everything that is good. They will be sneaky, reckless, and puffed up with pride. Instead of loving God, they will love pleasure. Even though they will make a show of being religious, their religion won’t be real. Don’t have anything to do with such people.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 (CEV)

The two words the New Testament records as repeated most often from the lips of Jesus are Fear not. The fact that Jesus said these words so often lets us know how important they are, especially for us today.

When preparing to write this message, Christ’s admonition was on my heart. I knew I’d written about this before, but when I looked back over my archived posts I was surprised to see that “Fear Not” had been my theme five times since 2015. Rather than deciding to write about something else, I took this as sign that these words from God bear repeating.

FDR’s famous “nothing to fear but fear itself” seems ludicrous when we have only to look around us to see that this world is a scary place with plenty to be afraid of. However, FDR knew that fear is a powerful weapon of the enemy; instilling fear in your opponent causes confusion, discouragement, and saps his will to resist.

Our Enemy today knows this tactic well. Fear causes us to distrust our neighbors, draw into ourselves, and retreat from challenges. In the Spiritual Battle we face, we must not allow ourselves to succumb to the enervating forces of fear. When you find yourself being overwhelmed with feelings of fear and despair, do a Bible search, either online or in your concordance, for verses related to fear and courage, like those below, and be filled with God’s peace.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

7 For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline.

2 Timothy 1:7

About Jonna Hawker Turek

I write Christian fiction under my maiden name, J.B. Hawker.
This entry was posted in Christianity, Devotions for Women, faith walk, Inspiration, Personal Musings, Spirituality and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to “Fear Not!” It bears repeating

  1. Mind if I forward this to my western section people? Carol

    On Fri, Aug 13, 2021, 8:54 AM Power Walking with Jonna wrote:

    > Jonna Hawker Turek posted: ” You can be certain that in the last days > there will be some very hard times. 2 People will love only themselves and > money. They will be proud, stuck-up, rude, and disobedient to their > parents. They will also be ungrateful, godless, 3 ” >

    Like

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