It Is Never To Late to Start Growing

 I have always loved this time of year - between Thanksgiving and New Years. For me this is a time for reflecting over the past 11 months, and preparing for the coming year. I'm still one of those people who makes New Year's resolutions. I still set goals and make plans to achieve them; the dreaming and planning just energizes me. Honestly, I probably only hit about 10-25% of them, but I still like dreaming and making plans to grow. In fact, this is the time of year I create a Growth Plan for the coming 12 months.  Though I haven't done this the last couple of years, I've learned that if I don't have some targets to shoot for, and some kind of plan to hit them, I don't make much progress in life. 

My planning always starts with seeking a word from the Lord from His word. I ask the Lord to highlight a verse or passage that will guide me in making the plan and guide me through the coming year. This year my verse is Luke 2:52, "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." This simple verse contains a wealth of wisdom and inspiration; Luke describes the growth and maturity of the young Jesus. The word grew means to advance, increase or progress. Wisdom refers to mental and intellectual growth. Stature is a word that refers to both physical stature as well as emotional health or maturity. “Favor with God” refers to the spiritual component of life, relationship with God. Favor "with man” refers to relationships with people. So Jesus advanced mentally, physically, spiritually, and relationally. 

That covers pretty much every area of life, and gives me a good model to follow in planning for growth in the coming year. My plan will including growing ... 

... mentally and intellectually through intentional reading, listening to audiobooks and podcasts, and watching edifying media. 

... physically and emotionally through regular exercise, proper nutrition, and getting appropriate rest.  

... spiritually through practicing the spiritual disciplines such as Bible study, prayer, meditation, service, witnessing, etc. 

... relationally through scheduling of quality time, memory making events, and intentional contacts with family and friends.

Over the next month I will be nailing down specific goals in each of these areas (and a couple more), and fleshing out specific plans to reach my goals. I'm energized as I pray and think about what can be accomplished, but I also remember that setting goals and making plans is the easy part. I will still need commitment, determination and motivation to work the plan and accomplish the goals, but the starting point is to know where and how I am going to grow. If you are interested in growing with me and would like some help developing a Growth Plan, shoot me a message, I would love to help.  

Contending with the Dark Side

Wednesday evening we began a new Bible study on forgiveness. To guide us in our study, we are using a book written by a friend of mine, Dr. Randall O'Brien, (who graciously provided the books for us). I had read the book several years ago, and was helped and encouraged by it.

The first chapter is "Understanding our Dark Side." By "dark side" Dr. O'Brien is referring to the carnal, sinful nature ingrained in every human being. The Bible calls it our "old man" and we all have one. Even those of us who have been saved still have to deal with the old nature. Even the Apostle Paul recognized he had dark side. In 1 Timothy 1:15 Paul declares, "This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners'—and I am the worst of them all." (NLT) Notice Paul doesn't say, "I USED to be the worst of them all," or "I WAS the worst of them all." He said "I AM the worst of them all" - present tense, active verb.

Paul also reveals his battle with his dark side in Romans 7:15-23. He wanted to do right, but didn't; he didn't want to do wrong, but he did. He even says there was a war going on within him (v.23).

The reality is saved sinners still sin. Though we should sin less, we aren't sinless (only Jesus achieved that status). So what do we do when our dark side flairs up and gets the best of us from time-to-time? How do we contend with our dark side? A few suggestions ...

1. Run to Jesus. Sin has separating effect on our relationship with God and the old man wants to run and hide when we've sinned and messed up. This has been true from the beginning (see Genesis 3). But don't do it; don't run from Jesus, run TO Him. Paul knew this. At the end of the confession of his battle with his dark side, Paul writes - "Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom 7:24-25 NLT) Even though his old man was undoubtedly wanting to run and hide like Adam and Eve in the garden, Paul knew that he had an advocate with the Father who had atoned for his sins, and he could run to Jesus knowing that he was forgiven.

The Apostle John writes: "My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.  He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins..." (1 John 2:1-2a NLT) Jesus knows we will sin, He's accounted for it and He's already taken care of it. That's not a license to sin (note the first line of the above verse, "I'm writing this to you so that you will not sin"), but it is a recognition that the sovereign Lord of the universe isn't surprised by our sin, and He isn't discouraged by it, because He has already dealt with it. You can run to Him because He loves you, forgives you and restores you.

2. Give yourself some grace. I'm always harder on myself than anyone else. I don't know about you but I tend to dwell on my failures. I can still remember striking out in a Little League baseball game with two outs and two runners on base and the game on the line ... and I still feel bad about it. (I even remember the name of the guy who struck me out ... 44 years ago.) I also tend to dwell on my spiritual failures, and not only do I feel bad about them, I usually beat myself up over them.  I also have an accomplice that helps me with my self-abuse - the devil who is the "accuser of the brethren" (Rev 12:9-11). He likes to help me beat myself up and tries to convince me that God is mad at me, and that I'll never change, and God could never love me or use me. None of that is true, of course, but it hurts.

In times like these when I get down on myself I have to remind myself that I am loved by God. And though He doesn't approve of my sinful behavior, He has already proven His love for me, and He has already forgiven me through His grace (see Romans 5:8). If God has forgiven me, and has shown me grace, I can have grace for myself ... and you can too. There is nothing you have done that would ever cause God to love you less. Your sin is dealt with on the cross and your forgiveness is secured by Christ ... so give yourself some grace. What happened has happened, and there is nothing you can do to change it, but you can move on from it in His grace.

3. Give grace to others also. Everyone has a dark side - that means every person you meet every day has the nature of sin and the potential for their sin to hurt you. When my "old man" slips out and I sin, it doesn't affect just me, it affects those around me as well ... and vice-a-versa. And just as I need grace from God, I need grace from others, and they need grace from me. If we aren't gracious toward others who have a dark side, we haven't fully understood the gospel. We forgive because we have been forgiven. We can love those who hurt us because we have been loved by the One we hurt the most. His grace is sufficient ...

Contending with our dark side is an ongoing war. Through Christ we will overcome and experience ultimate victory over the dark side (ours and THE dark side).  Even if we lose a battle every-once-in-a-while, don't give up, don't give in, and don't stop fighting the good fight of faith and grace. Contend with the dark side knowing that the outcome of victory is already secured.

#ThankfulThursday

Always be joyful. Never stop praying.  Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT)

As Paul is wrapping up his second letter to the church at Thessaloniki, he kind of creates this "punch-list" of things Christians should be doing, or at least that's what it seems like. It could be kind of a check-list that we could run through and check off. But the things he lists can't be done in a short time or even a day - these are lifetime practices. Really what Paul is describing is what should be the default setting for every follower of Christ, but Paul makes the list, because he knows (and God knows) we are a work in progress and need to be reminded and encouraged. 

In the heart of this punch list, Paul gives what I think is the Big Three - Always be joyful, never stop praying, and give thanks in every situation and circumstance. While I think they go together, it is the last one that Paul says is "the will of God in Christ Jesus for you all." They're all important commands, but Paul spotlights giving thanks as God's express will for our lives. 

I'm not sure we value the giving of thanks as God would have us to. As kids, we’re taught that “please,” and “thank you” are magic words— a formula that will compel adults to give us stuff. As an adult who follows Christ, I've treated the giving of thanks as a perfunctory duty, something I generally do before committing the sin of gluttony at the meal table. Even when I would read a "thanksgiving" passage in the Bible, I would just kind of skim over it and not really think about it. I trivialized the word “thanks” so much that it doesn’t stop me when I read it. I don’t think about what it means. 

The Bible makes a big deal about giving thanks. The word or concept is mentioned more than 200 times between the Old and New Testaments. There are several words that are used for giving thanks, but the two big ones are "yadah" in the OT and "eucharisteo" in the NT. 

Yadah is defined as "Acknowledging what is right about God in praise and thanksgiving" (Baker, Word Study Dictionary). In it's earliest form it meant to "throw or cast" with the hand. It came to mean expressing with words and actions, a deep appreciation for God and His goodness. I love the Hebrew definition of thanks because it is totally tied to who God is. The more we learn about God, the more we should praise and glorify Him.

Eucharisteo means "To show oneself grateful, to be thankful, to give thanks..." (Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary). It is formed from two Greek words - eu (good) and charis (grace), so literally it means expressing "good grace" or we could also say, "thanking God for His good grace."

What both of those words mean is is that giving thanks is not just a thought process or attitude, it is an action - we are to GIVE thanks, express our gratitude toward God, not just for what He does for us, but for who He is to us. Giving thanks not only recognizes God's goodness, but it spotlights His greatness of character and being. He is God and there is no other - give Him thanks and praise! 

Take some time to day to express in words, through prayer and maybe even writing, your gratitude to God for who He is and for all He has done for you!

x

Praying for Those We Love

I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth. 1 John 3:4 (NLT)

What do you pray most often for those you love?

Prayer is one of the most powerful, thoughtful, loving ways we can show our love for our family and friends, yet I still often struggle to persevere in prayer for others. What some of us (ME) need to hear most is simply a reminder to stop and pray for the ones we love.

And what we pray for them really matters. Unfortunately, we often ask God for less than we should for our family and loved ones. At least I know that I myself have sometimes asked for less than I should. When I pray for those I love, my mind often defaults to practical, earthly concerns and generalized prayers — that God would guard or improve their health and safety, or that he would prosper what they do at work or school, or for whatever other daily or weekly needs that immediately come to mind.

Prayers like these, while good and even important, fall short of the mountain-moving prayers we might pray — prayers like the apostle Paul prayed. Paul most often prayed for the spiritual life and health of those he loved and served with. A brief look at some of Paul's written prayers can help us pray for the spiritual life and health of our loved ones as well. What did Paul pray for those he loved?

1. He prayed that they would be saved

Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. Romans 10:1 (NLT)

Though Paul was called to be an apostle to the Gentiles, he dearly loved his Jewish brothers and sisters, and his most important prayer for them was that they would come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. The most important prayer we can ever pray for those we love is for their salvation. While it is natural for us to want our loved ones to be healthy, happy and successful in this world, the burden of our heart should be for their spiritual lives and their relationship with Christ

We recently started a prayer emphasis at our church called "Who's Your ONE?" that encourages every member to be praying for at least one loved one who is far from God; praying for their salvation, redemption and restoration. I have seven "ONES" that I pray for regularly - some have never been saved, others I believe have been saved, but are living a prodigal life (see Luke Luke 15:11-32) I am praying the Lord reveals Himself to them, and brings them into a right relationship with Him.

2. He prayed they would grow spiritually

Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. Ephesians 1:15-18 (NLT)

In Ephesians, Paul is writing tho those who are saved. He wasn't satisfied with just the salvation of his friends, he also wanted them to grow in their relationship with God. Paul understood that salvation isn't the end of the process, but the beginning of a great journey of faith. Paul prayed for his friends to know Christ intimately, to grow in their knowledge and love for Him and that they would live in confident hope, knowing they belonged to Christ.

What a glorious prayer to pray for those we love. No success on earth can compare to knowing Christ and growing in our relationship with Him.

3. He prayed that they would grow in love and in Christ-like character

God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus. I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.  May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ —for this will bring much glory and praise to God. Philippians 1:8-11 (NLT)

Paul's love for his friends compelled him to pray that they could not only grow in their love and relationship with Christ, but also their love for one another. He prayed that their love would "overflow". That is a beautiful picture of someone who is filled with the Spirit of Christ, and He "spills out" in love for those close by. He also wanted them to understand "what really matters" - it was not their success in business or community activities, but that they would develop and live out Christ-like character before a lost world. This, Paul says, it what will bring much glory and praise to God.

4. He prayed that they would live in God's power by faith in Him

So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 (NLT)

Paul was persistent in praying for his friends and loved ones. He didn't simply pray once and let it go, he kept on praying for them, asking God to do a great work in their lives. Paul prayed they would live a life worthy of God's calling on them, and that they would live in faith, being empowered by God to do everything He was calling them to do. Paul's great desire is that they would live out God's perfect will for their lives, so the end result would be that Jesus Christ would be honored and glorified through them.

Our greatest calling as followers of Christ, is to live lives worthy of His calling, and to live in such a way that He is honored and glorified through us. As Jesus tells us, we are to let our light shine before others so they may see our good works, and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). Should that not also be our prayer for those we love? Their greatest accomplishments in this world will be what brings glory to God and impacts the world for Jesus. Let us pray accordingly.

Because I Am Yours

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!  1 John 3:1

Last week, while preparing for a sermon Romans 1:5, "The Purpose of the Gospel," I came a across this beautiful story of the amazing grace of God. I found the story on a blog written by Jerry Bouma, which you can find here. But the story itself is from a book called "PROOF: Finding Freedom through the Intoxicating Joy of Irresistible Grace" by Daniel Montgomery and Timothy Paul Jones. The book is available at Amazon. 

In the book, Timothy Paul Jones writes about how a trip to Disney with his adopted daughter taught him an incredible lesson on the gospel and God's amazing grace. Here is the story: 

“Because I’m Yours” 

I never dreamed that taking a child to Disney World could be so difficult — or that such a trip could teach me so much about God’s outrageous grace. 

Our middle daughter had been previously adopted by another family. I [Timothy] am sure this couple had the best of intentions, but they never quite integrated the adopted child into their family of biological children. After a couple of rough years, they dissolved the adoption, and we ended up welcoming an eight-year-old girl into our home. 

For one reason or another, whenever our daughter’s previous family vacationed at Disney World, they took their biological children with them, but they left their adopted daughter with a family friend. Usually — at least in the child’s mind — this happened because she did something wrong that precluded her presence on the trip. 

And so, by the time we adopted our daughter, she had seen many pictures of Disney World and she had heard about the rides and the characters and the parades. But when it came to passing through the gates of the Magic Kingdom, she had always been the one left on the outside. Once I found out about this history, I made plans to take her to Disney World the next time a speaking engagement took our family to the southeastern United States. 

I thought I had mastered the Disney World drill. I knew from previous experiences that the prospect of seeing cast members in freakishly oversized mouse and duck costumes somehow turns children into squirming bundles of emotional instability. What I didn’t expect was that the prospect of visiting this dreamworld would produce a stream of downright devilish behavior in our newest daughter. In the month leading up to our trip to the Magic Kingdom, she stole food when a simple request would have gained her a snack. She lied when it would have been easier to tell the truth. She whispered insults that were carefully crafted to hurt her older sister as deeply as possible — and, as the days on the calendar moved closer to the trip, her mutinies multiplied. 

A couple of days before our family headed to Florida, I pulled our daughter into my lap to talk through her latest escapade. “I know what you’re going to do,” she stated flatly. “You’re not going to take me to Disney World, are you?” The thought hadn’t actually crossed my mind, but her downward spiral suddenly started to make some sense. She knew she couldn’t earn her way into the Magic Kingdom — she had tried and failed that test several times before — so she was living in a way that placed her as far as possible from the most magical place on earth. 

In retrospect, I’m embarrassed to admit that, in that moment, I was tempted to turn her fear to my own advantage. The easiest response would have been, “If you don’t start behaving better, you’re right, we won’t take you” — but, by God’s grace, I didn’t. Instead, I asked her, “Is this trip something we’re doing as a family?” 

She nodded, brown eyes wide and tear-rimmed.
“Are you part of this family?”
She nodded again.
“Then you’re going with us. Sure, there may be some consequences to help you remember what’s right and what’s wrong — but you’re part of our family, and we’re not leaving you behind.” 

I’d like to say that her behaviors grew better after that moment. They didn’t. Her choices pretty much spiraled out of control at every hotel and rest stop all the way to Lake Buena Vista. Still, we headed to Disney World on the day we had promised, and it was a typical Disney day. Overpriced tickets, overpriced meals, and lots of lines, mingled with just enough manufactured magic to consider maybe going again someday. 

In our hotel room that evening, a very different child emerged. She was exhausted, pensive, and a little weepy at times, but her month-long facade of rebellion had faded. When bedtime rolled around, I prayed with her, held her, and asked, “So how was your first day at Disney World?” 

She closed her eyes and snuggled down into her stuffed unicorn. After a few moments, she opened her eyes ever so slightly. “Daddy,” she said, “I finally got to go to Disney World. But it wasn’t because I was good; it’s because I’m yours.” 

It wasn’t because I was good; it’s because I’m yours. 

That’s the message of outrageous grace. 

Outrageous grace isn’t a favor you can achieve by being good; it’s the gift you receive by being God’s. Outrageous grace is God’s goodness that comes looking for you when you have nothing but a middle finger flipped in the face of God to offer in return. It’s a farmer paying a full day’s wages to a crew of deadbeat day laborers with only a single hour punched on their time cards (Matthew 20:1 – 16). It’s a man marrying an abandoned woman and then refusing to forsake his covenant with her when she turns out to be a whore (Ezekiel 16:8 – 63; Hosea 1:1 — 3:5). It’s the insanity of a shepherd who puts ninety-nine sheep at risk to rescue the single lamb that’s too stupid to stay with the flock (Luke 15:1 – 7). It’s the love of a father who hands over his finest rings and robes to a young man who has squandered his inheritance on drunken binges with his fair-weather friends (Luke 15:11 – 32)…It’s one-way love that calls you into the kingdom not because you’ve been good but because God has chosen you and made you his own. And now he is chasing you to the ends of the earth to keep you as his child, and nothing in heaven or hell can ever stop him…

Beautiful, huh? Now go wipe your eyes, blow your nose and praise the Lord who loves you not because of what you do for Him, but for who you are to Him; and enjoy the rest of this blessed day!

Praying With Confidence

"This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." 1 John 5:14 (NAS)

Today I met with the Director of Missions for our church's association and a group of leaders from a local Hispanic church. David, our Director of Missions, asked me to meet with them to discuss the possibility of sharing our church facilities with their church. I thought I was just going to be meeting with their pastor and his daughter who translates for him, but there were actually six other leaders from their church, only one of which spoke a little English.

The Hispanic church is nine years old and they had been renting a little storefront building for the last few years. They shared that they had been having problems in the building because the air conditioning had gone out and the owner didn't want to pay the $2,000 fix it unless he raised their rent. They also shared that when it rained, water would come into their children's area and the church has been growing and they needed more space, but they didn't have resources to rent a larger space.  Over the past two to three months they had been praying earnestly for God to provide a place for them that would meet their needs and something they could afford.

We had a great discussion and I will be talking with our church about opening our doors to our brothers and sisters in the coming days, but what really touched me during our time together was their passion for prayer. They spoke of how they had been praying with confidence that God was hearing their prayers and that He would answer in His time. They were confident that He would provide a place that would meet all their needs they believed God had brought us together in answer to their prayers. I was also struck by their gratitude - each person individually expressed their gratitude that we would even be willing to consider allowing them to use our building (I told them that it is not "our" building, but it was God's building and He wanted it used for His work and His glory, whoever was using it).

When it came time to depart, David asked their pastor if he would pray for us. We stood, held hands in a circle, and I expected him to pray in Spanish and his daughter translate for me and David. What I heard though, was a chorus of Spanish voices praying passionately to our Heavenly Father with gratitude and confidence that He was not only hearing but answering their prayers. All of them were praying out loud at the same time, and it was beautiful. I didn't understand the language, but I felt the Spirit and the confidence they had in the reality of God hearing and answering their prayers was unmistakable. We have a ways to go before having an agreement to use our building, but if today was an indicator of how things are going to go, God will bring things together for us soon.

Something changed in me today - just being in the presence of the Spirit and of God's people praying with passion and confidence. I can't really explain the change, I just know I am different. Something about praying with my Hispanic brothers (and sister) has stirred something within me to pray with more boldness and passion, having confidence that God is hearing and answering my prayers. I can't wait to see what He is going to do next. I'm praying God spreads this change to those around me as well.

Spiritual Warfare: What You Really Need to Know!

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Ephesians 6:10 (NIV)

 We've been studying spiritual warfare for a few months now in our Wednesday night Bible study at church and for the past few weeks we've been studying the Armor of God. Before that we spent several weeks talking about our enemy - his nature, purposes and strategies. In a previous blog I wrote about the purpose of the enemy being to "steal, kill and destroy" (John 10:10) and what that looked like in my own experiences. For me, the enemy seeks to steal my joy, so he can kill my peace, and ultimately destroy my confidence and contentment in the Lord. He wants to move me from being unhappy, to unsettled, to uncertain. He's good at what he does because he's been doing it a long time.

But God has not left us defenseless against the attacks against the enemy. Ephesians 6 10-20 is the pinnacle passage on spiritual warfare (though not the only one). Lately our study has focused on the various pieces on the Armor of God, but the foundation to standing against the attacks of enemy is found in v.10 of that passage - "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power." The word translated "be strong" is written in passive form, meaning that it is something that happens TO you, not BY you. It literally means to be empowered by the Lord, or to be strengthened by Him. In other words, He doesn't just tell you to be strong in Him, He also does the strengthening. To be clear - this isn't about OUR strength and mighty power, it is about HIS strength and mighty power being manifest in us.

But how does He strengthen us? Does He just magically make us strong and powerful? That's not been my experience - in my life God has worked through the Holy Spirit to strengthen me through my obedience to His word. In other words, He tells me what I need to do and as I do it, His Spirit empowers me to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. It is a cooperative effort; He's doing the work as I am obeying the word. 

So how does He empower us to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power? Again, this is my experience and not an exhaustive study on spiritual warfare and how to defeat the devil, but this is how God has worked in my life when I'm facing the foe. This is how He has made me to be strong in the Lord. I'm strong in the Lord when ...

1. I rejoice in Him - As I said in the previous post, the enemy wants to steal my joy, because the joy of the Lord is my strength (Nehemiah 8:10). If he can rob me of my joy, he can weaken my confidence in God. Joy is a powerful weapon in the war against the enemy. That's why the Bible repeatedly tells us to "rejoice in the Lord." In fact, that exact phrase is used at least 12 times in Scripture (Psalm 32:11, 35:9, 64:10, 97:12, 104:34; Isaiah 29:10, 41:16; Joel 2:23; Habakkuk 3:18; Zechariah 10:7; Philippians 3:1, 4:4). When the Bible repeats something that many times, it is important!

My "life passage" is Habakkuk 3:18-19 - (Paraphrased) "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation, for the Lord God is my strength and He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and makes me walk upon my (spiritually) high places." God gave me that passage more than 30 years ago, and when I've practiced it (rejoicing in the Lord), He has strengthened me and empowered me with His mighty power, and He will do it for you as well.

BTW - rejoicing in the Lord isn't a suggestion ("try this and see if it works"), it is a command from God. And it isn't something we do on our own, but something He does within us. When I choose to rejoice - choose to be joyful instead of fearful, frustrated, anxious, worried, discouraged, etc. God grows my joy and I am strengthened in the Lord. When we face attacks from the enemy, we may not FEEL like rejoicing, but OUR FEELINGS ARE NOT GOD - God is God and He is greater than our feelings and His commands are greater than our feelings. So do what God commands us to do - rejoice in Him because the joy of the Lord is our strength. (Jim Johnston has written an excellent article on "Why Are So Many Christians Unhappy?" on the Desiring God website; it's a great encouragement on this subject).

       Secondly, I'm strong in the Lord when ...
2. I obey His commands - This kind of piggy backs on the previous point, but it is important. When God elevated Joshua to the leadership of the Israelites after the death of Moses, He gives him clear instructions about what Joshua is to do to lead the people into the Promised Land. Twice in two verses (6&7) He tells Joshua to "be strong and courageous." Then, to drive home the point in v.9 God says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid, nor be discouraged..." In other words, "Joshua, do what I am telling you to do! Be strong and be courageous!"

Honestly, for most of my life when I read or heard the word "commands" from the Bible, I thought of the Ten Commandments, and I generally thought of them as a list of "don'ts" - don't steal, don't kill, don't commit adultery, don't lie, etc. To me, obeying God's commands was about not doing bad things. But as I read the Bible and grew in my relationship with the Lord, I realized there were a lot more "DO's" in the commands of God, than there were "DON'Ts". Contemporary writer Eric Metaxas says, “Being a Christian is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively doing God's will.” When I actively obey God's commands, I grow strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

     Finally, I'm strong in the Lord when ... 
3. I rest in the promise of His presence - A tactic of the enemy is to isolate his prey and cause him/her to feel like they are alone, perhaps even that God has abandoned them. When we are experiencing trials, going through life storms, or if we have sinned against God, he (the devil) whispers things like "God has given up on you. If God really cared about you, you wouldn't be having such a hard time. He's abandoned you because you've failed Him again. If He loved you, you wouldn't have so many problems." His goal is to cause you to doubt God's presence and power in your life.

But multiple times in His word God says, "I will never leave you, or forsake you" (Deuteronomy 31:6,8; Joshua 1:5; 1 Chronicles 28:20; Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5 just to name a few). In Joshua 1, God gave Joshua his marching orders, commanded him to be strong and courageous, and then assured Joshua that He would be with him wherever he would go (Joshua 1:9). God's response to our every need and in every circumstance is "I am with you," and if God is with us, we can be strong in the Lord.

I've never served in the military, but I have a lot of friends and family who have and I am thankful for their willingness to serve our nation. One of the things I've picked up over the years is that being a good soldier is more of a mindset than almost anything else. As a soldier, you can have the strongest armor, the latest and most effective weapons, but if you don't have confidence in your commander, faith in your mission, and courage in your heart, you're probably not going to be very effective on the battlefield. You will make decisions based on fear instead of faith which will probably lead to your defeat.

I think there is a correlation to spiritual warfare - you can appreciate all the promises in the Bible, understand all the strategies of the enemy, and know all the pieces of the armor of God, but if you aren't first "strong in the Lord and in His mighty power" you're not going to be very successful in the battle. You will make decisions based on fear instead of faith, which will probably lead to your defeat.

The really GOOD NEWS is that the ultimate battle has been won by Christ, and if you are in Christ you ultimately win over the enemy. But if we "win in the end" shouldn't we also be winning the daily battles against the attacks of the enemy? Does God want us to live defeated, discouraged and disappointed lives until we die and go to heaven? I don't think so, or else why would He teach us so much about spiritual warfare in His word? Make no mistake about it, we won't live our "best life now" in this world - it is fallen and broken and is governed by the enemy (John 12:31-33, 14:13, 16:11; Ephesians 2:1-3, 6:12-13), but we also don't have to live our "worst life now." God has won the ultimate victory for us, and we can live in victory now as well! BE STRONG IN THE LORD AND IN HIS MIGHTY POWER!

Spiritual Warfare: What's Going On Here?

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy...  John 10:10 ESV

On Wednesday nights we have been studying Scriptures on spiritual warfare. Ephesians 6 tells us that "... we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places." (v.12, NLT) The battle is real and the enemy is real. In John 10:10 Jesus tells us about the nature of the enemy and what his primary goals are in fighting against us; "The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy." (NLT) Our enemy is a thief, and he wants only to steal, kill and destroy.

Because everyone is different, the enemy attacks in different ways, and through different means, but his goal is always the same - steal, kill and destroy. Last Wednesday I shared how I have experienced his attacks in my life, following those three purposes.

1. He wants to steal our joy - joy is an incredibly important component in the Christian life. Jesus tells us in John 15:11 that He gives us His joy so that we can be full of joy. Nehemiah 8:10 reminds us that the "joy of the Lord" is our strength. We draw spiritual strength when rejoice in the Lord. That's why we are told repeatedly in the Bible "to rejoice," "to count it all joy" or to "rejoice in the Lord." Spiritual strength comes from rejoicing in the Lord.

So, in my experience, one of the primary ways the enemy attacks is to create situations, in my life where I am tempted to lose my joy. Sometimes these are big things like the loss of a job, the loss of a loved one, or a broken relationship. But often they're smaller situations like having a flat tire when you're late for work, losing your keys, staining your favorite shirt, or an argument with your spouse over something stupid like which way the toilet paper roll goes on the holder (BTW, the correct way is "over"). These are not major catastrophes, just little irritating episodes, and often one right after another; anything to cause us to become frustrated, unhappy or react with a negative attitude, anything to steal our joy, because the joy of the Lord is our strength.

2. If the enemy can steal our joy, he makes an easy transition to killing our peace. Once I've lost my joy, I become unsettled, anxious, worried and maybe even fearful. Peace is another wonderful gift that Jesus gives us (see John 14:27, and Romans 5:1), but when we've lost our joy, we almost always lose our peace as well. For me, a lack of peace is manifested in chronic worrying - I start mulling over negative situations in my mind, usually creating "worst-case-scenarios", wondering why "bad things" are happening, and how am I (emphasis on me) going to fix things. I stress, and fret, and overthink situations to the point where I become discouraged ore even mildly depressed. If I continue down that road, I start to withdraw and cut myself off from friends and family, which is just what the enemy wants - isolation, which makes it easy for him to transition to the next phase of attack...

3. He wants to destroy our confidence and trust in God. This is his ultimate goal. If you are a follower of Christ, he can't destroy your salvation (because your salvation isn't based on what you've done for Christ, but on what Christ has done for you), so he wants to cause you to doubt or question God's goodness, His love for you, or His sovereign grace in your life. You begin to think, does God love me? Have I done something wrong that has made Him made at me? If He is good, then why are these bad things happening to me? Can I really trust God? Does God even care about me or my situation?

Again, I'm speaking for myself, but in reflection this is how the enemy has often worked in my life - he causes or creates situations where I allow myself to become unhappy - sometimes big events, but usually a series of smaller, irritating episodes in my day or week. His goal is to cause me to lose my joy and when that happens I become anxious and unsettled (worried and stressed); and from there I begin to lose my confidence and trust in the goodness, love and sovereignty of God, and I become a pretty miserable person. He hasn't destroyed my salvation (because he can't) but he has stolen my joy, killed my peace and destroyed my trust in God. I've moved from unhappy, to unsettled to uncertain.

Unfortunately, I've allowed this cycle to repeat too many times in my life as a follower of Christ, but in the last few years God has been revealing the enemies strategies and showing me how to defend myself against his attacks, which I'll talk about next time ... but for now, "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8 (NLT) AND if you are experiencing spiritual warfare in your life right now and needing someone to pray with and fight alongside of you, please reach out to me, you can comment on this blog or email me at glmiller1965@gmail.com ... I'm not from the government, but I am here to help ( I know... not everyone will get that joke, 😁).

God's Perfect Timing

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 ESV

Over the years I've seen the Lord's perfect timing several times; saw it again yesterday and today. Our church has a food pantry and clothes closet to help people in need. Our director Rachel told me yesterday that we had some baby food in the pantry that was going to expire at the end of the month so she was going to post on a community site to see if anyone needed it. Also yesterday one of our church members came by to drop off some baby clothes for boys that a relative had given to her. Some of them were brand new with the tags still on them.

This morning a lady contacted Rachel about the baby food and made an appointment to come by and pick it up. When she came in, she began to open up to Rachel about what was going on in her life. About four months ago she had moved to the area with her husband and six kids, age range from 16yrs to 3 months old (born here). Unfortunately her husband is an alcoholic and a few days ago he abandoned her and the kids with no money. She had run out of formula and had just started giving the infant baby food, but had run out of that too. Thankfully, we were not only able to give her baby food, but we had formula to give her as well. Rachel asked if she needed diapers, but she said she had plenty of diapers but could use some wipes, which we happened to have in our pantry.

As they were talking, Rachel asked her if they needed any clothes. The lady was hesitant and at first said she didn't want to take more than what had already been given to her, but she finally told Rachel that before he left them, her husband, in a drunken stupor had taken all of the babies clothes and burned them in a barrel behind their house. The only clothes the baby had were the ones he was wearing.

Of course we had received a large donation of baby boy clothes just the day before! (God's perfect timing). She was able to take a box of clothes for the baby and also food for the family. She and the kids are moving back to Illinois this weekend to live with her mom, but the food we provided would get them through the next couple of days. The woman was overwhelmed - she had come just expecting to get some baby food for her baby, but thanks to your generosity and God's perfect timing, she was able to leave not only with food and clothes, but with hope in a God that would supply all of her and her children's needs.

Thank you church for your generosity and for helping those in need. God is good ... all the time...

What Kind of Fruit Grows on Your Tree?

8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. John 15:8 (ESV)

Jesus said that a tree is known by its fruit - a good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit. (see Matt. 12:33) He also said in John 15, that His Father is glorified when we bear much fruit. Basil of Caesarea, a 4th Century church leader taught, "A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds." Since life has been figuratively illustrated as a tree, the question is, what kind of fruit grows on your tree? 

I don't know a lot about trees; I always had trouble identifying trees even by their leaves in middle school science class. When we moved from Knoxville to Jefferson City we had a number of fruit trees in our yard. My dad knew they were fruit trees, but we just didn't know what kind of fruit they would bear ... until spring when the apple trees bloomed and produced apples. Then, late summer we discovered that we also had peach trees. We knew what type of trees they were, simply by the fruit they bore. 

This is also true of our lives. Those around us know what kind of people we are because of the fruit that we bear in our daily living. What kind of fruit grows on the tree of your life? Most people are more interested in picking fruit than in producing fruit, ("it's easier to be a consumer than a contributor" John Maxwell), but Jesus calls us to bear fruit, so what kind of fruit grows on the tree of your life? 

Galatians 5:22 tells us that the follower of Christ will bear the FRUIT of the Holy Spirit, and then it gives nine qualities to that fruit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (is the song stuck in your head now?). We've been studying these nine qualities on Sunday mornings at Grace Point and this week we are looking at "goodness" - what is it? Where does it come from? and How is it seen in our lives? You can join us live (9am), join us on Facebook live, or listen to the messages at our website. 

But I want to talk briefly about bearing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. I think John 15 gives us three principles for bearing healthy fruit of the Spirit. God's Spirit bears His fruit in our lives when we ... 

1. ... Remain connected to the source of fruit
Jesus says in John 14:4-5, "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." Christ is the source of power that produces fruit in our lives; when we are connected to Him, He produces His fruit in our lives - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, etc. If those things are missing from our lives, the place to start is in checking our connection to Him. Some questions to think about - Have I ever been connected to Him? (Have you ever been saved by Christ?) Am I staying connected to Him through prayer, study of His word, fellowship with His followers, regular worship, obedience, etc.? When we are connected to the right source of Christ, He will produce good fruit in our lives. If those things that are listed in Galatians 5:22 are missing from our lives, we need to check our connection to the source of fruit. 

2. ... Are pruned and disciplined
Jesus says in v.2, "He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more." Fruit bearing is God's greatest desire for His children. Just like every parent wants their children to grow up to be mature, productive adults who contribute more than they consume, God wants His children to grow up to bear fruit that pleases Him. So to produce the most fruit in our lives, He sometimes cuts things away that hinder us from bearing the most fruit - we call this "being disciplined" by God. Sometimes things He removes from our lives aren't bad things, they're just not the best things for producing His fruit. You will be fruitful only as you become disciplined by God; pruning is the price for producing. Pruning can be a painful process, but when we remember that God's goal is to get the best fruit from our lives, we can endure and cooperate with His process. Finally ...

3. ... Realize the glory it brings God when we bear much fruit. 
Jesus says in v.8, "When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father." When our lives are abounding in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control God is pleased, He is glorified. When we bear the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, it is evidence that we are Jesus' disciples, God is our Father and He is praised, exalted and glorified. When the tree of our life bears His fruit, we are healthy and God is pleased. 

So what kind of fruit grows on the tree of your life? Is it the fruit of God's Spirit? Is it good fruit? Because a good tree brings forth good fruit. Are you connected to the Vine? If not, get in touch with me, I'd love to help you make that connection...

Blessed, Broken and Given

"He was known to them in the breaking of the bread."  Luke 24:35 (ESV)



We've had a number of storms in the U.S. this year. I was reading an article that stated that the number of tornadoes that have been confirmed from January through June of this year is 92. Some of them were in un-populated areas or didn't touch the ground, while others created significant devastation. There were other storms too,  such as hurricanes, winter storms and flooding that have affected lives across our nation. 

I was thinking about storms because I ran across a quote from a Japanese writer that touched a nerve with me. Haruki Murakami wrote: "When you come out of the storm you won't be the same person that walked in. That's what the storm is all about." I don't know if Mr. Murakami is a Christian or not, but I think there is some truth to his statement. All of us have gone through "storms of life" that have left their mark on us and caused us to be different than we were before they hit. 

This Sunday we will observe the Lord's Supper where we will sip the cup and break bread as the Lord has instructed us to do until He returns. One of my favorite stories in the Bible about "breaking bread" is in Luke 24:13-35. It's after Jesus' crucifixion and on the day of His resurrection. Two of His disciples have left Jerusalem and are journeying to Emmaus, about seven miles away. We're not told why they are leaving Jerusalem, perhaps out of fear that what happened to Jesus might also happen to them, and during the journey the resurrected Jesus joins them. Initially His true identity is hidden from them, but when they reach Emmaus, they ask Him to stay and eat with them. And the bible says that when He was at the table with them, "He took bread and blessed and broke it, and gave it to them." (v.30) Suddenly their eyes were opened to His true identity and their lives were changed forever. That night they returned to Jerusalem to affirm to the other disciples that the Savior was indeed alive. And in v.35 of that chapter it says, "He was known to them in the breaking of the bread."  Luke 24:35 (ESV)

Something about the breaking of bread caused them to realize who He was. They knew Him through the breaking of bread. There was something familiar about Jesus breaking the bread that arrested their attention and opened their eyes to the truth. He took the bread, He blessed it, He broke it, then He gave it. It was familiar to them because it was a pattern they had seen in Jesus before.

Luke 9 - People had been following Him listening to Him teach; they were hungry, but there was only 5 loaves, and 2 fish to feed the crowd. But Jesus took the loaves and the fish and He blessed them, He broke them, and then He gave them to the disciples to give to the people, and more than 5,000 people were fed.

Luke 22, He gathered with His disciples for a celebration of the Passover meal, the last meal before His crucifixion, and the Bible says He took the bread, He blessed it, He broke it, and He gave it to His disciples.

1 Corinthians 11 - Paul indicates this was the pattern that the early church had learned of Jesus - passing down what had been given to him, Paul says that on the night of His last meal with His disciples, He took the bread, gave thanks or blessed it, broke it and then gave it to the disciples.

It was a familiar pattern, and maybe there is a deeper, spiritual meaning to that pattern of blessing, breaking and giving. Maybe it was familiar because it is also the pattern that God often uses in handling His people. Don't we see this same pattern in the men and women God used in the Scriptures?

Don't we see this same pattern in the life of Abraham? God took him from his family, and He blessed him with land, and material possessions, and promises and finally a son Isaac, then He broke him when he told him to take his only son Isaac and sacrifice him; but then He gave him a ram to sacrifice instead and he gave Isaac to be the heir of the promise, and through him God would bring forth a great nation for His glory. 

And don't we see this pattern in the life of Joseph? God took him from his father and his family, and sent him to be a slave in Egypt in Potiphar's home; and then He broke him when He had him put in jail, but then He gave Joseph to be the second in command in all of Egypt, and He gave him to preserve his family when his brothers came seeking food.

Don't we see this pattern in the life of Moses? God took him as a little baby, sparing him from being killed, and he blessed him by putting him in the home of Pharoah, yet being raised by his mother. But then Moses tried to do things his way and take matters into his own hands and so God broke him and put him on the back side of the dessert for 40 years. But then God gave him to the people of Israel to be the one through whom God would deliver them from slavery.

And don't we see this pattern in the life of the disciples? Jesus takes His disciples when He calls them from their businesses and families and ordinary life, and then He blesses them with miracles and wonders, and words of life. But then He breaks them when He dies on the cross and they thought everything was over. But then He rose from the dead and He gave them the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and then He gave those 120 disciples to turn the world upside down!

Isn't this the pattern we see in the life of Jesus Himself? God took Him from glory (Jesus didn't consider being equal with God something to grasp onto, Philippians 2), and He took Him from the womb of Mary and He blessed Him with a fullness of grace and truth, and He blessed Him with purpose and ministry. But then He broke Him - in the Garden of Gethsemane His sweat became as drops of blood; and He broke Him with scourging and then crucifixion. But all that was done so He could raise Him from the dead and He gave Him to be the Savior of the world.

Isn't this indicative of the way God works in the lives of those He uses greatly? It's not just about the bread, it's about life. In your life, and in my life, this is the way God often works. He blesses us with life, and good things, then He breaks us, taking us through storms of life, trials, sufferings and such and in doing so He changes us. Then He uses us and our storm experiences to be an encouragement, a source of hope and healing to others in the storms. The storm changes us and God uses us for His glory. 

And when we celebrate the Lord's Supper we are reminded of Jesus, whom God took, and blessed, a broke and gave on a cross for your sins and mine, to be the Savior of the world.

I invite you to join us Sunday as we remember the one who was blessed, and broken and given...

Don't Lose Your Joy

I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! John 15:11 (NLT)

   This past Sunday I preached on "Complete Joy" from the verse above, John 15:11 (you can listen to the sermon here or watch the service at our FB page here). Part of the sermon is about what are some of the typical reasons people (including Christians) give for being "unhappy" or what I would call "joy-less." Here is part of my notes from the sermon on reasons we "lose our joy."

1. We look more at our problems than we do at Jesus. 

    John Piper gives this definition of joy - "Christian joy is a good feeling in the soul, produced by the Holy Spirit, as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the word and in the world." Notice in Piper’s definition of joy - it is a good feeling in our souls, “produced by the Holy Spirit as He causes us to to SEE the beauty of Christ in the word and in the world.” Seeing Christ produces joy from the Holy Spirit, but in like manner, NOT seeing Christ causes us to lose our joy.

Have you ever been discouraged? When you experience discouragement, what is usually on your mind? Are you thinking about how great God is and how glorious it is to know Jesus? Or are you thinking about how bad your problems are, how much your job sucks, or how your life never seems to get any better? When you are discouraged are you focusing on Jesus or on your problems? Discouragement doesn’t cause us to focus on our problems, focusing on our problems causes discouragement. But Likewise focusing on Jesus causes joy, it causes us to be encouraged.

2. We have unmet expectations.

We lose our joy when our expectations aren’t met - when things don’t go as we think they should or as we plan for them to go. Have you ever experienced disappointment because something you planned didn’t turn out like you thought it would? Maybe a person didn’t live up to your expectations, or maybe an event or an experience - those things happen to all of us. But how we respond to those unmet expectations makes all the difference in the world.  

Do you know why things don’t always go as you plan for them to? Because you are an imperfect, sinful, finite person living in a sin-filled imperfect world with other imperfect finite people. With all the imperfection in us and in the world, there is no way everything is going to go as planned all the time. That’s just reality. But how we respond makes all the difference in the world. Most people respond to unmet expectations with disappointment, frustration, anger - and if you do that enough it becomes a way of life and there is no joy in your life at all. You will lose your joy if you get mad every time things don’t go your way.

3. We have a Root of Bitterness in Our Heart

    In Hebrews 12 we read: 14 “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled…” The word translated “bitterness” means a harsh, resentful of acidic spirit. Describing someone who has become resentful or bitter because they have been hurt - a person who refuses to forgive and let go.
     As young boy we lived in the country and the neighbor had cattle. In some places his fence was electrified. There were always older kids around and one day we were all playing and one of the older kids convinced some of us younger kids to join hands and have one person touch the electric fence - telling us that the current would just pass through all but the last person and only the last person would feel the shock - guess what… that weren’t true. We all felt the shock and it was the person who touched the fence that felt the most intense shock, it passed through all of us but decreased with intensity as it went.
     So get this in your mind, because this is how bitterness works. Think of the person who you refuse to forgive, and you have them by the hand and then you grab the electric fence, thinking they are going to get the shock… and they do, but guess who gets the worst of it - you do, guess who gets blisters on their hands from holding onto the electric fence - you do. Unforgiveness, resentment, bitterness hurts you more than anyone else and it will cause you to lose your joy faster than anything else. Most Christians lose their joy because they are holding onto some anger, resentment, or unforgiveness and a root of bitterness has taken hold in their lives and it is robbing them of their joy.

 The good news is that God wants you to be joyful and He has plenty of joy to give you. He speaks to you through His word so that His joy may be in you and that your joy will be complete. We'll talk more about what this means later (or you can listen to the sermon), but for now, think about whether the things I've listed are some of the reasons you may have lost your joy.

Fear Doesn't Stand A Chance

Every morning for the last couple of weeks I have woken up with the chorus of this song stuck in my head. I'm thankful, (there are worse things I could have stuck in my brain, like "Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo..." See what I mean?)

This morning, while H.E.A.R. journaling through Matthew, I came to Matthew 8:23-27 where Jesus gets on a boat to get away from the crowds, and His disciples got on with Him. As they were on the Sea of Galilee a great storm blew up, (fairly common for that area) and the boat was taking on water. The disciples were frantically trying to keep the ship afloat, but Jesus was asleep in the boat. In desperation they woke Him up and asked Him to save them for they felt like they were about to sink.  Jesus gets up, not panicked at all; He speaks first to His disciples (perhaps in a “scolding” way), “Why are you afraid, where is your faith?” Then He speaks to the storm, and there was a great calm came over the sea. And those who were on the boat were amazed at Jesus wondering, “Who is this that even nature obeys Him?”

What a picture of life - I am following Jesus and thinking it will be smooth sailing because He is there. Then the storms of life hit (which He promised would happen) and I frantically try to keep the ship afloat, thinking I can do it if I just work hard enough, if I just have the right strategy or follow the right formula. Finally in desperation and fear, I cry out to Jesus for help, because my situation seems hopeless and it seems like I'm going down with the ship. And He responds by reminding me that I have no reason to fear, only to believe. Then He speaks and the storm passes, I survive, and all is well... until the next time, LOL. 

I've repeated this scene so many times in my life, you'd think I would have learned by now... and I am learning...slowly... it's a process. Fear and faith don't go together - one drives out the other - but I decide which one drives. So the Lord reminds me again, my fear doesn’t stand a chance when I live in faith and stand in His love, and so I ask Him (again) to forgive me when I forget to believe, and we're off again... 

Storms will come and go, but Jesus will always be there, and when we live in faith in Him, His presence, His love and grace, and His power ... our fear doesn't stand a chance!