Most everyone is aware of the acronym for FEAR — “False Evidence Appearing Real”.  It’s almost a cliché statement.  But the reality is most people’s fear is real to them.  And all of the evidence they receive is valid and true.  And enough research has been done to show that fear covers a wide spectrum.  There are people who fear heights (acrophobia), people who fear water (aquaphobia), people who fear the number 13 (triskaidekaphobia), people who fear death (thanatophobia), and people who fear being ordinary (koinophobia). and of course there is the more common xenophobia (the fear, dislike, or prejudice against people perceived as foreigners or strangers).  It’s not only common, but we observe it in practice in our communities today.  Those are clinical and medically described fears that people suffer from.  And yet, there is a fear that is common to all people.  It’s normal in most cases and healthy in some others.  But when we become trapped by those things that prevent us from the freedom in life that God intended for us, then we face a far more powerful fear than can be handled by a medical specialist.  That’s the essential reason why the resurrection of Christ was so vital.  It was a spiritual signal to all humanity that in life and in death there is nothing really to fear.  Jesus wanted to show us that it’s possible to live courageously and love courageously without the anxiety that living every day sometimes brings.  He also wanted to show that the only real fear we needed to experience was the fear of God (reverence and awe) — a fear that is life‑giving and creates a human trust God in that can overcome all situations and frees us from the uncertainties of life and death.

         We are truly blessed to have a God who loved us so radically that he was willing to display the power of faith by allowing His Son to die.  And more, to raise him to new life to show us that not even death is to be feared.

• What fears in your life have prevented you from living your life to the fullest?
• When has faith alive in you helped you to overcome something you were afraid of?
• How has God worked within your fears to increase your faith and trust in God to deliver you?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious and freeing God, empower me by my faith in your resurrection to put aside every doubt and fear that prevents me from living life and loving others courageously.

         Life is filled with many uncertainties.  Because of that we all look for something or someone we can depend on to bring some stability to our lives.  When the winds of life make a sudden shift in the direction they’re blowing, they have the ability to throw us off course and make everything seem so unstable.  When things become unstable there isn’t a sense of security.  There is only the fear at times that we will end up being somewhere that we didn’t want to be, doing something that we hadn’t planned to do, for a reason determined by something other than ourselves.  For those who have no knowledge of God, living with that kind of instability may be normal.  Not knowing what life may hold for a person may in fact be acceptable.  But in the end, we will all reach for that one thing that will secure our life in the midst of life’s challenges.  For those of us who have found faith in Christ, Jesu has become our anchor.  He has become the one who steady’s our life’s ship in the midst of life’s storms.  He is the one who has the power to say to the winds and the waves, “Peace!  Be still!”  And it’s within the authority of our Christ that we have come to find our stability.  When we make a mistake, we live with the assurance of God’s forgiveness.  When we feel we should be punished, we live with the certainty of God’s mercy.  When we believe that we’ve done something so outrageous that we believe we couldn’t be forgiven and that we’ve become unlovable, God’s love through Jesus Christ is there as a guarantee.  We have the promise of God that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Jesus Christ.  And it is that astounding and amazing love that secures our world.  It is the one certainty that everyone can rely on.  God loves us, and we can’t do anything about it!  Of that we can be certain, and with that we know that Christ is our Savior.

• What is it about knowing that you and God’s love are inseparable gives you confidence that Jesus is our Savior?
• What does that mean for you when personal and spiritual trials come into your life?
• How does knowing that Christ is your savior, shape you faith and confidence in God to hear your cries of distress?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving God, thank You for Your gifts of grace, mercy, forgiveness, and restoration. Because Your love for me is unstoppable, You have saved me forever.

         A story is told of a young boy who loved to sail.  He learned to sail from his father.  He tells the story that at times he would be allowed to go out on the sailboat without his father as long as he took a friend with him.  But there was always a certain care that had to be taken because he was in charge of the boat, and — in some real ways — in charge of the life of his friend.  His greatest times sailing, he recalls, were the times when his father would go out on the water with him.  It seems that his father was no stranger to sailing.  His father had managed to sail across the Atlantic, spend 5 days sailing in the midst of hurricane force winds and survived.  He explains that when he was on the boat with his father, he had complete confidence in him and any trouble that would arise on Lake Michigan, his father could handle.

           When we are placed in a position to place our complete trust in God, all of our worries about how things will turn out seem to go away.  It’s because, like the young boy on the boat with his father, we know that God is able to handle any difficulty that comes up in our lives.  We can rest assured that our lives are in good hands, and so we don’t have to fear when tribulation comes.  We don’t have to become anxious when storm clouds like sea billows roll.  And when life throws its worst situations at us, we know that our confidence in God is enough to get us through.

         There is a real blessing when we can put our trust in the Lord, counting on our God to save us from the perils of this life.  And if we have to suffer, we acknowledge that because of our relationship to God through Jesus Christ and our confidence in him, we are more than conquerors through him who loves us.  Our safety and security rests in the One who controls earth and sky, land and sea, and offers the gift of salvation to those whose cries reach God’s listening ears.

• Is there a time in your life when your confidence and trust in God allowed you to dismiss all of your worries about what you were going through?
• What does that kind of freedom from worry or anxiety mean for your faith life?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving God, when I’m caught up in the storms of life, let my confidence and trust be that with you, nothing can overwhelm me. You are the anchor of my salvation that brings me peace of mind, heart, soul, and spirit.