Fear NOT Fridays #7 - We Are Children of God
I once heard a preacher say that "do not be afraid" occurs 365 times in the Bible. That's enough for every day of the year, which means that we should never live in fear. I have not yet confirmed that amount of "fear nots" but that sermon inspired this series:
Fear NOT Fridays.
Once or twice a month I will feature a Bible verse or passage from God's Word proving that we should NOT be afraid.
I do want to clarify one thing before continuing - "fear God" is NOT the same as being afraid. When it says "fear God" in the Bible that means showing reverence, respect and absolute awe of our Heavenly Father. Whereas, fear means - a very unpleasant or disturbing feeling caused by the presence or imminence of danger.
We learn in Ephesians 6:12 (see below) that we, as Christians, are fighting a spiritual battle everyday. What if the entire world is currently in an information war? - a war of the mind? We are constantly being bombarded with things that we should fear, like the current illness/virus or an impending nuclear war. FEAR, Fear, fear on social media, television, computers, smartphones - fear is being broadcast everywhere and all the time. Again, near the end of the verse below we see that our struggle is against the evil forces in the heavenly realms. Well, our fear is what those evil forces feed on - we are making them fat by being afraid. That is why this series will help us rid our lives of fear and thereby starve the evil of this world.
Featured passage: Romans 8:14-16
.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
This is such a precious passage - one of my favorites!
Let's begin by defining the word
"bondage" - the state of being bound or subjected to some external power or control
The world tries to depict Christianity as a state of bondage, but nothing could be farther from the truth! Our Heavenly Father gives us freedom to chose/decide for ourselves - not without consequences of course.
"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”
Galatians 5:13
Before, we were slaves to fear but now that we are filled with the Holy Spirit we are filled with joy, peace, kindness and love.
It doesn't matter what color your skin is or what nation you come from - we are ALL part of God's family - we are His children! It doesn't matter if you are Gentile instead of Jewish, we are adopted children and we are all loved equally by God.
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:28
We are God's children - He is going to protect us, guide us and love us - there is nothing to fear when that is understood!
Related posts:
(Please click on each title below to view the entire post - ENJOY!)
Previous FEAR NOT posts:
Linked to:
_______________________________________________________________
Take Up The THANKFULNESS Challenge!
I challenge you to thank God for something everyday for one year! Either write it down in a diary OR share with us on a blog. If you have a blog & would like to share your THANKFULNESS posts with us, then please fill out this form: 365 Days of Being THANKFUL form - click HERE and you will be added to the THANKFULNESS page.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please feel free to leave comments or questions (no question is ever stupid) - They will show up on the blog once I have read through them.
Thank You.