Do Not Fear

 

Hello dear Ones!

I hope you are enjoying friends and family and rest over the weekend! And have extra time to spend with your Creator before the rush of the work week begins again—don’t forget the most important Person!

I am sharing this week’s memory verse. I confess that at first, this was a difficult verse for me. I was just fine with the “Do not fear” part of things, and quite happy with the “crown of life!” It was the “suffer,” “tribulation,” and “death” parts that were not so attractive at first glance. But after pondering this verse turning it over and over and working on memorization for a week, I have actually come to appreciate it more than I did at first. Because after all—are you not having troubles in life? In this sin filled world of ours, of course you are!!! And what if a person believed the lie that if you are a Christian, you will not have any trouble?  What then, would you feel when you DID have trouble?  Like you weren’t “good enough” to be a Christian?  Oh yes, dear one, I can just see how our enemy would love to use that lie to discourage us and try to convince us to leave our Heavenly Father! The fact that you are a Christian could very well be the exact reason that you ARE having troubles in life! It could be because you ARE doing right, you ARE following Christ—that the enemy is attacking. Look at what happened in the lives of each of the disciples after Jesus returned to heaven.  Not all of them lived long and happy lives! But you know what?  To quote a favorite book series of mine, “pain is not our enemy—sin is.” And another favorite quote from the same series “God always makes it right in the end. If it’s not right yet, it’s just not the end yet.” (Both quotes from the Tales of the Exodus series, found here: Tales of the Exodus This series is written for children, but is filled with deep lessons applicable for all ages! I read it out loud to my then teen daughter during her high school years, and it led to many deep discussions. As an adult, it helped me understand some concepts of salvation in a more clear way than I ever had before. I highly recommend this series!) 

Well that is a glimpse into my wandering thoughts of this past week! I think it is good to be mulling over Bible passages and wrestling with what the meaning is and what lessons they are teaching and how it is to change our lives, don’t you?  Have you been pondering any passages in particular lately? 

Until next time,

Friend