“I asked the Lord for help, and He saved me from all my fears. “Psalms 34:4

Some of us have been bound up with fear from childhood. Ensnared by fear all of our lives. It is said that “Fear Not” is seen 57 times in the Old Testament and 14 times in the New Testament, further depicting the significance of embracing courage each day of the year, or 365 times in the Bible. (Believers Portal.com-lists all 365 scriptures).

Today people can be bombarded with information -some traumatic and some family friendly- from every country all over the world through the large variety of social media platforms. This definitely does not help anyone who may be already ensnared by fear. Information that years ago was never heard about by most people can be read about within a moment of the event, today. What has compounded things for people who may suffer from anxiety, there are multiple posts about fictitious events auto generated. Those who purposefully intend to fear monger to cause people to act impulsively out of fear.

As a counselor, I advise people suffering from anxiety to cut themselves to a limit of daily news or feeds filled with traumatic announcements that make matters much worse.

I wondered, with all those warnings that God gave us in the Bible to take courage, He created us- and knew what we all would have to endure.

Some of God’s chosen characters met up with extreme fear and were challenged. The story of Moses, he did not believe that he could do what God was asking him to do, he still chose to trust Him and obey and deliver God’s people out of slavery in Egypt. Mary was asked to believe in the supernatural before anyone knew such a thing could happen, a virgin birth; she was facing being stoned and challenged daily, she also chose to obey; Paul was a persecutor of Christians, yet a supernatural deliverance made him turn his life around, he also chose to obey a God whom he used to mock, I can only imagine the pressure that he experienced from believers and non-believers, yet he chose to obey; David, pursued by Saul who wanted him dead, as Saul saw David as a threat to his position as king, David did become king but sought the Lord for direction, forgiveness and strength throughout all his stress. This list of characters goes on-documented in the Bible-those who faced intense fear yet, chose to obey God and do His will.

Of course, the greatest example is Jesus. In Gethsemane, Jesus sweat blood due to the stress and anxiety of being separated from His Father and suffer the ultimate sacrifice so that the gap between God and man would be bridged, though He had thoughts “If this cup could pass from Me… nevertheless not My will, but Your will be done.” What all of these chosen characters had in common was they all surrendered to the will of God, they all prayed and took action as the Father told them what to do to fulfill God’s will. Though Jesus made the greatest sacrifice to come to earth fully as a man, to suffer and die for mankind, then He rose again so that we might be set free from sin and death, eternally free!

All you must do, is believe that He died for you, believe that He is your Lord who has done all of this for your salvation and deliverance! Oh- how He must love you, thank you Lord for salvation! Thank you- Lord for deliverance!

Help us to daily surrender fear, daily pray to you for forgiveness, and listen to your voice and obey what you are asking us to do.

Even though coral is not mentioned a lot in the Bible, there are key points that can be made of the importance of coral in ancient times as a symbol of beauty and wealth. The Bible, however, encourages believers to seek wisdom and Spiritual riches above. Earthly treasures are only temporary. (Smith’s Bible Dictionary)

Job 28:18 This passage (Job 28) is referencing the value of wisdom, it names every precious gemstone, or metal, none of which can compare to the value of wisdom. This specific verse reads: “Coral or jasper are not worthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.” Ezekiel 27:16 reads: “Aram was your customer because of the abundance of your goods; they paid for your wares emeralds, purple fabric, embroidered work, fine linen, coral and rubies.” Lamentations 4:7 “Her consecrated ones were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk; They were ruddier in body than corals, their polishing was like lapis lazuli.”(New American Standard)

The scriptures referred to how the affluent were seen to be viewed using adornment as an important thing to acquire. Material wealth was put in high regards. God sees material wealth as a stumbling block if that is where you put your hope and high regards; it can be a distraction or an idol.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 3:13-18 NIV “Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed.” Wisdom is referred to as more eternal, more prudent, of much greater value than any material thing on this earth. God warns about being a fool who despises wisdom.

Jesus gave His life, to allow us a new chance to let go of those material things, to invest in those things that are eternal. We only live one time on this earth, my prayer for everyone is that you have a wonderful life filled with Christ, fearing Him, getting to know Him as your personal savior; Jesus died for our sins and rose again so that our lives would be filled with Him, instead of material things. He is only a prayer away. Forgive me, of all sin, and anything that has separated me from you, Lord. I let go of all those things, in Jesus’ name. Please come into my life and rearrange what is important in my life. I believe you died and rose again to give me that second chance, thank you, Lord. I Love you, in Jesus’ mighty name, I need You, not coral or any other riches, only you!

C.S. Lewis once quoted, “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”

Benjamin Franklin quoted,” Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young.”

In scriptures: Isaiah 46:4 “I will still be carrying you when you are old. Your hair will turn gray, and I will still carry you. I made you, and I will carry you to safety.”

In scriptures: Galatians 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”

These all may seem to be random thoughts, however the Lord has been speaking to me about staying free no matter how old we grow! As we grow older it seems as if everything around us is changing. Of course, things are always changing, in us and around us. We sometimes get thoughts to do something that used to be no problem to do. Then one day we realize that what we used to do- may not be the safest thing to do anymore. There are those of course who can “dance to the fiddle” til they are 90 years old, God bless them for sure. We must guard our hearts to stay warm and flexible as we navigate discouragement, loneliness, and disappointments in life. We need to guard against our hearts becoming hard, a hard heart is not easily moved by the changes that God has for us. We have walked by faith all of our lives and when we become less involved, for one reason or another, we are left with our prayer life, our long conversations with God and it should be a goal to stay free of those things in the world that may entangle us and tell us that we are no longer free. This is not true. As the scripture says above,” It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” God also lovingly tells us in Isaiah 46:4-” I will still be the same when you are old and gray, and I will take care of you. I created you. I will carry you and always keep you safe.”

Sometimes we are tempted to say it must be God is done with me, but that will never be true- as He says above “even when you are old and gray”-I will take care of you. Once more, He set us free so that as long as we have breath in our lungs, we have a commission to tell others about what Jesus did for us. God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, whosoever believes in Him, will not perish but will have everlasting life.” John 3:16

C.S. Lewis quoted: “Freedom always comes with a price.”

Jesus paid a great price for our salvation-for our freedom. If you believe that Jesus died for your sins, and then rose again so that you will have eternal life, then Jesus is Lord of your life, your life is filled with love, because Jesus is love. You can pray right now: “Lord fill me with your love and your Holy Spirit, come and change my life forevermore.”

“Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age but they die young.” Benjamin Franklin

Make that your goal, to love deeply, tell others about Jesus and be inspired to dream new dreams!

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” C.S. Lewis

2 Corinthians 10:3,4,5,6 reads: “We live in this world, but we don’t act like it’s people or fight our battles with the weapons of this world. Instead, we use God’s power that can destroy fortresses. We destroy arguments and every bit of pride that keeps anyone from knowing God. We capture people’s thoughts and make them obey Christ. And when you completely obey Him, we will punish anyone who refuses to obey.”(CEV)

Another commentary paraphrase (Dummelow’s): “We live in the flesh, and are subject to it’s weaknesses and temptations, like others; but we are not prompted by fleshly motives, such as dread of giving offence, or desire of popularity.4. For we fight not in our own strength, but in the strength of God, and this reliance upon Him enables us to prevail against all opposition and prejudice, however strong or deep rooted.5. In this strength we shatter the false reasonings and assertions of our opponents and bring back your rebellious thoughts into obedience to Christ,6. while after we secure your submission, we shall certainly punish any who may still resist His will.”

Only our reliance on God enables us to prevail against all opposition and prejudice, however strong or deep rooted. In this strength we shatter the false reasonings and assertions of opponents, and bring back our rebellious thoughts into obedience to Christ, the obedience alone also is a tool to defeat any thing that tries to resist God’s will. This being that our obedience to His word is yet another method of Spiritual warfare. What a powerful God we serve!!!

Our thoughts or imaginations as the CEV translation says it, need to be brought into obedience to Christ, ie. if Christ says you have all the power over any deadly thing then the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead living in you gives you that power! If Jesus tells us by His stripes you are healed, the Spirit of the living God Who dwells within you is powerful to heal your body. If you wonder about absolutely anything, Jeremiah 33:3 “Ask me, and I will tell you things that you don’t know and can’t find out.” If the word of God tells us that we can’t find out about some things, its most likely because we have sinned and were rebellious against God. Which was the case in the context of this chapter. Only God can help us overcome our enemies and a big enemy is our thoughts or our imaginations. If they do not agree or are obedient to what God says in His word, then we need to bring our imaginations back in line with what God tells us to think about. Colossians 3:2 ESV Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. 1 Thessalonians 1:10 They also tell how you are waiting for His Son Jesus to come from heaven, God raised Him from death, and on the day of judgement, Jesus will save us from God’s anger.

Jesus died for us to give us another opportunity to have a relationship with the Father, the Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. If you believe that Jesus died for your sins, and God raised Him to life, ask Him to forgive you of all sin, disobedience, ask Him to come into your heart and to change your life forevermore. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you afresh with His power, the same power that raised Christ from the dead will dwell within you (Romans 8:11) and provide life to your mortal bodies, daily comfort and direction for you! His Spirit will change all your imaginations to obey God’s word if you choose to obey His direction.

“As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him.” Psalms 103:13

“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.”1 John 3:1

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Isaiah 48:17 “This is what the Lord says-your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: ‘I am the Lord Your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.’ Matthew 6:26″ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

A good Father loves his children, (Romans 5:8) provides for his children (Matthew 6:26), disciplines his children (Proverbs 15:32), is a healthy role model (“Follow My example, as I follow the example of Christ.”) , is a comforter to his children-and protection(“Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. “Matthew 11:28), he brings his children joy, and happiness (“Every good gift and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” James 1:17-the joy of the Lord is our strength.

The promises of God are everywhere in His word, and I am so grateful to the Lord that when I was 16 years old in a foster home, I was saved by His grace. This was my first encounter with what it was like to be loved by a Father, and love me He did– without conditions. I am very sure if it were not for His love and for meeting Him at that young age, that I would not be here now to talk about these wonderful promises. In a little country church, a missionary from China was used to lead me to salvation, she gave me a Bible and wrote: Philippians 4:13 ” I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me..” This carried me through–my whole life.

He wants to be a Good Father to you today too, ask Him now, Father , forgive me of all my sins, all that separates me from You, come to me, be Lord of my life and fill me with Your Holy Spirit, I believe that You died for my sins and rose again so that if I believe in You, I may have eternal life.

Happy Father’s Day!!!!!!!!!