No Fear in Love

When I fell in love with my husband, I had no fear. I trusted him implicitly. I knew he cared about me, and I cared about Him. Our love was mutual.

At one point, we lived in a coastal town not far from where the NO FEAR brand was born. According to Wikipedia, this American lifestyle clothing company created its popular logo, along with slogans and quotes. It was later sold to a company in the UK.

NO FEAR advocated the virtues of extreme sports. I’ve watched a variety of them on TV, but rarely for long. The participants are certainly not lazy or held back by a fear of death. They are worthy of admiration, but I’ve never desired to join them.

I prefer to focus on a different version of no fear. Just recently I’ve been inspired by a new look at an old verse. I John 4:18 (NIV): There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.

It dawned on me a few days ago that I’ve always looked at that as if we were at fault for not loving God enough. But today I see it as not trusting Him enough. He loved us so much that He gave His only Son as the perfect sacrifice to take away our sins. (John 3:16)

It’s awesome to know that when Jesus died on the cross, the curtain in the temple that separated people from the holy of holies was torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:50-51 NIV). From that time on we were to enter God’s presence through Jesus, seated at the Father’s right hand (Hebrews 10:12 NKJV). There would be no more animal sacrifices for sin.

Read The Book of Psalms and you’ll find repeated references to God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. Who could be more worthy of trust and love than someone with those two characteristics?

So where do you stand in your relationship with God? Psalm 51, David’s prayer of repentance, shows no fear. Instead, he rejoiced in God’s loving kindness and tender mercies. 

The All-Inclusive Word

Today was quiet and restorative. I felt like a sheep near still waters. Last week was productive, but extremely busy. A friend introduced me to an awesome writer’s conference where the biggest challenge, in my opinion, was keeping up with the three-hour time difference.

What a privilege to meet a variety of authors in different genres. My three-ring binder of handouts and personal notes is about two inches thick. It took quite a while to decide on categories for my divider pages.

It took me days to recover from hours and hours of Zoom classes. That’s why I enjoyed quiet time today by meditating and making notes on Psalm 145, verse by verse. Now and then I relaxed with things I had recorded on my DVR.

Talk about being relaxed! I nearly forgot I had a blog to write, so I decided why not share *Psalm 145:9-20? These verses intrigued me because of the word "all."

Here's a list of some of God's characteristics. In reviewing these, I see many good reasons to trust the LORD God with our lives:

He is good to all

He has compassion on all He has made

His dominion endures through all generations

He is trustworthy in all His promises

He is faithful in all He does

He upholds all who fall

He lifts up all who are bowed down

He is righteous in all His ways

He is near to all who call on Him in truth

He watches over all who love Him

He will destroy all the wicked

Have you ever experienced God's compassion, fulfilled promises, or

lifting up when life has you overloaded and bowed down? 

I have. What a wonderful God we serve.

Take time to review God’s characteristics with your own life in mind. Or simply read Psalm 145 for yourself. David packed a lot of information about God into twenty-one short verses.

*This inspirational blog is from Psalm 145 in the NIV, 2011 edition, by Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

 

  

A Choice of Bread

Are you a bread person - - - fond of bread? Though considered the staff of life, I have friends who are “not into” bread, but my close friends know bread is a personal favorite.

My German grandma made many dishes with flour and water, but never baked bread. My English grandma seemed to be into pies, so how I became such a bread lover is a personal mystery.

Bread with the same name may vary in quality. For example, I like Sourdough and have been known to drive a little farther to get a favorite brand. When pressed for time, I shop closer to home. There I can choose from a variety of brands, but I have not found one that compares to my favorite. 

It would be easy to over-indulge in daily bread, but I have learned to set limits. It is more important to have some bread, rather than no bread. We need to find a balance.

Jesus said it this way: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4 NKJV) The Bible is known as The Word of God. (2 Peter 1:20-21 NKJV)

So how much of His word do you take in, or eat, daily? Some people read full chapters, and some a few verses. Some read a devotional or do a Bible study book. Pick up your favorite Bible, or download a *Bible app, and get started.

The choice is yours. The important thing is that you decide when and how to eat and enjoy your spiritual bread each day.

*A couple of Bible apps people seem to enjoy:  Bible Gateway and/or You Version.

God Answers Prayer

I grew up hearing about answers to prayer. Childhood prayers were unsatisfactory as I grew older, so I learned to pray from my heart. Later on, I also learned to turn scriptures into prayers, which to me was very satisfying.

I just completed a three-day writer's conference. One of our applied learning sessions included five prompts, or sentence starters, which we could use to create a short article. I thought I'd share mine with you:

     My wedding was a special day in my life. I remember it with joy because God answered my prayers for a Christian husband - - - someone who didn't just talk the talk, but walked the walk. God gave us fifty-two years together.
     Fifty of them were full of precious memories, even though our dreams of having a family never came true. The last two years were full of God's new mercies every morning as I became my husband's full-time caregiver.
     Besides physical challenges, he had Aphasia for the last six months. Since actor Bruce Willis has this condition, people are learning more about it. It is not caused by a stroke, but you cannot talk. We became adept at Yes/No questions and answers.
     I'm grateful to God for my Christian husband who walked the walk to the end of his life, even though he couldn't talk. The Bible says to "not be anxious about anything," but to pray about every situation. (Philippians 4:6 NIV) As a caregiver, I did this multiple times a day. 

      If you've ever wondered, does God answer prayer? My answer is yes, He does. This is just one example out of many in my life.

Prayer is talking to God. Be encouraged by these words of David, a man after God's own heart: The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (Psalms 34:18 NIV)