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My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. John 10:27'29 WEB.The hero of t... -
When they began to sing and to praise, Yahweh set ambushers against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were struck. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. When they had finish...
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A Living Sacrifice from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Various sacrifices were required under the old covenant. Some of the sacrifices helped feed the priests and those who worked at the temple, but a burnt offering was placed on the altar and completely consumed by fire. You can read about...
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My Greatest Fear
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For the thing which I fear comes on me, That which I am afraid of comes to me. Job 3:25 WEB
As we worked to get the fish hook free of my eye lid, an actual calmness came over me. The greatest fear of my life was now behind me, and it turned out that it was not as bad as I thought it would be. I grew up on the rivers of South Carolina fishing, and I always got nervous when people began swinging their fishing lines around. I dreaded the thought of them snagging me with their fish hook, especially in the eye.
One day I took my Dad fishing and he invited a friend of his. That would normally be fine, but she must have thought that she was fly fishing, or she was trying to lasso the fish. She was whipping the line around her, oblivious to everyone else in the small boat.
I was sitting behind her and eventually, as my fear would have it, she snagged my left eyelid with her fish hook, and then swung to make a long cast. I grabbed the line in my hands, stopped her, and for a moment the thought of wrapping her in the anchor rope and sinking her came to my mind, but I pushed it away.
My Dad came to help remove the fish hook from my eyelid, and it turned out that my greatest fear, was actually not all that bad. From as far back as I could remember I had dreaded the thought of having a fish hook snag my eye, and now it had happened and was over. I have been there and done that.
Fear is faith in reverse and draws, even causes, your greatest fears to actually come to pass like a magnet. Job had a fear that something would happen to his children and constantly sacrificed for them. It happened. I always had a fear that a fishhook would catch me in the eye, and it did.
Your greatest fear will not be as bad as you think, and your heavenly Father will be there to help you through it. Look to God, pray, and do not become immobilized by fear. The more that you focus on the fear, the more power that you give it. God did not give us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7). Also, be careful of who you let in your boat.
Prayer: Heavenly Father I pray that You will deliver me from fear. Please take away the panic, the anxiety, and the fear that is within me and replace it with Your peace. Help me see You clearly and understand that You are truly stronger than all. When You are for me, who can stand against me? In the name of Jesus Christ I pray.
Note: Ladies, today is Thankful Thursday at the "Ladies in Distress" group (our RHM women's group)! You are welcome to join in our weekly sharing of thankfulness for the Lord's presence and any blessings you may have experienced, big or small! "Ladies in Distress" is a private group, so if you have any problems joining, just post anywhere and we will help you :). Here is the link: Ladies in Distress> You can subscribe to our daily devotional here <
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Pastor Todd is so right about the Book of Job!! We had lived in KC for a very few years. I was between jobs, and spent over a year substituting...and had a lot of "free time". Being who I am, I happened across the Book of Job and decided to read it from the beginning to the end. It took a while as I also spent time thinking of it in terms of my life circumstances. The first time I read it through, I became fearful that this scenario could be my fate as well., and my fear level rose even higher. So I read it through again, looking for the bright sides within his story, and in my situation. To my dismay, the fear, sorrow, and grief seemed to hang on unabated till the end. Again, it seemed like the most bittersweet story that one man had endured basically alone. Since I was still unemployed in a steady line of work, and our financial burdens were rising at a steady pace, so also my panic and fear (I had bipolar during this time, also, and emotions and situations are magnified at times), and deeper into the "downside" of my illness also was intensified. The last time, I decided to read and search only those portions that gave me hope in the midst of troubles. And before me there it was! Job loved his family very, very much (his first family). He knew how very blessed he was in all things. He was sitting pretty high in the lap of security, surely God would keep him there...But God had other plans for Job, who was faithful and true reaping the best benefits this world has to offer...But was the status quo, when it came to really trust in God in all circumstances...for Job had not experienced the downside this world gives to many of his Creations. So God allows evil and suffering to enter Job's happy life, taking all his blessings, including family away from him. Somehow, Job survives all these extreme losses, and then is confronted by his friends who begin putting the "blame" on Job, God, and everything else for his predicaments...pushing Job's depression to a far deeper depth than it was previously...until Job comes to end of his rope...and he begs God to take him out of this world! God is silent--for God knows the end of Job's story...As I thought of this back then, I thought...and God knows the endings of each of our stories. And as Scripture tells us over and over again--God creates all things for Good. Even if it is through the worst scenario we can possibly devise or stumble into...Through Job's good times and bad times, God is there by our side. "He does not leave us orphaned." We were created by parents who procreated us with God Who instilled within us the spirit that gave us life. All throughout our life in both the good times and the bad times, God is with us. But what can we do in those darkest hours of our lives, to raise our own spirits even a little bit? Search out helpers who, unlike Job's companions, who will walk a distance with us through the storms of life. Some may stick around for a lifetime, some may stay for only a season. But somehow, someway we need to begin the slow climb out of the deep, deep pit we have fallen into. The truth of life is: We need others for some encouraging assistance. But mostly, we need to accept that the only who can do the dirty work of climbing is ourselves! I have also found a warning: If we discourage, debase, detest, or belittle the fallen without even a morsel of food, or a wee sip of drink to provide strength for weaker members of our world, we may find ourselves falling into such a pit as did Job! It appears, when we learn the lessons God has for us in this "fallen world", we just may be granted the gift of greater blessings than we had before, as Job did. For me, at this point in time, Job's story is the story of the Apocalypse, which is a mysterious reading in the New Testament, that Gary and Laura pointed out to me one weekend on a visit way back when they were in college. That book has confounded me ever since, and I love good, clean mysteries. With this one being Scripture-based, I have long pondered its meaning. And this one is as good as any--for now...
Amen Lord
Thank you Pastor, for sharing this great story; it made me think of my greatest fear, and your right, it wasn't so bad. Because GOD was right there with me. I still went through it, but he sure made the load lighter. And it was great to be able to turn to him in Prayer!
Amen
Amen!
Amen
Amen! Thank You Lord !
Whenever I have a compulsive (recurring) fear, I always pray "GOD forbid" and it never comes to pass. One time I did not pray "GOD forbid" because I thought "I would never do that" and then, later that day, my fear came true.
So, I would advise to pray to GOD to protect you so that your fears do not come true. They could be warnings from the Holy Spirit of what the enemy is plotting against you. We are surrounded by invisible enemies - Satan's kingdom is made up of demons and Jesus asked how can satan's kingdom stand if Jesus is casting out demons by power of Satan - so satan's kingdom is made up of demons in our midst. They are tag teams, trying to take down the wheat. They are probably controlling the tares. Only thing that makes any sense.
Amen. Pastor Dion, your devotionals are great!! This one got me to laugh out loud. You have a good sense of humor. Glad your eyesight was not affected by the hook. Fear has no place in my life once the good Lord stepped in. Amen
Lord you know what my fears are, and I'm sorry I allowed myself to have any fear. John Smith, I'll speak to my fear like you with, "GOD forbid " for yes we know with God everything is GOOD. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Amen !
Jesus,please take away all our fears and give us your blessings. Amen
Amen!!
Amen! Help me see You clearly and understand that You are truly stronger than all. Thanks for the encouragement, Pastor Dion!
Amen and amen! Father, remove all my fears and anxieties and help me always trust in You.
Oh Heavenly Father I thank Your loving care, help us to overcome our fears knowing that You are always there for us. That Your protection be with us at all times, in Jesus name I pray, Amen. Who can hurt us if You are with us.
Pastor, as in your story we need to be confident that God is always with us with no doubts,God bless you and Sylvia .
Amen
Amen!
God please hear my prayers. Please. Amen
I DON'T HAVE A BOAT, BUT I LOVE TO FISH, PRAISE THE LORD, JESUS WAS WITH YOU
Amen and Amen and Amen! Thank you Pastor Dion, I really needed to hear this today!