Dear Precious Friends,
I love this scripture to seek Him and He answers....
I sought the Lord, and He answered me. He delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4.
He delivers us from our fears!!!
What a great reminder of our response to fear and the Corona Virus known as COVID-19. My Pastor just shared this:
Christ Overcomes Viruses & Infectious Disease. Joshua 1:9
"Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee wherever thou goest. Joshua 1:9
WOW... Truth!!! I'm an acronym freak so I LOVE THIS.
He also recommended praying over our homes and businesses, anointing the door posts with oil. Please listen to my previous post to hear these amazing words of wisdom.
We have an amazing opportunity right now as our country walks through this time of uncertainty, fear, anxiety, trepidation over daily deluges of bad news.
God has already released a new "strain" of healing among his people. Let's focus on the passage from Psalm 91:3, “Surely he shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.”
Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, which has congregations in multiple locations in California and in Hawaii, said, "In some ways the viral fear may be worse than the virus itself."
The only way to counter these attacks of the devil is to spend time with the Lord one on one and fill ourselves with His word, armor ourselves up and share His love. Be there for those who are fearful and those who are compromised and need encouragement and prayer.
We as Christians must be practical, prayerful, and proclaim Christ's peace in an atmosphere of fear.
As Christians, our response to fear is hope and confidence in God. Fear is very real. But so is God. And He is bigger. “There is no such thing as a fearless Christian,” writes John Bloom. “God designed us to experience fear, in some measure, because he designed us to live by faith.” A healthy fear of God fuels our faith. We can respond to fear by redirecting what is scaring us to align with God’s word. When struggling with fear and anxiety that seems to consume our lives, Philippians 4:4-7 provides a way to break the cycle. Praying into and studying these verses can help us to adopt a better perspective of fear:
“I will rejoice in the Lord! I will say it again: rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, with transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds.”
Lets seek what God's word says about fear and anxiety and how not to be scared or anxious all the time:
“I will rejoice in the Lord! I will say it again: rejoice!” By remembering who God is, we are already on our way to putting our fears in alignment with His word.
“The Lord is near.” He is not far off, but close! God’s heart is moved by our prayers. Christ lives in us! We are never alone.
“Do not be anxious about anything,” Prayerfully list every fear and anxiety we need to lift up and out of our thoughts and into God’s hands.
“but in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving” No matter what gnaws our nerves, we can be grateful to God. Gratitude relieves fear and anxiety.
“present your requests to God.” We often rely on daily news alerts to set our status quo, run to other people for reassurance, or allow scary statistics to hijack our peace. We have an open channel of communication with our Father in heaven to request His help, and an assurance He hears, sees and answers us according to His will.
“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds.” We cannot accomplish peace on our own power. Fear can be put at bay by remembering the peace we already have in Christ. He is faithful to remind us, calm us, and walk with us through every scary storm. When we are faithful to hand our anxieties and iniquities over to God, He will set boundaries in our lives to protect and defend us.
The Best way to overcome fear and anxiety when it hits:
Pray
Pray for God to reveal His Word and apply it practically to each day’s scary highlight real. Pray verses of Scripture as personal prayers.
Fear can pull the rug of our faith right out from underneath our feet. We will be scared, anxious, and afraid in this life. But Christ died so we could live life to the full. Embrace the free life from sin that Christ gave us through the cross. We are no longer slaves to sin or to fear. We are free children of God. Christ lives in us. Don’t pick up the old scared self. Live in the new creation and choose to submit the scary stuff to our sovereign God.
Here's a great prayer for when you're feeling anxiety and feel fear rise
in you:
Father,
Search my heart, so the only fear I have is out of reverence for Your majestic and sovereign hand in my life. Forgive me for being scared. Forgive my unbelief! You are bigger than anything I could fear, and faithful to remind me and forgive me. Great is Your faithfulness, God. Calm me, one breath at a time.
In Jesus’ Name,
AMEN!
