Category: Human Emotions

Fear

It’s something that’s been in my bucket list for a while
I saved the money up, just needed a time and venue
I looked for months
What I thought would be easy to find turned out to be difficult
Either the price price was too high, or the venue wasn’t what I was looking for

Then one day I put two words in my search engine
And what I’ve been looking for appeared, at virtually the price I saved
But before I would buy, fear started to grip me inside
I remembered the voices of others saying they wouldn’t buy it
I thought if something went wrong, I wouldn’t have them to lean on
Fear became so strong, it caused discomfort in my neck all night long

When morning came, I analyzed why was I about to walk away
From something I wanted so long and is right in my face
I would criticize others for not jumping on opportunities
Yet, here I was about to turn down one staring at me.

So, I reviewed some Bible verses on fear:
What causes fear? Anything can. It could be being afraid of failure and hearing others say “I told ya it wouldn’t work “. It could be not having someone to share the experience with. It could be believing things won’t work out as you imagined. Or it could simply be nerves. But fear is not of God.
2 Timothy 1:7 says For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. This scripture is telling me my fear is not from God, but from listening to what people have to say.

Joshua 1:9 says…Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed:
for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. This scripture is telling me I have nothing to fear because God is with me wherever I go.

Matthew 6:34 says “ take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof”. This scripture tells me not to worry about what’s going to happen tomorrow. So I’m not to worry about the consequences of this venture. I’m going to carry on to fulfill my bucket list. Trusting that if I’m making a bad decision, the Lord will intervene and protect me.

Idle Mind

I know God has forgiven
But that doesn’t stop my mind from drifting to former living
It replays the words and actions I wish I could take back
Before the love of God in my heart I didn’t know how to act
Former thoughts make me forget Jesus died for my sins
And replay the un forgiveness of people again and again

So why does the mind regress?
Idleness,
As one church member expressed, and then confessed
That when idle, his mind drifts back to things he regrets

The mind needs to look forward for positive things to do
Else, negative thoughts it will assume
Philippians 4:8 says think on things positive
Especially when your sins God did forgive.

Insight
There are many scriptures in the Bible about God forgiving our sins. Jesus even died for our sins. Yet the memory of us committing sins remains. And sometimes the mind brings up the sins especially when the mind is not focused on anything. You can’t take back what you’ve done. You can’t make people forgive. And sometimes you can’t restore broken relationships. But once you’ve sincerely asked God to forgive you; you need to forgive yourself and focus your mind on positive things. God not only forgives sins, He can use a former sinner for ministerial purposes. I think about Moses, David and Saul (Paul). They were not perfect, yet God went on to use them in mighty ways.

Torn Over Giving

The urgent agonizing plead for money
Makes you wonder why the need
Wondering if they are really hurting
Or are old habits resurfacing

Know there was an addiction before
But they claim it is no more
And you see the cleanliness
And don’t want to contribute to a relapse mess

What if I gave and it went to a relapse?
What if I don’t give and there’s a genuine medical lack?
The Bible says judge not (Luke 6:37)
But you have to use judgement
You don’t want to feed the addiction
But you don’t want to deprive of medical attention

So, how to come to a decision?
When being torn over giving
I look to follow Solomon’s lead (1 Kings 3:9)
And ask God to instill wisdom in me
So that I can have an understanding heart
And give, but not in away to help the problem restart.