Thoughts From Luke - Day 57

                                                      Luke 12:4-12

⁴ “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. ⁵ But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. ⁶ Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. ⁷ Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
⁸ “I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. ⁹ But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God. ¹⁰ And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
¹¹ “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, ¹² for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”


            Who are you afraid of? Maybe it's your boss who has the power to fire you and totally upend your life. Maybe it's crazy, drugged people who break into houses. Maybe it's terrorists who could blow up a building at any time. Maybe it's gunmen who could go into a mall and start shooting. We hear about all these things on the news and if you spend too much time contemplating them, it can make you paranoid to leave or even unlock your house. Of course then there are things that could happen to your house like fires, Carbon monoxide or Radon poisoning, earthquakes, tornadoes, trees falling that could make you afraid to be in your house. Though most of us don't think this way, a lot of people repress these thoughts along with other fears and drown them out with anti-anxiety pills and sleep medicine in order to cope. Jesus addresses this in this passage as He mentions fear or worry 6 times. Here are some remedies for anxiety.

        First, give your life to Jesus. If you haven't been saved but are still in rebellion to God and running your own life, you have plenty of reason to fear. Your life is totally random. Whatever happens is fate or luck. You can't control anything that happens. Yet, if you are saved, you have entered into the family of God and He has a plan for your life. Nothing can happen that He hasn't ordained and He is a good Father that only wants the best for you. If He cares for sparrows or the lilies of the field, certainly God will watch over you. Not only will He take care of you here on Earth but He gives you an eternal home. If you haven't received Jesus, then you are committing the sin that He doesn't pardon - blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. What is that and why won't it be forgiven? My thinking on that is that if you are still Lord of your own life, then you are closing the door on the finalized plan of the gospel which is the control of your life by and the entering in of the Holy Spirit to transform you. You are telling God, You are not in control of my life - my life belongs to me. If you die in that condition, there is no other plan to unite you with God. You will experience Hell. That is reason to fear, but you don't have to. Just humble yourself before Him.

       Secondly, and I don't even think there should be a secondly but unfortunately Christians still suffer with fear and anxiety. Why is this and what is the remedy? One way is to remind yourself daily and be in fellowship where you can remind each other of your value to God. You are His Children. If He had a refrigerator, your magnet would be on it. He loves you so much He sent His Son to die for you. You are valuable to Him. The safest place to be is in His will. The second safest is my adult Sunday School class where 3 out of 5 people have carrying permits. The second cure is to remind yourself daily and remind others that this world isn't our home. We are just visiting this planet. A deadly occurrence just brings us home quicker - what's to fear in that? The third thing is to surrender your life daily to the control of the Holy Spirit. Don't worry about how to act, what to say, what people think, just let Him be you. It takes all the pressure off.

       Lord, help me to practice what I preach and not be an anxious person. Amen