Tag: Fear

Today’s Word Is UNLIKELY

Tue-Jul-21-2020

There are times you are going to be called on to accomplish something that you don’t think you’re suited for. God doesn’t use our normal criteria to pick someone for a job. You or I would choose someone with talent in the desired area and available time to commit to the project. We might also go for someone with high self-esteem who is well respected, someone who would answer “yes” with great confidence.

Not God … He has a flair for performing the impossible with the unlikely! In the Book of Judges, the land of Israel is being harassed by the Midianites. The Israelites could be overrun and destroyed if something didn’t turn around and soon. I’ve been there a few times, things are falling apart, and I feel hopeless. How about you?

But God had a plan and sent an angel to tell Gideon he had been chosen to pull off the necessary turnaround. Of course, to Gideon this didn’t seem like divine orders, it seemed like nonsense. He thought this angel was a strange traveler who didn’t know what he was talking about. So, his response was two-fold … “I don’t know what makes you think God cares about us; he has abandoned us!” … and then … “Even if this could happen, you’ve got the wrong guy! I am not a leader or a warrior.” Judges 6:15… “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

So here is the take-away for today. God uses willing people, regardless of their strengths or weaknesses, their high or low station, or their level of confidence to accomplish the following purposes:

First, he comes to resolve a serious need and accomplish a kingdom purpose, especially if it seems impossible to us. He wants to achieve the victory, and to create joy, thanks, and celebration.

Second, he wants to do it in a way that creates faith in you and others. Sometimes that means using the seemingly least qualified candidate, otherwise we would all praise that person for the success. God wants us to know that we can’t do it without his divine help. That way the praise goes to God, not any of us.

Finally, God wants to demonstrate that he can use you to do amazing things with his help. This requires humility plus faith plus courage.

If God is tapping you on the shoulder about something that he wants to accomplish, listen up. It might be simple … help one person in your world (at home, at work, wherever) to experience a turnaround that they desperately need. Or perhaps he sets your sights on something much bigger and intimidating. If you list all the “worldly” reasons you’re the wrong person for the job, you could miss a chance to bless one person or many.

If you think you’re the least qualified, the least likely candidate … well, there you go … it wouldn’t be the first time God took that approach! You could draw out the argument for days and days, like Gideon did, or you could go for it!

Blessings,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is COURAGE

Thu-Jul-9-2020

“It often takes more courage to change one’s opinion than to stick to it.” – Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742-1790) Physicist and Philosopher

Sometimes you need to change your opinion and sometimes you need to stick to it. A great feat of maturity is to learn when and how to do both. Many people are out of balance and are far better at one than the other.

At one extreme are folks who are good at making decisions and sticking to them … but pride will not let them admit they might be wrong … thus they lack the courage to admit a mistake or to change their opinion. From the perspective of others, it is hard to respect someone who will never change their mind. Why do people remain adamant and unchanging? Sometimes they are bullies. It may also be to avoid intimacy in relationships. Never changing your mind is a good way to keep people at a distance or under control.

At the other extreme are those who are humble and honest enough to admit their mistakes … but often will fold easily when challenged about an opinion they truly believe in … thus they lack the courage to stick to their opinion. From the perspective of others, it is hard to respect someone who wavers on nearly everything. Why do such folks as these give in so easily? It might be fear of conflict or failure, possibly a poor self-image, not understanding who they are in Christ. But again, it is also another way of avoiding intimacy in relationships or of having the need to protect oneself.

Jesus had a better way … a way that requires courage, honesty, and humility.

“But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.” – Jesus (Matthew 5:37)

Making yes be yes, and no be no, is in one sense about removing the playing of emotional games from our conversations. It is much more enjoyable to converse with someone who does not have a hidden agenda. It works well when both have the courage to be honest … honest about their true convictions, but also courageous to admit when they need to change their mind about something.

(If you believe there is nothing you ever need to change your mind about, your name would be “God” … just sayin’ … don’t mean to sound harsh. None of us has perfect theology or doctrines or opinions or knowledge. Surprise, surprise.)

The takeaway is this … ask God for what you need.

If you need courage to stick to your opinion … ask God. (Many folks who need the courage to be bolder are painfully aware that they need it and perhaps too afraid to try it.)

If you need courage to admit when you are wrong … ask God. (However … Many folks who need the courage to be humble are blissfully unaware that they lack humility or are too proud to try it.)

Choose to be balanced, to be able to say equally well, “I’m right this time,” or “I’m wrong this time.” This requires courage, honesty, and humility. Making it more complicated than this involves offering excuses for our behavior, and is, as Jesus said, “from the evil one.”

It takes courage to be honest, bold, and humble all at the same time!

Chaplain Mark

(NOTE: If you are in a relationship where the other person is virtually always right and certainly never wrong, and where you feel the pressure of conformity, this is a red flag. Seek some godly advice from a trusted pastor or friend.)

Today’s Word Is AGREE

Wed-Jul-8-2020

I once had this conversation with a co-worker …

ME:        You’re very smart.

THEM:   No. Not really.

ME:        I’m smart. I made straight A’s mostly.

THEM:   Yeah, so did I.

ME:        Then you’re pretty smart.

THEM:   Well … hmmmm … Okay.

It’s okay to say you’re smart or talented in some way, or whatever your characteristics are, in an honest and humble way. It’s part of having a good, healthy, and accurate view of yourself. Many of us were taught not to compliment ourselves because it sounds like “bragging.” Often our solution is to belittle ourselves as a way of ensuring that we don’t think too highly of ourselves. It took me 40-plus years to stop this bad habit.

The Bible talks about how you should view yourself.

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” – The Apostle Paul (Romans 12:3)

A “sober judgment” means a correct evaluation. This means you should not think “too highly” nor “too lowly” of yourself. Now who do you think has the most “sober” or accurate evaluation and opinion of you? Well … It’s God, of course.

You should agree with God and his opinion of you. He knows your value, your potential, your strengths, your weaknesses. For some of us, it is a great discovery to learn that “God thinks of me more highly than I thought He did!” God is for us, not against us. (See Romans 8 below.) So, if someone has told you that God thinks poorly of you … that’s a lie. If you think you should deny your strengths as a way of being humble, consider that this is a form of false humility, and not at all biblical. Instead, affirm who you are and the gifts you have been given, and then delight in using them for God’s purposes.

In addition, don’t bemoan your weaknesses. Everyone has them. Accept them. Improve on them when you can. This is all part of agreeing with God about who you are and who you are to become. And if you can agree with God about the total you, there will be greater peace, and probably more smiles.

If you still are going to have a hard time with this God-centered view of yourself, then let me add this. Once you are saved, there is no condemnation against you. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1) Only those who are denying God or refusing Christ should fear condemnation.

Once you are born again, there is no issue that will cause God to reject you. You are his adopted child, an heir to the Kingdom. Every objection you have to your new position of worth in Christ, every struggle to accept your high value in his eyes can be answered by this … God our Father loves you, Jesus loves you, Holy Spirit loves you. You are loved, loved, loved. However much you think God loves you, it is more than that! Receive it. Return it. Stop any practice of self-condemnation and reject any tendency to expect punishment. God may discipline, but he does not punish those who are his. Smile and relax when you consider the amazing and wonderful love God has for you.

Agreeing with God about who you are is a good thing. Thinking that God is against you is not. No one can take your God-given value away from you. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) Please don’t take as long as I did to internalize that and live with joy and freedom. If you truly do this, it will not create arrogance but humility and peace.

Have a blessed day,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is INTIMIDATION

Tue-Jul-7-2020

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” – The Apostle Paul (2nd Timothy 1:7)

Sometimes fear serves a useful purpose, right? For instance, … Fear could keep you away from the edge of a dangerous cliff. … or … Fear could cause you to keep your distance from a poisonous snake. … or … Fear could cause you to run out of a burning building.

Those, of course, are things God designed into our nature to protect us. What we are not supposed to have is the type of fear that debilitates us, keeps us in misery, or prevents us from being the person that God calls us to be.

The normal Greek word for fear is “phobia,” which is used 150 times in the New Testament. Another New Testament word for fear is “deilia,” used only once by Paul in this passage, and once by Jesus (Matthew 8:26 and Mark 4:40), on the occasion where a frightening storm came up while the disciples were in a boat with Jesus. “But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”

This use of the word fear can also be translated as “intimidation.” Why would Paul tell Timothy not to be intimidated? Interestingly, the name Timothy comes from the same root word, as if describing someone who is easily intimidated. Timothy was a young man with great potential in ministry, but how easy it is to let yourself be intimidated, being a young person teaching people older than yourself, and often much wiser. I know. I pastored my first church at age 19.

Also notice that Paul didn’t say, “we are not given fear.” He said, “We are not given a SPIRIT of fear.” This is a spiritual issue. There are evil spirits that have certain characteristics or tactics, and yes, there is a spirit of fear, whose strategy is to intimidate you out of your destiny.

In the 6th grade my first male teacher, Mr. Webb, was a combination of caring, wise, and tough. We would go to the playground and the whole class of 30 kids played softball. He divided the class in half, and we scattered all over the field to play, lots of infielders and outfielders. Mr. Webb was the pitcher.

One day I hit a ball past the outfielders, a “for sure” home run, rare for me. I rounded first, second, third and looked back over my shoulder as I was halfway to home. And, oh no, Mr. Webb was standing in a throwing position with his arm back over his shoulder, ready to throw the ball. I stopped and froze in disbelief! How could they have retrieved the ball so quickly!? As I stood there staring, waiting for him to throw me out, the ball came bounding in from the outfield and stopped at his feet. He smiled, leaned over, and with his empty hand, scooped up the ball, and threw me out. He had bluffed me … intimidated me … out of a home run. I was so focused on Mr. Webb that I didn’t see where the ball really was. I could have had a home run! I will never forget that lesson.

Think about it … this is what your “enemy” wants to do to you … bluff you into thinking you’re not good enough, smart enough, innovative enough, persistent enough, or enough of whatever you may need to succeed. He has no weapon to harm you, so he intimidates you into giving up. I thought Mr. Webb had the ball in his hand … nope. I was not robbed by the power of the enemy, but by being intimidated out of claiming what was mine.

If you have a spirit of fear, God didn’t give it to you. I repeat … If you have a spirit of fear, God didn’t give it to you! And he wants to replace it with power, love, and a sound mind. Suppose you just “spoke” to this spirit of fear you’ve been burdened with and served it an eviction notice! I will no longer be intimidated out of my blessings! Then ask God for his three replacement gifts … power, love, and discipline.

Power – that’s like the engine of a car. The Holy Spirit will give you his kind of power.

Love – that’s the proper fuel. It will help you to do things with right motives. If you are fueled by anger, for instance, things will often not turn out so well.

A Sound Mind (or Discipline) – that’s the steering wheel. It means guiding how you apply the love and use the power God has given you. Not too fast or slow, staying on track, waiting sometimes, proceeding at others.

The experience of ridding myself of the spirit of intimidation, with God’s help, created a quantum leap forward in my faith. I still get intimidated occasionally, but I am quicker to rebuke it now.

Blessed to be a blessing,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is PRESENCE

Tue-Jun-30-2020

I have a memory from age four of being leery of a tiger under my bed. Starting at the door of my bedroom, I would run and leap into bed. In coping with this, there were times that I wanted one of my parents to stay with me until I went to sleep. When I awoke, it was a relief that nothing “got me” during the night! As an adult all this seems so silly, but at the time it was real.

There are adult versions of this feeling in which strange emotions stir within us of feeling alone and helpless in a time of stress, fear, or loss. These feelings are not invited in. They just rise up from within us, and at first, we feel helpless and even empty. For instance, one of my sisters died in a car wreck when she was 17. I was 23 and away attending seminary. This shook me up. I felt helpless and empty. It was as if some part of me died with her.  Have you ever felt like that?

Seven years later, I again got shaken up emotionally by going through the pain of divorce. It rocked my world. For months I would feel queasy in my stomach just from the emotions of loss. At first it was daily, then occasionally, but still there. It lasted so long that I wondered if it would be permanent. I wanted desperately to know how to overcome it. Thanks be to God, there is a way, and this is my testimony.

Through these and other difficulties, my faith became to mean everything to me. I learned that it was only through faith and God’s grace that I could make it. This happened because thankfully I believed what I had heard and read that this is how you heal. God has helped me put my roots down into him, as I grew upward toward my dreams and destiny. I can’t identify the exact moment I became “thoroughly” secure in his love, but it would be sometime near age fifty … finally!

No longer do I have to wonder if there is something under the bed … LOL … which in adult language means I believe that nothing can overpower or overwhelm me, because there is no longer any doubt or lack of the inner experience of God’s presence. No more wondering if something could go wrong or separate me from his love.

Today’s verse says, “And when I wake up, you are still with me.” (Psalm 139:18) I hope you make this transition in life. We must move on from experiencing God’s presence in the moment, but all the time wondering if there might come a moment when we are alone. It is like being just unsure enough that we get surprised each time and say, “I was hoping God would always be with me, and thank goodness, again today, it still feels like he is. I sure hope I feel like this again tomorrow morning.”

There is a profound sense of deeper peace in which I know God is with me, and I know I will never be alone. It is a sense of warmth in the heart that never leaves. It is great to know God’s constant presence, to know that whether I am awake or asleep he is with me.

I don’t have to wait until tomorrow morning to know that “when I awake, God is still with me.” I already know it will be true for every single morning for the rest of my life, he will still be there. This is God’s gift to you and to me … not just his presence with us right now, but also the assurance of his future presence.

Blessings,

Chaplain Mark

Another verse:

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

Today’s Word Is ABSORB

Tue-Jun-9-2020

What creates fear in you? Relationship problems? Health problems? Financial problems? How about fear of failure? Fear of death? Fear of rejection? Something else?

Unaddressed fear contributes to worry, and the combination of fear and worry becomes heavier and heavier. Sometimes we try to fix it by isolating it into a back corner of our mind and then just live with it. In the medical sense we know that infected wounds don’t go away. And emotional woundedness that manifests in fear and worry festers in the same way.

So … How do you get rid of fear? What can you do to be less afraid of threats? Is there a way to reach the point where fear is not your automatic reaction? Can fear be cleansed out of us and replaced with a sense of peace and security?

Would the best tool be to have more courage? That certainly helps. Should we frequently and habitually remind ourselves of truths as a way to quench our fears? That is helpful as well. Some people would tell us, “Just get over it.” In my experience that rarely works. The fear hides somewhere inside, but it is still there.

You might know the answer I am looking for if I ask it this way: What does the Bible say will cast out fear?

It is love … perfect love.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1st John 4:18)

The source of love is God, and love is the most powerful game-changer in existence. We can release this love power into ourselves and into others through prayer. Everything God does is based on his love for us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his Son…” (John 3:16) God’s love is “perfect” love.

During these contentious times, let us intentionally reflect on the unlimited and unconditional love of God. Think of how deeply, thoroughly, and perfectly God loves you! Soak it in. Bring to the surface any worry or care that causes distress and ask God to replace it with his love. Make declarations about his love’s effect on you. “I am deeply loved by God.” “Nothing can separate me from the love of God.” (see Romans 8:38-39) “I hereby trade any disturbance in me in exchange for the love of God.” “I breathe in his love and breathe out the impurities of fear and anxiety.”

You see, as we continuously absorb the love of God into our inner being over a long period of time, fear starts to run out of places to inhabit within us. Fear eventually has little or no room to function. As the incredible love of God goes in, the fear is “cast out.”

Blessings,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is ANXIOUS

Tue-May-19-2020

“Do not fear, for I am with you;

Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,

Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

What are we doing when we “anxiously look about”? It might be that we are looking for another solution because we don’t like what we’re being told.

There is a story about a man on the side of a cliff who has his foot on a loose rock, and he is clinging for dear life. He yells upward, “Help! Is anybody up there?”

The answer comes in a deep voice, “This is God! Let go and I will catch you!”

The man is silent, wondering what to make of this voice. So, he finally yells again, “Is anyone else up there?”

Trusting God sounds easy … but many times it’s not that easy. If you are suffering from anxiety, you probably can identify with this particular definition … It has been said that “the root of anxiety is a loss of control.”

When our world or a certain situation is out of our control, we may struggle to find any way we can to regain some control. But we can trust the one who has ultimate control. If we exercise our faith, then the Scripture “I am your God” is a good enough answer in any circumstance. Let me repeat that … “I am your God” is a good enough answer in any circumstance. “Do not be anxious about anything …” (Philippians 4:6)

It doesn’t seem like it could be that simple, but it is amazing what repeating a statement of faith like Isaiah 41:10 can do. First, we put ourselves into a calmer state of mind. “I am not going to fear, because God is with me.” We tell ourselves, “I am going to stop looking anxiously about me to find my own solution. I am going to look to God, because he is my strength and my help.” Then we repeat as many times as it takes … “God will uphold me with his righteous right hand.” Then we let God speak peace into our hearts.

[Jesus] got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. (Mark 4:39)

I do love it when I call upon the Lord, and he says, “Peace! Be still!” And I experience that real peace of God flowing in and filling my inner being, and I become completely calm.

Blessings,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is AFRAID

Wed-Apr-22-2020

The LORD is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life — of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)

These are rhetorical questions … meaning you should know the answer without having to be told! Whom shall I fear? The obvious answer is no one. Of whom shall I be afraid? No one, of course.

Well, wait a minute … There is this phrase in the Scripture about the fear of the Lord. It means to respect and revere him. The old Bob Dylan song says … “It may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you gotta serve somebody.” The fear of the Lord means that he is the one you serve, and that you therefore have no fear of the devil. Fear of the Lord is a good thing.

In order for you to answer that you fear no one … you will have to be able to say that you fear, respect, submit to the Lord. If not, you’re on your own, and you definitely have a lot to fear in this life without God’s protection. In other words, fear God alone, or suffer with the fears of everything else. Charles Swindoll once said that as he got older, he came to be unafraid of anyone, their opinions, their criticism, and their attitude of superiority, all because of his fear of the Lord.

When God is your light, your salvation, your stronghold. … you won’t have to be afraid of anything or anyone. It is a life-changing transition to move from fear-based to faith-based living. Fear-based living creates a sense of being unprotected. There are constant thoughts about what might go wrong.

Fear is a sign of unbelief. Remember the disciples in the boat? And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26) Notice he did not say “no faith,” he said, “little faith.” Do not panic and think that having areas of little faith or of unbelief indicates you are not saved. Many Bible characters, and many people today, have degrees or moments of unbelief. It does not necessarily mean the opposite of salvation. It may just indicate an area of your life in which you need God’s help to cast out some darkness and let God’s light come in. The father of a boy possessed with demons asked Jesus for help. Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) And Jesus immediately cast them out. I have said the same thing that father said a number of times in my life.

As for fear, if the Bible says, “Do not fear,” then fear is sometimes not just an emotion, but a choice we make, and we are told not to choose it. Fear freezes your growth. Fear robs you of blessings. Fear keeps you from blessing others. Fear invites the enemy to control areas of your life.

When these areas of fear are overcome, you will live with greater confidence. Your faith rises up to remind you that nothing can destroy you, no matter how bad it might seem. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:35,37)

Faith-based living, “fear-less” living involves a trust in what the Apostle Paul said … “my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

There are TV commercials and movie lines that talk about “no fear,” but they are more about striking back at an unfair world. This promotes an attitude of defiance, self-protection, and pride. When the Scripture says, “no fear,” it is about fully trusting and living at peace with God. That has a much different feel to it than boasting about “no fear.” You can experience that you are no longer afraid of what anyone or anything can do to you. We can again make that declaration today … or if you have never done so, declare it for the first time … I am not afraid; I will not live in fear.

Blessings,

Chaplain Mark