And Jesus said: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” Luke 12:6-7 NIV “Look at …
Jesus Is…
Jesus Is…the Word
I was very confused as a teenager as I read the words from John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” I tried to wrap my mind around the fact that the God of …
Future Shock
[This is the last installment of our Friday posts on fear.] Whenever people are asked what they’re afraid of, somewhere in the list of snakes, storms, and cancer, will appear a fear of job loss or economic downturn. That’s natural. Our most basic needs …
Four Wise Things
“Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise” [Proverbs 30:24] Before you race forward this morning, rushing into the day as though time were in the driver’s seat–back off, slow down and listen. There are four things that are extremely wise. What …
A Clear and Present Danger
[This is the third in a series of four Friday posts on fear.] “You must be the bravest person I’ve seen,” the Ben Yehuda Plaza shopkeeper said as he totaled up my purchases in shekels. “After the bomb exploded last week, all the tourists fled …
From Accused to Peaceful
I was SO mad. The woman on the other end of the phone was telling me off, accusing me of things I hadn’t done…not letting me get a word in edgewise. Then she hung up on me! I was furious! I stomped around, cried a …
Nothing to Fear but Fear?
President Franklin Roosevelt in his first inaugural address in 1933 famously said that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” We know what he was trying to do—encourage people not to become paralyzed by their fears in that Great Depression era. (A …
Serenity, Please
Have you heard of the Serenity Prayer? Yes, that one: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference.” Did you also know that there’s more to …
Terror by Night
[Editor’s Note: This is part of a series of articles on conquering fear that will appear in June.] Some of my earliest memories are of being afraid. My parents were military and liked to socialize at the officer’s club on base. They began leaving me …
Abandoned to God
”But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me…” [2 Timothy 4:17] From this present generation have risen many reasons, excuses, accusations, and comfort zones for behavioral problems and dysfunction of all kinds. One of them is a sense of abandonment. Born into the family …