Dear Sue, it's God.....

I think this devotional was written directly to me from God through David Jeremiah.  It's nothing that I haven't heard before but stuff I need to be reminded of frequently.  I do not want my life to reflect a negative image of Jesus.  If as a Christian I let myself get overwhelmed with fear and worry I am sinning and showing I do not fully believe Him.  Fear is not from my God.  I struggle so this is good stuff for me to hear again and again.  Hope it helps someone else too.  :) 



For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7


Reinhold Niebuhr (d. 1971) penned the original version of "The Serenity Prayer." The first line of the poem says, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change," often popularized today as, "Don't worry about stuff you have no control over." The problem is, it sounds like it is okay to worry about the stuff you can control. However, Christians are told in Scripture not to worry about anything (Philippians 4:6-7).

Worry is fear--not necessarily the white-knuckle, knee-knocking kind of fear, but a fear that leaves us unsettled and anxious. Fear and worry are all about the future. Like when Jesus' disciples were afraid in a storm at sea (Matthew 8:26). They were definitely worried about their future--whether they would arrive safely on the distant shore or not. Fear is a lack of faith in God. We believe God knows "the future," but not our future. Yes, not worrying requires faith--but not blind faith. It is faith in a God who has promised He will never leave nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

If you know God through Christ, it's better not to worry about what you can't control. But it's biblical not to worry at all.

Nothing can cure us of fear till God cures us of unbelief.
Francis Burkitt

Daily Devotional from David Jeremiah