Paradigm Shift Ministries

Fall: Week Eight
Fear Not:
"The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?"
~Psalm 118:6 ~

As Christians, we are called to live with an unwavering confidence in our Lord and God; however, we all know that this is much easier to say than to live.  David was a man that was constantly under attack.  Throughout his life, there was always someone out to take his life, but he never wavered in his trust of God’s protection.  All you have to do is open up the book of Psalms and you will see his heart.  Yes, David knew fear, but he also knew that he served a God who is bigger than his fear.  David may be considered one of the great heroes of the Bible, but he was really no different than you or I.  He fell prey to many of the same things that men today face, most infamously his lust for Bathsheba.  Yet throughout his well-chronicled inner turmoil, David always had a strong sense of God being his rock.  With that foundation alone was he able to go on to become one of the greatest kings in human history.

The Bible promises us that if we are earnestly seeking first God’s kingdom and His righteousness, then we have nothing to fear.  If we build our lives on the rock-solid foundation of God’s covenant made through the blood of Jesus Christ, then there is no power that can separate us from His unending and unconditional love (Romans 8:38-39).  However, this does not mean that being Christian means easy living, quite the opposite in fact.  Being Christian means being tried and tested all the more because the world is designed to make Christians fall.  But, we are to rejoice when we are tested because that is how our faith is made pure (1 Peter 1:6-7).  Be encouraged because not one biblical hero made it through life without being tested – trial by fire is the only way we can become more like Christ.  Go forward, be disciplined, and be free.  If you struggle with fear, feel free to make this your prayer:

“Dear God, please hear my heart.  I want to be free from this fear, please allow me to see myself the way You see me, and pour out Your Spirit on my life.  Test me and try me, but never let my eyes leave heaven.  Give me the strength when I am to endure, and give me an escape when I am to flee.  Gracious Lord, protect me from evil and allow me to forgive as I have been forgiven.  I lift up my burdens, my fear, and my struggles to You and lay them at the foot of the cross.  Allow me to let go of my old self as it has been crucified with Jesus and put on my new self, which is made pure by the blood of the Lamb.  And God, wrap me in Your spiritual armor and equip me with the sword of the Spirit, Your Word.  In Jesus’ name, I declare victory and freedom from all that binds me.  Sin and death no longer have power over my life in Jesus’ name.  Amen.”

Fall: Week Three

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn:

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

~ Matthew 5:4 ~

When you are in a time of mourning, the last thing that you feel is blessed. But Jesus’ ministry was all about the oppressed, the marginalized, and the broken. However, the American church of today has largely lost sight of this. We have people hurting sitting right next to us in our church pews, and we do nothing to comfort them. And that doesn’t even begin to paint the picture outside our church walls. David Kinnaman points out in his book unChristian that many people outside the Church have very negative feelings toward Christians because of how we simply don’t practice what we preach. Jesus was a radical dude, and we need to live out the radical kind of love and compassion that He exemplified through His life.

The radical love of God can mend any broken heart, no matter how deep the scars. I’ve had my fair share of shadowy valleys in my short life, and every time I seem to hit rock bottom, I find myself digging into the Word and crying out to my Heavenly Father for comfort. And the truly amazing thing is that no matter how far I fall, He catches me every time. A couple verses that I have found comfort in include James 1:2-4 and John 16:33. They both talk about how the trials and tribulations of life help us to grow as people, and if you are hurting for any reason today, I invite you to open up the good ol’ Bible and just let your Father speak to you.

No matter how dark the shadows around you are, God’s unending agape love will light up your night, and His love will restore your broken heart. Just seek Him and He will answer, just as Jesus reminds us: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matt 7:7)

And always remember the old Christian adage: “God is good, all the time! All the time, God is good!”