{"id":22416,"date":"2021-06-23T08:23:37","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T13:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/?p=22416"},"modified":"2021-06-23T08:23:57","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T13:23:57","slug":"and-now-id-like-to-say-a-few-words-to-my-fears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/and-now-id-like-to-say-a-few-words-to-my-fears\/","title":{"rendered":"And now, I’d like to say a few words to my fears"},"content":{"rendered":"

>\u201cReturn to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you\u201d (Psalm 116:7).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fears crop up from time to time.<\/p>\n

They co-exist right alongside my faith, like tares among the wheat (referencing Matthew 13:30).<\/p>\n

My faith and my fears are not friends, you understand, nor are they unknown to one another.\u00a0 They have fairly well\u00a0existed alongside one another from the beginning, so they are well-acquainted, in the sense that competitors on the gridiron who do battle in repeated contests come to know one another intimately.<\/p>\n

I identify with the fellow who, when told that all things are possible if he could believe, answered, \u201cLord, I believe. Help my unbelief.\u201d (Mark 9:24).<\/p>\n

What do I fear?\u00a0 Let me count the ways.\u00a0 (I do this knowing full well that fears love to be given room and attention and energies, all of which serve to feed this cancer, causing it to mushroom.)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u2013I fear the usual things<\/strong>: lingering sickness that\u00a0would incapacitate me, end my preaching ministry and make me dependent; economic collapse of this country; and our nation\u2019s drift farther and farther from God.<\/p>\n

Then again, maybe these are not so much \u201cfears\u201d as concerns. None keep me up at night, but when they appear, I give them to the Lord and go on with my day.<\/p>\n

\u2013I fear for my children<\/strong>\u00a0and particularly for my grandchildren.\u00a0 What kind of world will my generation leave them? Will they marry wisely and live well or will they act\u00a0foolishly and start on a downward spiral into pain and heartache? Will they serve God or go the way of the world?\u00a0 I pray for them daily.<\/p>\n

\u2013I fear the same thing<\/strong>\u00a0the Apostle Paul did, that I might mess up and end poorly (I Corinthians 9:27).\u00a0 It\u2019s always a possibility for flawed humans like us, one that keeps us alert and on our knees.<\/p>\n

\u2013And, the big one.\u00a0 What I fear most and most often\u2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u00a0sometimes think, \u201cWhat if none of this is true?\u201d<\/p>\n

What if the science-worshipers are correct and we are a fortunate accident in a meaningless universe and that oblivion follows death?<\/p>\n

What if there is no God? What if we have been deceived, and then have deceived others?<\/p>\n

What if we are on our own here? What if the dead in Christ are\u00a0simply dead, if after this life there\u00a0awaits an eternity of nothingness?<\/p>\n

For that to be the case, it would mean that the Bible is a hoax and Jesus Christ a scam and that the godliest, sanest people on the planet through the centuries have been fooled.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s a big \u201cif,\u201d one which my reason\u2013and especially my faith\u2013rejects as implausible.<\/p>\n

It all comes down to a faith decision.<\/p>\n

Now, that is not to say, as the world\u2019s naysayers\u00a0want to\u00a0twist it, that to vote for God and Jesus and the integrity of the Holy Scriptures is to act on blind faith.<\/p>\n

Blind faith\u00a0means believing\u00a0something for which there is no evidence.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Blind faith means taking Jim Jones and Joseph Smith and a lot of other charlatans on their word and then betting my life they were correct.<\/p>\n

None of that for me, thank you.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll pass on blind faith,\u00a0if you don\u2019t mind.<\/p>\n

I prefer to stand on solid rocks, to build on firm foundations, to believe only that for which the evidence is overwhelming.<\/p>\n

The evidence for God is amazing and all around us every moment of every day. The evidence for Jesus Christ is historical, archaeological, logical, and personal.\u00a0 The evidence for the integrity and trustworthiness of Holy Scripture is as good as one could ever ask for.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the\u00a0most reliable\u00a0evidence for these is the way the Scripture\u2019s presentation of God the Father and Christ the Savior is so solid throughout, with the most intricate insights and truths imbedded,\u00a0which when believed,\u00a0results in beautiful, transformed lives.<\/p>\n

The best evidence for all of this is that when people truly come to know Jesus Christ they become sane.\u00a0 They become their best selves.\u00a0 They are restored to their homes and able to do their best work.\u00a0 Want an example of that? Look at the crazy fellow of Mark 5.\u00a0 Before Jesus he was an outcast, a mental and emotional wreck, beset with demons, estranged from his family, and self-destructive.\u00a0 Sound like anyone you know?\u00a0 \u00a0After Jesus touched him, the man was quiet, sane, clean (Scripture doesn’t say that, but I betcha!), and restored to his family (see 5:19).\u00a0 That’s what turning to Christ does, friend!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

When\u00a0people meet Jesus, they get in harmony with the universe.\u00a0 Such a statement\u00a0is possible since\u00a0that same\u00a0Lord Jesus is Lord of the universe.\u00a0 It\u2019s His, and harmony\/sanity and\u00a0wholeness\u00a0is always present in those who know Him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen they came to Jesus and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion (of devils), sitting and clothed and in his right mind\u201d (Mark 5:15).<\/em><\/p>\n

The sanest people on the planet are followers of Jesus Christ. They have peace, they are victorious and in-chained to nothing but the Truth, and they are the envy of everyone who knows them.\u00a0 They are Exhibit A of the reality of the Gospel.<\/p>\n

To those who protest that Christianity has its crazies, I do not doubt that.\u00a0 My assertion holds, however.\u00a0 \u201cThe sanest people on the earth are followers of Jesus Christ.\u201d\u00a0 We could say, the best, the most dependable, the most loving, and the most giving people.\u00a0 That is not to say this movement has not collected its share of rabble, in the same sense that Israel drew \u201ca mixed multitude\u201d as Moses led God\u2019s people from Egypt (see Exodus 12:38).\u00a0 They were never children of the covenant, but merely outsiders and hangers-on.<\/p>\n

We are believers. People of faith.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The constant question for all of us–myself included–then becomes:\u00a0 \u201cWhy did you fear? Where is your faith?\u201d (Mark 4:40).<\/p>\n

Paul expressed it thusly, \u201cO death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!\u201d (I Corinthians 15:55,57).<\/p>\n

No fear allowed, Christ-follower.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough a host encamps against me, my heart shall not fear\u201d\u00a0(Psalm 27:3).<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have despaired had I not believed I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living\u201d (Psalm 27:13).<\/p>\n

There is no antidote\u00a0to fear like God\u2019s Word.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?\u00a0 Hope in God.\u00a0 For I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God\u201d (Psalm 42:5,11 and 43:5).<\/p>\n

And this one: \u201cI know that my Redeemer liveth, and at last He shall stand upon the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know\u2013that in my flesh I shall see God, Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another\u201d (Job 19:25-27).<\/p>\n

Get back in your hole, fear. The Lord has dealt bountifully with me!<\/p>\n

I choose to trust the Lord. I delight in trusting in the Lord Jesus.\u00a0 I gladly stake it all on Him.\u00a0 You too?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

>\u201cReturn to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you\u201d (Psalm 116:7). Fears crop up from time to time. They co-exist right alongside my faith, like tares among the wheat (referencing Matthew 13:30). My faith … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,44,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith","category-lord-jesus","category-scriptures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22416"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22427,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22416\/revisions\/22427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}