FEAR NOT
Even when the world seems to be falling apart around us.
What we see when we look around us:
- The COVID-19 pandemic
- The civil unrest and riots in cities
- Major devastating weather events
- Political divisions and anger
- Threats from the enemies of our country
The Bible tells us 365 times to “fear not,” one for each day of the year.
Books like Job and Daniel explain why we face hardships and devastating events, but also show that God is still in control and blessings await us on the other side of our trials.
Find peace, comfort, and joy in reading your Bible daily.
Encourage one another with God’s promises to those who place their trust in Him.
TRIALS or JUDGMENTS?
Two ways difficulties in our lives can be seen: either TRIALS or JUDGMENTS
The purpose of trials is to
- Test our faith
- Make us more aware of God’s truth
- Bring us to experience God’s blessings
- See this in the Book of Job
The purpose of judgment is to
- Get us to stop and ask God why judgment has come
- Move us toward repentance
- Heal our broken relationship with God
Why should God be judging America?
- 50-60 years ago we took prayer out of our schools and the 10 Commandments from our public building. We told God he is irrelevant to our culture.
- 50 years ago we claimed abortion is our right. We did not recognize that God creates life, and we have no right to take it.
- 40 years ago we embraced the gay culture. God called their behavior an abomination. We rejected God’s will for our lives.
- 10 years ago we approved same sex marriage. God created marriage between a man and a woman and told them to be fruitful and multiply. We let God know His rules were immaterial to us.
- Less than 5 years ago we legitimized transgender lifestyles. God told us that He made us male and female. We told God He made mistakes, and we are free to define ourselves.
What is the remedy?
- Repentance – God promises He will forgive and restore us. See 2 Chronicles 7:14 (14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.)
- Prayer for restoration. Only God can make us whole again and lift the judgment.
If we ignore judgment, we bring on destruction. Consider the Flood and Sodom & Gomorrah. Both are recorded in Genesis. See Genesis 6 and 19.
GOD’S GRACE
God’s judgment does not come upon us unexpectedly.
- A careful reading of the Old Testament, especially Deuteronomy 28-30, where God makes clear the blessings that will follow His people into the Promised Land and the curses that will result from their disobedience, sets the stage for our understanding of why judgments come upon God’s people.
- The book of Judges shows a people who have lost their way because “everyone did as he saw fit.” Judges 21:25 (25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.)
- The books of 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles detail how God’s people moved from blessings to judgment, which came in the form of their being overrun by their enemies and scattered to other lands, and the Babylonian captivity.
First God sends his prophets.
- They inform the people of their error and warn of judgment. The books of Isaiah through Malachi sounded the warnings throughout the reigns of Israel’s and Judah’s kings. They will lose their blessings for the same reasons we will: we reject God’s Word and the rule of the Lord in our lives.
- If we have been paying attention, God’s prophets in our culture have been warning us of impending judgment for the past century.
Then comes judgment
- The Lord allows us to be afflicted by the natural consequences of our disobedience.
- As He did with Job, God removes the hedge of protection from us, exposing us to devastating natural and human disasters, such as those we are experiencing.
- He desires us to come to Him with repentant hearts and reject the wickedness we have allowed to poison our society.
- According to 2 Chronicles 7:14, if we truly repent, God will allow His grace to flow our way and bring healing.
If we are stubborn, complete destruction will follow.
- Genesis 6 demonstrates that when evil is overwhelmingly pervasive, God will blot it out, as He did in the Flood. We see this again in Genesis 19, where Sodom & Gomorrah were totally destroyed.
- Revelation shows us that just before God’s final destruction of earth and its inhabitants, the people refused to repent and turn from their wicked ways. (Revelation 9:20) (20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk,) Meanwhile, God’s grace kept all those who placed their trust in Him from utter destruction.
