“The Lord is my Shepherd!” “The LORD is my light and my salvation– whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life– of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1 “Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay…” Daniel 9:19
Consider the lilies of the field… Matt 6:28
thedailylily.com 
“The LORD is my light and my salvation– whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life– of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1″
Footnotes from the NLT for this verse says: “Fear is a dark shadow that envelops us and ultimately imprisons us within ourselves. Everyone has been a prisoner of fear at one time or another–fear of rejection, misunderstanding, uncertainty, sickness, or even death. But we can conquer fear by trusting in the Lord, who brings salvation. If we want to dispel the darkness of fear, let us remember with the psalm writer that ‘the Lord is my light and my salvation.'”
fear……….. a “dark shadow that causes one to be imprisoned within oneself” When I reread this phrase, the word that comes to my mind is…….. bondage. Would this word be accurate?
Tammy, I would say, wise men and women, called Priest, Monks, Prophets, Teachers and Pastors could not have made a more presentable gift package than you have given us, Bondage!
My experience with fear is that it literally ties you up in knots, robbing energy, clear thinking, creativity, etc. That sure says ‘bondage’ to me, Tammy. ‘The LORD is the stronghold of my life’ is a promise to run to, away from fear and into a fortress of safety.
hum……”tied up in knots + robbed energy + no clear thinking + no creativity, etc.” = right where the father of lies wants us…….. useless for the kingdom of God
Heavenly Father, thank You, for coming to set the captives free. Help me/us run to You for freedom from fear, bondage, or anything that hinders the progression of Your kingdom. In Jesus name, amen.
I personally love the prayer of Daniel….“Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay…” (Daniel 9:19) I really know of no other way to run to and find shelter except through the verbalization of the heart!
“through the verbalization of the heart!”…thank you Sara for such Truth and such a power statement.
Another verse reads, “The Lord is my Light and my Salvation of whom should I be afraid? What can man do to me?”
And I believe the antidote for fear of man or fear of anything is expressed in the following scripture.
Chronicles 28:20
“Be strong and courageous,” David said to his son Solomon. “Get to work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, because the LORD God, my God, is with you. He’ll neither let you down nor leave you before all the work for the service of the LORD’s temple is done.”
I take it that “Get to work” is a key ingredient to shaking off fear and then trusting with all our hearts in the Lord. If our friends forsake us, reject us, hold us in disdain, yet the Lord will strengthen us and hold us up in His everlasting arms.
Thank God for Jesus our Healer and the Lover of our souls.
Looks like its time to rid ourselves of the people and things that hinder our run. Too many selfies just might be the photo that holds us so tightly.
“So let us throw off everything that stands in our way. Let us throw off any sin that holds on to us so tightly. Let us keep on running the race marked out for us!” – from Hebrews 12:1, New International Reader’s Version
“Too many selfies just might be the photo that holds us so tightly.”
In my devotion this am, Sarah Young (Jesus Today, #63) said this, “Practice hoping for things you do not see – both for this life and the next. Ask Me to guide you into hopes and dreams that are in line with My will. Train the eyes of your heart to “see” these blessings, while praying for my will to be done fully and only. Discipline yourself to wait eagerly – with your focus on Me and the longed-for outcome. Remain hopeful and expectent as you wait with perseverence.”
Seems that focusing on selfies will distract from the race and keep the eyes of our hearts blinded so that we just stay circulating in in a house of mirrors.
“Thank God for Jesus our Healer and the Lover of our souls.” I’ll second that, MG.
Proverbs 18:10 “The name of the Lord is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe.” (NLT)
The key is godly…..so often it’s not a godly Gallup.
Sara, am I understanding that some of the tools/etc we can implement in our lives to help with freedom from fear/bondage are?
1) “prayer/verbalization of the heart”
2) “be strong and courageous”
3) “get to work”
4) “trust God”
5) “get rid of sin”
6) “live a godly life”
Great summation, Tammy! I see lots of action in your summation. The Apostle Paul wrote the script to an action movie giving each of us a part that would cover the 6 rules of fight. Read the script from I Timothy 6:11, 12, 13…and see if you want to sign on. title, “Fight the Good Fight”
“But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate,…”fight right! Fight to win the fight!
I read 1 Timothy 6: 11, 12, 13… Woe, sounds like some “good fighting” going on. Look at the footnotes for verses 11-12, from the NLT: “Paul uses active and forceful verbs to describe the Christian life: run, pursue, fight, hold tightly. Some think Christianity is a passive religion that advocates waiting for God to act. On the contrary, we must have an active faith, training, working hard, sacrificing, and doing what we know is right. Is it time for action on your part? Christian service, like athletics, requires training and sacrifice. Our discipline and obedience largely define whether or not we will be contributors or merely spectators. How would other believers rank your contributing role on Christ’s team?”
Sounds like Paul has given us a clear “script, for the action movie”.
hum………after reading this, I’m remembering a comment from some time ago, and I think it may be on this blog somewhere? It was a little boy, I believe, that Rena had taught and his words were………………….”work, work, work”. Does anyone remember the story about this?
I do remember Rena telling/writing the story about the little boy and work. Maybe she will remember the blog…ie when she returns from vacation in Washington State…she is visiting her sister and sewing…work, work, work…
“As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” John 9:4
I was thinking about number 1, on Tammy’s list above, “prayer/verbalization” of the heart as I read parts of my devotion this am…”MANY PEOPLE FIND Sunday as busy as any other day of the week, particularly if they have to work. However, behind the fourth commandment lies the truth that we were not created to live an endless round of busy days. Our bodies, minds, and spirits need sabbath space. And practicing the sabbath measures our ability to live by God’s grace rather than our own endeavors: can we be humble enough to let go of our own efforts and own importance at regular intervals and just “be”?
The principle of the sabbath carries more importance than the actual day of its observance. Find one day a week in which you can claim some sabbath space and allow your body, mind, and spirit to renew themselves.”- Ann Siddall and Gary Stuckey
“Tending the Seed”
I would think this is a living organ as part of our work calendar. We wouldn’t have the tools to use for our daily walk if we didn’t service them and keep them in working order.
Perhaps that is part of Ps. 23. “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He restoreth my soul” He gives us rest. The Good Shepherd “tends” His sheep “tenderly” assuring them of a peaceful setting and “tenderly” disciplining them when they wander off or do not follow the Shepherd’s “tender” watch.
And before the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven He bestowed His peace unto those who love and serve Him through all the ages and into eternity.
Ok point MG is making. But, my point was; “can we be humble enough to let go of our own efforts and own importance at regular intervals and just “be”? Hehehe, sounds like much work to me to let go of my agenda! The mind so often is a monkey mind swinging here and swinging there. Eating a banana and poop here and poop there. Monkey here and monkey there. I was thinking how to be monk like and not monkey like….
Thinking on Daniel’s prayer for his nation, Lord, listen, forgive, hear and act…In Matthew Henry’s commentary we see God’s response…”While I was speaking (v. 20), yea, while I was speaking in prayer (v. 21), before he rose from his knees, and while there was yet more which he intended to say.(1.) He mentions the two heads he chiefly insisted upon in prayer, and which perhaps he designed yet further to enlarge upon. [1.] He was confessing sin and lamenting that—”both my sin and the sin of my people Israel.’’ Daniel was a very great and good man, and yet he finds sin of his own to confess before God and is ready to confess it; for there is not a just man upon earth that does good and sins not,…”
When I think on this blog and all that we have shared and hopefully heard and applied…looking unto God for my nation I want to say with Daniel, while I was on my knees verbalizing my prayer God heard and acted!