Do Not Fear

By Hayley Boud

 

“Be strong and courageous, do not fear or tremble for the LORD your God is with you.  He will never leave you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

 

The bible tells us 365 times not to fear.  That means we have one verse for everyday which means that we have to remind ourselves daily not to fear.  This also means that we all fear.  There will be days in our lives where we are worried or afraid…that is natural so we need every day to remind us that God tells us not to. 

 

Why do we fear? What are you afraid of?  Most people are afraid of getting hurt and getting killed.  I would be afraid to get into the ocean if there were hungry sharks circling because I would know they will eat me so I’m afraid to get hurt or killed.  Some are afraid of being hurt emotionally so are afraid of rejection.

 

So…how do we NOT fear?  Usually when someone says, “don’t look down”, that is when we look down.  So when we are told, don’t fear…that is when we fear.  So what can we do in order to help ourselves when we are afraid or worried? 

 

According to the English dictionary to not be afraid means to: Be brave.  How do we do that?  I think it means when we are afraid we won’t let it stop us from doing what we should.

 

Deuteronomy says to be strong.  How do we do that?  According to the Hebrew dictionary to be strong means to be attached to, to be firm, to hold fast, to be supported.  Obviously, if we want to be strong and not fear, we have to attach ourselves to Jesus Himself, to hold fast to Him and be supported by Him.  When we hold firm to the promises in the Bible, we can be strong and not fear because we will know that God will protect us and never let us go through anything that we can’t bear. 

 

This is a command that God is telling us to do.  He could just give us strength but He is saying, “Be strong” that is an action we have to do for ourselves.  Therefore, read the Bible, pray, spend time with God and other Christians and hold fast to the Word of God and Jesus Himself and then you will be strong.  We have to make the effort.

 

What does it mean to be courageous? The English dictionary says courage means: To Disregard fear, & Bravery.  The Hebrew dictionary says this word means good, pleasant, beautiful, excellent, lovely, delightful, joyful, fruitful, precious, sound, cheerful, wisdom. 

 

So if you want to be courageous, you need to be joyful.  This is true, “joy of the Lord is your strength”, Nehemiah 8:10

 

If you want to be courageous, you need to have wisdom.  “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”.  You can only have one master, you either fear God, or you fear something else.  Sometimes I fear people or what they will think of me more than I fear God and this makes me lose my courage.  God asks me to do something and I don’t have the courage to do it because I fear people more than I fear God. 

 

Also, if we have wisdom, we will know what is God’s will and we won’t fear once we know His will.  When I took bibles into Vietnam, I didn’t fear at all because I knew that it was God’s will so I had courage.

 

Do not tremble? According to the English dictionary: Shake involuntarily, trembling, Quiver.

 

This is to be completely terrified.  Have you ever reached this kind of fear where you are trembling?  I remember one time driving in the most aweful fog over the Kaimai ranges.  It was so foggy I couldn’t even see one foot in front of me.  I was so scared I was going to go over the edge of the mountain.  It was terrifying.  I just kept saying, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” because I didn’t even have words I was so scared.  When we are trembling, we can remember Jesus and just call on His name because He is the only One who can save us. 

 

It is also important to note that it is a command to not tremble so when we are terrified, we are actually sinning.  Very hard sometimes not to be afraid but we can openly admit to God, “I’m sorry, I know You have told us not to be afraid, but I am really scared, please forgive me”.  And then we can express why we are afraid and ask for God’s help and then declare that we trust in Him no matter what happens in the same way that Esther did, “If I die, I die”.

 

God promises to never fail us.  What does that mean?  The English dictionary: Not succeed, disappoint, neglect, become weaker.

 

In the Hebrew dictionary to fail means to be slack, idle, weak, feeble, to be despondent, to withdraw, to abandon, to desert, to quit, to discourage.  We can trust that God will never fail us, He will never be slack with us or idle (He never sleeps), He is never weak or feeble and he will never abandon us or withdraw from us or desert us or quit us or discourage us.  We can trust that God is the opposite of fail which means He is always working, He is strong, He always responds to us, He is close to us, He is near us always, He stands by us and supports us and encourages us.

 

However, He doesn’t encourage sin.  He supports us so we can overcome temptation but if we decide to sin…we now separate ourselves from God.  So let’s make an effort to stay away from temptations and when we fall, make sure to repent.

 

God promises to never forsake us.  What does that mean?  The Hebrew meaning is to release, to set free, to leave behind, to abandon.  So we can trust that God will never release us or set us free or leave us behind or abandon us, no matter what.  We can trust that God is the opposite to forsake which means He will hold onto us tightly and take us with Him. 

 

This is God’s promise to us.  We can know that whatever happens in 2014, God is with us.  No matter what we face…hold onto Jesus and His word and His promises and know that God will never leave us or forsake us.  Wherever we go, God is with us.  The only place God won’t go with you is to help you sin so make sure to stay away from temptations so that God will follow you everywhere.

“The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent”

By Hayley Boud

Exodus 14:14

(v13) “Do not fear”
Fear destroys faith. When we pray, we must have faith. Without faith our prayers will not be successful so we need to make sure that anything that destroys faith is put aside. Today we have to make sure to put aside fear in order to pray. Sometimes when we pray we might be afraid to pray in a certain way because we fear what others will think of us. I remember the first time I shouted at a prayer meeting and I was afraid people will think I’m crazy or think I’m seeking glory and some people did. Some people told me not to shout because the bible says to pray in your secret room. And they were right but when God tells you to do something, you have to put aside fear and do it.

We have to be careful because fear is not a gift from God; fear is not something God gave His church. Fear destroys faith because it leads us to do our own will instead of God’s.

When difficult times are in front of us (in the same way the red sea was in front of the Israelites and Pharaoh’s men behind them) we start to fear. We might even complain as the Israelites did (vs 11). “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us to die in the wilderness....is this not the word we spoke to you in Egypt saying, ‘leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians....better to die there than here in the wilderness’”.

We are sometimes like that. When we cross really hard situations, we tell God things were better before and we complain and accuse people (as the Israelites accused Moses) and God. We blame others and we find it really hard. For example, when the doctor didn’t sign the form to say I could get the special consideration for missing my exam due to sickness, I was so angry against the doctor. I was so annoyed at people who had advised me not to sit the exam. And I was afraid I wouldn’t get my degree because I failed the exam. But I had to put this aside and trust God as Moses did.

So, if any of us are crossing hard situations now, we need to put them aside and trust in God. Let’s not complain or blame others.

(v15) “Why do you cry to me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward”. God expects us to do something. We have to make the first step because we already have the authority and the power living in us. It’s not always easy to make that first step and it’s not always easy to keep faith. For example, once it started to rain and I needed to go out but I didn’t want to get wet. Odon said to me, “if you have faith, just walk out into the rain and it will stop”. In my heart, I know God is capable of stopping the rain, but I definitely didn’t have enough faith to believe it would stop when I walked into it. And we also have to remember that God won’t stop the rain until we move into it. He waits for the last second before intervening, to test our faith (Hebrews 11).

“LORD” the Lord Chancellor is the most senior judge in England and Wales and is in charge of the court system. Jesus Christ is the most senior judge of all which is why He is called the Lord of Lords. So when we pray, we can remember this. We can remember that He is in charge of everything and if the highest judge, who controls everything is fighting for us, we can’t lose the fight.

“FIGHT”

1. Use weapons
- what weapon does God use? What weapons should we use?
(full armour of God)

2. Disagree/argue
- who can win an argument against God. So if we disagree with a person or with a situation, best not to argue with them/it but just pray because no one can win an argument against God.

3. Try hard to prevent something
- God is the only one who can prevent situations from happening. He is the only one who can prevent sickness, death, sin, accidents.

4. Try hard to achieve something
- God is the only one we can turn to when we need something fulfilled.
Exams, good marriage, using our gifts, praying and fasting

5. Try not to show or do something
- temptations, anger, hatred, bitterness, greed, selfishness, jealousy, eating too much,
6. Compete to win or get something
- God is competing with satan. Today we are competing with satan. But we are already winners.

“SILENT”

We don’t have to make lots of noise, we don’t have to complain and we don’t have to go around telling everybody. We don’t have to create problems with people. We just have to let God fight for us.

Do we fear God’s Authority? (Part III)

By Odon Bulamba (7th June 2002)

Ephesians 4:22-24 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

We have to get rid of the old nature. Unfortunately as Christians today we don’t change. When we talk about the new birth it means that we become a new creation, but many Christians are not born again to become new creations. They don’t even want to be a new creation and prefer to stay like the old self they were years before. For example, someone who used to slander since the age of 10 is still doing the same thing today. For example you will find a child who was saved at the age of 15 and now at the age of 50 keeps on lying.

So where is the new creation in all of this? Will you be able to proclaim that you are a Christian? Jesus says if you have an old piece of fabric you cannot sew a new piece of fabric on it. You cannot take old wine and mix it with new wine. But today we keep mixing things. We take a part of the old nature and put it with the new one. Sometimes when we are together, we are Christians but when we are not together, we are not Christians. When we talk together we are Christians but our actions clearly show that we are not Christians.

The Bible says that we have to be completely transformed. It is not a suggestion that God gives us but it is compulsory and it means that whoever won’t be transformed will lose eternal life. The Bible says that our hearts and our spirits must be renewed. That is what it means to have a new nature in Jesus Christ. We have to reject any kind of sin that is in us such as anger or lies and give God first place in our lives. Once you will do this, God will come close to you and help you to discover His authority.

From time to time we forget that our life will end. Very few people think today they might die in 2 minutes. God always measures us through small things and if God sees that we are not faithful in small things, He will never give us big things. Our life on earth is very short and if you are not faithful in this life on earth you will never inherit the life in heaven. Because this life is so short and small, if you are not able to control it, how will you be able to control eternal life?

I remember when my father was alive he would often say that if you are not careful you will regret it one day because I won’t be here anymore to help you and you will have to find out for yourself what you must do. He said this to many people because many people depended on him.

It is true that when he passed on it was like a flock without a Shepard. People would say that since he is not here let’s try to do this or that or let’s do some trading? There was a lot of agitation and people would try to find out the right way. I gave this example because when God gives up on us, we will be in darkness. When God is far from us, our lives become a life of hesitation, we try to do something but it doesn’t work. It is like a Christian who reads the word and says no, I don’t like this I will read something else. When a Christian lives a life of hesitation without God, it is like a flashing light that is in the darkness, and the devil can see that a Christian is trying to find his way. Everybody knows what a flash is. A flash is a light that doesn’t last, it just goes pop and then it is gone. It is like a Christian who is trying to find his way. Christians today are like a flash, when it flashes in the dark the devil knows that there is danger, but if he keeps attacking this person he will be his. So as Christians we have to be a lasting light.

For example, car has light that comes from a battery but a man needs to turn the light off and on. We need God in our lives. Imagine that you are a driver and you turn the light on, if the light doesn’t come on, what will you do? You need the light to know where you are going and if the light doesn’t work, you know there is a problem. Maybe there is a problem with the bulbs or maybe the battery, but as the driver you will know because what you are doing is not faulty. Our God represents the driver; He has eyes and can see everything. Our actions represent the bulbs, and if our actions are dead, although the battery good (that is the Holy Spirit) nothing will work. God will tell you that it is not His fault because He gave you the power to work but because you do not change your bulbs, it will never work.

We cannot drive a car without lights, so to avoid any danger we see a mechanic. The driver leaves the car with the battery still in the car. This is what it means when the Holy Spirit is grieved by sin and cannot work, the Holy Spirit is in us but cannot work because it is shocked by sin, and then God will go away from us. So we have to do everything to remember from time to time God’s presence in our lives, we have to remember His authority in our lives and we must acknowledge our lives are limited because today or tomorrow you might die or Jesus might come back.

Imagine how many people died since the creation of the world? There were those who were more beautiful than us and there were giants that knew the word, however their lives have gone. As I always say, the earth needs to swallow our bodies, there are millions of people who are already buried but the earth keeps asking for us who are so little. On the other hand God keeps asking for our souls and He asks that we might acknowledge His authority.

There is a man named Eddie Murphy who starred in a movie called “Coming to America”, and was the son of a king. He left his country to go to the United States but nobody acknowledged that he was a prince. When his father came to see him in the States nobody acknowledged him as a king. For us as princes and princesses, our acts will make people acknowledge us if we are really princes and princesses. The crowns that we will wear on our heads will prove to people that we are from a kingly family. Eddie Murphy wasn’t acknowledged as a prince, neither his father as a king because they didn’t wear a crown or kingly garments. So we as Christians have to wear the crown and clothes of a king (our actions) so that the world will recognise us.

It is difficult to have an egg without a bird but if you see an egg you will be sure that there is a bird that made this egg. So when people look at us they must know that God exists and He made us. So the authority of God is very useful in our group, God really needs us to recognise who He is. When you go back home try to look at the names of God and meditate on them to discover the authority that is in all His names and titles, so that you might live a new nature and reject the old one which is 30% Christian and 70% non-Christian or vice versa.

Do we fear God’s Authority? (Part II)

By Odon Bulamba (7th June 2002)

Jeremiah 9:22 Says, “This is what the Lord declares: The dead bodies of men will lie like refuse on the open field, like cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to gather them”.

The Bible says that the man who is wise must not boast about his wisdom, and the one who is strong must not boast about his strength, and that the one who is rich must not boast about his riches. But if someone wants to boast it is better to boast about being able to know God. That is what the Bible says and God is proud of it. If you boast about knowing God, God will allow it. How many times do we boast about knowing God? We boast about our works but deep inside our heart, we don’t know Him.

When I came here tonight Angela was playing the piano and I asked myself, everything she plays I know, this is an A note or a B note but ask me to play the piano and I will be like someone who knows nothing about what is written in the book. This is the way we are living our Christianity today, we know the theory about God but we don’t know how to practice this God in our lives. If someone asks a question in the Bible we can answer this person without hesitation but when it comes to putting it into practice, it is impossible.

For example, I can take a chord that Angela uses to play the piano, but as soon as I play, the sound will be very different to what Angela will produce. When she plays the sound is nice but if I open my mouth and say the notes A or B, it won’t make sense. This is the way if God knows we belong to Him, He sees us as people playing an instrument. One knows the chord but doesn’t know how to play and another one knows how to read and play at the same time.

On T.V something happened to a Christian family. A child was sick and the parents didn’t want to treat this child because they believed in the healing power of God. This is normal because if you have faith the child will be healed. But it would have been good to know what state their faith was in, in front of God. How much did they consider God’s authority in their lives? I assure you brothers and sisters that if you have the gift of miracles and don’t have the fear of God, you will not heal anyone on earth, you may have this gift but it will be completely lost.

So these people presented this child to God and they prayed but because God’s authority wasn’t there, the child died. They knew that it was written if you put your hand on the child the child would be healed, but to practice the authority of God in everything they would read was not possible and the child died. The Pastor of the church was interviewed and he was asked what he thought about the situation and he said, “I thought they should have taken the child to the hospital”. So what was this family looking for? They wanted to show the world that God is powerful and to show that God can heal without medicine, but because God’s authority wasn’t in their lives, He confused them. That is why many people pray and fast for other people but see no results. First of all be conscious and proud to know God in your life, but if you don’t know God, you will do nothing in this life and you will waste your time completely.

When I was very young someone sent me 50 francs. I took it to the bank to change it and the teller told me that he didn’t recognise the bank note. He said I know that it is written French francs, but I don’t know if this bank note is still tender. So to confirm it, this person went to check with people who knew if it was tender or not. The same is with us, each time we pray we have to check to see if we know the God who we are praying to? Before telling everyone you are a Christian make sure you know this God.

In the book of Ezekiel 8:10-12;

“So I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the walls all kinds of crawling things and detestable animals and all the idols of the house of Israel. In front of them stood seventy elders of the house of Israel, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising. He said to me, “son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, the Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land”.

This is a text that teaches us something. These people are the ancients of the house of Israel, they know theoretically who God is but when it comes to practicing this God they practice things from the world thinking that God doesn’t see them. Imagine an Elder, a Pastor or an Evangelist who is worshipping a god of darkness and you as a simple Christian, find them doing that, what are you going to say? If you find out that your Pastor is worshipping a statue, what are you going to say? I think you will be surprised because the Pastor teaches you not to practice things of this world but that is what he is doing.

Paul gave us a good example saying; “imitate me as I imitate Jesus Christ”. But you Pastor, who is worshipping a statue, are you going to tell me to worship a statue too? If you are an Elder of a church and you are always angry will you tell people to imitate you as well? You who are teachers but are also thieves, will you tell people to imitate you?

God showed Ezekiel the elders who were worshipping statues and pictures on the wall in the temple; they were doing it in hiding. When we are with other Christians or Pastors we try not to sin. We show that we are holy but when we are living alone without anyone around us, we practice what the devil asks us to do, believing that nobody is there to judge us. Remember that God knows even the deepest secrets in your heart.

Do we fear God’s Authority?

By Odon Bulamba (7th June 2002)

Jeremiah chapter 5:22-23, “Should you not fear Me? Declares the Lord. “Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it. But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts: they have turned aside and gone away”.

Here we see that God reminds us about His authority, and while doing that He asks us a question, “do you acknowledge My authority?” He asks us this because sometimes as human beings we forget about God’s authority. We forget God because He is far from us and we neglect Him, and as human beings we want to have authority over Him.

Why am I saying this? God helped me this morning to find this passage and He showed me certain things that are happening in everyday life. From time to time we forget God’s authority. We might acknowledge that God exists and we sometimes remember that God’s eye is on us, but we completely forget that His authority exists.

What does God’s authority mean? Who can answer what is God’s authority? The Word of God? What represents God’s authority? I really believe that in the time of the Israelites, the time of David and even now in the time of the Queen, people can go before a King and show that he or she has an authority. It is true that a king wears a crown on his head that gives him a certain authority, and is always respected because he is called a king. If Michael becomes the Prime Minister of New Zealand, automatically a certain authority will come on him.

The authority of God is firstly in His name. His name represents a certain authority, and the name of God as we know is Jesus Christ. The Devil and his demons and everyone else on this earth respect this name, and if you mention the name of Jesus Christ before an evil spirit he will respect it. To acknowledge the name of God means a certain authority.

So what does it mean to acknowledge God’s name? Today people call me Odon, but what does Odon mean? If you call me Odon but don’t know the meaning, what good is it? When a child is given a name it has some significance and it has a meaning. If you read all the names in the Bible that are related to God they have a meaning and they give Him a certain authority. We talk about El Shaddai, Elohim and other names that represent God’s authority. As Christians we confess Him everyday but what does El Shaddai teach us? What is the power that is in this name?

God told me this morning, you know my names but you don’t know how to use them. I said to the Lord, how can you explain that Lord, He said, it is because you don’t meditate, if you meditate you would know how much authority is in this name. So this is the first point on how to acknowledge God’s authority.

The Lord continues by saying don’t you tremble before my presence. God told me that sometimes we don’t tremble before Him. If there is an earthquake in this country everybody will tremble and be afraid. When we drive, we fear when the police pull us up, and if you are in an area where it is not safe and you are alone, you fear. God asked me, “why aren’t you trembling before me, if you can be afraid before the police why aren’t you afraid before me”? Sometimes when it is raining and lightening, people are very scared. So why do we tremble? We tremble because we are afraid. If we don’t tremble before God it means we don’t fear Him and the fear of God doesn’t exist in us. And why do we have to tremble before God?

It is because He is our King and everyone has to control his or her behaviour around a king. But before God we don’t even control ourselves. Sometimes we preach and pray when we are not clean and we come before the face of the Lord dirty. God thinks we treat Him as if He is a toy or an object.

A friend in Hamilton went to town one day and because he was very tired he took a taxi. He asked the driver to take him to Odon’s and asked the taxi man how much will it cost? The taxi man replied $70. Because my friend didn’t know that it was according to the time he gave the taxi man $70. While they were driving my friend told the taxi man that God loves him. The taxi man said I know that because I have been a Christian for 15 years. My friend said praise God that there is a Christian taxi driver; I will tell everyone that I have found a taxi driver that is a Christian. The taxi man said, “no this is an accusation”. My friend asked why? The taxi man said he felt guilty because he asked him for $70 instead of counting the minutes. So my friend asked him if he is supposed to count the minutes and he said yes, we count the minutes. My friend asked him, so why didn’t you count the minutes and he said because I don’t fear God, but now that you reminded me about Jesus, I fear Him.

As Christians we have to fear God, and if you do you will live a long life. When the fear of God is in you, you will be blessed in all your actions and God will be by your side. God says that the sand is there to limit the ocean. We know that the sea has huge waves but it never crosses its border. We know that huge waves can take away mountains but they cannot move the sand.

What does God want to teach us through this? We have to be like the sand that is on the beach. The sun can try to dry out the sand but as soon as the waves come, the sand is wet again and the sand that is on the beach never makes the water impure. If you leave footprints on the beach, as soon as a wave comes, it will wash them away. This means that as long as we live on this earth, we might have some spiritual or material problems, but when the Word of God comes on us, it covers everything and puts us back to normal. When a situation has large waves and problems and we fear God, He will be our solution.

Who Shall Separate Us From The Love Of God? (part III - anguish & persecution)

By Odon Bulamba (summary only)

Romans 8:35 35, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Can anguish (or distress) separate us from the love of God? When people are anguished they completely forget about God. This is especially true after losing loved ones, they will even say that God is not good. They will ask, “Why did God take my mother when there are so many old ladies in the world?” This creates anguish and resentment, which can separate us from God’s love.

The verse also speaks about persecution; can persecution separate you from God’s love? Some people are persecuted physically and spiritually but never accept that this might separate you from God’s love.

Acts 7 speaks about Stephen. Stephen was a believer and because the spirit of God was working in him the Sadducees became jealous. They were against the miracles he performed and the wisdom he had, so they decided to give people money in order to give a false testimony against Stephen. Stephen was arrested and condemned. He saw heaven open and the Son of God, but the Jews closed their ears and thought Stephen was talking rubbish. Others thought he was mad and had lost his mind. Imagine speaking to someone and they close their ears on you, wouldn’t it be humiliating? While they were stoning Stephen his eyes always looked towards heaven, and he asked God to forgive them.

This is a man whose eyes stayed on the Lord even through this difficult time, and not to mention he was praying for his persecutors while being stoned. The Bible doesn’t say that Stephen took a stone and threw it at his persecutors, nor does it mention that he answered back, but with love Stephen asked God to forgive them. So persecution never separated Stephen from the love of God and one day we will see him. To die is to gain for Christians.

One day I went to a school and there were children outside a church. I asked them if they wanted to go to heaven and they all said, “Yes”. Then I asked them if they wanted to go today but they said no, maybe when I’m old. Everybody wants to go to heaven but at the moment people are quite happy to stay here on earth where there is suffering, anguish, persecution and no peace, but when we are invited to go to heaven we say we need more time, and this is because we fear death. If we didn’t fear death we would tell Jesus to come back tonight. Beyond anguish is fear. Fear makes us lose our peace and respect towards God.

SUMMARY
Don't allow anguish (distress), persecution or fear separate you from God

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