What Are You Scared Of

Fear is a multi-faceted thing. There are many types and levels of fear and it can negatively impact everyone's daily lives.

The most common type of fear is the dictionary version : To be afraid or apprehensive.
Some common fears:

• Spiders
• Snakes
• Water
• Flying
• Heights

The reason for each of these fears is fairly straight forward, they can all kill you or harm you very badly and some of them can hide easy. Spiders and snakes can be anywhere and I am sure we have all moved a box only spiders scurry away or see a snake go into a strike pose because we moved his house and scared him.

Another type of fear that impacts almost everyone at one point or another is fear of the unknown. This can reveal itself in a variety of forms:

• Stress- If you are struggling financially and not sure how you are going to pay the bills. This is fear because you know what is going to happen if you don't pay the light, water,or gas bill. The unknown part of this is where the money is going to come from and the fear that the money is not going to be available when it is necessary. 
• Sickness and Pain - Pain causes fear. We do not know what the cause is or if we know we tend to automatically assume the worst. Stress can even cause physical pain if not controlled. Which can result in a cruel, never-ending cycle. "What are we gonna do, we don't have any options in this situation">Fear and stress regarding the outcome > Sudden onset of pain (anxiety) > Fear and stress of situation + pain means more stress

Fear causes a disconnect from us and God, as well as negatively impacts our relationships with other people. We become so focused on the fear, stress, or pain that we lose our patience with others, we find ourselves putting our focus on the situation and a resolution and not on the will of God.

We need to learn in these circumstances to focus on God and while we are suffering either physically or mentally we must put that on God too. He has power to resolve our problems, physical or any other, we just have to believe. We must also strive to deal with our sufferings without taking it out on those in our lives. They are in our lives because they care about us and taking our personal struggles out on them is not fair to them and can also cause a division between us and God. God makes it clear how we should treat each other and failure to do so causes us to stray away from His will.

We should strive to overcome any fears in our lives no matter how large or small they are.

Some scriptures on fear, peace, and love:

2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

Deuteronomy 13:4 Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him.

John 14:27 I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

Psalms 91:4-8 He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you.

Romans 8:38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.

Ephesians 4:29-32 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Matthew 6:14-15 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

1 Corinthians 13:4-13 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. ...

Update: Prayers for Alex

This post is dedicated to life and the fight of Alex. I did not have the privilege of knowing this brave child but he his courage has made an impact up on me and I saddened for his family to hear that he has passed away.

For those who have not read my previous post about Alex, he was a 6 year old that has been battling liver cancer. Last night God called Alex to be with Him. Although I know Alex is no longer in pain, I cannot imagine how hard this is on his parents and family.

I know God is with them now, but we should all take just a moment to say a prayer for God to comfort and reassure the family that Alex is in a much better place now. 

May God bless and keep Alex by His side. The world's loss in God's gain.


2 Corinthians 5:6-8 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.


Philippians 3:20-21 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

This really tends to put a perspective on the minor troubles of daily life that we face, for me. We tend to focus on our personal "problems" such as bills, family squabbles, technological problems such as our cell phone or internet not working, car problems, etc. While each of these things do impact our lives negatively we need to work on maintaining the thought process of "How truly important is this?".

• My car battery is dead and I am going to be late for work. - How many people want to work and are unable to find a job to take care of their family in this economy? Get a jump start and finish the day. 

• My internet doesn't work. - You are fortunate enough to have the internet available. Call technical support or read a book. 

• My cell phone is not getting a signal or dead. - Enjoy the peace and quiet. 

• My kids messed up the house I spent hours cleaning.- Your kids are healthy and after tearing through your house, they are probably pretty happy. I know that is a favorite past time for mine. 

• I got in an argument with my spouse, mother, sibling etc.- You have a  that person in your life now. How many people don't?

When you look at all the death and destruction in the world such as the people who lose family members to disease, murder, or accidents it should make us all realize that our day to day to problems should be looked at as blessings because they remind us of all the things we have in our life that we take for granted and never realize their importance until they are gone. 

Psalm 3:3 But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Revelation 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

This post is dedicated to Alex and to all the other brave children who fighting childhood disease such as cancer, leukemia, etc. We cannot help but wonder why this happens and we must realize it is not our place to question God, it is our place to maintain our faith that God has a special plan and place for each of these suffering children. He is going to use them for great things in life or after life. 

To God Goes All The Glory

Today I was originally going to go generic with my blog and give my opinion on The History Channel's new show "The Bible". God had other ideas for me and put the article on CNN about the toddler that was cured of HIV on my heart to talk about His omnipotence and love for us all.


http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/03/health/hiv-toddler-cured/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Just in case anyone does not know, HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus and it is the virus that turns into AIDS. There is not a scientifically known cure for this disease and while the HIV carrier may not have AIDS the exchange of bodily fluids with another person can pass the virus to them and it will most likely result in AIDS for the non-carrier.

The story is about a woman who received no prenatal care prior to birth, and it was only at birth of her baby did she find out she had HIV. The virus was passed to the child from the mother in utero and when the child was about 30 hours old, even before confirmed HIV diagnosis, the doctor began her on a treatment schedule using 3 HIV drugs. The child was in fact diagnosed with HIV a couple of days later. The baby was on the treatment for about 15 months and the mother stopped giving it to her for 8 to 10 months and health officials intervened and the treatments were resumed. Now the child is virus free and the virus has not returned after the treatment has been stopped.

While reading this story I learned about an American living in Germany in 2007 who was battling both HIV and Lukemia. He had a bone marrow transplant and both diseases were gone.

This is the only 2 documented cases of HIV being cured and it shows that God can overcome anything. I cannot speak as to the beliefs of this child's family or the man in Germany, but I know it was God performing 2 miracles and showing us that His power is greater than anything. HIV is a sickness we have been throwing our best scientists and billions of dollars for years, here we have two cases that were cured and science says "hmmm.....we did it but I am not sure how."

 While science was a contributing factor, God cured both of them. We should thank God for sparing these lives and, as Christians, remember and use these cases as examples that no matter what we are faced with and no matter how badly the world says the odds are stacked against us we have the ultimate equalizer. God is the author and creator of all and He will never forsake us and never leave us as long as we keep our faith in Him.


Exodus 23:25-26 25 And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. 26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.

Luke 9:1-21 Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. 2 And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick 

Psalms 107:19-20 19 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. 20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. 

I Can't Do This!!

1 John 4:4  You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them [those who deny that Jesus is from God and who have the spirit of the world], because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world

We all face daily struggles and trials in our lives, Christians and non-believers. Christians have a weapon to use against these struggles that will guarantee our success, God. We are constantly burdened with worry about money, jobs, our family, and life in general.  A Christian, that is truly living for God, should never have to say "If I do this God will help me" or "That is not important to God and is just my problem". We need to learn to put all of these burdens on God. God is greater than any problem we can ever face in this life and no concern of ours is too small for Him to care about.

1 Peter 5:7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

James 4:2-3   You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

1 Peter does not say God only wants your large concerns because He is too busy, He wants them all. Any worry, concern, or fear we have (no matter how small) will come between our relationship with God if we dwell on it. Be assured, if you do not give it to God we WILL dwell on it. We must give ALL our cares to God and allow Him to provide for us. He is the perfect father so He desires to provide for us completely, we just have to give up the drivers seat and let Him do it.

James 4 tells how to get what we need and want. All we have to do is ask out of a Godly heart. I know we do not all kill, fight, and quarrel to get what we want; but it is saying that if we use our devices to try go gain what we want we will not succeed. If we ask our Father, He will provide whatever is in accordance with His plan for us. We also need to remember what qualifies as a "need" by us, may not qualify as a need by God.


Casting our cares on God can also be a good witness. No matter what events you are facing, people around you will see a happiness and joy. They will ask how you can remain worry-free in the face of hard or difficult time.We should just remember to give the glory to God for all the we face because He will get us through it. We should strive to always exemplify the joy that our Lord brings to our life, this happiness that radiates from us will begin to speak directly to the hearts of others and they will want what we have without us even having to say a word. They will be receptive to our explanation that our inner peace comes from having a personal relationship with God. Through God we can lead others to the path of righteousness.

The Devil Made Me Do It

As a society we are trying to find ways to lessen our responsibility for action/inaction in our own lives and towards others. We do not want to help others out of fear, humiliation, or embarrassment. When we do something wrong we want to blame our government, our employers, our family, or any other variety of excuses. But yet let us do something right, intentionally or by accident, and our names better be put on marquee for all to see how great we are and how much credit we deserve.

This is backward, mistakes are great opportunities from God to improve our knowledge and learn, we all make them. When something goes right, it is due to God imparting the knowledge we needed then or through previous mistakes and He should get the credit for the success, not us. He is going to be rewarding His people for all the important things they succeed at when we join Him and any earthly success will be no comparison to His reward.

"The devil made me do it."  I am sure many of us have said this throughout our life, especially in our younger years when we were caught doing something we shouldn't. Although we do not say it as much anymore, the justification behind it still runs strong in our society and among Christians as well. Besides being a blatant statement that we are giving Satan a certain amount of control in our every date lives;  it also gives us a way of absolving ourselves from the responsibilities and consequences of our actions. Which, as Christians, is something we need to accept and deal with. God loves us and will forgive us of any sins we repent for.  If we are not accepting personal responsibility we are most likely not going to be repenting that sin. If we can go to God and repent the sin, why are we worried about man? God is our creator and true judge. If He forgives us our transgression, any personal human opinions are completely irrelevant.We should trust in God for the best outcome for us.


Galations 6:5 For each will have to bear his own load.

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Proverbs 28:13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.


If we are looking for actions where we can put the responsibility elsewhere; we should be looking for situations to say "God wanted me to do it." We should always be sensitive to the spirit and strive to help others who are in need. That is not me saying give all your money away, it is saying do not be afraid to witness to someone, pray for someone, or just be a sounding board you never whose soul you could save by   just letting someone cry on you and telling them what God has done for you. When you help someone don't take the credit yourself, but give it to God, the situation happened because He put you there.

Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

2 Peter 1:21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 23:12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Prayers for Alex

Message from my wife, Christine:
"Put this on your blog spot so that maybe others around the world can pray for this boy and his family.

I am sending this website to you so that our church members can pray for this boy and his family. They are from the Paxton area, and I am friends with his older sisters.
This little guy and his family have been suffering over the last couple of years.
He has fought to survive more than most people ever will in a lifetime.
It hits home with me because my son is close in age, and I can't begin to imagine what this would be like.
His story makes me more thankful than ever. I count my blessings doubly today.."

Here is the link to Alex's pages:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/alextf

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/l/_AQE2aI5bAQEDaMb_427flyXW6ldD0iIVvy0vu8I6tu2mSg/www.caringbridge.org/visit/alextf


From me:
Alex is a 6 year old boy who has developed cancer on his liver. Let's come together and pray for God's plan for this child to unfold and that he receives the healing miracle he so much needs in his life. Children are precious and it is always hard to see them in this situation, but God does have a purpose and we have to stand strong in faith and not just believe, but KNOW God has this child's best interest at heart throughout this time. 

Take a moment, visit this website, and sign the guestbook with where you are from to let Alex and his family know that he has the whole world praying for him and that they are not going through this alone. 

You wouldn't like me when I am angry

Anger, everyone has it and everyone deals with it differently. It is a commonly overlooked emotion that can severely hinder our relationship with God when we feel it. There are many levels to our anger that range from mild annoyance to full blown rage.

• What makes you angry? 
• What are  you pet peeves?
• Think about the last time you were angry or even mildly annoyed, where was your focus?
• Were you thinking about turning the issue over to God and how he could resolve it or were you focused on the issue at hand?

We need to remember to let God help us with this. When we lose our temper we are giving up control to the emotion and we begin not to think clearly, if we can center ourselves our God at this time the appropriate and correct actions will show themselves. A calm person will almost always make a better decision than an angry one. A calm person will be better received in discussion of an issue than an angry one, as well.


Psalms 37:8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!  Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.


Proverbs 15:18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife,  but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.


Proverbs 30:33 For pressing milk produces curds, pressing the nose produces blood, and pressing anger produces strife.


Ecclesiastes 7:9 Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.

James 1:19,20 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.