Living Fearless

 Matt 26:35
Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee.

Bold words from the mouth of Peter. I believe he meant it with all of his heart. That was Peter’s personality. He was not afraid to step out. He was the one who stepped out of the boat into the water when Jesus called out to Him. He was the one who drew out his sword and whacked off the ear of Malchus, a servant of the high priest. Impetuous, acting quickly and without thought or care of the consequences. Here he is again, in the heat of the moment, speaking out without really thinking. Jesus, who knows our hearts better than we do, looks at Peter with a heart of compassion and says, “Peter, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me three times”. What a blow that must have been for Peter, but when the rubber hit the road, Peter gave in to his fears. Our humanity is so prone towards self-preservation. When the going gets tough, we take the road of least resistance. This proneness is made more evident without the help of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. We see a different Peter after Pentecost. Peter at Pentecost experienced the power of the Holy Spirit in His fullness.  (Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost…Acts 4:8)   Filled with the fire of God, Peter’s fear was gone as he spoke with boldness about Jesus. As newborn Christians, we have become a follower of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is with us, guiding us into all truth. The Holy Spirit will lead us to a place of full surrender. To a place where we give everything to God and allow the Holy Spirit to remove the proneness to sin. Being filled with the Holy Spirit does not dehumanize us, but it does empower us to live victorious and fearless where we are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we are tempted to fear, we can stand up to our adversary and truly say, "Though I should die, I will not forsake my God.”

Stand for what is Right

 2 Kings 1:10
“If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!”

The boldness of Elijah the prophet in the face of being outnumbered required faith in One who can beat the odds. The odds were against him in every way, but he stood his ground for what he thought was right. I don’t pretend to know why God allowed 102 men to die because of the foolishness of a wicked king, but it does demonstrate to us that our decisions do have an impact on the lives of others. God came through for Elijah and put in the heart of the 3rd captain to honor the prophet and his God. Elijah boldly did what God wanted him to do, and God honored him and his faith. We often face things in our lives that may scare or frighten us, but we serve a big God and He knows the weakness of those that are against us. Let us stand for right and truth and allow God to work the circumstances in our lives.

Tried in the Fire

But He knoweth the way that I take; when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”-

The refining and purification of gold requires that it be melted down to allow the impurities to rise to the top and be scummed and removed. Being placed in the fire of God’s refinement for whatever reason causes us to almost always ask, “Why?”. What is God trying to teach us or show us? We examine our hearts to see if sin is the cause. “Did we do something that has displeased God?” We reflect on our obedience to God and we have been faithful to live righteous lives. These were questions that haunted Job. He was left with no explanation and had only one recourse, and that was to trust God in spite of the circumstances. Job learned that God need not answer to any one, He controls the universe and the destiny of the world is in His command. He is sovereign and knows the beginning to the end. He is the alpha and omega, the first and the last. Nothing happen that He does not already knows and has it all under control. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but I know the one who hold tomorrow in His hand.