Why Should I Fear Trouble?

Psalms 49:5-6,13-15 ESV

“Why should I fear in times of trouble,

    when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,

those who trust in their wealth

    and boast of the abundance of their riches?

“This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;

    yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah

Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;

    death shall be their shepherd,

and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.

    Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.

But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,

    for he will receive me. Selah”

No Fear

We are not to be afraid of what other people might do to us, whether they are powerful rulers of nations, or the powerful elite of the world who are truly the ones ruling the world, or if they are heads of powerful corporations or of church denominations or institutional church gatherings, or if they are just ordinary citizens of the world who might be opposed to us who are following Jesus Christ with our lives. And this can even include others who profess faith in Christ, even our friends, neighbors, and family members.

Right now our world is in upheaval. There are enormous possibilities that what is going on now in the physical nation of Israel might lead to World War III. But if it does, this was all in God’s permissive will that this should take place. And so we are not to fear what is inevitably going to happen, according to the prophecies of the Scriptures, or what might happen now in our world and in our nations today as a result of the evil of man and the choices that human beings make, which we can’t always perceive correctly.

So, we should also be slow to assign blame, because we don’t really know what is going on. And we may be being fed a pack of lies, for liars and deceivers abound in our world today. And they are among our government heads and our news media and our politicians and our heads of corporations and heads of church denominations and church gatherings. And I am not saying that we should remain uninformed and ignore what is going on around us, but that we should know that not everything is as it appears.

We have to believe the Scriptures that teach us that in these last days before the return of Christ that there will be massive, and I mean massive deception, even at the hands of those we may trust, or who we once trusted, but no more. And even the elect can be deceived if we are not watching and praying and seeking the Lord for truth and listening to his voice instead of following after tradition and what we may have always been taught on certain subjects, for we could be wrong.

So, we must be willing to recognize that things can be happening behind the scenes that may be different from what we are seeing on the surface, and that what we may think we are seeing can be faked and acted out and photoshopped, etc. We can’t look at our world just on a surface level, especially because of the age of deception that we now live in. So don’t be too quick to jump to conclusions or to cast blame just because of tradition or just because of what others are telling you is the truth.

For not everything and not everyone is exactly what or who they appear to be. Wolves in sheep’s clothing are everywhere! Liars, deceivers, and manipulators abound! The multitudes are following after what feels good and what looks good and what is appeasing and appealing to their flesh, and that is what many are going after without even thinking of where that may lead them, or knowing full well where it will lead but not caring. And lives are being torn apart and destroyed by these feel-good approaches to life.

But so many people are wanting what feels good and they don’t want to hear the truth even if believing the lies will send them to hell. They want what makes them feel good. They want their fantasies. They don’t want reality, for reality makes them feel bad. They would rather be drifters who just go by their emotions than to face the truth and to change course. They choose to put on blinders. They want to go with the flow and they do not want to stand out as different, for “different” gets them rejected.

But we who are followers of Christ are not to desire what they desire. We should be those who desire and who hunger after truth and righteousness. We should not be those who put our hands over our ears and who refuse to listen to reason because it messes with our traditions. But we should be those who are daily seeking truth and who are taking in the counsel of God and who are studying the Scriptures, in context, so that we learn the truth, and so that we follow the truth and not the lies which are in abundance.

We should not be content with “status-quo.” But we should want to be God’s called out ones who are different and who will go against the flow even if we have to stand alone, sometimes, against the large majority who are following something else. For it is not true that the majority are right. Who is going to get into heaven? Those who enter by the narrow gate, and who walk in the way that is hard (not easy), and who are few in number. True followers of Christ are those in the minority, not the majority.

So don’t be those who dance to the same drummer as the world dances to. Don’t be those who walk in step with the world and with the majority opinion. Be different! For that is what it means to be holy, to not be like the world because we are being conformed to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ. Do what is right even if everyone else seems to be going a different direction. Don’t join in with the world and with tradition just to be accepted or just because they are the ones in the majority.

Walk in holiness and righteousness and in obedience to the Lord even if everyone else goes the other direction. For the Christian life is a life of dedication to the Lord Jesus in following him in his truth and righteousness. It is a life of seeking after the Lord and wanting to know what his word teaches, in truth, so that we can follow the truth and not the lies. For this life is what will end in eternal life with God in heaven. But those who are still chasing after the pleasures of this world will not enter the kingdom of God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

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