Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. Nothing compares to the touch of the Master’s Hand and no artist could ever come close to creating the beauty I see at sunrise. He’s my God and I’m His child and no relationship could ever come close to what I feel for Him. His Word is True and I stand on His Promises and no other book I could read has the ability to Read me. But His Word does! I’ve been thinking a lot about how the disciples hid in fear after the crucifixion of the King even though they thought they knew Him so well. They weren’t quite “there” yet even though they had spent years with Him and they’d witnessed the Work of His Hands. I don’t want to be like the disciples hiding in fear, I want to be like the disciples who later became Champions for Christ…willing to die for their Faith. If that’s the goal for me, then I need to spend as much time in His Presence as I possibly can so that I’m never found hiding in fear but Boldly sharing the Gospel of the One who died for me instead. Isn’t that the way you see your Journey of Faith too?

Fear is a horrible thing and it has no place in the Life of a Believer. When we Invest Time with the Living God and we determine to Absorb the Truth of His Word, THEN we understand there is nothing to fear and we Understand that it comes from a dark place. We know that when we draw near to Him, He’ll draw near to us. We know that He is a Shield around us…our Protector and Provider. We know that He will take us by the hand and Lead us and we know that He’ll keep our path straight if only we’ll Acknowledge Him in all our ways. We know that we’ll never go hungry because the Righteous never will. We know that He has plans for us and we Trust Him with them. We know that there is Power in prayer and that our prayers are like incense in the Throneroom of God. We know He cares about us because He stores up every tear we’ve ever shed in a jar and we know that One Day He’ll wipe the tears from our eyes for good. We know that He has gone to Prepare a place for us and that even though our flesh will give up one day, our Soul will live forever in a new body. We know that our Name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and that One Day we’ll get a new name that only He knows. When we Invest in the Living God we learn to stand on His promises and we Know that there is absolutely nothing to fear at all.

The disciples succumbed to fear immediately after the crucifixion because they had no idea what would become of them for following Jesus. They even locked the door to keep their enemy out and they rarely went outside. But then came Jesus! He showed up and He walked right through that locked door to Show His Resurrected self to His people and He removed all fear and doubt once and for all. I don’t know what might become of me for being a follower of Jesus either BUT I have the benefit of the rest of the Story that the disciples didn’t have at first. I know that Jesus can penetrate any heart, any trial, any temptation, and any “threat” and no amount of locks or alarms can keep Him out. He’s my God and I’m His child. If the day comes that my Witness for Jesus becomes too much of a threat to the dark world then I’ll be willing to lay my life down just like the disciples eventually did. After all, Jesus laid His life down for me and I Know the Rest of the Story and I’m Standing on His Promises! I have no fear.

How about you?