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THE WORD FOR YOU TODAY! Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Luke 12:37 NKJV SHUN UNHEALTHY SELF-FOCUS (2) When dealing with self-focus, you may ask, What about those scriptures that specifically tell us to ‘watch’? Aren’t they all about keeping an eye on ourselves? That’s a good question, so let’s take a look at some of those watch passages in scripture. In Mark 13:34-37 (NKJV), we read, A man going to a far countryleft his h...ouse and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is comingin the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morninglest, coming suddenly, he finds you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch! What Jesus was teaching here is the exact opposite of self-focus. The doorkeeper wasn’t to watch himself, but to watch for his returning master. Jesus expects us to forget ourselves, work conscientiously for His kingdom, and be watching and prepared for His return. He said, Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himselfhave them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. Far from an obsessive introspection that leaves you exhausted, discouraged, and disappointed with yourself, Jesus wants you to be excited and involved in His work here on earth, to actively watch for the coming again of your Lord and King. Look to Me, [not to yourself!] and be savedFor I am God, and there is no other (Isaiah 45:22 NKJV). So focus more on Godand less on yourself. See more

THE WORD FOR YOU TODAY! The Lord blesses his people with peace. Psalm 29:11 NIV WHERE CAN YOU FIND PEACE? Increasing our pace has decreased our peace. There’s an old joke about a stressed-out personal assistant who told her boss, When this rush is over, I’m going to have a nervous breakdown. I’ve earned it, I deserve it, and nobody’s going to take it from me! We smile, but chances are you can relate. Not long ago we marked the passing of time in seasons. But seasons begat... monthly calendars, which begat day-timers, which begat one-minute managers, which begat handheld personal organizers. And what does it all lead to? As our productivity goes up, our quality of life seems to go down. An article in USA Today describes how therapist Ofer Zur staged a conference called Speed.com: The Search for Meaning in the New Millennium. And guess where he staged it? In the heart of stressed-out Silicon Valley, California. As the attendees gathered, Zur noted the drawn faces, worried looks, and preoccupied demeanour of his audience. He said his personal alarm sounded when he noted they had brought cell phones and laptopsand began using them during the session. Here’s what he said about it: We’ve become obsessed with speed. We end up with lots of plans that we can’t execute and a full schedule that can’t be followed. The paradox of our timesaving tech gadgets is that we’ve wound up with no free time. Sound familiar? So where can you go to find peace? To the One whose name is Prince of Peace. Today He’s saying to you, If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea (Isaiah 48:18 NIV). See more

THE WORD FOR YOU TODAY! God has not given us a spirit of fear. 2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV DEALING WITH FEAR (7) During the American Revolution, Spain gained control of the Bahamas. In April of 1783, Andrew Deveaux, a lieutenant colonel from South Carolina, recruited a handful of militiamen and Harbour Island settlers to retake Nassau using a clever strategy. Deveaux had only two hundred men with him, a far smaller force than that of the Spanish, but he managed to capture the high g...round on the island after a brief skirmish. The Spaniards then watched as boats repeatedly ferried load after load of men from Deveaux’s ships to his defensive position on the shore. What the Spaniards didn’t know was that the same men kept going back and forth, standing up on their trip over to the island, and hiding themselves by lying low in the boat on the trip back to the ships. The leader of the Spanish troops, fearing a defeat from a larger force in an invulnerable position, surrendered. When you succumb to fear, you’re already beaten. People ruled by fear stay where it’s safe. And that’s sad, because you can’t reach your potential by staying where it’s safe. Shakespeare said, Our doubts are traitors, and they make us lose what we oft might win, by fearing to attempt. What would you attempt in life if you were sure you couldn’t fail? Before you answer, read these words of David: When I cry out to Youmy enemies will turn backI know, because God is for me (Psalm 56:9 NKJV). Believe that God is on your side today, then step out and attempt the thing you’re afraid to do! You’ll never be the same againyou’ll be liberated! See more

THE WORD FOR YOU TODAY! The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? Psalm 118:6 NKJV DEALING WITH FEAR (1) During the Great Depression, unemployment hit 25 percent of the American population. Savings accounts were wiped out by bank failures, farmers lost their land to foreclosures, and people were having trouble just feeding their families. During this dark time, Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed the nation in these words: Let me assert my firm belief... that the only thing we have to fear is fear itselfnameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. What most people didn’t realize is that the president himself had experienced some dark hours during which fear paralyzed him. Roosevelt was born a child of privilege and educated in Europe, at Harvard, and at Columbia Law School. But at age thirty-nine, he was stricken with a case of polio that left him severely disabled. During his recovery, he developed an extreme fear of fire. He worried he wouldn’t be able to escape because of his disability. But in time he overcame his fear, regained the use of his hands, and even learned to walk again with the aid of braces. He re-entered the political arenafearlessly campaigning to become the governor of New York, which he did in 1929. He then went on to become one of America’s greatest presidents and guided the nation to victory in World War II. In his memoirs, Roosevelt recalled how when he turned to God for help, courage, and guidance, he received them. Are you afraid today? If you are, stand on this promise: The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? See more

THE WORD FOR YOU TODAY! What I dreaded has happened to me. Job 3:25 NKJV DEALING WITH FEAR (6) Do you ever fantasize about solutions to problems you fear may or will come your way? Ironically, when you do, what started out as an unfounded fear can turn into a real problem because you expended energy on wasteful thinking instead of productive action. Joe Tye, author of Never Fear, Never Quit, said, Wishful thinking is the lock that fear puts on the prison gate. Fear lets yo...u indulge yourself, for a while, in flights of wishful thinking. Somehow, you think, something will happen to make the problems go away. By the time you wake up, it’s too late. What you feared has happened, and fear has defeated you. The only way to escape from the prison of fear is action. You cannot wish your way out, you cannot wait your way out. You can only work your way out. Every time you escape the prison of fear, you grow stronger. Fear has no benefits and no upside. It either pushes you in the wrong direction by producing nervous energy that causes you to do your worst in new situations, or it saps your energy as you fight its paralyzing effects. Psychologist Randall B. Hamrock observed, In twenty years [of practice] I’ve talked with, tested, and given vocational counsel to at least 10,000 young men and women. One characteristic that almost all had was the tendency to sell themselves short. Don’t let fear rob you of your potential. Don’t let it stop you from pursuing your destiny. Believe God for great things, then step out and attempt to do them in His strength. If you do, you’ll succeed. Guaranteed. See more

THE WORD FOR YOU TODAY! Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake. Job 4:14 NKJV DEALING WITH FEAR (3) Fear can be devastating. Why? Because it breeds more fear! And the most insidious thing about fear is its ability to exaggerate. C. Everett Koop, former surgeon general of the United States, observed, People just have an inappropriate sense of what is dangerous. Do you fear flying? The fact is, you’re more likely to die from choking on a piece of fo...od than in a commercial airline crash. Are you afraid of dying in a robbery? You’re twice as likely to be killed playing a sport than you are to be stabbed to death by a stranger. Are you afraid of sharks? Every year farmyard pigs slay more people than sharks do. Are you worried about having surgery? You’re sixteen times more likely to die in a car crash than you are from surgical complications. Seldom do the things we fear come to pass. In our minds we conceive coming disasters that will likely never happen. And when they don’t occur, we think, That was a close one! The truth isour thoughts were the only things creating potential danger for us. So how should you deal with your fears? By practicing the truth of this scripture: You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You. So trust in the Lord (commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him) forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages] (Isaiah 26:3-4 AMPC). See more

THE WORD FOR YOU TODAY! I was afraidand I hid myself. Genesis 3:10 NKJV DEALING WITH FEAR (2) We tend to think that successful people are exempt from fear. Nothing could be further from the truth. Every generation in history has experienced fear. The first person God created was Adam, and the first recorded words Adam spoke were these: I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself. Fear is genetic; it’s part of human nature. Stu...dies confirm that our seven greatest areas of fear are these: (1) finances, (2) health, (3) career concerns, (4) parenting struggles, (5) family relationships, (6) accomplishing personal goals, and (7) death. Are you fearful and anxious in any of those areas? Fear can be a destructive force in your life. One of the old English words for fear means sudden attack. It’s akin to an old German word for fear that means ambush or snare. That’s what fear does; it attacks us and takes us captive. So what’s the answer? Faith in God! Fear weakens, but faith strengthens. Fear imprisons, but faith liberates. Fear paralyzes, but faith empowers. Fear disheartens, but faith encourages. Fear sickens, but faith heals. It’s been said that the words fear not are recorded in scripture 366 different times. If that’s so, God has given us a fear not for every day of the yearand one for leap year! And here’s one of them: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine (Isaiah 43:1 NKJV). Today God is with you and He promises to strengthen and guide you in every situation you face. See more

THE WORD FOR YOU TODAY! From childhood you have known the Holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith. 2 Timothy 3:15 NKJV HAVE YOU READ YOUR BIBLE TODAY? People are intimidated by the Bible for any number of reasons. For some, it’s such a big book that it scares them, and they don’t know where to start. Others think that because it’s such an ancient book, spans such a long historical time period, and includes so many themes, they could neve...r figure it out. So let’s try to simplify it. Think of the Bible as a library of books that includes sixty-six volumes of widely varying length, written over a period of fifteen hundred years, by more than forty people from all kinds of cultural and educational backgrounds. It’s extraordinarily unique and cohesive in that the words of each book were given by inspiration or literally breathed out by God (v. 16 NKJV). Taken together, the books of the Bible tell the story of God’s amazing love for us, culminating at the cross. As Paul wrote to Timothy, You must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus (vv. 14-15 NKJV). The Bible is principally the story of God’s love for you. So every time you read it, allow it to unfold in your heart as a love letter written to you by God. As you read and meditate on it, your fears and worries will be resolved, your questions will be answered, and you’ll find strength and guidance for daily living. See more

THE WORD FOR YOU TODAY! As soon as their feet touch the waterthe river will stand up like a wall. Joshua 3:13 NLT DEALING WITH FEAR (4) To enter the Promised Land, the Israelites had to cross the River Jordan at flood stage. Were they afraid? Wouldn’t you be? Nevertheless, the only way to reach their destiny was to do the very thing they feared! When you let fear take hold, you become even more fearful and end up creating a debilitating cycle that works like this: Fear bre...eds lack of action. Lack of action breeds lack of experience. Lack of experience breeds ignorance. And ignorance breeds fear. It makes you afraid to do the very thing that would be beneficial to you. Taking action means you’ll have to move into the unknown and do the untriedand that can be scary. But if you give in to your fears, you won’t move forward. You don’t receive the benefit of what you avoid, nor do you gain the valuable experience that will make your life better. As a result, you remain ignorant about that area of life, and ignorance always breeds more fear, making it that much harder to push ahead and get things done. Harry Truman remarked, The worst danger we face is the danger of being paralyzed by doubts and fears. This danger is brought on by those who abandon faith and sneer at hopeby those who spread cynicism and distrust and try to blind us to our great chance to do good for all mankind. Somebody said fear is the darkroom where all our negatives are developed. It’s interest paid in advance on a debt you may never owe. And it undermines faithin yourself, in others, and in God. See more

THE WORD FOR YOU TODAY! The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1 NKJV DEALING WITH FEAR (5) An old adage says, Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is. It exaggerates the problem, and as a result, you expend valuable energy in ways you shouldn’t. For example, sometimes you avoid things that can’t really harm you at all. Like the man who returned to his vacation cabin from a hike, badly scratched and bruised. What happened? his wife asked.... I met a snake on the trail, he answered. Don’t you remember, his wife responded, the park ranger told us yesterday that none of the snakes up here are poisonous? Her husband replied, They don’t have to be poisonous if they can make you jump off a twenty-foot cliff! Clearly the man’s fearnot the snakewas the problem. Charles Spurgeon once said, Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, buttoday of its strengths. As long as you allow fear to take the wheel, you’ll never go where God wants to take you or discover and develop the talents He has placed within you. And here’s the great thing: God will help you to confront and conquer the fears that are controlling you. David the giant slayer, author of Psalms and Israel’s beloved king, often found himself with his back to the wall. Writing about such an occasion, he said, Make haste to help meLord (Psalm 38:22 NKJV). Be pleasedto deliver me (Psalm 40:13 NKJV). But David knew who to turn to: The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When God is the source of your strength, you can face your worst fears and overcome them. See more

THE WORD FOR YOU TODAY! At the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 NIV LEARN TO WAIT! There’s no such thing as instant success, with either people or problems. Whether you need to lose ten pounds or one hundred pounds, the weight can only be shed one pound at a time. Standing on top of the mountain is a thrill, but you can only get up there one step at a time. Nothing great is created suddenly; almost every significant success in life come...s at the end of a long, arduous wait. And unless you accept that truth, you’ll give up too soon and settle far short of the success God has in mind for you. Jell-O celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1997, but if the inventor were still alive, he would probably take little comfort in his product’s success. In 1897 Pearl Wait wore many hats. He was a construction worker who also experimented in patent medicines, and he went door to door selling his therapies. In the midst of tinkering and experimenting, he hit upon the idea of mixing fruit flavoring with granulated gelatin. His wife promptly named it Jell-O, and Wait had one more product to peddle. Unfortunately, the initial sales of his jiggly snack were not as strong as he hoped, so he ended up selling his Jell-O rights to Orator Woodward for the paltry sum of $450. Woodward was a savvy businessman. He knew the value of marketing, and within eight years he turned a $450 investment into a million-dollar business. Today, not a single relative of Pearl Wait receives one penny from the million-plus boxes of Jell-O sold every day. Why not? Because Wait couldn’t wait! See more

THE WORD FOR YOU TODAY! Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. 2 Corinthians 13:5 NIV SHUN UNHEALTHY SELF-FOCUS Self-focus isn’t necessarily bad if it leads to spiritual growth. However, some people mistakenly assume that it’s a biblical mandate! After all, didn’t God tell us to examine ourselves? So with that in mind, we start to wonderDo I measure up spiritually? Have I truly repented? Do I pray enough? Is God pleased with me? The truth is, focusing... on yourself can keep you feeling discouraged and defeated. Let’s check and see what God actually says. There are only two mentions of self-examination in scripture, and neither teaches us to indulge in self-focus. First, Paul challenged the Corinthians about tolerating gross sin in their church. A man was having an affair with his stepmother, and no one seemed bothered by it. And because they had not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which theyindulged (2 Corinthians 12:21 NIV), Paul wrote, Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. This isn’t an invitation to self-focus, but a spiritual credential checkup. See whether you are in the faith. Second, Paul corrected the Corinthians’ behaviour during the Lord’s Supper. Because some were getting drunk on communion wine, he said, Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup (1 Corinthians 11:28 NIV). Paul was not suggesting you become fixated on your flaws but on the liberating truth that Jesus paid the price for all your sinpast, present, and future. The Bible says, Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith (Hebrews 12:2 NIV). Growth, joy, and victory lie in abandoning unhealthy self-focus and staying Christ-focused! See more

THE WORD FOR YOU TODAY! Kept by the power of God through faith for salvation. 1 Peter 1:5 NKJV TRUST GOD'S SAVING AND KEEPING POWER! If our salvation is assured when we place our trust in Christ, might some people take advantage of this assurance? Yes, they might, for a time. But as grace goes deep and as God’s love and kindness sink in, they change. Grace fosters obedience. The grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say, ‘No’ to un...godliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age (Titus 2:11-12 NIV). God’s grace does more than comfort you in your troubles; it convicts you in your disobedience. Let it convict you. If you ever catch yourself thinking, I can do whatever I want because God will forgive me, then grace isn’t happening to you. Selfishness, perhaps. Arrogance, for sure. But grace? No. Grace creates a resolve to do good, not permission to do bad. And one more thought. Look to Christ for your beginning and ending. He’s Alpha and Omega. He will hold you, and He will hold on to the ones you love. Do you have a prodigal son or daughter? Do you long for your spouse to come to God? Do you have a friend whose faith has grown cold? God wants them back more than you do. Keep praying, and don’t give up. The truth is, we don’t always know if someone has trusted God’s grace. A person may have feigned belief but not meant it. It’s not ours to know. But we do know this: where there is genuine conversion, grace never stops working. So today, trust God’s saving and keeping power. See more