Teach Us to Number Our Days My Life Verse Protects Me From the Fear of Others

Teach Us to Number Our Days

My Life Verse Protects Me From the Fear of Others

Have words ever hurt you?

Have they ever kept you from your best?

Don’t forget God is with you.

 

I believe it is impossible for someone

to walk down a dark street

in a major city and not feel fear.

Fear of being mugged, raped, or even murdered.

The fear of physical harm is very real.

But the fear of physical harm and its dangers

is not as great as the emotional fear.

You have heard the old saying,

“sticks and stones can break my bones,

but words can never hurt me.”

 

What others say and what they think of us can paralyze us.

The fear of others can keep you and I from productive lives.

I just talked to a young man who was asked to lead youth in his church.

This 19 year old was afraid because he is young and inexperienced.

 This young man has a heart for God and will do well.

I shared with him that when I was 19, I was starting a church.

People today will tell you I wore them out; but they still love me today.

 Why? Because I had a heart for God.

I made a lot of mistakes; there was a lot you could criticize.

One day one of the Elders called me and said he had to meet with me.

When he arrived, he had a list.

The list included everything I did at the church

and even things about my family.

He, in short, said I was a failure in every area of life.

I was devastated.

The cuts were so deep,

I made immediate arrangements to get away for 3 days.

I could hardly see the road for the tears

as I drove up to Michigan crying out to God.

God was with me and He healed me.

After I came back,

I was told that this elder told a couple of other elders

what he had done and they rebuked him

and came to me to make sure I was ok.

I went on to serve God, and the other elder,

years later committed adultery and left his wife and kids.

You don’t have to be afraid of what man can do to you

when you have a heart that is after God.

Because He will be with you to protect you, even if you are wrong.

Scripture Reading

Hebrews 13:5-6 NIV

…because God has said,

"Never will I leave you;

never will I forsake you."  

6 So we say with confidence,

"The Lord is my helper;

I will not be afraid.

What can man do to me?"  

Psalms 118:5-7 NIV

5 In my anguish

I cried to the LORD,

and he answered by setting me free.

6 The LORD is with me;

I will not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

7 The LORD is with me;

he is my helper.

I will look in triumph on my enemies.

Teach Us to Number Our Days My Life Verse Keeps Me Righteous

Teach Us to Number Our Days

My Life Verse Keeps Me Righteous

We learn to play “Peek a Boo” at a very young age.

As adults, we sometimes want to play the game with God.

Times we want to say,

“Don’t look God! Don’t look!

But He sees all and knows every thought.

When our granddaughter Tori was little,

we would play the peek a boo game with her.

She used to sit at the dining room table

and cover her eyes thinking no one could see her.

And we would say,

 “Where’s Tori?”

as if we didn’t see her.

 

In John Ortherg’s book,

“God is Closer Than You Think”

he wonderfully describes

how close God is to us.

In one section of the book,

he shares a story of a little boy and his mommy.

The little boy is playing

and mommy tells him not to get dirty.

The little boy plays a game with mommy

where mommy covers her eyes.

The little boy says,

“Don’t look mommy!”

Children many times

think it is all right if no one sees.

God is closer than we think.

We want him with us,

but there are times

we are like a little child that says,

 “Don’t look! Don’t look!”

It might be that second helping at the dinner table…

or the rush on the express way…

maybe a TV show…

or an alone moment with the internet…

And we say,

“Don’t look God! Don’t look!”

He said,

“Never will I leave you”

Yes, God is with you where ever you are

and there is not a time that He is not there

wanting to bring blessing to your life.

This consciousness of His presences

has maybe been the greatest factor

in keeping me on the righteous road of life.

Oh, at times I’ve wanted to play the game

and say,

‘Cover your eyes, don’t look!’

But God is not playing;

 He loves you and me too much!

Scripture Reading

Hebrews 13:5 NIV

…because God has said,

"Never will I leave you;

never will I forsake you."  

Psalm 139:1-12 NIV

O LORD, you have searched me

and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue

you know it completely, O LORD.

5 You hem me in — behind and before;

you have laid your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me

and the light become night around me,"

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day,

for darkness is as light to you.

Teach Us to Number Our Days My Life Verse Gives Me Courage

Teach Us to Number Our Days

My Life Verse Gives Me Courage

Do you ever feel like the bullies

won’t leave you alone?

Your Heavenly Father won’t leave you,

so you can have the courage

to stand up to them! 

 When mom or dad said something once it was important.

And when they said it twice you could 

count on it being very important.

It’s the same with our God.

God said it not only once,

 “He would never leave us” - but twice.

In fact, the promise contains the sum

and substance of all the promises.

Hebrews 13:5&6 gives the promise to

all New Testament believers.

Joshua 1:5 makes the promise to Joshua

and the Old Testament believers.

God gave Joshua the promise

of His presences in order that

he might be strong and courageous.

God desired to be with Joshua and His people,

so they would have the confidence to fight battles

in order to get everything He had for them.

In the same way, He stands with us… 

so we don’t have to be afraid.

  

We had a kid in the neighborhood

when Marty was around 10 years old

who was causing a lot of trouble.

We tried to show him kindness,

and encouraged Marty to do the same;

but this boy still played the neighborhood bully.

One day this bully was giving Marty a hard time;

and as I watched from the back yard

I realized this kid would never leave Marty alone

unless Marty stood up to him.

So after a while I stepped in

and told Marty to give the boy the fight

he was asking for.

They both looked at me with surprise.

I told the bully and Marty

that if the bully ever caused him any more trouble,

Marty was to beat the daylights out of him. 

The bully ran off and never caused 

Marty any more trouble.

Yes, I surprised even myself that day.

Your Heavenly Father wants the best for you.

Your enemies are afraid of Him,

but God wants them to be afraid of you.

He may not fight all your battles,

but He will never leave you…

 so you have the courage to win your battles.

Scripture Readings

Joshua 1:1-9 NIV

1:1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD,

the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide:

2 "Moses my servant is dead.

Now then, you and all these people,

 get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land

I am about to give to them — to the Israelites.

3 I will give you every place where you set your foot,

as I promised Moses.

4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon,

and from the great river, the Euphrates

 — all the Hittite country — to the Great Sea on the west.

5 No one will be able to stand up against you

all the days of your life.

As I was with Moses, so I will be with you;

I will never leave you nor forsake you.

6 "Be strong and courageous,

because you will lead these people to inherit the land

I swore to their forefathers to give them.

7 Be strong and very courageous.

Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you;

do not turn from it to the right or to the left,

that you may be successful wherever you go.

8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth;

meditate on it day and night,

so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.

Then you will be prosperous and successful.

9 Have I not commanded you?

Be strong and courageous.

Do not be terrified;

do not be discouraged,

for the LORD your God 

                                                  will be with you wherever you go."