Who Are You Afraid Of?
Good Morning Friends,
We had Friday the 13th a week ago and Halloween is just around the corner so I am not out to scare you but you need to know the dangers…you need to know that life on this earth is so short and we all die. So how we live makes a difference. And one of the most important things is to realize that we play a role in shaping our realities. What we believe makes a big difference. And doubt can be a big stumbling block if we are to leave a legacy. So maybe you are chasing after rainbows and maybe you are building bridges, but as it relates to being wise, it comes down to this question. Who Are You Afraid Of?
Scripture: For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) —in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
Romans 4:13-20 (NRSV)
“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.”
Luke 12:8-12 (NRSV)
Message: Yesterday as I was returning home I saw a double rainbow that stretched from horizon to horizon and it was beautiful but did not last very long. As I drove toward it kept changing and the reality of its fleeting existence gave me pause to reflect on my own fleeting existence against the backdrop of faith and fear played out in today’s scripture from Romans. You see there are passages of scripture that should give us pause each time we read them. They are to draw us into a time of contemplation and self-examination that is to give us greater confidence in believing in something that is more than the fleeting beauty of a rainbow or even somewhere over the rainbow. You see friends, we too are to believe in a promise. And the passage about Abraham and his response to God’s promise that he and Sarah would have a son is such a reading to get us thinking. The amazing thing is that Abraham was not taken aback at the promise of God through unbelief in the premise he was going to have a son at his and his wife’s age, but instead he was strong in faith. His actions gave glory to God in a way that builds a bridge to a future grace that honors God. Abraham is so positive in what seems an unlikely scenario, because he wanted to please God. So, who are you living to please? Who are you afraid of? We all live to please someone and it is all intertwined with our fears. There are only three possibilities: pleasing God, pleasing others, and pleasing ourselves. The last two versions of pleasing ultimately pose a problem. Many people are pleasers, and they try to make everyone around them happy. This does not work. So perhaps you buy into the old saying, “You can’t please everyone, all the time, so you might as well please yourself.” The problem is that people like this live their lives trying to make themselves happy, and do not concern themselves about others happiness unless it affects theirs. It becomes all about pleasing themselves after all and that is a problem. And maybe that is why it is so difficult for the wealthy to make it to heaven. People who only please others to get something from them in return, such as love, acceptance, and friendship end up disappointed too. Both are dead end streets. The pleaser will be taken advantage of and hurt, and the self-pleaser will be alone in the end. It is enough to make one cynical and yet there is a higher level upon which we can base our lives, and that is upon pleasing God and that relates to who we fear. And here we might just learn that it is living in the joy and fear and love of the Lord that gives us a faithful purpose that lives on. You see fear and joy and love are related to whom we try to please. We please people because we fear they will not like us. We please ourselves because we are afraid people will hurt us or not meet our needs. But when we fear God, we live in a way that glorifies God, and the amazing thing is that when we do God provides joy and even greater love that allows us to please others in a way that pleases God. The thing is that we each will please who we fear. And we will learn from the experience. Thankfully in fearing the Lord we gain wisdom and not disappointment.
Pray we trust and obey God. Pray we realize that beyond our doubt is the possibility of a strong conviction. Pray therefor we are not afraid of taking a stand for Jesus. Pray we glorify God in how we live and in what we believe. Pray we have faith in the promises of God. Pray we are moved by the Holy Spirit. Pray our actions please God. Pray we build bridges of hope for others to believe. Pray we build bridges for others to experience heaven on earth and the hope of heaven in our future. Pray we face doubts and uncertainties and triumph over them by giving the glory to God. Pray we only fear God and in the process, learn to love.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 