A Scary World

 The world can seem to be a scary place.  Whether or not you participate in the Halloween holiday - the spooks, the skeletons, and the spiders are all around (Plus candy corn and bite size Hershey candies which are evil in their own right :) ;certain cities (New Orleans comes to mind) celebrate Halloween in macabre ways; and then there is the evening news…in whatever city you find yourself living, the news always includes murder, molestation, and mayhem!  A scary place for those who do not belong to the Lord God Almighty!  How blessed we are.  Two assuring Scriptures come to mind.

Romans 8:15-16 (NLT)
¹⁵ So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.

We are members of the royal family and we know that Our Father is Sovereign and all-powerful. We do not have to be afraid of this world we live in.  We see the world around us filled with sin and rebellion against God and this world is paying the price for that rebellion. 

Here’s what is important: we don’t have to be afraid and pessimistic because we know our future glory; we know that God has promised us a new heaven and a new earth….a world that will be free from sin and evil.

In the meantime, with walk with Our Father in this world, not alone but full of His Spirit.

 2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)
⁷ For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

As believers we are filled with the Holy Spirit and He enables us to face this world we live in with strength and courage NOT with fear, cowardice, and alarm.  How does the Holy Spirit help us today in our sinful, scary, hostile world?  He gives us three gifts:
  The Gift of Power: God gives strength of character and confidence which enables us to face opposition any time we stand firm in God’s truth.  This is not natural but SUPERNATURAL – God takes away our timidity and replaces it with a boldness to speak God’s truth. 
  The Gift of Love: The Holy Spirit fills us with love for those who hear our words…believers and nonbelievers.  We are different from the world around us and what makes us different is our love for others.  Jesus promised, By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:35 nkjv).  True Christian love is not selfish, instead the Holy Spirit enables us to sacrifice for others and not be afraid.
  The Gift of Self-Control: The Holy Spirit gives us a sound mind, the ability to think clearly and to be sensible. This kind of thinking is hard for the world to ignore or deny.
God is the giver of such good gifts – they are all we need to live in this world. The choice is ours; we must choose to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit each day and as we do that these gifts are more fully developed in us. 
When we feel afraid, let’s choose to go directly to Scripture:

Joshua 10:25 (ESV) ^And Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and courageous. For thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.”

2 Corinthians 5:6-7 (NLT) So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. ⁷ For we live by believing and not by seeing.

John 16:33 (NCV)
³³ “I told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have trouble, but be brave! I have defeated the world. “

Joyfully,
Yvonne