Morning Devotional
May 13, 2005
"Without Fear" 
    by Don Emmitte

Praise the LORD! Happy are those who fear the LORD. Yes, happy are those who delight in doing what he commands. Their children will be successful everywhere; an entire generation of godly people will be blessed. They themselves will be wealthy, and their good deeds will never be forgotten. When darkness overtakes the godly, light will come bursting in. They are generous, compassionate, and righteous. All goes well for those who are generous, who lend freely and conduct their business fairly. Such people will not be overcome by evil circumstances. Those who are righteous will be long remembered. They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the LORD to care for them. They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly. (Psalm 112:1-8 NLT).

 

This series is titled “Without Fear” and we are going to be discussing the issue of fear. In my ministry and in my own life it seems that fear is a negative motivating factor keeping most of us from living productive Christian lives. In fact, if you have been around me any time at all, you probably have heard me say, “Outward circumstance must not determine inward happiness.” I do know that is much easier to say than do, but it is never the less true.

 

Often we find ourselves afraid of this world. This is reflected in the Scripture. In fact, in every Book of the Bible, we are told not to be afraid. When Jesus appeared to the disciples, He often told them, “Do not be afraid!” Often when an angel first appeared to man in the Bible the first words from the angel was to have “no fear”. Surely, God is trying to teach us something about fear and our response to it in life.

 

 

Ask yourself these questions as we begin this series. Are you afraid? Are areas of your life being held captive by fear? Is fear of something keeping you from realizing the potential to live in peace that God intends for His children? If the answers to any of these questions are “yes” in your life, then let me ask a final question. Would you like to be able to live by today’s verse? Would you like to be able to be free of the fear of bad news, because you are confidently trusting in the Lord? If so, hang on this week and let’s see what God’s Word might teach us.

 

Before I close this devotional, I probably need to give some indication of where the direction this series is going, and if you’ve been reading very long, then you already suspect the answer. In fact, the Psalmist already answered our question. How are we going to remove fear? We are going to “confidently trust the LORD to care” for us. We’ll build on that principle this week, but until tomorrow, why don’t you and I start trying to implement that truth into our life today? I know it will do me good!