Do Not Be Afraid

Quick. What is, by far, God's most frequent command?

The usual suspects include "Do not commit adultery," "Have no other gods before me," and "Love one another." The next group includes whatever commands you know you have violated, in which case they only feel as if they appear on every page of Scripture.

The actual answer is "Do not be afraid."

Here is a sampling (italics added) of its over three hundred occurrences.

After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward" (Gen 15:1).

God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there" (Gen 21:17).

That night the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you" (Gen. 26:24).

"I am God, the God of your father," he said. "Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there" (Gen. 46:3).

The LORD said to Moses, "Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you, with his whole army and his land" (Num. 21:34).

The angel of the LORD said to Elijah, "Go down with him; do not be afraid of him" (2 Kings 1:15).

He said: "Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's'" (2 Chron. 20:15).

Be careful, keep calm and don't be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood -- because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah (Isa. 7:4).

"Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you," declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel (Isa. 41:14).

Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one (Isa. 44:8).

Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood (Isa. 54:4).

"Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD (Jer. 1:8).

Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them" (Dan. 10:12).

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul (Matt. 10:28).

But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid" (Matt. 14:27).

Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me" (Matt. 28:10).

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (John 14:27).

Now envision pages more of such references. Do you get the sense that God is alert to your fears? The sheer number of times He speaks to your fears says that He cares much more than you know.

~ Adapted from Running Scared by Ed Welch

Mortifying Sin

• When you meditate on the mercy and compassion of Christ, the mighty Maker who died in your place...
• When you remember that your ransom was purchased at the price of His precious blood...
• When you consider the cost of the gifts you have received through the cross - wisdom, righteousness, holiness, sonship, redemption, and future resurrection to glory forever...
• When you reflect on the salvation and safety that your Brother, your Captain, and your King has secured for you...
• When you realize that God is more satisfied with Jesus' obedience than He was grieved by your sins...
• When you ponder the pain and the shame of the scourging and scoffing, the spitting and mocking, the crown of thorns and the nails in His hands, and all the cruel wounds He received on your behalf...
• When you understand that you are not only acquitted but accepted as fully righteous in God's sight, perfect in the eyes of the law, because the full measure of divine wrath was poured out on Jesus for you, and His obedience has been counted as yours...
• When your heart is filled with the glories of His triumph over Satan, sin, and death...
• When your affections are captured anew by the self-sacrificing love of the Lord and Lover of your soul...

... then you will discover that the stranglehold of sin on your heart has grown weaker, that sin is less alluring, and that your fallen desires have been displaced by desires for God, His glory, and His grace.

~ Brian G. Hedges, Licensed to Kill: A Field Manual for Mortifying Sin, p. 82

Ways of Praying the Psalms

If you missed the first night of Thrive, here are some of the key notes from Ann's talk (below). Also, if you missed some of Erin's homiletics notes, you can download those here. If you want to print more homiletics worksheets, you can find those here.

Prayer is “answering speech”, responding to God’s Word to us. The goal of praying the psalms is to make them our own prayers, using God’s language to respond to Him.

Ways of praying the Psalms – 6 methods or approaches (God’s Prayer Program, by T.M. Moore)

• verbatim – praying the psalm as written, reading aloud, reflecting as you go (you need to be familiar with what the psalm beforehand)
• paraphrase – when words don’t fit your life exactly, but suggest something very similar read as written, prayerfully considering how it applies to your own situation put into your own words, using words that seem appropriate to you
• praying over – similar to paraphrasing, summarize sections of psalm, applying to your own life as you go; allow HS to prompt, move you in related, but new directions
• responsive – read/pray the psalm, respond to matters raised as HS guides; establish a dialogue with God as He speaks from His Word
• guided --‐ let the verses of the psalm suggest a topic and pray for as many specific applications of that topic as the Lord brings to mind
• altogether--‐ using a variety of the above approaches, back and forth, letting the content of the psalm direct you We have the perfect Teacher in the language of prayer; the main obstacle is our own lack of desire

We learn to speak God’s language in prayers as a toddler learns language of his parent, must be practiced, builds relationship over time, shapes us. Some of these primary “vertical habits” of prayer are:

“I love you”

“I’m sorry”

“Thank you”

“Help!”

“Why?”

“I’m listening”

“What can I do?”

“Bless you”

Psalm 119 Summertime Reading Challenge

By Kim. M.


I have been thinking about my 10th grade girls in youth and thinking back over our year together. One recurring prayer request from each of them has been to be more consistent in their quiet times and to have a greater desire for God’s Word. What a great request! As I have reflected on this request, it’s made me consider: if we each REALLY deep down believe the marvelous power and benefit of God’s Word on our lives, why we wouldn’t we want to drink it in daily?

I have been reading in Psalm 119 this month and it is OVERFLOWING with all the practical benefits of God’s Word to our daily lives. I want to challenge you to do something with me over the summer. It won’t take long each day, but I believe the benefits will be long lasting!  I have made a reading plan for the summer and I am going to include a section from Psalm 119 in my daily reading. If I follow the plan, then I will read and meditate on Psalm 119 three times this summer.  I am going to use a different Bible translation each month. After each day’s reading, I am going to ask myself 3 questions:

1. What did I learn about God and His Word?
2. What do I learn about me?
3. What should my response be to what I have read? (What are the action verbs?)

I would love for each of you to join me in this challenge and share what you are learning!!

Psalm 119 Summertime Reading Challenge

June 1	1 -8	July 1	65-72	August 1	137-144
June 2	9-16	July 2	73-80	August 2	145-152
June 3	17-24	July 3	81-88	August 3	153-160
June 4	25 -32	July 4	89-96	August 4	161-168
June 5	33 -40	July 5	97-104	August 5	169-176
June 6	41-48	July 6	105-112	August 6	1-8
June 7	49-56	July 7	113-120	August 7	9-16
June 8	57-64	July 8	121-128	August 8	17-24
June 9	65-72	July 9	129-136	August 9	25-32
June 10	73-80	July 10	137-144	August 10	33-40
June 11	81-88	July 11	145-152	August 11	41-48
June 12	89-96	July 12	153-160	August 12	49-56
June 13	97-104	July 13	161-168	August 13	57-64
June 14	105-112	July 14	169-176	August 14	65-72
June 15	113-120	July 15	1-8	August 15	73-80
June 16	121-128	July 16	9-16	August 16	81-88
June 17	129-136	July 17	17-24	August 17	89-96
June 18	137-144	July 18	25-32	August 18	97-104
June 19	145-152	July 19	33-40	August 19	105-112
June 20	153-160	July 20	41-48	August 20	113-120
June 21	161-168	July 21	49-56	August 21	121-128
June 22	169-176	July 22	57-64	August 22	129-136
June 23	1-8	July 23	65-72	August 23	137-144
June 24	9-16	July 24	73-80	August 24	145-152
June 25	17-24	July 25	81-88	August 25	153-160
June 26	25-32	July 26	89-96	August 26	161-168
June 27	33-40	July 27	97-104	August 27	169-176
June 28	41-48	July 28	105-112
June 29	49-56	July 29	113-120
June 30	57-64	July 30	121-128
		July 31	129-136