James 4:14-15, "If the Lord wills, we will live
and do this or that."
Matthew 10:29-30, "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."
Deuteronomy 32:39, "See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand." (See Job 1:21;1Sa 2:6; 2Ki 5:7)
Matthew 10:29-30, "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."
Deuteronomy 32:39, "See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand." (See Job 1:21;1Sa 2:6; 2Ki 5:7)
Curses and divination do not hold sway against God's
people.
Numbers 23:23, "There is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel."
The
plans of terrorists and hostile nations do not succeed apart from our gracious
God.
Psalm 33:10, "The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples." (Spurgeon's comment )
Isaiah 8:9, 10, "Take counsel together [you peoples], but it will come to nothing; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us." (See 2Sa 7:14; Neh 4:15)
Man
cannot harm us beyond God's gracious will for us.
God
promises to protect his own from all that is not finally good for
them.
Psalm 91:14, "Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name." (Spurgeon's comment )
God
promises to give us all we need to obey, enjoy, and honor him
forever.
Matthew 6:31 (note) "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' . . . Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
Philippians 4:19 (note) "And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."
God
is never taken off guard.
God
will be with us, help us, and uphold us in trouble.
Isaiah 41:10, "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
Isaiah 41:13, "For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, 'Fear not, I am the one who helps you.'"
Terrors will come, some of us will die, but not a hair of our heads
will perish.
Luke
21:10, 11, 18, "Then [Jesus] said to them, '. . . there will
be terrors (!) and great signs from heaven. . . . and some of you they will put
to death. . . . But not a hair of your head will perish.'"
Nothing
befalls God's own but in its appointed hour.
John
7:30, "So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on
him, because his hour had not yet come." (Cp John
8:20; 10:18)
When
God Almighty is your helper, none can harm you beyond what he
decrees.
Hebrews 13:6 (note),
"So we can confidently say, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can
man do to me?'"
Romans 8:31 (note), "If God is for us, who can be against us?"
Romans 8:31 (note), "If God is for us, who can be against us?"
God's faithfulness is based on the firm value of his name, not the
fickle measure of our obedience.
1Sa
12:20, 21, 22, "And Samuel said to the people, 'Do not be
afraid; you have done all this evil. . . . For the Lord will not forsake his
people, for his great name's sake.'"
The
Lord, our protector, is great and awesome.
Neh 4:14, Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome.
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For the believer, “death is swallowed up in victory” (1Co
15:54), because for a believer death simply releases us into the presence of
our Lord.
Spurgeon in fact once said that
Your
dying hour will be the best hour you have ever known. Your last moment will be
your richest. Better than the day of your birth will be the day of your death.
It will be the beginning of heaven, the rising of a sun that will never go down
forever. Let the fear of death be banished by faith in a living
Savior.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death
I fear no evil For Thou art with me.
Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me Psalm 23:4
I fear no evil For Thou art with me.
Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me Psalm 23:4
Spurgeon has these comments on Psalm 23:4 (ref)...
Yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:
for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. This
unspeakably delightful verse has been sung on many a dying bed, and has helped
to make the dark valley bright times out of mind. Every word in it has a wealth
of meaning.
Yea, though I walk, as if the believer did not quicken his pace when he came to die, but still calmly walked with God. To walk indicates the steady advance of a soul which knows its road, knows its end, resolves to follow the path, feels quite safe, and is therefore perfectly calm and composed. The dying saint is not in a flurry, he does not run as though he were alarmed, nor stand still as though he would go no further, he is not confounded nor ashamed, and therefore keeps to his old pace. Observe that it is not walking in the valley, but through the valley. We go through the dark tunnel of death and emerge into the light of immortality. We do not die, we do but sleep to wake in glory.
Yea, though I walk, as if the believer did not quicken his pace when he came to die, but still calmly walked with God. To walk indicates the steady advance of a soul which knows its road, knows its end, resolves to follow the path, feels quite safe, and is therefore perfectly calm and composed. The dying saint is not in a flurry, he does not run as though he were alarmed, nor stand still as though he would go no further, he is not confounded nor ashamed, and therefore keeps to his old pace. Observe that it is not walking in the valley, but through the valley. We go through the dark tunnel of death and emerge into the light of immortality. We do not die, we do but sleep to wake in glory.
Death
is not the house but the porch,
not the goal but the passage to it.
not the goal but the passage to it.
The
dying article is called a valley. The storm breaks on the mountain, but the
valley is the place of quietude, and thus full often the last days of the
Christian are the most peaceful of his whole career; the mountain is bleak and
bare, but the valley is rich with golden sheaves, and many a saint has reaped
more joy and knowledge when he came to die than he ever knew while he lived.
And, then, it is not "the valley of death," but the valley of the shadow of
death, for death in its substance has been removed, and only the shadow of it
remains. Some one has said that when there is a shadow there must be light
somewhere, and so there is. Death stands by the side of the highway in which we
have to travel, and the light of heaven shining upon him throws a shadow across
our path; let us then rejoice that there is a light beyond. Nobody is afraid of
a shadow, for a shadow cannot stop a man's pathway even for a moment. The shadow
of a dog cannot bite; the shadow of a sword cannot kill; the shadow of death
cannot destroy us. Let us not, therefore, be afraid.
I will fear no evil. He does not say there shall not be any evil; he had got beyond even that high assurance, and knew that Jesus had put all evil away; but "I will fear no evil;" as if even his fears, those shadows of evil, were gone for ever. The worst evils of life are those which do not exist except in our imagination. If we had no troubles but real troubles, we should not have a tenth part of our present sorrows. We feel a thousand deaths in fearing one, but the psalmist was cured of the disease of fearing. "I will fear no evil", not even the Evil One himself; I will not dread the last enemy, I will look upon him as a conquered foe, an enemy to be destroyed,
For thou art with me. This is the joy of the Christian! "Thou art with me." The little child out at sea in the storm is not frightened like all the other passengers on board the vessel, it sleeps in its mother's bosom; it is enough for it that its mother is with it; and it should be enough for the believer to know that Christ is with him. "Thou art with me; I have, in having thee, all that I can crave: I have perfect comfort and absolute security, for thou art with me."
Thy rod and thy staff, by which you govern and rule your flock, the ensigns of your sovereignty and of your gracious care -- they comfort me. I will believe that thou reignest still. The rod of Jesse shall still be over me as the sovereign succour of my soul.
Many persons profess to receive much comfort from the hope that they shall not die. Certainly there will be some who will be "alive and remain" at the coming of the Lord, but is there so very much of advantage in such an escape from death as to make it the object of Christian desire? A wise man might prefer of the two to die, for those who shall not die, but who "shall be caught up together with the Lord in the air," will be losers rather than gainers. They will lose that actual fellowship with Christ in the tomb which dying saints will have, and we are expressly told that they shall have no preference beyond those who are asleep. Let us be of Paul's mind when he said that "To die is gain", and think of "departing to be with Christ, which is far better." This twenty-third psalm is not worn out, and it is as sweet in a believer's ear now as it was in David's time, let novelty hunters say what they will. 2). FEAR OF FAILURE:
I will fear no evil. He does not say there shall not be any evil; he had got beyond even that high assurance, and knew that Jesus had put all evil away; but "I will fear no evil;" as if even his fears, those shadows of evil, were gone for ever. The worst evils of life are those which do not exist except in our imagination. If we had no troubles but real troubles, we should not have a tenth part of our present sorrows. We feel a thousand deaths in fearing one, but the psalmist was cured of the disease of fearing. "I will fear no evil", not even the Evil One himself; I will not dread the last enemy, I will look upon him as a conquered foe, an enemy to be destroyed,
For thou art with me. This is the joy of the Christian! "Thou art with me." The little child out at sea in the storm is not frightened like all the other passengers on board the vessel, it sleeps in its mother's bosom; it is enough for it that its mother is with it; and it should be enough for the believer to know that Christ is with him. "Thou art with me; I have, in having thee, all that I can crave: I have perfect comfort and absolute security, for thou art with me."
Thy rod and thy staff, by which you govern and rule your flock, the ensigns of your sovereignty and of your gracious care -- they comfort me. I will believe that thou reignest still. The rod of Jesse shall still be over me as the sovereign succour of my soul.
Many persons profess to receive much comfort from the hope that they shall not die. Certainly there will be some who will be "alive and remain" at the coming of the Lord, but is there so very much of advantage in such an escape from death as to make it the object of Christian desire? A wise man might prefer of the two to die, for those who shall not die, but who "shall be caught up together with the Lord in the air," will be losers rather than gainers. They will lose that actual fellowship with Christ in the tomb which dying saints will have, and we are expressly told that they shall have no preference beyond those who are asleep. Let us be of Paul's mind when he said that "To die is gain", and think of "departing to be with Christ, which is far better." This twenty-third psalm is not worn out, and it is as sweet in a believer's ear now as it was in David's time, let novelty hunters say what they will. 2). FEAR OF FAILURE:
And so you reason that it is
safer not to do anything, concluding "If I do it I will fail" and you become
effectively immobilized. Click illustration of paralyzing effect of fear.
A W Pink adds that
Fear is the result of distrust, of taking the eye off God, of
being unduly occupied with difficulties and troubles." (from An Exposition of
Hebrews, page 808) (Click devotional)
When the servant of God obeys and trusts the Word of God,
he or she need not fear failure. 1 Kings 19 records the http://www.preceptaustin.org/how_to_handle_fear_(1).htm
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