Fear

Every man and woman has gone through times of fear. Sometimes we even enjoy being afraid like when we sit and watch a movie that is scary. We sit watching with excitement and anticipation, sometimes even shouting at the person in the movie, "No, don't go there!" as though they will heed our warnings. After the movie with our hearts racing and maybe our bodies shaking we say, "What a good movie." But then we must leave the safe confines of our living room or movie theater and go out into the world where fears are not make believe but can paralyze us and control us. It can be the fear of rejection, failure, death, evil spirits, the evil eye, or the evil curse. There are some fears that we have that might be called good fears or healthy fears that protect us, such as the fear of snakes or sometimes the fear of failure which can motivate us to work harder. Fear can be our friend or our enemy. This article is to address those fears that keep us entangled and prevent us from accomplishing our tasks and steal our peace. The fears that we have are created by different attitudes or circumstances such as the lack of knowledge, the unknown, insecurity, low self-esteem, and feelings of weakness or lack of control. The person with low self-esteem may have the fear of failure so he/she refuses to take chances or attempt anything of difficulty because of the possibility of not succeeding. Others may fear confrontation with other people because of a sense of weakness or insecurity. Many people have a fear of death or dying because they do not know what is beyond death. They lie in bed at night wondering what will happen when they die. A common fear among the educated and the uneducated is the fear of evil spirits or curses and the evil eye. People make sacrifices or offerings trying to appease this evil being that they are afraid is haunting them or seeks to harm them. They employ other people to perform some ritual in order to take away this evil curse that has been placed on them. Whatever the cause of the fear, we must learn to deal with it or disarm it.

Disarming Fear

The difficulty in dealing with our fears is that it begins in the mind and heart. It cannot be shut down like a computer when we go to bed. Sometimes our fears even invade our sleep through dreams. We may escape our thoughts for a brief period, but in that moment of quietness they remind us that they are still there. The word of God can be our guidebook for dealing with fear, for in it we find strength, courage, and hope. God's word says, "Perfect love casts out all fear." Many people relate to God out of fear and not love. They fear God or better stated, are afraid of God, so they make rash promises hoping to satisfy God. The Bible tells us in many places to fear God but this means to reverence God. It means to hold God in great respect or awe as the Creator. Parents want their child to respect them, but not be afraid of them because there is no love in a relationship based on fear. So also with God, He never intended for man/woman to relate to Him out of fear or being afraid of Him. God desires a relationship of love and He is the one who has initiated the contact. God took the first step in restoring man's broken relationship with Him caused by man's sin through His Son Jesus Christ. God loved mankind when He sent His Son Jesus to die for the sins of the world and thereby making a way for the relationship between man and God to be mended. God's purpose was that through Jesus' death and resurrection, those who received and followed Jesus would live in a love relationship with Him. This is the "perfect love" that is spoken about in the above phrase and this love casts out all fear. The fear of death is taken away because Jesus conquered sin and death. Fear of evil spirits or curses or any form of evil influence is taken away because Jesus conquered Satan and all evil spirits. One of the by-products of fear is loneliness, that horrible feeling of isolation or that feeling that you are all alone in this situation of fear. Jesus' own words to those who choose to follow Him bring comfort, "I will never leave you or abandon you." The person who chooses to follow Jesus will never face fear by himself/herself because Jesus will always be with him/her. So when dealing with fear pay attention to the word of God. Here are some of the words of God that we find in the Bible that can help us deal with fear:" So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." "When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me? "Jesus said, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." The first step in overcoming fear is to look to God through Jesus Christ. Jesus is Lord of all and we can trust Him. Seek His guidance in dealing with your fear. And remember, if you choose to follow Him; He will never leave you but will always be with you. As you seek His guidance try to understand the basis of your fear. It may be because of the lack of knowledge that can be remedied by finding the facts. Seek to find out the root cause of your fear, whether it is insecurity, low self-esteem, a past trauma, or other reasons. From that point seek God's guidance in uprooting that fear. You can also memorize one or two of the sayings of God's word written above to remind yourself of God's presence when you are afraid. Above all remember the words written about God that are found in the Bible, "Put all your worries on Him because He cares for you."

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Relationships

Our relationships can be very intricate. They can be joyful, stressful, disappointing, and/or rewarding. Relationships are constantly changing because of marriage, work, transfers, aging, or death. The management of all of these can at times be difficult, complicated, and confusing. How can we learn to better relate to the friends, family, and associates around us? The Bible can help us learn how to deal with the people in our circle of relationships in a more fulfilling way.

Love God; Love Others
Jesus said that the two most important commandments of God were to love God with all of our heart and mind and the second was to love our neighbor. The Bible teaches that there is no other love greater than God's love for us shown through His Son Jesus Christ. So if God loved us, we ought to love others.

The Bible says:
"If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen." The essential truth of the Bible is, the way we love God will be the way we love the people on this earth. You cannot separate your love for God from your love for others. So the most important relationship we have is our relationship to God because all other relationships hinge or depend on that one. With God, it is about a relationship with Him rather than religion or religious duties. As you begin to grow in your relationship with God and you learn to love Him, He will begin to teach you about how you should love others. The key ingredient for successful relationships is love - God's love. As you learn to love as God loves, you will learn forgiveness, patience, kindness, respect, self-control, unselfishness, and commitment. It will be God's love shown through you.

God will show:
The husband how to best love his wife and the wife her husband
You how to love your children
You how to love and honor your parents
How to become a better worker or boss

How to Relate to God?
The way that we relate to God is through Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to God the Father except through Me." If you desire a relationship with God, it begins with Jesus. The best relationships, whether it is in marriage, friendship, family, or employment, are centered in God through His Son Jesus Christ.

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Loneliness

Are You Lonely?
Loneliness affects us all. It plagues the refugee as well as the retired elderly pensioner, the middle-aged housewife to that of the businessman who travels from place to place. Everyone knows what it is like to feel rejected or dejected sometimes. In spite of all the success in life - a good job, promising future, a caring family, one can still feel alone- even among many friends! The effects of loneliness can be observed through the steady rise in broken relationships, divorce, and alarming rates of suicide!

There is Hope.
Whoever you are, whatever situation you face, God looks on you. This is the foundation of God's answer to your loneliness. So, turn to God.
His word says:
"My flesh and heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
The successful solution to loneliness lies in pursuing 2 essential goals:
1 Dependence upon God
2 Self-discipline

Depend upon God.
The key to your victory over loneliness is dependence upon God.
Again, His word says: "The Lord is my helper and I will not fear. What can man do to me?" The promise of God is for you also! God is with you right now. Though you may say "I do not feel as if He is!" His word is true and not based on our feelings. So winning over loneliness does not start with feelings. It starts with the central fact that GOD IS WITH YOU! God says: "I will be with you, I will not fail or forsake you."

Self-discipline
Discipline can withstand all kinds of challenges. You need basic strength in your emotional life, so that unexpected massive changes, like the death of loved ones, the betrayal of a friend or the bankruptcy of a business, would not sabotage your joy and sense of well being. Your emotions need to be in good health in order to take the jolts and disappointments of life. But where do you get strength for controlling your emotional life? It comes from Jesus Christ.

The Bible says:
"I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me." When we follow Jesus, He strengthens us to deal with those lonely times and helps us to work through those situations. It does not matter what causes your loneliness, depend upon God and He will be your help in all situations.

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Success

How do you define success? When do you feel that you have been successful or have succeeded? There are many standards that people hold for measuring success. In general, today's mark of success is determined by the rupee, fame, a person's position in a company or office, and/or possessions. Even the dictionary defines success by these standards. The TV commercials mesmerize us by telling us what the successful person looks like, drives, and eats with the flash of the credit card. If we give a simple definition of success to be the accomplishment of one's goals or wishes, then we would even have to say that the criminal or terrorist is successful if he completes his evil plot. Success can come and go. One moment you are successful and the next, failure looks you in the eye. We have all heard of a wealthy person being reduced to bankruptcy in a matter of days or hours because of a bad decision or matters beyond his/her control. There is the sports hero that is made to be a common player by one untimely injury. A great politician can be removed from office because of the shame brought on by a scandal. We cannot dwell on today's success because tomorrow may hold a different story. So what should be used as the gauge for success? Or whose measurement should we use? Each person determines what success is by what is in his/her heart. If greed, pride, or selfish ambition is there, then when wealth and power are obtained, one considers that success has been obtained also. But the only foolproof measurement for success is what God says. God's definition for success is obedience to Him. The businessperson with hundreds of employees is successful because he/she obeys God, not because of his/her position. The rickshawalla is just as successful if he obeys and follows God. Jesus said, "What benefit is there for someone who gains the whole world but loses his own soul?" The success we should seek is not the acquisition of material gain, but success in the heart and our relationship with God. God does not say that acquiring material wealth is wrong, but His concern is with the attitude of the heart. With success comes responsibility. A wise man once said, "Honor the Lord with your wealth." One should ask himself, "How do I use the wealth I have?" not "How much do I have?" or "How do I treat my employees or those under my authority?" and not "How many do I have?" Success is being a person of integrity, truthfulness, and honesty. Do you want to be remembered as a wealthy person who was a cheat and dishonest? There is a proverb that says that a good reputation is to be sought more than riches. Many parents wish to leave their children an inheritance, and this is a good thing; but do we leave them an inheritance of a good name and reputation? Have we left them an inheritance of integrity, justice, and honesty? When we are successful at the expense of others, we have become selfish. Many people have sought to succeed with no regard for others, only to lose their family and friends, their health, and sometimes even their own lives. But when we follow God and are successful, it will lead others to success. We should seek to better ourselves in all aspects of life. We should work hard at what we do, and with that we are sometimes rewarded by promotions, authority, or wealth. We should seek to be successful in that we are respected for doing good, honest work. But as we do this, we should seek to be successful in God's eyes, by His standards. His measurement of success is obedience to Him. Obedience to God may not always be rewarded with material wealth, but it will always bring His best, because He seeks our best. And God's best is always greater that anything the world has to offer. The material wealth we accumulate on earth is temporary, but God seeks to give us a wealth that will not rust, rot, or disappear. The wealth God wants to give us is eternal wealth. True success is seeking God and following Him. Following God and obeying Him leads to eternal rewards that no bankruptcy or thief can touch.

Here are some helpful words about being successful:
"Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold."
"Wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her."
"Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf."
"Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow."
"Better a little with the fear of the Lord, Than great wealth with turmoil."
"All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."
"Better a poor man whose walk is blameless than a rich man whose ways are perverse."

Jesus said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

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Hope

Often we use the phrase, "I hope so" when we have high expectations or desires that something will be accomplished or will take place. The hope that we have is based on or depends on some other person, some event, and sometimes ourselves. Many people rationalize that there is no hope for them in their present state so they conclude that suicide is the only escape from their current circumstance. Some people think that if they were someone else, maybe an actor, a sports hero, a great politician, or an intellectual they would have a better life. They may rely on beauty, wealth, possessions, friendships, or other outward effects for their self-worth. But they will find that these bring only a temporary fulfillment, happiness, and hope. Most people are searching not only for hope in this world but also for life after death. We wonder about what is beyond death and where we might end up. We might even say, "I hope that I have lived a life good enough to be accepted by God or to remain in a peaceful state in the afterlife." But even then there is doubt and we wonder if one can really know. The key for finding true hope is the object or source of your hope. For example, people sometimes put their hope in money or wealth. One wise man said "do not fix your hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy." He was not saying that there is anything inherently wrong with riches but it is a very shaky place to put your hope. A better and more secure place is in God. This example could be used for those who put their hopes in people, fame, possessions, or positions in society. All of these may be good but they are too uncertain to be the basis of our hope. So we learn that the only true hope for the present life and the one to come is God. The Bible tells us to "hope in God" and to put our hope in "His unfailing love." Hope in God brings security because God never fails us. Jesus said to His followers that He would never leave them or forsake them. That is a secure hope for the present and the future. If our hope is in God then the changing circumstances that we find ourselves in cannot alter that hope because it is based on the all powerful and loving God who cares for us. When circumstances are good we have hope, and when the situation seems bleak we have hope as well, because God is not threatened by difficult situations. The Bible describes this as a "living hope." This "living hope" is because of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. Jesus is not a dead Savior and Lord but the living Lord resurrected from the dead. Because He lives we can face seemingly hopeless or difficult moments in life. There is always hope for those who follow and trust in Jesus. In Jesus there is a hope for this life and life after death; the Bible calls this hope eternal life. The Bible says that the person who believes in Jesus Christ the Son of God can know that he/she has eternal life (1 John 5:13). Eternal life is life with God after death. But this living hope that God gives is hope for the present life we live as well as life after death. So where do you place your hope? There is a hope that rests in the heart of man that comes from God and brings peace and security in all stages and storms of life. No matter what your circumstances or the obstacles you face in life, there is always hope in God. This hope comes through Jesus Christ who loved you and died for you but was resurrected from the dead so that you could have a living and eternal hope.

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Peace

The crying need of today's world is peace. Our daily newspapers carry news of killing, war, hatred, rape, disturbances, and many other evil things that do not bring peace to our minds. We also find that efforts have been made by world leaders to bring peace and harmony among the nations but they have met with little or no results. There is hardly any country whose peace has not been shattered in someway. There is no perfect absolute peace anywhere, though people are desperately searching for it. Conferences, summits, and seminars are being held periodically, yet the absolute peace of nations is far away. What may be the reason for such failure in spite of tremendous human effort? It seems that the more we discuss peace the more hatred and killings increase! A certain man had a beautiful lawn. One fine morning he discovered some thorn bushes had sprung up. He immediately cut the unwanted grasses and threw them away. But he did not remove the roots of the thorn bushes, so very soon the lawn was again full of thorn bushes. While trying to find a solution for peace we are looking only at the surface of the problem. We need to look to the root of the problem. There are two types of peace. One is that which the Lord Jesus gives to whoever accepts him as his or her savior. To do this one must acknowledge one's sin and seek forgiveness from God. The Bible states "The blood of Jesus, God's son, cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7) The peace of Jesus reigns supreme in the life of a forgiven sinner. The other type of peace is that which the world gives. It is false and temporary. In contrast, Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace and he gives us the peace, which lasts forever. Lord Jesus pronounced to his disciples "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you, not as the world gives do I give you. Let your hearts be not troubled. Neither let them be afraid." (John 14:27) God freely gives his grace to all who rely on his word. For they have learned the secret of his infinite supply of peace. We can expect God's peace when we accept God's grace, which is shown to us through his son Jesus Christ- The Prince of Peace. If you are searching for everlasting peace, there is only one answer. You can find peace at the feet of the Prince of Peace- the Lord Jesus Christ who says, "My peace I give to you."

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