a little summer Vlogging

You can find this audio book club series over in The Room to Read!

But He said to them...

"But He said to them, 
"It is I; do not be afraid."

                                                                                     

Many times, the most fearful of situations and circumstances has Jesus written all over it.

How different it would be.

What a difference it would make in our hearts...

in our life...

if we could, in the midst of our fear, have the ears to hear Him say...

"It is I, do not be afraid."

It's not so much the circumstance,

as it is Jesus.

Presenting Himself to us in the midst of it.

Fear has the ability to blind us from seeing Jesus.

Fear distorts our vision.

It closes, not only our eyes to Jesus, but also our hearts and minds to Him as well.

We respond to the fear with the very thing fear feeds upon the most... our flesh.

Fear gets fat when we operate in the flesh.

It starves when we are walking in the Spirit.

I love the narrative that follows the declaration of

  "It is I; do not be afraid."

It says...

 "So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, 

and immediately

the boat was at the land to which they were going."

Am I, are you, willing to receive Him into the boats that are our particular lives?

Into our hearts?

Not placing our trust in the circumstance, the fear, or our own flesh.

But placing our trust in Him and in His Word to us...

"It is I, do not fear."

This being willing to receive is not just our initial receiving of Him at salvation.

This being willing to receive is an ever present continuous action, 

for every moment of every day,

until we take our final breath here on planet earth.

Yes,

our salvation at that one moment in time has secured our place with Him in heaven.

But it is our daily,

moment by moment willingness to receive Him here and now,

 that ensures the immediacy of our very heart, mind and soul stepping with solidity upon the shores of our promised land...right now!

Right where we are this very minute!

What is this promised land amid the fears and circumstances of life?

It is the land we have been given to reside in,

and live off the bounty of NOW!

The land of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

It's a land Whose shores can only be reached through the hearing and willing receiving of The Very Word of God...

"It is I, do not be afraid."

Many times, the most fearful of situations and circumstances has Jesus written all over it.