Trust and do Not Be Afraid

The dreadful 2020 has found its end! A start of a new year brings hope and assurance that it will not be the same as the previous year. At least, that’s how I feel.

God has always been my salvation and He made me overcome fear in 2020. I’ve always trusted in God’s deliverance, so my focus by the middle of Summer 2020 was no longer the pandemic. The Lord has always been giving me the strength and His power always delivers to overcome fear. I surely was fearful when Corona virus hit and spread in the U.S., and many concerns and worries got me somehow petrified. However, I started to deal with fear in a healthy way. I trusted God and I refused to allow fear to dominate my life.

If God takes care of the birds in the sky, what more with us who He created in His own image. According to the Holy Bible, He has loved us through the ages. We are His perfect creation. To God, we are more valuable than the sparrows. Just like Jesus disciples who cried for help when their ship was filling up with water and it was about to capsize; I came to God for help in fervent prayers. It’s the whole world being overcome by a deadly virus. It was making me somehow anxious. But then I remember what Jesus said to His disciples: “why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” He was with them on the boat. Faith was with them. He promised His followers that He will be with them even at the end of the ages. Jesus, as well as God, is a Promise Keeper. He got me through a lot of struggles and trials in life. Wouldn’t He not come through for me now? Of course, every time; He never fails! I held on to God’s promises and there are as many as enumerated in the scriptures of the Holy Bible. 1 John 5:4 said I am an overcomer. “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”

For God will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly diseases. He will cover you with His feathers. He will shelter you with His wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

This is a promise to those that love Him and obey His commands and instructions; to those that are focused on Him, to those that trust Him and His Word. To those that faithfully spread His Good News of Salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:9 said “God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” In 2020, with prayer and supplication and thanksgiving, I maintained holding unswervingly on to the hope I profess, for I believe that God who promised is faithful. And He is! For God has not given me a spirit of fear. Fear does not come from Him. (2 Timothy 1:7) God has told those who love Him over 100 times in His Word not to be afraid. He tells us not to fear because He is in control. He is our refuge and strength.

God is saying “Do not be distressed or discouraged for He is with those who follow and obey and love Him. He will give you His strength through the storms of life. He will comfort you and sustain you and hold you on the palm of His hand.”

Do you know that God ranks us second under His angel armies?

Hebrews 2:7-9 explains that when Jesus became a man, He was made lower than the angels in the sense that He took on human flesh. He was still God. He was God in human flesh. He was temporarily lower than the angels because He took on human form. Therefore, Hebrews 2:7-9 implies that humans are made lower than the angels. Some day those who believe in Jesus Christ and follow Him will judge the angels. The saints of the ages will judge the angels. This will occur not while we are made of flesh and bone. It will occur only after we receive our new heavenly bodies. This is a future event that will occur during the millennial kingdom which is the time that Christ will rule and reign as king (Zechariah 14:9-21). In the sense that Christians will judge angels, they will be greater than angels.
Are we equal, lower, or higher than the angels? | NeverThirsty

Jesus did not only leave and give His disciples peace, but He has given them and His followers who have put their trust in Him, His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit reveals God’s thoughts, teaches, and guides believers into all truth, including knowledge of what is to come. The Holy Spirit also helps Christians in their weakness and intercedes for them.

“Though our problems may be rooted in the physical, these do not have the power to overcome the Spirit of God within us. When we walk in the Spirit, the flesh has no power over us. That includes our physical minds. If you are in Christ, you have the power to rise above the demands of the flesh, and one of them is fear. The problem with the flesh is it is easily manipulated. This is why we are promised if we walk in the Spirit, the flesh has no power over us. God is Spirit. Through His Spirit we have life. Jesus said in order to be a worshiper of God we must be in Spirit and truth. When we walk in the Spirit, fear cannot remain. It will call and attempt to manipulate us, but the body of sin has been done away with. Since the spirit of fear is depended upon attacking us through the flesh, it has no power over us, unless we submit ourselves to it. The more we live in fear, the more fear takes root in our minds. Living in fear eventually changes our patterns of thinking and we will begin to allow negative emotions to rule our minds. The more our minds are made subject to negative patterns of thinking, the more we allow them to rule.” from: The Promise of a Sound Mind

God gives His followers the Holy Spirit so that we may know Him better. Since the Holy Spirit is God’s Spirit, it knows the thoughts of God and reveals those thoughts to believers. The Holy Spirit opens believers’ eyes to the hope of salvation and the inheritance they have in Christ. “We all have times that we feel weak and don’t know what to do. The Holy Spirit helps us line up with God’s will during those times by interceding for us.

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27). What Does the Holy Spirit Do? 10 Roles in Christian’s Life (christianity.com)

 I’ve banked God’s promises in the vault of my heart the whole time of 2020. He has kept my mind sound and my body healthy. He has given me wisdom on how to take care of myself. The Holy Spirit within me spoke to my senses to not let the news overwhelm me, but follow the sensible instructions on preventing infection. To open my eyes and be aware of deceptions and lies. In doing so, stress would not run my life; nor depression taking ahold in my heart. I believe God and His Word so much that has remained firm; and I’ve retained perseverance in my heart and mind; placing my faith and trust in God and His Son. The Holy Spirit has constantly reminded me of God’s scriptures in the Holy Bible. This new year, I will keep holding on to God’s strength that He gives me each day, for Jesus has promised that I can do all things through Him who strengthens me everyday.