I Am Not Afraid.

I’m not afraid.  

I am not afraid of thunderstorms, heights, dogs, or mice.  They are little things that have been known to startle me (barking dogs and thunderstorms) or make me mad (Rodents of all kinds infuriate me! Tiny little home invaders!).  To say that I am afraid of them would be an exaggeration.  

I am not afraid of ISIS or any terrorist domestic or foreign.  They can beware of me. They have guns; I have prayer. They steal life - precious to me because it represents the days I have here to serve my King and his people.  Yet if they steal it, they have only moved the place I am praying from earth to under the heavenly altar (Revelation 6:9-11). 

I’m not afraid of getting old.  I’m simply accumulating wisdom and the free time to share it. 

I’m not afraid of “the direction our country is headed.”  I’m saddened by many things including the immorality and hardness of heart I see all around me.  I’m also saddened by those who hawk terror as a way to make a profit, win an election or get more shares on Facebook.  Nevertheless I am a part of a different Kingdom, one that is unshaken and unshakeable.

I am not afraid of the past.  It is, for the good or ill, behind me.  Neither yesterday’s sins nor yesterday’s virtue mean anything today.  Today I must fight the good fight.  Today I am not growing weary in well doing.

I am not afraid of losing my salvation.  It was bought at a terrible price, and the only way I could “lose” it would be to reject God, give up on His Son, insult His Spirit, and turn my back on His body.  I know that this is possible, just like it would be possible for me to turn into an ax murderer.  I am not, nor will I ever be, an ax murderer. I’m not turning my back on God either. No way.

I’m not afraid of Satan.  I’m wary (he’s described as a roaring lion after all), but the roar is empty.  God defeated death, Satan’s tool, by raising his son. Jesus sat down at God’s right hand, the reigning King of all creation, stealing away the dominion of the Prince of the Power of the Air.  And when the last trumpet sounds, Satan will be relegated to his rightful place in Hell. Satan was and is defeated.   As for me, when I was raised to a new life in the Son, I was redeemed from my old master and set free to love and follow my new one.  Satan is defeated in me as well. 

I am not afraid.  

I have been set free from my slavery to be adopted as a child of God Almighty (Galatians 4:4-6).

And my Father has not given me “a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Instead of fearing, I will seek the kingdom first.  I will come boldly before the throne of God. I will resist sin and embrace holiness.  I will go into all the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  

I am not afraid.