Do not be afraid…. for He is with you.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble”
Psalm 46:1

“The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.”
Psalms 118:6

The word, “Do not be afraid” in the bible has been mentioned hundreds of times. I am not sure how many but a friend of mine told me that it is mentioned 365 times. I am not astonished with the words, “Do not be afraid”; what makes me more amazed are the words that come after that, “…For I am with you.” You can see so many of these lines in the bible (Mostly in the Old Testament). This was said by God to many of His chosen people in which I will name a few as I go on with the discussion.

He didn’t say
“Do not be afraid for you have the intelligence,”
Or
“Do not be afraid for you have the skills to defeat your enemies”
Or
“Do not be afraid because you are well-built and strong and courageous.”

What he said was
“Do not be afraid because I am with you.”
See how God’s presence can do so much?
Can you see how much God can do just because He is with you?
Without God, do you think Moses will be able to deliver the Israelites out of the Egyptians hands? Without God’s favor, do you think the Israelites would reach the Land the Lord has promised them? Without God, do you think the Israelites would win against other stronger nations? Without God’s favor, do you think Gideon will be able to win the fight against the Philistines? Without the favor of God, do you think a boy shepherd like David could win his fight against the giant fighter Goliath? If you’d ask me, I would say no. Apart from God, there is nothing. Victory comes not in the numbers of battles they’ve won but genuine victory is when God’s favor was upon them. God called the Israelites as his chosen people; what could ever be more rewarding than to be one of God’s people? God is there to rescue us in times of trouble; He is there to oppose the evil hands of the enemies. The enemies shall flee because they know that we are God’s chosen people. We don’t need so many things in this world. We only need God and how will we receive God’s favor? By simply having faith in Him. We can get His favor by believing in Him, by believing in what His son Jesus Christ did for humanity at the cross and if we believe that He fulfills all his promises. God is perfect. He is our armor in battles and he is the greatest protector we could ever have. Apart from God, we die. Death is not the most tragic thing to happen in life, the most tragic is when we exist without even knowing that a living GOD is there to shield us from harm and share our pains and happiness, sorrows and joys, loses and victories. Smile always and do not be afraid for God is with you 
He will have no fear of bad news;
His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
Psalm 112 : 7

God Looks at the Heart, nothing else.

As I start this blog, I would like to tell a story.
There is this weekly gathering in a Church. Everyone is well dressed up until one day; a boy came in to join. He was a young teenager who wore untidy and shaggy clothes. His shirt and jeans were obviously worn out and his slippers were muddy. All eyes were on this boy and believe me, they were looking at him as if he were a criminal or a threat to their safety. When the boy sat in one of the benches at the rightmost corner, many of the people originally sitting there moved to other places. The boy didn’t mind. The mass started and ended just the way it is and before the priest took his exit, he said, “Next week, I want you to read in advance Romans 17:1” The people nodded and then went to their respective homes, including the boy.

When the next meeting came, all the people were there including the boy who still wore the same way he did and sat where he sat last time.
Then the priest asked,
“Who among you have read what I’ve asked you to read?”
Everybody raised their hands except for the boy. All eyes were at him again and the people were looking at the boy as if he had committed murder. The crowd began to whisper and talked about the boy’s behavior. The murmur was getting louder and louder until the priest ordered silence.
The priest then asked, “Why didn’t you read Romans 17:1?”

The boy nervously answered, “Good day sir. Honestly, I tried to look for that chapter and verse in the bible but I didn’t so I wasn’t able to read.”

The priest smiled at the boy and looked at the people,
“This boy is telling the truth, there is no Romans 17:1”

“The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7

This is what makes God a God. God is not a God if He was just looking at the same way the man looks at other people. There maybe some moments in our lives where we tend to judge a person by how he looks or how he stands, how he dresses up or how he speaks; but you know what? We can never tell what’s in a person’s heart. Are we God for us to tell that the person is not living for God? Physical appearance is not important to God, what’s most important to Him is our hearts. It’s not proper to ask “What’s in you heart?” because honestly, it is not a “What” but a “Who is in your heart?” When you see people happy, it’s not actually a “what” that’s in their hearts. The reason why you see believers so happy is because CHRIST is in them. Do you have Christ in your heart? God is not concerned about our riches or fame or whatsoever, he is more concerned about the contents of our hearts. Is your heart filled with anger? Do you find money in it?, Relationships perhaps?, Riches or Fame?, or is your heart filled with so much love for Christ? In prayer, we cannot say that person who says a longer prayer is praying better than the one who prays a short one. In fact, this is not a length-of-prayer contest. Before, when I wasn’t saved and I haven’t accepted Jesus as my Lord, I didn’t actually want to pray. I’ve always thought someone else was better at it and I was not used to do it. I always pushed someone to lead us in prayer, most of the times I refused. But I want you to know that there is no right or wrong prayer; only sincere and insincere ones. A prayer is a conversation with God. You can actually tell God just about anything under the sun. Prayer is one way of worshipping God and God is well pleased with those who worship and honor him whole heartedly. In singing Christian songs, you can’t actually tell that a person who raises his hands and closes his eyes is better than the worshipper who just stands at the corner. We don’t know what is in a person’s heart, but God does. He knows what we feel, what we desire, what we know, what we want, he knows just about everything about us. The heart is the core of being human and the soul is the core of our being. In the heart, we feel pain, happiness, grief, satisfaction, joy, loneliness, and the list goes on. This is why the heart is stated a lot of times in the bibles because God values the content of our hearts. Be careful of what you feel. Before you acknowledge the feeling, ask God first if He will be pleased if you will feel that way. For instance, someone has sinned against you. Asked God first if being angry at the person would glorify Him; ask God first if feeling anger will please Him. If you are truly in love with God, then you would try your very best to please Him in every way possible. Let God take over your lives. Let Him be the master of your emotions, relationships, decisions, time and finances. God is the all-knowing God as well as the “best-knowing” God. He always knows what is best for us and that’s why trusting in Him completely is never a wrong decision. It is perhaps the only decision you should make. Nothing else will work in this life.