Jeremiah 30:10 “‘So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, Israel,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid.” Today's episode reminds us that although we may feel that we have a lot to be afraid of, the Lord does not want us to be afraid. This verse reminds us that the Lord will save us and our children, and we don't have to be afraid because He is protecting us. In today's verse, I share some scriptures and some Words from the Lord that were received during my prayer group. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Be Not Afraid!
Jeremiah 30:10 “‘So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, Israel,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid.”
This morning, when I read this verse, the words that jumped out at me were, “Do not be afraid.” The Lord is constantly telling us this, and yet it seems we can’t seem to help ourselves. I get it; there is a lot of scary stuff going on in the world right now. There are countries at war, with no end in sight. They just seem to be escalating. In America, we have an election coming up. It seems no matter what side you are on, Republican or Democrat, you are terrified that the other person will win, and if that happens, it is the end of the world as we know it.
If we aren’t worried about politics, we are worried about something. There is so much that we tend to worry about. Many of us have children or marriages we worry about. Some don’t have children or a spouse, and they worry about that, and they worry if that will ever happen. Some worry about their jobs and whether they will lose their job or they worry about changes within their job. Others worry about growing older and all that entails. I know some people who are sick and are worried about what will happen. Will they get better? Will they die? Will they be sick for a long time? Can they handle all the pain and the not knowing how long it will last? As you can see, it seems like we have plenty to worry about.
However, The Lord is constantly telling us not to be afraid. He tells us “Fear not” a lot in the Bible, and He also tells us almost every week in our Prayer Group. Here are some examples of what the Lord is telling us in our prayer group. These were all received in just one month, August of 2024.
“My children, all I tell you to do know that you can. My spirit empowers you. It puts my words into your mouth so that you can reach the hearts of others. It's not you. It is my spirit empowering you to say what I wish you to say. Do not fear to go out, I keep telling you, fear not. My spirit is with you, and He will provide whatever you need to succeed. I am your God. I am all powerful. There is nothing that I cannot do. Trust in my word. Trust that what I say is true and go about your way and make me known, my children. How many times must I tell you, you can because I send you. You can because I am your God, and I provide the power; whatever you need, I provide. It is as simple as that, my children. Be not afraid to move and do what I tell you.”
The very next week, We received the verse that I picked for today, and then we received the following words and scripture.
“I just had a deep sense from the Lord that he's saying to us. Well, I guess what he's always said to us is that we have nothing to fear and that we need to put our hope in His word and what He has promised us. No one will put an end to us. He has come to save us. And He will save all of our offspring as well. He's going to call them back from their lands, and we need to keep that in the forefront of our thoughts and our thinking as we thank Him every day for what he's doing because He is the victor of the world.”
Then some else said, “I just want to confirm all that's been said so far because I come up with three psalms and each one said the same thing that everyone has said in a different way.”
Psalm 91:9-16 “Because you have the LORD for your refuge and have made the Most High your stronghold, No evil shall befall you, no affliction come near your tent. For he commands his angels with regard to you, to guard you wherever you go. With their hands they shall support you, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You can tread upon the asp and the viper, trample the lion and the dragon. Because he clings to me I will deliver him; because he knows my name I will set him on high. He will call upon me and I will answer; I will be with him in distress; I will deliver him and give him honor. With length of days I will satisfy him, and fill him with my saving power.”
Then someone different received the word, “There is no fear. We live in fear. We allow fear to creep in. I hear the Lord saying, every time a negative thought, a fear creeps in, send it to the feet of Jesus. Do not allow it to consume you for one second, and when you've done that, call the Holy Spirit into your life to show you how to combat the enemy faster.”
Then, another week in the same month, someone received this Word, “I hear your cries, my children. Come to me, come to me in your brokenness. Do not be afraid to come. I will help you. But in my time. Wait patiently, and I will show you a way out. Know that all is possible when you trust and believe. I am here. Do not doubt it. I do hear your cries. I do feel your pain. Continue to trust, continue to believe, and I will help you.”
All of these Words from the Lord and the scripture verses were given in the same month. This is not unusual. The Lord tells us all the time not to worry, and yet we continue to worry, why is that? Why can’t we take the Lord at His Word? Why don’t we believe that He will be there for us? I wonder, if we look back over our lives, would we find more evidence to support that the Lord will be there for us or that the Lord won’t be there for us? I know when I look back over my life, I see how many times the Lord has shown up for me and saved me from things, sometimes big things and sometimes small things. I look back, and I can’t find a time when I called upon the Lord, and He didn’t answer that call. I can find a few times where I look back and realize I didn’t call upon the Lord until I tried to fix it myself for a really long time. However, when I did finally call upon the Lord, He always came.
What about you? What if you take a few minutes right now and look back on your life? Do you see all the ways God has shown up for you in the past? Can you find times when you called upon Him and He wasn’t there? God is so good. He always answers when we call. So, why are we afraid all of the time? Why do we struggle so much with believing the things that the Lord tells us? Why do we struggle to believe that He can save us, even from ourselves? If you look through the Bible you will find so many times when God saved His people from incredible things. You will find stories where the Lord’s people were few in number and going up against vast armies, and yet when they were listening the Lord He delivered them even though the odds were against them.
I know the odds don’t look good in your situation right now. I know the doctors are telling you there isn’t anything they can do for you. Or, maybe you are facing a different situation where you just don’t know what to do, and you don’t see any positive solution. Maybe you are frozen and fearful and don’t know how to move forward. Maybe you have been dealing with the same situation for a long time, and although you want to trust God, you don’t see any end in sight. Instead, all you see is the other person who is against you winning at each turn. If this is you, the Lord wants to encourage you to keep your trust. I hear Him saying, even in your circumstance, “Be Not Afraid, I’ve got you in the palm of my hand. You don’t have to figure all things out on your own. I will guide you. I will lead you. When you rely on me, I will show you the way, and things will be easier. Life won’t suddenly be easy, but when I am truly leading your steps, things will come together more easily. Trust if I want you to move or take a step in a different direction, I will make that clear to you. I love you, my children.”
I pray that those words or any of the other words in this episode speak light into your situation. I pray that they help you to be less afraid and trust the Lord a little more. He is there for you. He is protecting you, and He does not want us to be afraid!
Dear Heavenly Father, please bless those listening to their episode. Lord, thank you so much for always being there for us. Lord, I ask you to help show us all the times in the past when you have been there for us. Lord, when we are fearful, help us to remember all the beautiful things you said to us in this episode. Help us to remember you don't want us to be afraid and that you are there for us. Show us how not to be afraid, Lord! We love you, and we ask all of this in accordance with your word and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I just decided this morning that the theme for this month’s mentoring will be “Be Not Afraid.” I hope you will join us this month for mentoring. If you have been listening to this podcast for a while now and would like more or would like to go deeper, I encourage you to check out mentoring. It is a place where we can go deeper when exploring the topics. It is also a chance to see how to apply them to your everyday lives. If you are interested in checking out mentoring, please let me know, and I will send you the Zoom link for tomorrow night’s session, and you can check it out for free. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!
Today’s Word from the Lord was received in May 2024 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Some of you are too hard on yourselves. Immerse yourself in my all-encompassing love. Walk in confidence. Walk proud. You are children of the King, the sons and daughters of the Most High God.”