Fear Not, 14

~ The Women at The Messiah’s Tomb Knew God’s Peace ~

God does not want His children living in fear.  “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:2-3). 

“Fear not,” or its equivalent, is recorded many times in Scripture—ALN will post one “fear not” each week during this calendar year. 

This Week’s Verse  ~  “But the angel answered and said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.  Come, see the place where the Lord lay.  And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him.  Behold, I have told you.’  So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.  

“And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, ‘Rejoice!’  So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.  Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid.  Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me’” (Matthew 28:5-10).

 

The Foundation Of Peace  ~  “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid” (Psalm 27:1). 

The Solution If You Lack Peace  ~  “Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble” (Psalm 119:165).  “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You” (Isaiah 26:3).  “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). 

Summary  ~  “No Christ = No Peace” versus “Know Christ = Know Peace”

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

Divine Riches, 2

~ All Christians Are Incredibly Wealthy ~           

Riches of Mercy (not receiving negatives we deserve)  ~  “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:4-10). 

Riches of Grace (receiving positives we don’t deserve)   ~  “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth — in Him.  In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:7-12). 

Riches of Goodness  ~  “Do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4). 

Riches of Glory  ~  “That He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?” (Romans 9:23-24).   “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height — to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:14-19).  “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). 

Riches of God  ~  “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33). 

There is an abundance of wealth in those few passages of Scripture.  If you are a Christian you are incredibly wealthy!  “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together” (Romans 8:16-17). 

Note:  This is a modification of a previous ALN post by this same title (January 8, 2014).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

Fools Holiday

~ The Atheists Holiday ~            

The following is from an unknown source.

An atheist was quite incensed over the preparation for Easter and Passover holidays, and decided to contact the local ACLU about the discrimination inflicted on atheists by the constant celebrations afforded to Christians and Jews with all their holidays, while the atheists had no holidays for them to celebrate.  The ACLU jumped on the opportunity to once again pick up the cause of the downtrodden and assigned their sharpest attorney to the case.

The case was brought up before a learned judge, who after listening to the passionate presentation by the ACLU representative, promptly banged his gavel and said, “Case dismissed!”  The ACLU lawyer stood up and objected to the ruling, and said, “Your honor, how can you dismiss this case?  Surely the Christians have Christmas, Easter, and many other observances.  And the Jews—why, in addition to Passover, they have Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, and yet my client and all other atheists have no such holiday!”

The judge leaned back in his chair and simply said, “Obviously your client is too confused to know about, or for that matter, even celebrate the Atheists holiday!”  The ACLU lawyer pompously said, “We are aware of no such holiday for atheists.  Just when might that be?”  The judge said, “Well, it comes every year at the same time:  April 1st!”

The Word of God Says  ~  “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1a).  This is repeated, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 53:1a).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .