Fear

GOD’S BREAK OF DAWN!

(May 26, 2023) Angeline Selvakumari encourages us to discover God’s dawn light…

Great is God’s faithfulness!

He has led us thus far and will continue to carry us through! Psalm 46:5 is one of His great promises of protection – ‘God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.’

This scripture refers to ‘the city of God’ (v4). In Matthew 5:14, our Saviour, Jesus, referred to His followers as an important city: ‘You are the light of the world – like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.’ 

As such in these troubled times we need our faithful God’s protection! And we can relate to Psalm 46:2 which depicts why the verse five promise is so significant. It’s our assurance of God’s faithfulness, to be grasped in dark times that cause fear… even when if the –

  • Earth moved,
  • Mountains are carried into the midst of the sea,
  • Waters are troubled and roar and
  • Mountains shake!

When everything is moving, shaking and we are very troubled, the Bible confirms that our God is there for us! Even if everything around us ‘moves’ we will not. God is in the midst of every storm and will help us at the break of dawn.

Our God is a good God! Whatever He does is good! He’s the God of impossibilities, the God of the new dawn.

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HOW ARE YOU HANDLING HOLY WEEK?

(April 05, 2023) Mama Lava caringly asks a question…

Hi again! How are you all?

I’m honoured that you’ve joined me on the Back Porch today! And I have a sincere question for you… How are you handling Holy Week?

I don’t mean your plans, agendas, and schedules. I am not asking about church services, egg hunts, and family gatherings. I am referring to your inner wellbeing.

Are you conflicted? Do you recognise the joyous meaning of Easter, but find it difficult to overcome the lofty burdens you are currently carrying?

Me too! It can be challenging to focus on victory when we feel threatened by defeat. But God is ministering to me through an unlikely character in the Easter story, the stone.

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NOT BEING AFRAID

(June 22, 2022) Maureen McQuillan responds to a concerned, fearful mother…

Dear Pastor Maureen

I’m so pleased that my adult children are doing the Christian thing and using their career skills to help needy and troubled people, especially nonChristians, but I’m afraid that they may be getting into difficult and dangerous situations. Please help me find peace. Josie.

Hi Josie

Naturally, it’s great that your children are following in your footsteps – and the Lord’s – and reaching out to help troubled people. The reality is that we all have to make major decisions in life and no matter who we’re endeavouring to help (and lead to Christ) sometimes awkward or dangerous moments come up.

But we Christians are directed in scripture not to be worried or concerned about anything. Being concerned not worried, as any good mother should be, is all right but we are not to be afraid… otherwise we open a doorway for the devil, our enemy, to rush in through!

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THAT DARK FRIDAY’S HOURS

(April 01, 2022) Robert and Maureen McQuillan solemnly share Easter thoughts…

‘The night is always darkest before the dawn!’ is an old but for many today still a very realistic adage.

It’s Easter’s Good Friday next week – but a dark Friday indeed when one fully realises what Jesus Christ must have gone through!

Good Friday? Bad Friday, evil Friday, fearful Friday!

Thinking aboutthat daycaused Robert to recall staying overnight at a colleague’s home many Easters ago. Not immediately sleepy, he browsed the bedroom’s shelves and found the most unusual book… an old, handwritten volume of on-the-scene experiences of a young WW1 British soldier.

An amazing diary really, filled with drawings of horrific battle scenes. One incident caught Robert’s attention… aware of what his friends and he would face as one particular new day broke on them, the writer had painfully detailed fears, confusions, and concerns.

Dark hours
Certain death faced this little group of outnumbered comrades when superior forces would attack them! Graphically he described that dark lonely night filled with alarm, horror, fear, and tension as they waited in the terrifying blackness during those long trying, uncertain hours.

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COP BUSTED FOR SELLING DRUGS GOT COURT SURPRISE

(November 10, 2021) Michael Ashcraft shares an amazing testimony…

On the 17th day of solitary confinement in jail, cop John Clichy broke down and made a confession – not to the crime of which he was accused but to his need for Jesus Christ.

‘I realised I needed help because there was no way I was getting out of this, there was no way I was getting through this,’ he says on a Psalm Forty video. ‘January 31, 2013, right after midnight, I wholeheartedly called out to God. I saw everything that I was doing wrong that was displeasing to God that was harming me, and I realised I got myself into that mess. I said, “God, I don’t want to live that life no more.” I wholeheartedly repented of that life.’

Taking his newfound faith seriously
The former undercover detective who lived a high-flying life – with spinning rims, free drinks at bars and 19 girlfriends – was accused with two other Schaumburg Village, Ill, detectives of re-selling part of the drugs they confiscated from busts.

But while the two other cops accepted plea bargains for lesser sentences, Cichy took his fledgling faith seriously. He had heard God say to not break down in fear of getting a longer sentence and to go to trial. He faced 18 counts which, if convicted, could result in a minimum of 24 years in prison, yet he refused every plea bargain they offered because God told him to.

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SPIRITUAL DIAGNOSIS

(October 16, 2021) the late Georgia Cohen RN was famous for her book, Nurse Georgee (see link below). The following is an excerpt, which shares her caring heart …

In my profession as a nurse I’ve had the privilege of assisting many great doctors help patients recovery from illnesses. It’s good to know that many medical professionals believe in God’s healing power or at least are open to the benefits of faith and what is often regarded as ‘spiritual healing.’

In every conversation we engage in to help troubled sick people, our mind should always be focused on looking for a spiritual diagnosis. When an individual does not know Jesus as Saviour, they are spiritually sick. They need the right medicine to treat their illness.

Jesus – the best diagnostician
Jesus is the great physician and has the cure for every spiritual disease and the medicine to cure spiritual sickness is the Bible. Sick people need to meet the great physician, the best diagnostician in the world.

Before I surrendered my life to Christ, my spiritual disease was hopelessness. My sister, Barbara, encouraged me, daily saying, ‘There’s a better way, Georgia, and his name is Jesus.’ I knew the way I was going was disastrous.

Barbara treated my hopeless spiritual disease with the hope we have in Jesus Christ.

We are all doctors for Jesus!
Good doctors always do a complete history and physical on their patients, leaving no stone unturned. In daily encounters, we also need to do complete assessments when talking with others.

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DON’T LET FEAR DOMINATE YOUR LIFE!

(May 14, 2019) Carol Round encourages us to move on in life unafraid…

On April 29, I found myself huddled in a closet with my dog. Tornado sirens were blaring for the second time that evening. I took deep breaths, and then exhaled prayers for safety, not only for myself, but for everyone who was in the path of the storms relentlessly barrelling across several states that day.

According to the news, at least 18 tornadoes were sighted across Oklahoma this past Monday, leaving behind destruction and flooding with the torrential rains that also fell. Two people were killed and 22 injuries were reported. While there have been deadlier tornadoes and destruction, living in a state known as tornado alley can lead even the most fearless person to shelter when the sirens go off.

When fear governs your life
I’ve overcome most of the fears from my past – the ones holding me hostage, the ones keeping me from stepping outside of my comfort zone and the ones denying me a joy-filled life.

Before a tornado hit my previous house in Claremore in 2016, I never feared stormy weather. Growing up in Louisiana, I survived multiple hurricanes during my 16 years living there. I can’t recall being fearful. We always had plenty of advance warning to prepare or evacuate.

Although I know God watches over me, I can’t stop racing to my hidey-hole when I hear the warning sirens. Even though I prepare in advance with pillows and blankets piled on the floor of my closet, the sound of approaching danger rules my human heart, which threatens to jump out of my chest. (more…)

FEARLESS FAITH

(November 10, 2018) Jeff Benson shares from the heart…

Like most people, I have many weaknesses. My greatest weakness by far has been my ‘fear of man.’
Such an inbuilt thing for me… a bit like when it comes to a fear of heights, when you walk up to the edge of a cliff or lean over a guard rail from up on top of a tall building and instantly feel that fear …

The fear of man can be the same. There’s often no conscious thought associated with it, we just feel that fear…it just happens … you just automatically and instantaneously feel that fear.

My journey…
For me this feeling fear has been a huge issue… (more…)

VICTORIOUS SPIRITUAL ASSISTANCE

(November 10, 2018) Robert and Maureen McQuillan bring a challenge…

Dr Jim McClure’s Teaching article this month is timely as tomorrow is Remembrance Day – which remembers that the horrific WW1 came to an end a century ago and the tragedy of the sacrifice of so many lives so young and not so young!

Yes WW1 freedom came at a staggering price… Dr Jim also reminds us that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, willingly paid the greatest price of all in dying for every sinner.

In our modern society many may not be engaged in outright war but there is a great enemy that grips many, even Christians – fear! Pastor Jeff Benson in his article encourages us that God can set us free from personal fears and weaknesses.

 

 

 

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7 CONCERNS AND CHALLENGES

(February 28, 2018) Robert and Maureen McQuillan write…

Like this Gypsy Smith quote below? It’s from the cover of Stuart Reynold’s latest book, Getting Ready for Revival.

A challenge for every Christian, not to think ’Maybe I’ll do something later’ but to act on now!

Reawakening needed!
One of Oxford Dictionary meanings of ‘Revival’ is: ‘A reawakening of religious fervour, especially by means of evangelistic meetings.’

It’s been many years since the days of genuine ‘religious fervour’ in churches with regular testimonies of sinners saved, lives changed, growth in one’s faith, sick people healed at every meeting.

Something has been missing for some time; church life has definitely changed! We’ve become too sophisticated, too locked into restricting ‘in-house’ systems, and the absence of the unchurched.

That golden oldie, Give Me That Old Time Religion, declaring salvation being good enough for everybody; loving one another; taking us to heaven;  and ‘it’s good enough for me’ had something going for it!

In respect of something being missing in many churches (not all of course, praise God!); perhaps the following is on your mind too … (more…)