Author Archives: Nannette

About Nannette

Wife to The Sweetheart, Mom to the Fantastic Six, Nana to six of the cutest littles on the planet, Author, The Daniel Fast, A Devotional. UPCI ministers.

Now Fear This!!

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“What time I am afraid I will trust in thee.”  Psalm 56:3.

Studying 1 Peter again we were looking at the “fear of the Lord”. Some have trouble with that phrase, the thought of cowering before God, “shaking in their boots” in fear. I kind of liken it to the Wizard of Oz when they finally reach the Emerald City: Dorothy, the Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow are scared stiff of the Wizard!

Here is this terrifying, booming voice and imposing face that tells them what they must do to be “saved”. Then Dorothy’s little dog, Toto, runs up and pulls back the curtain to reveal the “Wizard” is really no wizard at all.

Elton John sings, “Oz never did give nothin’ to the Tin Man, that he didn’t, didn’t already have…” We want to believe that there is nothing to be afraid of, that God really isn’t a God of fear. That if we pull back that curtain that there is just a man standing there pulling knobs and buttons. A fake.

But that’s not the way it is at all! God is a God to be feared! Just the thought of not being in the Lamb’s Book of Life is enough to instill the fear of God into anyone! We do need to have some sense of the fear of God in our lives. “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.” Luke 12:4,5 NLT. There will be a Judgment Day friend!

That doesn’t mean that we live our lives in fear, once we have given our hearts to Him, there is no more fear! We no longer live in terror of anything else because the One who is in control of anxiety and panic now reigns in our hearts! He has taken away the fear of this world and fear of the enemy no longer has power over us.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10 NIV.

Remember this “fear” of the Lord is also a respect and “awe”. He is a wonder! He is perfectly holy and completely without sin. Consider His majesty, His omnipotence, the vastness of eternity, the brevity of time, all of this is the beginning of wisdom. As we learn and grow in knowledge of the Lord our wisdom increases and our Godly fear moves into a fearful adoration.

I experienced a very real spirit of fear when we arrived in the country of Latvia, in the former Soviet Union, and the Lord literally delivered me from it in an instant! You can read about Faith Journey here.

If you are struggling with fear today, you don’t have to carry it! Fear of the Lord means we no longer need to fear anything or anyone else! Not man, not circumstances, not death, not our health, our finances. A friend said it so beautifully, “Fear of my Heavenly Father frees me from all other fears!”

Ed Cash co-wrote Whom Shall I Fear with Chris Tomlin and tells Chris the story of how the song came to be: “Ed told me his wife wakes him up in the middle of the night struggling with anxiety and fear and attacks when she’s wrestling in the night and can’t sleep. Those thoughts and fears come in the night and grip her. She asked him to pray for her, and not long after that he started writing this song as a praise to God during the night. Ed said he didn’t even know where the words came from, but he started praying the lyrics to the song: ‘I know Who goes before me / I know Who stands behind / The God of angel armies / Is always on my side / The One who reigns forever / He is a Friend of mine.’

He played me that chorus, and I knew this song was exactly what I wanted to sing. ‘And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, ‘Alas, my master! What shall we do?’ So he answered, ‘Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, and said, ‘Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, ‘Strike this people, I pray, with blindness.’ And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. 2 Kings 6:15-18.

This message is exactly what the Church needs. Our story is not a story of fear; it is a story of faith. Everywhere you turn it is fear. Fear of the economy collapsing. Fear involving relationships. Fear of cancer and sickness. Fear of divorce. Fear, anxiety and depression holds us back like we are in chains. It seems like more and more that the world is getting crazier. Fear affects old and young people. Whom shall I fear? In the midst of crisis or anything that comes against, it is powerful to know Who stands behind and goes before us. The God of Angel Armies is always by our side.” (newreleasetuesday.com).

And of course you can listen to my favorite song by Chris Tomlin Whom Shall I Fear!

Be encouraged today! There is no fear in love!

fear

Get out of that stinky boat!

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So excited to share our She Reads Truth Bible Study with you today. We are studying 1 Peter and if you have never been introduced to SRT this is a great time to start! It is a wonderful interactive community where you can hook up through You Version on your iPhone or iPad or just on the computer if you like. You read the scriptures for the day then you join the link and read the short Bible lesson.

Then if you want to you can read the comments by other people that have joined in and given their thoughts on the lesson for the day, all throughout the day! Even better, YOU can participate and give YOUR take on the scripture IF you want to, you are not required, you can be just a fly on the wall if you like!

SRT has grown to thousands and thousands of people around the globe participating together to study God’s Word! Check it out! 1 Peter | Day 3 | Called to be Holy.

My thoughts on striving for perfection and being holy,”We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise….But, let the one who boasts boast in the Lord. For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.” 2 Corinthians 10:12, 17, 18

I always heard growing up from my wise pastor that if we had reached perfection….we would not be here! I think only a few had attained that like Enoch, “…and Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” Genesis 5:24.

And of course the prophet Elijah who was carried away in a whirlwind…”As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.” 2 Kings 2:11.

So we are STRIVING for perfection, “But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.” (1 John 2:5,6 NLT)

We will not attain it in this life! Our goal is to be Christ-like in our actions so the world will see Jesus in us! Sme people will never enter the doors of a church building! We may be the only witness they ever see…and believe for sure they are watching us!

We will fall, we will fail, as Sarah wrote so beautifully but “when I fall I shall arise!”

Get up, dust yourself off and get back to work, there are fish to catch!

Be blessed!

And He Gave Them Their Request…

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“And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.” Psalms 106:15

One of the very first articles I ever penned had this title on it. I was so intrigued by this verse in the Bible; I just had to study it out. That was many years ago and it still fascinates me.

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The children of Israel had just been delivered out of the hands of the Egyptians. After years and years of hard labor under their Egyptian taskmasters they were finally free! God had just showed His mighty hand by bringing them through the Red Sea on dry ground…as soon as they had crossed over, the Lord covered their enemies completely, never to be seen again.

But how quickly they would forget all of the Lord’s mercies and His miracles! They were always complaining, always wanting more, never satisfied. So what is the verse particularly referring to in the Psalm? We take a journey into the Book of Numbers to find out.

In the beginning of the eleventh chapter the people of Israel are still in the wilderness, roughly the second year after their departure from Egypt. They are complaining, again, about their “hardship” and the Bible says, “…the Lord heard everything they said.”  Numbers 11:1.

God was so angry that He sent a fire and destroyed some of the people that were on the outskirts of the camp. Once again, the Israelites cry to Moses for help and he prays to the Lord and the fire stops.

But interestingly, the mixed multitude among them, some versions call them the “riffraff” or “foreign rabble”, began to crave the good things of Egypt.

And that made the Israelites complain too! “Oh, for some meat!” they exclaimed. “We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted. But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is manna!” Numbers 11:4-6.

Now this “manna” that they are griping about was as sweet as honey. All they had to do was walk out their door every morning and there it was lying on the ground. Fresh as the morning dew, God supplied it straight from heaven. They would pick it up and grind it with hand mills or pound it in mortars. They boiled it in a pot and made it into flat cakes that tasted like pastries baked with olive oil. It truly was heavenly!

But it wasn’t enough for the Israelites. They wanted more. They were not satisfied that their needs were being met. They had everything supplied for them every day. In all of the years that they wandered in the wilderness the Bible says even their sandals never wore out!

“For all these forty years your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell.” Deuteronomy 8:4 NLT.

And another verse says it this way, “Yet the LORD says, During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.” Deuteronomy 29:5 NIV.

Moses, at this point is at his wits’ end and cries out to the Lord for help. “What did I do to deserve the burden of all these people?…Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people? They keep whining to me saying, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ I can’t carry all these people by myself! The load is far too heavy! If this is how you intend to treat me, just go ahead and kill me. Do me a favor and spare me this misery!’” Numbers 11:11-15.

The Lord has a plan, He always has a plan. But this time He is not pleased with their actions. He tells Moses to gather seventy men who are recognized as elders and leaders of Israel to stand with him and that He will come down and talk to them there. He will take some of the Spirit that is on Moses and put it on the leaders as well. They will help bear the burden of the people so Moses will not have to carry it alone.

Then He tells him to say to the people, “Purify yourself, for tomorrow you will have meat to eat. You are whining, and the Lord heard you when you cried, ‘Oh, for some meat! We were better off in Egypt!’ Now the Lord will give you meat and you will have to eat it. And it won’t be for just a day or two, or for five or ten or even twenty. You will eat it for a whole month until you gag and are sick of it. For you have rejected the Lord, who is here among you, and you have whined to him, saying, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’” Numbers 11:18-20 NLT.

So sure enough the Lord sent a wind that brought quail from the sea and let them fall all around the camp! For miles in every direction the Bible says there were quail flying three feet above the ground! The people were so excited they went out and caught quail all that day and night and all the next day too. No one gathered less than 50 bushels of quail!

Now here is the sad part: They spread the quail all around the camp to dry. “But while they were gorging themselves on the meat–while it was still in their mouths–the anger of the Lord blazed against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague. So that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah (which means “graves of gluttony”) because there they buried the people who had craved meat from Egypt.” Number 11:32-34 NLT.

You see, they received what they asked for, they whined, they complained, they griped until Moses couldn’t take it anymore and until the Lord was angry.

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The Israelites thought they had already paid too high of a price. They were tired of their way of life in the wilderness, wandering around in the desert. They were so weary of it that they even preferred to go back to their life of slavery than to stay and have the provisions given by Almighty God.

Manna from heaven every day or slavery in Egypt, doesn’t seem like too difficult of a choice to make to us, does it? They couldn’t have survived in the wilderness on the rich food that they had in Egypt. Manna was light and healthy and suitable for their wilderness lifestyle. But they were not satisfied.

We tend to make similar complaints every day ourselves. We may ask for things that are not the will of God for our lives. We have our needs supplied but we want more. Bright lights, big city! We should be careful of what we are craving, God might grant us our request, and it just might send leanness into our soul. Another translation said it sent a plague or a wasting disease.

Whether it is physical things like wealth and riches, a spiritual famine, or dwelling on life’s worries, if we aren’t careful, these things can cause leanness in our soul if left unchecked.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer made the observation that when lust takes control, “At this moment God loses all reality. Satan does not fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God.”

Leanness of soul can develop in us so slowly and unnoticed. We start losing interest in the things of God and begin desiring other things to take His place. When our lives get too busy with the cares of this life we don’t have as much time for the things we once did for the Lord. We are busy, but busy in the body and lean in our soul.

“O God, thou art my God; earnestly will I seek thee: My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee, In a dry and weary land, where no water is.” Psalm 63:1.

What are our motives? What do we really want for our lives? Are riches your ultimate goal? If so, you are going to be terribly disappointed come Judgment Day. Did you know you can’t take all of those things with you? There is nothing wrong with having nice things, don’t misunderstand, but if that is all you ever think about, if you are consumed with THINGS, then your priorities are not pleasing to God.

He may give you what you ask for…but you may not have what really counts.

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36.

Be careful what you pray for, you might just get it…