)
NEW!! Published August 2023
FORTY DAYS TO FEARLESSNESS
Is that possible? Whether it’s accomplished in 40 days, or the cycle must be repeated several times, the truths within these pages and the Scriptures included have the power to overcome the spirit of fear that attempts to overwhelm us. God’s goal is to make us fearless!
These devotionals are not meant to be quick five-minute reads or provide an instant fear-fix with a single verse. Therefore, determine to take time to not just read but meditate on God’s words—even memorize them—allowing them to penetrate, permeate, and saturate your mind, soul, and spirit until you are grounded in His love and peace.
A few devotionals may challenge you to take a closer look at current issues. Some might call the issues mentioned political, but they are moral issues. Many pastors won’t touch these topics, so their silence has left congregants groping for answers. I name some of them because they often cause family division, separation in relationships, and fear. The goal of this book is not to provide answers for the problems themselves but to focus on the fear they generate.
These devotionals provide tools and strategies to help fight fear as well as reading and viewing recommendations for some of them. At the very least, I pray the devotionals will help you start a dialogue with the Lord and find Him to be the all-sufficient One.
I personally believe we are in the end-times Jesus warned us about, and we are going to soon face challenges that will require much more of us. “But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately” (Luke 21:9). Jesus says the end will be characterized by “men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (v. 26).
Though we don’t know the exact time of the end, no one can dispute that the world is shaking, and fear is increasing. God’s answer, repeated at least 300 times in the Bible, is “fear not.” Why does He repeat it so often? Because He knows how fearful and fragile that we—His little ones—are: “As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:13-14).
Even the mightiest warrior, like David, knows fear. Any soldier returning from the battlefield, even those rewarded with medals of honor, will admit to succumbing to fear. No matter how physically strong or skilled we are, fear reminds us of how vulnerable we are and prompts us to seek help outside of ourselves.
Dr. Henry Wright, author of A More Excellent Way, wrote that there are over 4,000 fears or phobias. This book only explores 40 kinds that people in the Bible experienced. The devotionals are in order from Genesis to Revelation to help readers gain a better picture of the overall story of the Bible. You can read it from page one to the end, or you can choose the fear you are dealing with currently.
Most of these readings come from the Old Testament. If you have never read much of it, I hope these selections will prove how much you’ve missed and encourage you to read from it more. If you are not familiar with a story, start by reading the Background Reading at the bottom of the devotional and then, after reading the devotional, end with the list of supporting Scriptures.
This book also attempts to correct some misconceptions we have about God. Some people think God promises to protect us from all harm, and when He doesn’t, they are disappointed, disillusioned, or confused, doubt God, and ask, “Where was God when…” or “Why did this happen to me?” believing He promises a trouble-free life.
Yet, we know that even Christians die or are maimed in war and natural disasters. Is that God’s fault? No! Bad things happen as a result of our sin and poor choices or because we live in an imperfect, sinful world where evil abounds. God didn’t create the world that way. Our hope is in God’s plan to take us out of it and into His perfect heaven! He doesn’t promise a life on earth with no trouble; He promises He will be with us in trouble and will bring us through it!
God is not a child’s magic genie or fairy godmother. He promises to give us eternal life, and nothing can take that or Him away from us. We are encouraged to ask for protection, and many times, He gives it, even when we don’t ask. However, when He doesn’t, His greater purpose may be to either bring us home to Him or to use the hard situation we face as a test or trial to see if we will trust Him even when we don’t understand His ways with us. Trusting-no-matter-what is what we must learn.
Some believe they can buy or earn God’s protection, or that they somehow deserve it. When something bad happens, they say, “But I tithe, and I pray over my family and property every day!” Yet, Paul was one of God’s most faithful, but he was shipwrecked three times, imprisoned, beaten with rods and whipped multiple times, sometimes left for dead, and lived in peril most of his life after he became a believer (2 Corinthians 11:23-28)! Bad things happen to good people. God’s promises are not guarantees or insurance against trouble.
Things happen that we can’t explain. God says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways…For as the heavens are higher than the earth. So are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). How can an earth-bound, finite human being understand the ways of such a God? We can’t, but we should consider that trusting God gives us hope while unbelief—not trusting God—produces fear.
(See blog post on "The Nature of Fear")
(Order on Amazon in paperback, hardback, or e-book.) All proceeds support ministry in Israel and Africa.
NEW!! Published August 2023
FORTY DAYS TO FEARLESSNESS
Is that possible? Whether it’s accomplished in 40 days, or the cycle must be repeated several times, the truths within these pages and the Scriptures included have the power to overcome the spirit of fear that attempts to overwhelm us. God’s goal is to make us fearless!
These devotionals are not meant to be quick five-minute reads or provide an instant fear-fix with a single verse. Therefore, determine to take time to not just read but meditate on God’s words—even memorize them—allowing them to penetrate, permeate, and saturate your mind, soul, and spirit until you are grounded in His love and peace.
A few devotionals may challenge you to take a closer look at current issues. Some might call the issues mentioned political, but they are moral issues. Many pastors won’t touch these topics, so their silence has left congregants groping for answers. I name some of them because they often cause family division, separation in relationships, and fear. The goal of this book is not to provide answers for the problems themselves but to focus on the fear they generate.
These devotionals provide tools and strategies to help fight fear as well as reading and viewing recommendations for some of them. At the very least, I pray the devotionals will help you start a dialogue with the Lord and find Him to be the all-sufficient One.
I personally believe we are in the end-times Jesus warned us about, and we are going to soon face challenges that will require much more of us. “But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately” (Luke 21:9). Jesus says the end will be characterized by “men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (v. 26).
Though we don’t know the exact time of the end, no one can dispute that the world is shaking, and fear is increasing. God’s answer, repeated at least 300 times in the Bible, is “fear not.” Why does He repeat it so often? Because He knows how fearful and fragile that we—His little ones—are: “As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:13-14).
Even the mightiest warrior, like David, knows fear. Any soldier returning from the battlefield, even those rewarded with medals of honor, will admit to succumbing to fear. No matter how physically strong or skilled we are, fear reminds us of how vulnerable we are and prompts us to seek help outside of ourselves.
Dr. Henry Wright, author of A More Excellent Way, wrote that there are over 4,000 fears or phobias. This book only explores 40 kinds that people in the Bible experienced. The devotionals are in order from Genesis to Revelation to help readers gain a better picture of the overall story of the Bible. You can read it from page one to the end, or you can choose the fear you are dealing with currently.
Most of these readings come from the Old Testament. If you have never read much of it, I hope these selections will prove how much you’ve missed and encourage you to read from it more. If you are not familiar with a story, start by reading the Background Reading at the bottom of the devotional and then, after reading the devotional, end with the list of supporting Scriptures.
This book also attempts to correct some misconceptions we have about God. Some people think God promises to protect us from all harm, and when He doesn’t, they are disappointed, disillusioned, or confused, doubt God, and ask, “Where was God when…” or “Why did this happen to me?” believing He promises a trouble-free life.
Yet, we know that even Christians die or are maimed in war and natural disasters. Is that God’s fault? No! Bad things happen as a result of our sin and poor choices or because we live in an imperfect, sinful world where evil abounds. God didn’t create the world that way. Our hope is in God’s plan to take us out of it and into His perfect heaven! He doesn’t promise a life on earth with no trouble; He promises He will be with us in trouble and will bring us through it!
God is not a child’s magic genie or fairy godmother. He promises to give us eternal life, and nothing can take that or Him away from us. We are encouraged to ask for protection, and many times, He gives it, even when we don’t ask. However, when He doesn’t, His greater purpose may be to either bring us home to Him or to use the hard situation we face as a test or trial to see if we will trust Him even when we don’t understand His ways with us. Trusting-no-matter-what is what we must learn.
Some believe they can buy or earn God’s protection, or that they somehow deserve it. When something bad happens, they say, “But I tithe, and I pray over my family and property every day!” Yet, Paul was one of God’s most faithful, but he was shipwrecked three times, imprisoned, beaten with rods and whipped multiple times, sometimes left for dead, and lived in peril most of his life after he became a believer (2 Corinthians 11:23-28)! Bad things happen to good people. God’s promises are not guarantees or insurance against trouble.
Things happen that we can’t explain. God says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways…For as the heavens are higher than the earth. So are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). How can an earth-bound, finite human being understand the ways of such a God? We can’t, but we should consider that trusting God gives us hope while unbelief—not trusting God—produces fear.
(See blog post on "The Nature of Fear")
(Order on Amazon in paperback, hardback, or e-book.) All proceeds support ministry in Israel and Africa.