Latest / Time with God with John North / Fear Pt. 5
Transcript
- 0:05Speaker 1: Good morning. Whew! We made it to the end of
- 0:08Speaker 1: the week, and as we come to the last day
- 0:11Speaker 1: of the week, we want to stop, as we do
- 0:13Speaker 1: each weekday morning at this time, to listen to God.
- 0:16Speaker 1: God is here. He's with us, and He wants to
- 0:19Speaker 1: speak right into your life through His word, the Bible.
- 0:22Speaker 1: We're talking this week about fear and how it can
- 0:26Speaker 1: paralyse us in life. You may not be in a
- 0:29Speaker 1: fearful time in your life right now.
- 0:31Speaker 1: But you know it's coming, right? You've experienced it many times.
- 0:34Speaker 1: Something happens and suddenly you're paralysed about what it could
- 0:38Speaker 1: mean for you, what it might mean in your relationships,
- 0:41Speaker 1: what it might mean in your finances, what it might
- 0:44Speaker 1: mean for your health. And maybe you are in the
- 0:46Speaker 1: midst of a time of great fear right now. You
- 0:50Speaker 1: might have received bad news from the doctor, and all
- 0:53Speaker 1: of a sudden, you're full of fear.
- 0:56Speaker 1: Or news about a loved one who is struggling and
- 1:00Speaker 1: there's fear in your life. Well, we're talking about fear,
- 1:05Speaker 1: and the part that God has to play in our
- 1:08Speaker 1: lives when we are afraid.
- 1:10Speaker 1: I want to read you a few verses out of
- 1:11Speaker 1: Isaiah 43 this morning. Here's what it says. But now
- 1:16Speaker 1: thus says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob,
- 1:20Speaker 1: he who formed you, O Israel, fear not, for I
- 1:25Speaker 1: have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You
- 1:30Speaker 1: are mine.
- 1:32Speaker 1: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.
- 1:37Speaker 1: And through the rivers they shall not overwhelm you. When
- 1:42Speaker 1: you walk through fire, you will not be burned, and
- 1:45Speaker 1: the flame will not consume you, for I am the
- 1:49Speaker 1: Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your saviour.
- 1:54Speaker 1: I give Egypt as your ransom, Kush, and Siba in
- 1:58Speaker 1: exchange for you.
- 1:59Speaker 1: Because you are precious in my eyes and honoured, and
- 2:03Speaker 1: I love you, I give men in return for you,
- 2:07Speaker 1: peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I
- 2:13Speaker 1: am with you.
- 2:15Speaker 1: I will bring your offspring from the east, and from
- 2:18Speaker 1: the west I will gather you. I will say to
- 2:20Speaker 1: the north, Give up, and to the south, do not withhold.
- 2:23Speaker 1: Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the
- 2:26Speaker 1: end of the earth, one who is called by my name,
- 2:29Speaker 1: who I created for my glory, who I formed and made. Well,
- 2:35Speaker 1: you see the key line there, don't you? Fear not,
- 2:39Speaker 1: for I am with you, the God who is able.
- 2:45Speaker 1: The God who is powerful, the God who delivered Israel
- 2:50Speaker 1: in the story we've been looking at all week from
- 2:52Speaker 1: the Old Testament.
- 2:54Speaker 1: The God who is your loving Father, the God who
- 2:58Speaker 1: cares for you, that God is with you. He's with you.
- 3:05Speaker 1: Now just get a grip on what this means in
- 3:07Speaker 1: the situation where you have so much fear in your
- 3:10Speaker 1: life right now. God is with you. And sometimes we
- 3:14Speaker 1: think of God as very distant.
- 3:16Speaker 1: And that when we pray we're trying to get his attention,
- 3:20Speaker 1: we're trying to persuade him to get involved in our lives.
- 3:24Speaker 1: You don't have to persuade God. God loves you. As
- 3:28Speaker 1: the Bible says, He who did not withhold his own Son,
- 3:33Speaker 1: how will He not also with Him freely give us
- 3:36Speaker 1: all things? God wants to be involved in your life.
- 3:41Speaker 1: He's there with you right now. He's on.
- 3:44Speaker 1: Your side. In Genesis 26, the Lord appeared to Isaac
- 3:49Speaker 1: and said, I am the God of Abraham, your father.
- 3:52Speaker 1: Fear not, for I am with you. In Isaiah 41,
- 3:59Speaker 1: he says to Jacob,
- 4:01Speaker 1: You whom I took from the ends of the earth
- 4:03Speaker 1: and called from its farthest corners saying you are my servant,
- 4:07Speaker 1: fear not, for I am with you. I will strengthen you.
- 4:13Speaker 1: I will help you. I will uphold you with my
- 4:16Speaker 1: righteous right hand.
- 4:18Speaker 1: In Jeremiah 42 he says, Do not fear the king
- 4:23Speaker 1: of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not fear him,
- 4:27Speaker 1: declares the Lord, for I am with you to save
- 4:33Speaker 1: you and to deliver you from his hand.
- 4:35Speaker 1: In chapter 46 he says, Fear not, Jacob, my servant,
- 4:40Speaker 1: nor be dismayed, O Israel, for behold, I will save
- 4:44Speaker 1: you from far away and your offspring from the land
- 4:47Speaker 1: of their captivity. Jacob shall return and have quiet.
- 4:51Speaker 1: ease, and none shall make him afraid. Fear not, O Jacob,
- 4:55Speaker 1: my servant, declares the Lord, for I am with you.
- 5:00Speaker 1: And you remember the words of the Lord Jesus after
- 5:03Speaker 1: he left Christians His great commission. He said, And lo,
- 5:08Speaker 1: I am with you always, even to the end of
- 5:11Speaker 1: the age. Remember that the great God of this universe
- 5:15Speaker 1: is your loving Father.
- 5:18Speaker 1: And he's with you, right now, in the midst of
- 5:22Speaker 1: your fearful circumstances. You can rest. He's there, he's involved,
- 5:30Speaker 1: he's gonna take you through this. I'm John North.
- 5:34Speaker 2: To go deeper in your faith, visit AFCI.com.au.