Seek and Ye Shall Find

     Though it would still be great to come up with our own list of Bible passages in which God tells us to be brave, to let go of our fears, and have confidence in God's power and provision, I did find this online today:  365FearNots.com
    And yes, it has a new scripture to instill courage in our hearts every single day.  I guess it doesn't make sense to invent what already exists.  Enjoy and remember that fear, not doubt, is the opposite of faith.  God has brought us into this world for something more than to become servants of fear and anxiety.  2 Timothy 1:7 really says it well, "For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline."

Calling All Bible Readers/Scholars

        I was making the point yesterday in my sermon that fear, not doubt, is the opposite of faith.  And I mentioned reading that there are 365 verses from scripture that tell us to put away our fears and trust in God.  Everything from "Be not afraid" to "have courage" to a divine version of "trust me on this."  The word 'fear' or 'afraid' probably don't show up that often, so we can't simply plug our words into a electronic concordance and spit out all the relevant passages.  Nevertheless, it would be a helpful project to gather one scripture verse for every day of the year that comforts our fears, challenges us to be brave, that promises us God's protection, and assures us of God's presence.  It would be a wonderful way to combat all the low grade anxieties, secret fears, and subconscious suspicions that sneak into our minds and hearts a dozen times every day.

     I challenge you to look through and gather your favorite passages that do just that and let's put together a collection of scripture passages that we can make available to the entire congregation (and beyond) to strength our faith and diminish our fears.

      If we put our collective biblical wisdom to the test, I'm sure we can come up with a year long list in no time.  If you interested, send your verses to me at Tim@andrew-umc.org.  I'll post them on this blog as I get them.  When we get to the magic number 365 we'll make it a permanent part of our web page.

    In the meantime, crack those Bibles and get to it!