Fear Not Them Which Kill the Body

I have another "fear not" by Jesus.  Matthew 10:28 says, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."  I thought this was an appropriate verse for this week as around the world people are concerned about COVID-19 and the destruction it is bringing to the bodies of mankind.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible explains that it is people, who can kill the body but not the soul:
That is, people, who have no power to injure the soul, the immortal part. The body is a small matter in comparison with the soul. Temporal death is a slight thing compared with eternal death. He directs them, therefore, not to be alarmed at the prospect of temporal death, but to fear God, who can destroy both soul and body forever.

The Biblical Illustrator by Joseph S. Exell, M.A. says this:
In showing what is in those miseries which men are able to inflict that may lessen our fears of them.
1. They are temporal, and concern only this life.
2. They do not take away anything from a man’s proper perfections.
3. They are all limited by God’s overruling hand.
 4. The good that may be extracted out of such miseries as are inflicted by men is often greater than the evil that is endured by them.
5. The fear of those evils seldom prevents them before they come, and never lessens them when they are come.
6. The all-knowing God, who knows the utmost of them better than men or angels, has pronounced them not to be feared.
7. The greatest of these evils have been endured, and that without fear or astonishment.

The Apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

No matter what happens to our bodies, we can be comforted knowing that Jesus died and rose again.  We have a hope that is not of this world.  In 1873 Horatio Spafford wrote the words to "It Is Well With My Soul."  He was on a ship sailing to France to be reunited with his wife.  The ship his wife and four daughters were on had gone down and all his daughters perished.  He experienced great, great sorrow, but he said, "it is well with my soul."  Whatever my lot, I want to be able to say, "it is well with my soul."

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

P.S.  As are many others, we are having our church services online during this time.  You can listen live by going HERE on Sunday morning at 11:00 and Wednesday evening at 7:30.  Sunday morning's service has been archived, Pastor White preached a great message about "Overcoming the Bondage of Fear."  Scroll past the songs and you can listen to it if you need some extra encouragement today.

Repost: My Hero

I have been meaning to update this post for some time.  I originally posted it on September 22, 2008.  I used a slide show editor for my pictures that no longer works and I wanted to put these shots in the post.

Rodney coaxes her, she is practically his shadow. These two are really close, in every way."
- From My Baby book

The last few days I've been thinking of how we react to unexpected tragedies or difficulties. Whether it be the Metrolink crash or Hurricane Ike, the same response occurs. After the initial shock, the media starts reporting on how it could have been avoided or who was at fault. We humans have a hard time accepting that bad things happen, even to good people.

Going on a school field trip in a wheelchair

As I was thinking through a post on this subject, I kept thinking of Rod.

Valley Children's Hospital in Fresno some times felt like our second home.

Rodney Dean Fultz was born on March 5, 1963, just 13 months before I came along. Within the first year of his life, it was discovered that Rod was a hemophiliac or a "bleeder" as he was commonly called. In spite of many, many difficulties and hospitalizations, Rod was an overcomer. I think God gave him an extra dose of grit in place of the clotting factor found in most humans!

What a brother he was! He had an incredible wit. You never got the last word with Rod. He had a comeback for anything you threw his way. I know, because this was the source of many fights between the two of us! As we got older, he knew when he was about to push me over the edge and would say something that would just crack me up.

Kindergarten class picture with a black eye!

Hearing him sing was a powerful experience. The second verse of "I'm Just Warming Up" with the words "all my pain and sorrow, up there I will forget", could not have been sung with more power or passion by anyone else.

If anyone had the "right" to question his circumstances or try to find someone to blame, it was Rod. But I can still hear him, not many months before his death, as we spoke about all he had been through in his life. He said, "Kathy, whenever I'm tempted to question or feel sorry for myself, I just read the book of Job. I can't complain."

One of many Easter dramas he performed in.

One definition of shadow is an inseparable companion or follower. Rod's example of facing life's difficulties is one I want to follow. I knew even as a baby, he was someone I wanted to "shadow".

To my friends who knew Rod, I hope you enjoy this photo walk down memory lane as much as I did! And whenever I hear "Jingle Bell Rock" I remember the Christmas when Rod and I entertained the family, he with his "crutch guitar" and me with some fancy moves!!

So much love and laughter in this shot!

God gave him music so he could pray without words.

Becoming a Life Champion

Tuesday night was another fantastic message by Bro. Robert Henson.  His title was "Becoming a Life Champion!"  Focus:  Successfully Living the Christ Life.

Life Champions are:
1) Victors 
2) Overcomers

God wants you to be saved!  Satan designs his attacks where we are weakest, but God provides divine assistance.

Victor
Victor = a conqueror; a person who defeats an adversary; one who vanquishes an enemy.
This speaks of a victory so overwhelming that the adversary never again arises from the dust of defeat to offer any challenge to the believer.

Romans 8:35-39 speaks of the victor:
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

Overcomer
Overcomer = one who prevails in a struggle or conflict; a person who overcomes difficulties; one who surmounts (comes over) opposition, debilities, weaknesses and/or temptations.
Overcomers, with great resolve, continue to fight on.

There are some enemies that I have been able to annihilate, but there are some enemies that I am still fighting.  I still face opposition, but by God's grace I'm an overcomer, still fighting. One of the favorite tactics of the devil is to say, "You must not really be saved if you're still struggling."  This is not true!  As long as you keep fighting, overcoming, you are a Life Champion. 

I took a "few" notes

Children of Israel

At the Red Sea, the Lord made the children of Israel victors.  Not one Egyptian survived.  They never fought Egypt again!

It was in the Land of Promise that the children of Israel became overcomers!

The Red Sea experience lasted 36-48 hours.  Completely overcoming the Promise Land lasted for years.  Most of us spend more time in the promise land than at the Red Sea! Deuteronomy 7:22 says, "And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little."  Little by little the children of Israel overcame their enemies.

In Judges 3:1-4, the Lord gave three reasons why Israel was not given immediate victory and occupancy of the entire Land of Promise:
So that the Israelites would learn and know how to fight the enemy.
So that their children would learn and know how to fight the enemy.
So that it could be discovered whether or not the Children of Israel would be obedient unto the Lord and His Word and to the leadership He had appointed over His people. 

You and I

Key understanding:  You and I experience both types of spiritual warfare.

Some adversaries Jesus helps us crush once - drug addiction, alcohol, cigarettes.  The other level is conflicts that we face everyday such as lust, pride, anger, poor attitudes, jealousy.

As born again children of God we have three main enemies with whom we contend: the devil, our flesh, and the world.  Our biggest enemy is our own flesh but "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Phil 4:13)  2 Corinthians 2:11 says, "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices."  Christ will keep us from being outsmarted by the devil.

Key understanding:  FORGIVENESS plays a key role in our overcoming!

We have a much more difficult time overcoming when we don't forgive.  Unforgiveness is the most employed strategy of Satan.  We must forgive others and ourselves.  Those who don't forgive themselves live under constant condemnation.  Don't live with unrelenting regrets.  God doesn't expect you to continue grieving over what you cannot change.

Key understanding:  If you are currently fighting the good fight of faith, you are participating, even now, in championship living!

The book of Revelation addresses numerous promises to the overcomers!  Not one time are the promises made to victors.

Revelation 2:7 "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life."
Revelation 2:11 "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death."
Revelation 2:17 "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.."
Revelation 2:26 and 28 "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations...and I will give him the morning star."
Revelation 3:5 "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels."
Revelation 3:12 "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name."
Revelation 3:21 "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne."
Revelation 21:7  "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son." - Overcomers inherit ALL THINGS!! 

This was such an outstanding message!  Just re-reading my notes this morning was inspiring.  God loves overcomers!  And right on time, there was this simple quote in my email box:

Today you can choose to live the rest of your life as a Life Champion!