Do not be afraid...

So this morning at my kitchen table...I seemed to have a bit of a different schedule...I chose not to go into work this morning because of the weather conditions...we had a bit of a snow storm last night and the shepherd is out playing in the snow as we speak...for those with livestock...a white Christmas usually means a little or a LOT more work...I look out at the sheep who usually seem somewhat white and against the blanket of snow on the ground they seem to darken...Drifts of snow against the water tank has a little lamb sinking in and seems to be next to its mama saying, "what is this mama?"  As his little legs sink in up to his belly.   And the shepherd now has a mountain of snow that has made way for a clear place for the sheep to eat...yes a shepherds way of clearing off the table...compliments of his favorite toy--a skid loader.  (hmm wonder if that would fit in the house!!)

As I have said...God seems to talk to me in so many ways.   I had listened to a deal on the radio awhile back as to what kind of affirmation we like.   I think mine is verbal affirmation...I assume verbal--so I look it up...YEP..."of, relating to, or consisting of words".   THAT IS WHAT I LOVE--WORDS!!   Not always something shared by others close to me in my INNER circle if you will!   In fact one of my son's favorite lines is from Pure Country...so perhaps I can't quote word for word but it is when Ernest says, "So what has any one got to say that hasn't already been said."    Sometimes my family may not say it out loud but are probably thinking it.

I get back to my story...I am also such a visual and sometimes a little thick headed.   I have sometimes it seems received messages that seem to be CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW!!!   I have been reading and many of them seem to be talking of fear...and so COINCIDENTAL that while on my way to Colorado Springs there in Pueblo on the bridge...someone's graffiti...but it was pointed out to me and seemed to be written on my heart and mind..."Do not be afraid".    So then my next God Calling by A.J. Russell...(YES THE TWO LISTENERS) seemed to play right on that...yesterday it read:

Perfect Love

Our Lord, give us that Perfect Love of Thee that casts out all fear.

Never let yourselves fear anybody or anything. No fear of My failing you. No fear that your faith will fail you. No fear of poverty or loneliness. No fear of not knowing the way. No fear of others. No fear of their misunderstanding.

But, My children, this absolute casting out of fear is the result of a Perfect Love, a perfect Love of Me and My Father. Speak to Me about everything. Listen to Me at all times. Feel My tender nearness, substituting at once some thought of Me for the fear.

The powers of evil watch you as a besieging force would watch a guarded city -- the object being always to find some weak spot, attack that, and so gain an entrance. So evil lurks around you, and seeks to surprise you in some fear.

The fear may have been but a small one, but it affords evil a weak spot of attack and entrance, and then in some rushing despondency, doubt of Me, and so many other sins. Pray, My beloved children, for that Perfect Love of Me that indeed casts out all fear.

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring
 lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Whom resist steadfast in the faith." 1 Peter 5:8, 9

And so this morning I think of those around suffering of sadness and how we handle that and what should I read in my God Calling for today...

Depression

Fight fear as you would fight a plague. Fight it in My Name. . . . Fear, even the smallest fear, is the hacking at the cords of Love that bind you to Me.

However small the impression, in time those cords will wear thin, and then one disappointment, or shock, and they snap. But for the little fears the cords of Love would have held.

Fight fear.

Depression is a state of fear. Fight that too. Fight. Fight. Depression is the impression left by fear. Fight and conquer, and oh! for Love of Me, for the sake of My tender, never-failing Love of you, fight and love and win.

"Here my voice, O God, in my prayer; preserve my life from fear of the enemy." Psalm 64:1

Depression...I heard it described as being "ugly and  helpless".   I listened to someone else a while back who was discussing depression and how times people will not treat it as seriously as they would if someone had a drug or alcohol problem, cancer, heart problems...yet it can be as dangerous...but because we can not SEE it as clearly.   Sometimes it is chemical...sometimes environmental...so complex I do not even try to define...but I remember the guy talking on it as saying helpless and not himself...

And so here I am at my kitchen table with all these words that I seem to have a need to put down...perhaps for those other verbal's out there...perhaps just for my own internal processing.   And the sun is trying to shine and my journal page says at the bottom, "The promises of God are more certain than a sunrise after nightfall."   I think of all of those going through their own personal blizards...their darkness of the night...and I pray for light and sunshine...the Light that we can only receive through our Lord our God!   I thank Jesus for this time of year...but I also know that this time of year is hard as well.  

I snap a picture of the sheep eating...of the pile of snow...that if we let him, our Shepherd will clear our way...and I give thanks for the light of day that only earlier was clouded...I come across a scripture that is in a writing...a writing that I have had my own fears about...but one that I am just going to let go...but I add it...
 

If you look on the pole...yep there is a bird...Selah...



Joshua 1:9 

"Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

And I think how I have received some Divine Editorial input today and a wonderful lesson at my kitchen table...and so I add in the picture and words I received earlier regarding VERBAL...I go to find the picture to include and SHUT the definition tab...when VERBAL seems to come up and bite me in the...well it goes on as the definition to expand and give two other meanings...meanings that seem to be ones to take heed:



• of, relating to, or involving words rather than meaning or substance <a consistency that is merely verbal and scholastic — B. N. Cardozo>
•  consisting of or using words only and not involving action <verbal abuse>

With that said...I think I better just quit talking and get busy...

lyp