Every human being who lives on Earth faces
fear.
And I want to talk about it for
a minute because we rarely talk about it.
Most especially, it's rarely addressed in churches today
because it's negative.
Purely because it's negative.
Okay, fine, we understand, we identify it's negative.
How about the fact it's real?
Let's talk about it, shall we?
It'll help us.
Fear is waiting for every human being who
lives on the Earth.
You know that, I know that, I've lived
it, you've lived it.
To be human and alive is to know
fear.
It comes to us all, fear.
It comes to the ungodly.
Why does the ungodly, why does the individual
who lives without God have so much fear?
You ever wonder?
I mean, I'm pretty sure all of you
didn't all know the Lord your whole life.
So you were ungodly at some point.
Why is there so much fear when you're
ungodly?
I'll tell you why.
Sin generates paranoia.
It's like a paranoia factory.
And it's always pumping out fresh paranoia.
Enough to fill your entire mind.
Sin generates paranoia and that is fear.
That is why Proverbs 28.1 says this.
The wicked flees when no one pursues.
If that isn't a biblical definition of paranoia,
I don't know what is.
Proverbs 28.1. The wicked flees when no
one's pursuing.
You're always looking over your shoulder.
Before I came to know Christ, I was
always looking in my rearview mirror when I
was driving.
Because I always had drugs in my car.
And I usually had alcohol in my car
with the cap off.
And so I was always looking in the
rearview mirror for a black and white car
behind me.
Even if there wasn't one.
If I could just get to my buddy's
house, I'll be okay.
If I could just get home, I'll be
okay.
That is the wicked fleeing when no one
is pursuing.
You know that I even at one point
put a Jesus loves you bumper sticker on
my car to throw the cops off.
Figured if the cop starts tailing me, he'll
say, Jesus loves you.
He'll leave me alone.
Oh, he's okay.
He's one of those Jesus freaks.
And then I got so guilty feeling I
was more afraid of that than I was
the cop cars.
Because I thought, what if the Lord looks
down here and he strikes me with lightning
for doing this.
Using his name.
See, I believe in God.
I just didn't want to repent yet.
You see, fear is waiting for every human
being.
And especially for the ungodly, because the wicked
flees when no one pursues.
But here's the good news.
And then the Bible, those who believe in
the Lord are called the righteous.
The righteous, it says.
In Proverbs 28, one are bold as a
lion.
Because you have a clean conscience.
You know what?
That's not because you're perfect.
It's because your conscience is washed in the
blood of Jesus Christ.
That's what Hebrews says.
It says that all the sacrifices in the
Old Testament that they would make did not
have the power to make those people free
in their consciences.
But the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses your
conscience of all sin and gives you peace.
So the righteous are bold as a lion.
Proverbs 28, 6 says, Better a poor man
whose walk is blameless before the Lord than
to be a rich man whose ways are
perverse.
So you can be poor and love the
Lord and walk with the Lord humbly in
the forgiveness of Jesus Christ.
And you're better off than the richest man
on earth who doesn't know the Lord.
And Hebrews 2, 15 says that Jesus came
to deliver them who, through the fear of
death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
One of the greatest fears you have when
you don't know the Lord is death.
The fear of death.
It grips people the world round.
When you come to know Jesus Christ, he
takes the fear of death out of your
heart.
So fear comes to the ungodly.
Now, you may be interested to know that
there is also fear that comes to the
godly as well.
And that is true.
It's in the Bible.
I'll give you an example.
Elijah in the Bible.
He's one of the most fascinating studies.
I don't know if you've ever studied Elijah
himself in the Bible.
But the prophet Elijah is so amazing.
And he's so close to the Lord that
one of the wicked kings said, you better
not even speak a word in your bedroom
in secret.
Because that prophet Elijah will know that you
said it.
The Lord will tell him.
That's how God worked with Elijah.
He just knew things.
God told him, OK, that's because he was
called.
That's because he needed to know things.
And that's because God really was so near
to Elijah.
Not many men have left earth in a
fiery chariot when they die.
Have they taken up by God?
That's how close he was.
OK, that qualifies for intimacy, I would say.
Elijah, I'm going to be by in the
morning to pick you up in a fiery
chariot.
Get your things in order.
I mean, that's intimacy.
That doesn't happen.
In fact, that's the only time I know
of it happened.
Except Enoch.
He was walking with God.
And one day they walked so far.
The Lord said, you know, you're so close
to my house.
Why don't you come on home today and
stay with me forever?
The Bible says Enoch walked with God and
he was not.
God took him.
But back to Elijah.
To be that intimate with God, you would
say, well, the man probably didn't have no
fear.
But he did.
You remember the day Elijah, the prophet, faced
off with the prophets of Baal on Mount
Carmel.
And all day long, he gave them first
shot at it.
He said, you make your altar.
You call to your God.
And as ever, God comes down from heaven
with fire and takes up the sacrifice.
You win the God who can come down
by fire.
He's the God who wins.
So your God's Baal, my God's Jehovah.
You do your altar.
I'll do mine.
You guys go first.
And so they began to call on Baal
and they thought Baal would show up and
come down with fire and take up the
sacrifice.
He didn't show up.
So they began to shout.
He didn't show up.
And then this is so weird, but so
normal for satanic worship, which is what they
had.
They began to scream and cut themselves, cut
themselves, hoping their God would show up.
And at that point, Elijah began to mock
them.
He said, what's the problem is your God
on vacation?
And he really gets into some heavy mockery.
And finally they go, we give up.
He goes, all right, stand back.
He said, I need a few guys.
Bring a bunch of water.
Don't bring the water.
We're in a drought.
Bring the water.
And they bring in the only water they
have.
He says, douse my altar and they soak
it so that it'll be much harder to
burn.
So he's showing them, I'm not going to
do any tricks here today.
This isn't going to be a magician's trick.
If this altar burns, you know, it's God
because it's soaking wet.
And the Bible says that fire fell from
heaven and it consumed the sacrifice, the animal,
and it consumed all of the wood and
it consumed all of the altar.
And everybody started shouting, whoa, the Lord Jehovah,
he is God.
And Elijah goes, that's absolutely right.
And now every one of you are going
to die this day who have refused to
serve him.
And he killed 400 prophets of Baal.
Remember that?
That was the greatest single act of victory
in the life of Elijah against Satan.
The high point in his life against Satan.
You understand that?
Absolute confidence.
Absolute victory.
This man is bold.
Right after all the guys are killed, the
prophets of Baal, someone slips him a note.
He opens it up and it's from a
woman, Jezebel.
She says, I'm going to kill you.
And he panics.
And he turns around and he starts to
run.
And he runs and he runs and he
runs through the desert.
He could face off with 400 prophets of
Baal.
One woman sends him a nasty note.
I'm going to kill you.
He takes off running.
Why?
Because this woman was a killer.
This woman really did have the power to
hunt him down and kill him.
And suddenly tired from the victory.
You get tired during victories in spiritual warfare.
Tired from the victory.
Boom.
The devil.
This is all right.
You beat me in that round, but I
was ready to go with the note.
And you weren't ready for the note.
He gives him a note.
It's like boom.
He takes off running.
He's filled with fear.
He runs for his life.
Elijah, the prophet, even the godly, even the
godly can be filled with fear.
And Satan is always looking for that spot
to get you.
To take away your confidence and replace your
heart with fear.
Matthew Henry, thinking about this, once wrote, We
need not look upon those enemies with fear
whom God looks upon with contempt.
And I'll tell you, if you follow this
story through, The Count Jezebel was looked upon
with contempt by God because of her wickedness.
And God took care of her.
She was assassinated and her body thrown to
the dogs.
If you read the account.
She got what she deserved for desecrating the
Lord God's name and his people.
So the Lord worked out the enemy of
Elijah.
He could have trusted the Lord, but you
see, he was human after all, wasn't he?
It comes to us all, fear does.
It comes from without to the godly to
the ungodly.
I think that however, one of the greatest
sources of fears in our life is within.
Do you agree to that?
It's within.
We fear that so many things.
I fear I'll fail as a Christian.
What if I've come this far and then
I fail as a Christian?
Or it is very common to fear that
you'll be abandoned by a loved one.
Why?
Because so many times we have been.
Fears from within.
You fear you'll catch a terminal disease.
You fear that you will die young.
You fear you'll die old.
Fear.
It comes from within.
You fear you'll lose a child.
You fear you'll lose your job.
You'll fear you'll lose your friends.
Why?
Because so many of these things have happened,
if not to us, around us.
You fear you'll lose your house.
You fear you might lose your bank account.
Or you fear that you'll be single your
whole life.
Or that you'll get up to the pearly
gates and God will be gone.
Come on in.
I know you.
Hold it!
Who are you?
You fear the Lord won't let you into
heaven.
When it's all said and done.
Or we have lots of fears on our
own from within.
How about this one?
We fear that God won't take care of
us.
Here you are serving the Lord, loving him.
And suddenly you don't have what you've always
had.
Wait a minute, Lord.
You promised.
You said if I seek first the kingdom,
you'll add everything else unto me.
And suddenly we fear he's not going to
take care of us.
I know that you've never been there.
But people in other states have been there.
We fear that God will not take care
of us.
Or how about this?
This is too real.
That it gets so scary.
We fear that God will allow to happen
to me what he has already allowed to
happen to others.
Now you know it's possible.
You've seen it.
It just never happened to you.
So you fear it will happen to you.
Oh yes.
Fear comes to the godly.
And it comes even from within.
A.W. Tozer said fear is of the
flesh.
He said panic is of the devil.
The devil would love to see you cave
in to the fears that come from within
and then start shoving you from behind to
turn it into panic.
To be human and alive is to know
fear.
I'm going to take you deeper into this
before we come out into the solution.
To be human and to be alive is
to know fear.
Now watch this.
We have our Bibles open, right?
We're studying them.
We're seeking to study in depth.
Revelation right now.
To plow deep in the Bible will be
to discover new fears.
To plow deep in the Bible will be
to discover new fears.
We read right here in Revelation chapter 6
of new fears, don't we?
You may be sitting here right now thinking
what if I do miss a rapture?
What if I am facing this earthquake?
I have new fears.
I came in here without these fears.
I am now filled with this fear.
I will be in a cave praying to
a rock.
And the whole earth is shaking and the
moon is blood.
You are scaring me to death.
What if you've taken all my peace away?
Well, you have to stay to the end
of the study.
So, I'm saying to plow deep in the
Bible is to discover new fears.
And that's true.
Now, you can leave your Bible aside, never
study it.
And you can bump into the fears anyway
in life.
Or you can study your Bible in depth
and run into new fears.
But you'll find them first in the Bible
instead of life.
And that is the best way to find
them.
Because then you know that if you found
them in the Bible, the new fears, then
you can also find the answer to them
in the Bible as well.
And that is where I would point you.
I would point you to plow deep into
the Bible even though you will discover new
fears.
How about the life of Job?
The life of Job, if you study the
book of Job and his life, I guarantee
you, you will discover new fears because Job's
life teaches us something that is extraordinary.
And it takes sometimes Christians their entire life
to learn this.
The sooner you learn it, the better.
What the life of Job teaches us in
the Bible is that there are no boundaries
except what God allows or what God determines
for His glory and for His purpose.
There are no boundaries except what God determines
for His glory and ultimately, hear this part,
for your highest good.
No boundaries on bad things that can happen
to you.
That's what I'm saying.
Except the boundaries that God determines.
And what you find in Job is that
he will knock down just about any boundary
there is if it's for your highest good.
Because that's what happened to Job.
And here's the thing.
Job was the most righteous man on the
earth.
We don't read the book of Job and
start into it and read, and there was
in the land of Oz a very wicked
man indeed.
A drunkard was he.
A slacker indeed.
And every night he smoked his joint.
To say he was righteous would be a
moot point.
We don't read of such things.
We don't read that he was an evil
man.
We read he was the most righteous man
in all the earth.
And Satan comes before God and God says,
Have you considered my servant Job?
Check him out.
He is righteous.
And Satan said, Yeah.
That's because you give him stuff.
Take the stuff away and he'll curse you
to your face.
And the Lord goes, Really?
Go take the stuff.
Only one boundary.
Don't afflict his body.
He takes all the stuff.
He comes back and he says, You know
what?
You wouldn't let me afflict his body.
You let me afflict his body, he'll curse
you to your face.
God says, All right, afflict his body.
You just can't kill him.
The only boundary left was you can't kill
Job but follow this.
A lot of other people were killed.
He lost his crops.
He lost his cattle.
He lost his money.
He lost sons.
He lost daughters.
His wife said, Curse God and die.
And we know probably where she went when
she died because of her attitude toward God.
In other words, the only boundary in the
life of the most righteous man on earth
at that time was you can't kill him.
Now, I read that and I discover new
fears because I came to Christ with all
these preconceived ideas of what God would never
allow.
And so did you.
Oh, what God would never allow.
And I look at what happens when what
he would never allow comes to me or
to a loved one.
And sometimes the result is panic because I
start to think I'm not safe even with
God.
Think about that.
I'm not safe even with God.
Look at Job.
Now, follow me on this.
You have no control over your life anyway.
For starters, this is backup.
You have no control over your life anyway.
For starters.
If you're an existentialist, you think you do.
But you don't.
You have no control over your life for
starters.
So much of it.
So in the end, the only place of
real protection in your life and mine is
the center of God's will.
Would you agree to that?
The only place of real protection of my
life is in the center of God's will,
because there at least I'm confident that what's
happening to me is being allowed by God
because it's been sifted through his will for
my highest good.
So the only place I can be really
confident on Earth is in the center of
God's will.
If I'm in rebellion and I'm drifting from
God, then anything's possible at that point.
And it's my fault.
So I say to myself, I will walk
in the center of God's will and there
I will have the only control over my
life I can ever have.
And that's his control.
OK.
But what if he allows the unthinkable to
come into my life as he did with
Job?
And it brings out my greatest fears and
I'm right in the center of his will.
What then?
Well then I would say look to him
in the face of your greatest fears to
bring the greatest faith you have ever had.
Because that is exactly what happened to Job.
In Job 1315, as Job is propelled through
his circumstances, one loss after the next until
he's lost everything and every boundary has been
shattered except his own life.
He's sick, he's oozing with pus, he's puffed
up with ellipsis, he's not sitting in a
nice room like this.
He isn't even on a nice metal chair.
He is on a heap, a rubbish heap.
And there's broken pottery there and he's oozing
with pus from his skin.
And he's just scraping the pus off of
his skin.
Outdoors, because every building has been blown down
by the hurricane from Satan.
And he's just sitting out there, scraping, oozing
filthy pus.
And then along come his righteous friends and
they start to encourage him.
Aha, Mr. Righteous Job, on the dirt pile,
puffed up like an elephant.
Bugs crawling in your skin and oozing.
Are you righteous?
Alright.
And they just start to tear him down
thinking they know all about God.
And they're so far off because they don't
have any clue of the high purposes God
is working in this man's life.
Which I'll give it away.
You want to know what the high purpose
is God is working in his life?
He is showing to the entire, all of
creation, all of the universe, everything, this great
reality, especially to Satan and his demons, that
saving faith is not fragile.
He is showing in the life of Job,
saving faith is not fragile.
When I save an individual and he believes
in me, you can shatter his life utterly,
and when it's all done, he will still
believe in me.
The one I save, I save permanently.
The one I rescue, the one who believes
on me, believes on me no matter what.
Why?
Because I sustain an individual.
And that is the whole message of Job.
Saving faith is not fragile.
That is it.
So in the middle of it, Job doesn't
know that though.
Job doesn't know that.
So in the middle of it, he's going
through all of this and he's propelled forward
and he has his greatest fears.
He actually says, Job actually says that that
which he had feared, most feared had come
upon him.
Job 325, he says, what I feared has
come upon me and what I dreaded has
happened to me.
You know, I've heard about stuff like this,
but I never thought it would happen to
me.
I kind of figured that because of the
way I walked with God, he wouldn't allow
it.
But now what I feared has come upon
me and what I dreaded has happened to
me.
And he says in Job 326, I have
no peace, no quietness.
I have no rest but only turmoil.
So as he's propelled through all of this,
you know what happens to him?
In Job 1315, he gets to the point
of his greatest faith.
He says this, write it down.
This is worth remembering.
Job 1315.
He says, though he slay me, yet I
will trust in him.
And I will maintain mine own ways before
him.
One translation renders that I will defend my
own ways before him.
It isn't he is not saying I'm going
to defend how righteous I am.
He is saying, though he slay me, I
will defend my trust in him.
I will hold on to my trust in
him.
I will trust in him no matter what.
Even if he allowed the last thing to
be taken, which would be my life.
Job 1315, though he slay me, yet I
will trust in him and I will maintain
my own ways before him.
I will trust him to the end.
Job is deeply persuaded that even if he
dies at the hand of the Lord, he's
not going to curse God.
And at this point for Job, trust in
God transcends even death.
At this point for Job, trust in God
transcends even death.
You know something?
That's where we all need to go.
That's where we all should be heading ultimately
to that point.
So that we're not surprised by anything.
See, we all bring preconceived ideas of what
God would never allow into our walk with
the Lord.
And his will, we are surprised when we
find that he goes beyond our pre-set
boundaries.
And it shocks us.
One of the things that most delights me
about this month's cold waters, just happened to
have one here, is that right here it
says lessons from life's unavoidable test.
Because you see, in this account from the
Gospel of John, Jesus sends the disciples into
this boat.
He sends away the multitudes who are trying
to take him by force and make him
king.
And he sends the disciples into this boat
and he says, get into the boat and
go to the other side.
Then he sends away the multitudes.
He goes up to the mountainside to pray.
And these men are in the boat.
It's about six o'clock in the evening.
They begin to row.
They're fishermen.
It's Passover time.
There's a full moon.
So there's light at night.
That's OK.
Evening.
You tell us to go to the other
side.
We have a full moon.
We can see the Passover moon.
And the Lord, well, he made us do
this because Mark, or I think it's Mark
in his account, says in the Greek, Jesus
had to raise his voice.
They wouldn't get in the boat.
They were kind of feeling what the multitude
was feeling.
Well, maybe you should be king now.
And so he's trying to protect them so
they won't get in the boat.
So he has to raise his voice.
Get in the boat.
We're in the boat.
We are in the boat.
So they jump in the boat.
You got it, Lord.
Row.
We're rowing.
We are rowers.
We row for Christ.
And they're in the boat and away they
go.
It's nice and glassy.
They have obeyed Jesus.
He even had to raise his voice to
get them to obey.
They have obeyed Jesus.
And now there they go.
Oh, row, row, row.
You know, here we go.
And then all of a sudden a storm
comes out of nowhere.
And it's the biggest storm of their whole
life.
And they fear that they will die.
And they are left out there.
The first watch of the night is six
o'clock when they went out.
Second watch is nine o'clock.
The third watch is twelve o'clock.
The fourth watch of the night goes from
three in the morning until six in the
morning.
The Bible says he came to them in
the last watch of the night, the fourth
watch of the night.
They were rowing for somewhere around nine hours
in the greatest storm of their life.
These were seasoned fishermen.
The storm was so huge that even these
men feared for their lives.
And just about the time they're thinking, our
lives are gone.
He didn't come.
We rowed until we can row no more.
And John fills this in.
They'd only gone about three miles in nine
hours.
Nowhere, in other words.
By the time their strength is exhausted, they
can't make another move.
Jesus comes in the last watch of the
night.
And he commands the sea to be still.
It's still and glassy and calm.
He calms the storm.
And John records, and instantly we were at
the shore where we were going.
That was a miracle because they hadn't gone
hardly anywhere.
He stopped the storm.
He brought them through.
But you see, by obeying him, they entered
the biggest storm of their whole life.
And all of their pre-set boundaries were
shattered.
Why?
Because he wanted to take them farther than
they'd ever been.
And he came to them in the midst
of the storm in John 620.
And he said to them, it is I,
be not afraid.
It is I, be not afraid.
And there is where deliverance is from every
fear in your life.
It is I, be not afraid.
And that's why even to know that in
the center of God's will, things can happen
to you that you never thought would be
allowed to happen to you as a Christian.
You can know in the center of his
will that if it's happened, it is I,
be not afraid.
You're in the boat.
You've been rowing all night.
You think you're about to die.
It is I, be not afraid.
I'll take care of you.
He calms the storm.
Why?
Because he's done working with their faith.
And they're at the shore because it's over.
When the Lord was done with Job, suddenly,
out of nowhere, in the book of Job,
God speaks to Job out of a whirlwind,
and the trial ends.
Why?
It goes on and on and on and
on.
It comes out of nowhere and goes on
and on and on and on.
And all of a sudden, it ends suddenly.
Why?
Because God was done.
When God is done testing you, growing your
faith, the trial ends.
So the way out is always forward.
And you'll find these words to your heart.
It is I.
Be not afraid.
Because he seeks to take the fear out
of your heart.
Even when the circumstances around you make you
want to be fearful, he comes to the
depths of your being and he says, It
is I, be not afraid.
And it says in John 6.21, Then
they willingly received him into the boat.
Immediately then the boat was at the land
where they were going.
See, fear is waiting for everyone who lives
into this tribulation.
But here's my whole point.
We hate fear so much.
Why would you want to reject Christ and
go on into more fear than you've ever
dreamed possible?
Come to Christ now.
Perfect fear.
Perfect love.
Fear has torment, the Bible says.
Fear has torment.
But his perfect love casts out what?
All fear.
So the deliverance from fear for every human
heart is found in Jesus Christ.
He is the answer.
Do you know that one of the greatest
statements in the whole Bible is found in
the book of Deuteronomy?
It's in Deuteronomy chapter 33 verse 27.
This is what it says.
The eternal God is your refuge.
And underneath are the everlasting arms.
Moses is about to leave the children of
Israel and go up into the mountain and
God's going to take him.
He's going to die.
One of the last things he ever says
to them as a nation.
Three million of them spread out in front
of him.
The eternal God is your refuge.
Don't ever forget it.
And underneath you, holding you up, are his
everlasting arms.
One of the greatest scriptures in the whole
Bible.
That's why Jesus in Matthew 11, 28 said
this.
Come unto me, all you who labor and
are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest.
I will.
And he said, take my yoke upon me
and learn from me.
That's what we've been doing tonight.
We're learning the ways of the Lord.
Learn from me.
For I am gentle and lowly in heart
and you will ultimately find rest for your
soul.
For my yoke is easy and my burden
is light.
Hebrews 13, 6 says, so we may boldly
say the Lord is my helper.
Thus, I will not.
What?
Fear.
Fear what?
What man can do to me.
In Isaiah 41, 10, this is what God
says.
Fear not.
I am with you.
Soak this in because this is where we're
going to stop.
Fear not.
I am with you.
Be not dismayed for I am your God.
I will strengthen you.
I will help you.
I will uphold you with my righteous right
hand.
Underneath are the everlasting arms.
Behold, all who are incensed against you shall
be ashamed and disgraced.
They will be as nothing.
Those who strive with you will perish.
You will seek them and not find them.
Those who contended with you who were against
you shall be as nothing as a non
-existent thing.
Isaiah 41, 13, for I, the Lord, your
God, will hold.
This is so tender.
Will hold your right saying to you, whispering
in your ear to your heart.
Fear not.
I will.
I will help you.
It is I.
Be not afraid.
It is a picture of a loving parent
tenderly holding the right hand of the child.
Fear not.
I'll hold your right hand.
I will help you.
That's your God.
And that is the source of deliverance from
your fear.
The Lord, your God.
Well, he'll allow things that will surprise you
and shock you.
But he also promises he will hold your
right hand.
And that is where you find your rest
and your peace.
I'll leave you with the words of Martin
Luther.
He says, he said it so long ago.
I know not the way he leads me.
But oh, well, do I know my guide.
What then have I to fear?
I know not the way he leads me.
Speaking of Jesus Christ, he said, but oh,
how well do I know my guide.
What then do I have to fear?
He knows the way.
He's holding my hand.
And he's not going to let go.
Until I am in heaven.
In heaven.
You see, the book of Revelation opens to
us with great candor.
The realities of where earth and the human
race is going.
We see what's coming on this earth.
And we'll go on and finish it off
in this chapter next time.
But we also find that the only place,
whether it's there, whether it's here or now.
There's freedom from fear.
Is in Jesus Christ.
In Jesus Christ.
Fear not.
It is I.
Be not afraid.
I will hold your hand.
You know him and love him.
And he's holding your hand today.
And he will never let you go.
Never.
The Lord says go to the other side
of the lake.
It may take a while to get there.
But if he says you're going to the
other side, guess what?
You're going to get to the other side.
And those men thought they were going to
die on the lake in the storm.
He had said, go to the other side.
And in the middle of the storm, he
came.
Walking on the water of all things.
Stopped the storm.
Boom.
They're at the other side.
When God's in the boat, the boat cannot
sink.
He will never let go of your hand.
Let's pray, shall we?
Father, thank you.
Thank you, Lord, for reality.
Thank you for the truth that makes us
free.
Help us to understand, Lord, that you are
so huge.
You are far beyond anything what we ever
imagined.
And that your ways are far above ours.
And God, may we safely then trust in
you.
May we find your love flowing in our
hearts.
Poured out by your Holy Spirit from you
into our hearts.
And may your love set us free from
our fears.
No matter what our eyes or ears see
or hear.
That the greatest reality in all of our
life would be Christ in us.
The hope of glory.
And we thank you, Lord.
That all those that come unto you.
You will in no wise cast out.
We are yours.
And underneath us are the everlasting arms.
And we bless you and praise you.
In Jesus' name.
For this great salvation.
Amen.
Well, normally I don't digress that far.