Fear

I was reading today in Hebrews and Hebrews 2:15 really jumped out at me. It states, with verse 14 for context: "Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery ."
How does Satan keep men from coming to God? I thought of two very prominent ways: Pride and Fear. Yet in a way, pride is a form of fear. It is the fear of losing oneself and of appearing weak to others. Satan uses fear. 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." That verse was POUNDED into my head in Germany, as it is one of pastor Nick's life verses. And then I thought about it. How often do I let fear control my life? How often do I listen to my fears of, oh, failure, rejection, inferiority etc. instead of the Spirit of God dwelling in me? The more I examine my life and my choices, the more I see how fear has infiltrated so much of my life. How many of your decisions are motivated by fear? Remember, God has not give us the spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.

Concert

I went to the Shane and Shane concert last night, mostly to see Phil Wickham who was opening...let me just say the concert was AMAZING! Phil set the tone by finishing off a couple of his songs with well known worship songs and Shane and Shane took it to the next level with their own brand of worship. I was truly blessed. It was a perfect evening, even if the concert did start off an hour late. I think it was kind of funny that I was waiting at the door with about 50 other people 45 minutes before the show was supposed to start when the tour bus arrived - they had broken down (in a very literal sense) in Conneticut and were just arriving.

So this is me with Phil