I read the headlines. I listen to the news. I watch the podcasts. The consensus is that everything we believe in and all that we love about our country and our Christian values will either be resurrected or buried by what happens in the next election. Fearful prognosticators on both sides of the issues are predicting the worse.
No fear. I just don’t have any fear.
I have faith. I have courage that comes from the power of the Holy Spirit alive within my heart. I have faith in God. What I don’t have is faith in man. Man lets us down. Man traffics in fear. God traffics in power, love, and a sound mind.
I believe Timothy, the protégé of Paul, must have struggled with fear. Paul wrote these words that still resonate through the ages, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (1 Timothy 1:7).
Camping out in Fear
We all struggle with fear at times. Fear is not all bad. Acknowledging fear is the beginning of courage. Timothy must have admitted to Paul that this was a big struggle for him. Good for Timothy. But it’s in camping out in fear that we get into trouble and that’s why Paul said what he said.
Fear will destroy your life. Camping out in fear releases cortisol into your bloodstream that literally shreds your immune system. This in turn leads to sickness, depression, and anxiety. Seventy-five to ninety-eight percent of all sickness comes from lifestyle choices and our choices come from our thinking.
Don’t camp out in fear. It’s not healthy. It’s not helpful. Let it pass by building a resilient heart of power, love, and a renewed mind. That’s the pathway to courage.
Activate your Courage
Every morning when you wake up, new baby nerve cells have been born that are at your disposal to either build healthy thoughts that build courage and destroy toxic thoughts, or toxic thoughts that create fear and destroy courage. The birth of these new baby nerve cells is called neurogenesis.
Besides God, your mind is the most powerful thing in the universe! Our brains become shaped by the process of either a positive, courageous direction or a negative fearful direction. Our thoughts are the real estate of the brain. If you live with courageous thoughts and actions, you activate courage throughout your whole body!
You cannot control your circumstances, but you can control your reaction to your circumstances and those reactions will determine your future. As you think, you produce proteins, and these proteins are the choices you make.
Begin each day choosing to live in courage. Fill your mind with God’s thoughts through reading and meditating on those things that build your courage. Build courage proteins. It works.
Pastor Steve
