God's answer to fear - Greg Laurie - http://www.wnd.com/2015/03/gods-answer-to-fear/
Pastor Greg Laurie declares, 'The worst-case scenario is dying without Jesus'
For a number of years, the reality show "Fear Factor" featured people who would compete against each other doing crazy stunts to win a grand prize. Here are a few things the contestants did: get dragged by a horse going 35 miles per hour, get strapped in and then covered by 400 rats, jump from one semitrailer to another while traveling at 40 miles per hour, lie covered up to the head with 300,000 worms for four minutes, eat live beetles, and consume three sheep eyes in three minutes. What was it with those people? I think the show could have been more aptly named "Lunacy Factor."
With all the frightening prospects in our world today, I'm amazed at how people will go out of their way to do things that frighten them. And we indeed live in frightening times. The first decade of the new millennium was summed up as the Decade of Fear. And halfway through this second decade, there has been plenty to trouble us as well. So what are we supposed to do? Should we find a hole and climb in, hoping that bad things won't happen to us?
Jesus gave some very direct words for living in troubled times: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am" (John 14:1-3 NIV).
Jesus began by saying, "Do not let your hearts be troubled." Other ways the word troubled could be translated from the original language would be" "agitated," "disturbed," or "thrown into confusion." Jesus was saying, "Don't be disturbed. Don't be agitated. Don't be thrown into confusion. Don't be troubled."
Notice he wasn't saying there isn't reason to be troubled. But what he was saying is there is greater reason not to be.
Life is indeed filled with trouble. The Bible says, "Man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward" (Job 5:7). There are troubles we face every day. We have health troubles, family troubles, boyfriend or girlfriend troubles and financial troubles. Everyone has trouble in life.
Disappointment is a type of trouble. We are disappointed with ourselves because we aren't always what we want to be. We want to be strong, but we are weak. We want to be courageous, but we are afraid. We want to be successful, but we experience many failures.
Circumstances can be a source of trouble, too. Maybe it's the loss of a job, friction in the family, or some other difficulty.
Jesus was saying there are troubles in the world. But he also was saying not to be agitated and stressed out and thrown into confusion. Why?
First, we can trust him. Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me" (John 14:1). He was saying, "Believe in me. I have brought you this far, and I am not going to abandon you. I know what I am doing. Believe."
There are things that just don't make sense in life. A tragedy will strike, and we'll say, "Lord, why did you let this happen to me? What are you doing?"
When I don't understand what God is doing, I have to fall back on what I do understand. And what I do understand is that God loves me, and everything he does in my life is run through his plan and purpose for me. As I have often said, the word oops is not in God's vocabulary. There are no mistakes in the life of a child of God. I have to trust him.
Jesus was saying, "I am with you. Believe in God. Believe also in me."
Second, if you are a Christian, you are going to heaven. This is the hope that Christians have. The Bible says there is a place waiting for you in heaven. The Bible doesn't give us all that many descriptions of heaven. There are some, but they are difficult for us to grasp. The apostle Paul had the unique experience of dying, going to heaven and coming back again. All Paul would say about what he saw on the other side was, "I do know that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell" (1 Corinthians 12:3-4 NLT).
To describe the glories of heaven to someone who has only known the limitations of Earth is not an easy thing to do. But know this much: It is going to be good. And it is waiting for everyone who has put their faith in Christ.
Third, Jesus is coming again. As we look at the turmoil in our world today and at the continuing conflict in the Middle East, we see Bible prophecy being fulfilled before our very eyes. Let me just bring one to your attention. The Bible predicted that the Jewish people would be scattered, but then would be reunited again and become a nation.
If you had said that back in 1930, people would have thought you were crazy. But on May 14, 1948, that prophecy became a reality. Against all odds, with enemies trying to kill them, the nation of Israel was established once again. It has been attacked many times and has survived. It has flourished. And today Israel is surrounded by hostile nations, exactly as the Bible also said it would be. So whenever you see conflict in that part of the world, pay attention.
Yes, we are living in frightening times. But the worst-case scenario is not dying. (We are all going to die eventually.) The worst-case scenario is dying without Jesus. That, and that alone, is the sum of all fears. That is why we want to make sure our lives are right and that we are prepared to meet God. Because we don't know when our lives will come to an end.
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