FEAR

While I have written about FEAR before, I wanted to share another word with you about it. We are told that the fear factor in our Nation is as high or higher now than it has even been before. There was little known about our National fear before 1995 (think Oklahoma City bombing), because the polling had not yet begun. Fear began to grow exponentially in the minds of Americans during those days, and has continued to do so. Reading the article in which you find the “ad” below was most interesting to me. It was a time of great fear for so many. Feel free to read the article, but it is sufficient if you watch the “ad” near the bottom of the article. 1964 “Daisy” ad

It was 75 years ago, on Jan. 6, 1941, that President Franklin Roosevelt stood to deliver the State of the Union Address that would become one of his most famous.

“At no previous time has American security been as seriously threatened from without as it is today,” Roosevelt admitted, but he still had hope for a future that would encompass the “four essential human freedoms”—including freedom from fear. And when Pearl Harbor was attacked at the end of that year, news reports from the time showed that Americans indeed responded with determination more than fear.

Nearly three quarters of a century later, a poll released in December found that Americans are more fearful of terrorism than at any point since Sept. 11, 2001. And while recent events like the attacks in ISIS-inspired attacks in Paris and the fatal shootings in San Bernardino, Calif. may have Americans particularly on edge, experts say that Roosevelt’s advice has gone unheeded for sometime. “My research starts in the 1980s and goes more or less till now, and there have been very high fear levels in the U.S. continuously,” says Barry Glassner, president of Lewis & Clark college and author of The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things. (TIME)

Zechariah said in Luke 1:74-75: We have been rescued from our enemies’ clutches, to serve Him (the Messiah) without fear in holiness and righteousness in His presence all our days. . .

Paul said in Romans 8:15: For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “ Abba, Father

The Writer said in Hebrews 13:5b-6: He Himself has said, I will never leave you or forsake you. Therefore, we may boldly say: The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me.

Jesus said in Mark 5:36: “Don’t be afraid, only believe.”

Jesus said in Matthew 14:27: “Do not be afraid.”

I could go on. . .and on. I remember hearing from my parents about the fear regarding Pearl Harbor and WWII. I remember the fear during the Cold War (from the “ad” above) when as a child we often got under our desks at school. I remember Oklahoma City, 9/11, and all that has followed. But. . .

I know HIM who banishes fear. It is enough!