I hope & trust this post finds you having a great day on this beautiful Saturday morning!
This week I was traveling again...airports & hotels are starting to feel strangely like home! Is it bad that the TSA folks and shuttle drivers now know me?!?! Perhaps a different Happy Friday... Anyways, while I was killing time at the airport in Kansas City, I saw a young man walk by who had a tattoo that said, "Fear Is A Choice." It is indeed...
My Spirit tells me that faith is also a choice. Fear is a choice and faith is a choice. So the question is, which will you & I choose?
Isn't it easy to say the "right" thing? "Of course Kev, I will choose faith!" But will you & I really? You see, it is not the words that we speak or even the thoughts that we have that reveal our true beliefs, what we have chosen. It is the actions we take.
I have heard it said that faith & fear are both the belief in something unseen, that has not happened yet. These beliefs - whichever one's we choose - lead us to act in accordance to what we believe will happen. In very short order we have created a life based upon this choice - faith or fear.
So that is the question I would like to ask each of us this morning; Will you choose faith or will you choose fear? The type and quality of life we live will be determined by the way we answer this question, revealed by the life we live each day. We must each do our own choosing and we must each live with the life created by this choice.
I respectfully offer the following for your consideration:
"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."
- Hebrews 11: 1
"For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."
- 2 Timothy 1: 7
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."
- Joshua 1: 9
"Feed your fears and your faith will starve. Feed your faith, and your fears will."
- Max Lucado
"Fear is born of Satan, and if we would only take time to think a moment we would see that everything Satan says is founded upon a falsehood."
- A.B. Simpson
"Negative minds full of fear and doubt produce negative lives, which can ultimately destroy your life."
- Joyce Meyer
"If you listen to your fears, you will die never knowing what a great person you might have been."
- Robert H. Schuller
"Fear is a self imposed prison that will keep you from becoming what God intends you to be. You must move against it with the weapons of faith and love."
- Rick Warren
I have to share a quick story with y'all this morning. Last night my Beautiful Bride & I went on a date. We went to her favorite restaurant, ate too much and then decided we would go to a men's clothing store and the mall to walk around...perhaps to justify all that we just ate! :) Besides, I needed some new dress shoes for work.
We had a very kind gentleman help us at the men's clothing store. We spent a lot of time with him, trying on different shoes, joking, laughing...it was awesome. After we got the shoes I was going to buy he & I went to the cash register to check out while Kath went to the restroom. While we were standing there, he asked me, "How long have you two been married?" I replied, "27 years...I am very blessed." I then asked him, "How long have you been married?" He replied, "5 years." He then got interrupted by a phone call. While he was still on the phone Kathy came back. When he got off the phone he asked, "What is the secret?" Kath & I looked at each other, not knowing what he was talking about. He then clarified, "To staying together for so long?" Kathy immediately replied, "God." No question! Having to put up with me for all this time, it clearly has to be God! I then replied, "Fighting for our relationship and not against each other." He then got interrupted by another phone call. When he got off the phone he came right back to us and said, "Please tell me more." I then explained that the point is not to fight against my spouse but to fight with her for our relationship. Somehow this all transitioned to a conversation about "What Will Your Influence Be...?" As I took off the bracelet I was wearing that has this saying on it, Kath was busily writing something down. I explained that he is going to influence his wife, either positively or negatively, and he is going to choose which it will be each and every day. He looked me in the eye and said, "I needed this." I smiled and said "yes." He moved slightly towards me, pierced me with his glare, raised his voice and said, "Do you hear me?! I needed this!" I said, "Yes sir, I understand." It was then that my Beautiful Bride raised up with what she had been writing. She explained to our new friend that she had written down the link to this blog and encouraged him to read it. She had also written a quote, "The grass is not greener on the other side of the fence. It is greener where you water it."
Kath & I walked to the car. We were both kind of overwhelmed by what had just happened. As I closed her door I said, "And to think, we thought we were coming to the store because I needed shoes." We never know how or when God will use us in someone's life...
Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can.
Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.
Kev
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