Exodus 20:13 “You shall not murder.”

Leviticus 24:16 Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

When we spread the gospel we will come up against those who oppose the Word with issues they consider contradictions. We do not expect newborns to have answers to these more complicated issues. We who are of a certain age witnessing to a lost and dying world should be prepared.

Matthew 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Those opposing the gospel will say the law is still in full effect and yet we say it doesn’t apply to us. Are we ready to answer those accusations?

• Matthew 11:13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John,
• Luke 16:16 “The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.
• Galatians 3:19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.

The law shut the door to the Kingdom of God and because no one could keep all the law, no one could enter the Kingdom. Jesus is that intermediary and more.

John 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

When God set His people free from slavery in Egypt death came to take the firstborn of every family, Jew and Gentile alike. What saved those that passed under the penalty of death that night? The blood of the sacrificial lamb!

• Exodus 12:22 Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.
• Exodus 12:23 For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

I do not fear for my own life. I know  without a moment of doubt or hesitation where I am going upon my exit from this life.

This morning I put what I had written from the first chapter of Joel in the trash. I did so because I was afraid that it was not God inspired. His words were, my thoughts were not. I was afraid of failing my God. 

I see death and destruction everywhere these days. The news is littered with it. I cannot pray enough to cover all that misery. Feeling bad, being anxious for others is not the fear which John is speaking about in this opening verse. At least it is not as I perceive it today.

His abiding love has done wondrous works in my life. He has changed me. I am not perfected, at least not yet. That is for another life I think. In this life I struggle to keep on task. I have my marching orders and everything around me is a distraction.

I am not at perfect peace. If I were I would praise God in all things, even the things that trouble me so much in the world. When I see what is going on, I believe that God’s Word is true. He warned us of all this and it seems like no one is listening. If they had been listening then their minds would have been transformed and their hearts would be full of love.

My hope is that what I hear in the Spirit will serve God and my response in obedience of faith will accomplish God’s will, which is beyond my control. “Thy will be done.” Obedience of faith does require us to understand His will before we act on it. Faith only requires that we believe God.

Is this the right Word for today? I know what I put in the trash was not. Perhaps that is the message for today. Can we lay aside what we are thinking and seek God’s message for us today?

Don’t let fear distract you.