Prophecies!

I know why the prophets sighed

Seeing future events unfold

Knowing, yet hesitant to tell

Of dark days and bright nights

Rising from earth, the hell

Unleashed on scorners from

All corners of life. No respect

For titles, position or wealth,

The gray, the lean, and in-between

Must now accept deed’s fate

Foretold hundreds of years ago,

By one who dared to speak

The Truth, yet remained not long

For fruit to bear its burden,

Sickness, disease, calamities

For truth’s tale felled prophets galore,

Until they would not speak much more,

But silently watched truth awake,

The skies,  and the earth, while they just sighed.

(c) 2002 Mary M. Hall-Rayford

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Live Without Fear!

“but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm” (Proverbs 1:33 NIV)

With all of the uproar and chaos that exists all over the world, it is amazing that such a simple solution could resolve the unrest. If we would just listen to what God has to say and obey, we could all live in peace and never worry about being fearful of anything. The fact that there is so much chaos in the world is evidence that we are not listening and that leads to certain fearfulness of impending danger.

When children don’t listen to parents, they can expect certain consequences when they disobey and some children end up being fearful of parents.

When students don’t pay attention to a teacher/educator, they can expect certain consequences and many are fearful about their grades.

When any individual doesn’t pay attention to the laws of the land, ie–traffic laws, they can expect to receive the penalty for their actions and many fear police.

Of course, there are a number of other things that could be said about why people are fearful, but for the most part–people are fearful because they are not listening to wise counsel, and more specifically, they are not listening to God.

We listen to God through reading and understanding His Word, recognizing that quiet voice that speaks to our hearts. If we are not willing to read and understand His Word, we will never recognize when He is speaking to our hearts. If we do not hear Him, we are doomed to live in fear about almost everything.

We can abide in His peace when we understand that His peace–surpasses all understanding–and we can receive it, embrace it, and rest in it. His peace–keeps our hearts from fluttering at the sound of evil or turmoil. His peace–allows us to sleep at night, no matter what is going on with the rest of the world. His peace–allows us to navigate life without being anxious or fearful about anything.

In order to live without fear, we must listen and obey God! Perfect love–unconditional love–casts out fear!