For this month and next, to round out our first NO fear YEAR, we’re changing gears slightly to focus not on a fear we may face, but rather the fear of the Lord. It’s a much different kind of fear - the good kind, in fact.  The Bible commands us to fear the Lord, which means to give Him awe & respect.

So how do we fear the Lord? & how does that help us to have NO fear? Well… once we know WHO God is, we can understand what that means in our lives, & we will better be able to overcome fear.

In this devotional, we covered several characteristics of God.  Watch this video, and think about which attribute of Him helps you overcome your fears. Leave a comment, & tell us which characteristic means the most to you!

Next month we’ll be back with more attributes of God… don’t miss our LAST live devotional of 2009!!  Monday, December 14th at 8 p.m. EST.  See you there!

God bless,

Jason & Heather Marshall

We have been on the hunt for a house for over 6 months now. There is a deadline of 11/30 on the $8,000 tax credit, our baby is due 11/12, AND our lease is up.

Phew!

That has fear written all over it. Watch the video above and see how Heather has been able to use scripture to be encouraged and overcome fear.

Let us know what you think and comment below. We LOVE hearing from you!

Here is her story:

A few years ago, I became bewildered by church. The pastor of the church I was attending moved on to another church. Our next pastor wanted “his own church”, so he sold the building/property and moved across town to a new property and building he purchased with the profits from the old church. I stopped going. I stopped going to church altogether.

Every time I turned around for the next couple of years, there was a nudge for me to find another church…a nudge for me to get involved in another place of worship. I was afraid. I didn’t want to go through another dissolving like I had just experienced. I didn’t want to go through the bickering again…the church splintering and the people drifting away. It was quite a painful experience…and I feared facing involvement again. I feared facing new people…I feared a long search to discover another church. I feared not being able to find what I was looking for in a church home. I feared not being accepted. Well, you get the picture. There was a LOT of fear involved with moving forward to do what I knew God wanted me to do…to find another church.

So, the long search began. I tried several churches. Nothing quite suited me. Because of my job, I needed to have a church with at least 2 morning services. I needed an early service in order to attend regularly. That narrowed my search a bit. Some churches didn’t really extend a hand or seem friendly enough. Some churches seemed too set in their ways…like there was no room for the new people. Some churches didn’t have the early service, even though I liked them. Some churches were too far away. I just couldn’t find a good “fit”. Every couple of months, I did a search on the internet, trying to find a new church to visit. I was about to give up…fear was winning.

I thought that I could get a better picture of a church by going to the Sunday evening service and mid-week service. So, I decided to give one more church a try. All day that Sunday I wrestled with going that evening. My insides were in complete turmoil. I was almost physically sick from my anxiety. I finally forced myself to just get dressed and go. My heart was pounding. I had tremendous anxiety over this. I drove to a church that I thought might be suitable, and there weren’t many cars in the lot. The nagging thought was…”Don’t stop here. No one goes here on Sunday night.” I happened to see a couple walking across the parking lot, so I pulled up to ask if they were having Sunday evening services. They said “YES! Park your car and you can come sit with us.” I was like…”Whoa.” (I was early for their service…that’s why the parking lot was practically empty.)

To make a long story short, I fell in love with that church. The pastor is awesome. The people are full of love for one another. The husband of the couple that asked me to sit with them became my Sunday School Teacher. I ended up joining a few months later and now am an active member, both in church and Sunday School. It is so wonderful to have a place of worship again. God supported me and pushed me to seek out this church…even though He knew I was so afraid. I’m glad I didn’t let fear win the battle. I leaned on and trusted God to provide, even though it was a personal struggle for me. I was and am still richly blessed.

Thanks, Lorraine for sharing your testimony… isn’t it amazing how Satan wants to isolate us from other believers? He uses fear to paralyze us from taking the steps necessary to be obedient to God.  Praise God that Lorraine listened to God’s voice & overcame her fear!!!

Is this something that you’ve gone through in your life? How have YOU overcome fear?  Even if you’re still battling fear, how is God drawing you out of that?  We’d love to hear your testimonies…. leave a comment of encouragement for Lorraine (& others like her) & then head on over to the testimonies page to submit your own testimony.  Don’t let fear hold you back!!

God bless,

Jason & Heather

Sarah-Lois
Lorraine
Gina
Robin

If you did not win, click on the link to order your own copy… it’s definitely worth it!!!

Thanks for all of you who tuned into our LIVE devotional (and for putting up with a few of our technical difficulties)… what an awesome time of fellowship and overcoming fear!

Be sure to check out the video to hear an AMAZING testimony from Katlyn Giberson (from www.TeenWalking.com) and the AWESOME update to her story - it just shows how God blesses us when we take a leap of faith in overcoming our fears.  Thanks again, Katlyn, for blessing us with that testimony!

(Do you have a testimony of how you overcome fear? PLEASE, share it with us! Click on the “Testimonies” link at the top of this page!)

Also, in this devotional we talked about Adam & Eve… how sin led to fear, and how it does that in our lives as well.

Check it out, leave comments…. we LOVE to hear from you!!

God bless,

Jason & Heather

The Contest will run from NOW til Friday August 14, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. EST. The winner will be announced at our next LIVE episode, Monday August 17th.

Here’s how to enter:

• REQUIRED (2 Entries) - Comment on THIS post, telling us why you want/deserve this package.

In addition to the above comment, you may also:

• (1 Entry Each) - Comment on ANY OTHER post or page, leaving a quality comment relating to that devotional.
• (5 Entries Each) - Give us a Fear Testimonial! Multiple testimonies are welcome, since we all face different fears at different times of our life! (Enter your fear testimony on the Testimonies page)
• (1 Entry Per Day) - Follow us on Twitter! Twitter.com/NOfearYEAR AND tweet about our devotionals and/or this contest! (Be sure to include @NOfearYEAR in each Tweet so we can track it!)
• (1 Entry) - Subscribe to NOfearYEAR.com via email! (Fill out your name & email address in the subscription box on the right) Once subscribed, REPLY to the very next email you get from us & tell us what Devotional you like best so far at NOfearYEAR.com.
• (1 Entry) - Join our Facebook Group AND participate in one of our Discussion Board topics!

Feel free to get AS MANY entries as possible! The more you participate on the site, the better your chance of winning will be! We will tally up all the entries and draw the winner LIVE at our next devotional.

THE PRIZES:

Just for entering, you will receive the digital download of Chapter 1 of Fearless by Max Lucado in PDF format as well as Chapter 1 in MP3 format!

For getting 10 Entries -  You will receive an additional chapter in both PDF & MP3 formats.

The Grand Prize - To Be Announced

The first place we take a look at is the pages at the top. Each of those is a link to a single page that has the corresponding content on it. For instance… the LIVE page is where we host our LIVE episodes and the Testimonies page is where you can fill out a form and share your experiences with fear with us. 

Then we took a look at the scrolling featured article section. The featured articles are things that we want extra focus on. Right now the first 2 pre-season episodes, the LIVE episode with trekden.com, the share your testimony announcement, and this post about the tour.

Next I showed some more of the homepage. Which took us to an individual post (devotional) page. On that page I showed how to watch the video as well as the many other features that enhance your watching pleasures. 

Finally, we toured the sidebar which is on the right side of every page. It has many extra things in it that can help you navigate the site better. It starts with the update and news sign up. If you’re not already signed up then stop what you’re doing and do that now. I made it so that you wont leave the page when it sends. 

So make sure you watch the video and let me know if there is anything else I can help you with. Love to hear your thoughts below in the comments!

Please watch the video so you know exactly what it is we are looking for. Then go to the testimonies page and fill out the form. Thank you so much for your participation!

Click here to go to the testimonies page

(If you missed our announcement on the video or are only reading this post, be sure to read all the way to the end, where we explain what this month’s MEGA-ANNOUNCEMENT was all about… and how it involves YOU!)

To follow along with us, grab your Bible or click the link to read Ephesians 6:10-20, the passage of Scripture we are studying.

Ephesians 6:11 tells us to “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”

The devil’s schemes include doing what he can to make us fearful. He plants “What if…” thoughts, doubts, phobias, anxieties, and distrust in our hearts and minds…. so THIS is why we need to put on the Full Armor of God, every day of our lives.

There are plenty of resources that you can look up on the actual pieces of armor that Paul writes about in Ephesians 6:14-17, so we are not going to get into them now.  Be sure to read & study them on your own, but our focus is on the next few verses.

All this armor is worth nothing unless you take into account verse 18, which says, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” (NIV)

We are not given this armor to look at it or read about it… we’re to put each piece of armor on through PRAYER! We are not to just wear our armor & sit around in it…. we’re to enter the Spiritual battle through PRAYER!!

Our youth group had a challenge a few weeks ago: to pray each piece of armor on, every day, for one week.  We also encouraged them to keep going after that week was up, because it’s soooo important to be ready for battle!

If we recall verse 12, our battle isn’t against physical forces, like David fighting against Goliath… it’s against the spiritual forces, the fears that Satan & his demons like to whisper to us when we least expect it.  If your armor is not in place & you have not been alert, fear can easily sneak in…. along with pride, anger, complacency, and other sin.

So what does the Bible tell us to do? Read verses 18-20 again.

• We are to pray at ALL times. Not just once, not after trouble hits… but at ALL times.
• We are to pray for each other, not just ourselves. Paul himself asked for prayer… if he needed it, I’m sure we ALL need it!
• We are to live life FEARLESSLY! If we’ve got the armor on, and we’re all prayed up, there is no reason to fear! None of Satan’s crazy wiles can get to you… so preach the Gospel & life life free from fear!

Have you overcome fear in your life? Or have you been overcome by fear? Either way, we want to hear from you…. we need YOUR stories!  As we enter into our next phase of this devotional, we would like to collect stories of people - YOU - who faced fear.  What consequences, blessings, or life lessons did you get out of that experience?  Let’s share with each other to bless, strengthen, & encourage each other… and so we can pray for each other too!

If you have a story, head on over to the Testimonies page (you can access it from the link at the top of every page) & let us know all about it!  This next phase won’t function without your participation, so PLEASE share it with us! (There’s even an option to remain anonymous if you would like… THAT’s how much we want your stories!)

Thanks so much for joining us again… thanks again to TrekDen.com for allowing us to invade your space for a bit… we had a blast!  Looking forward to hearing your stories…. and we’ll see you at the next LIVE episode on Monday, July 13 at 8 p.m. EST.

God bless,

Jason & Heather

David was a shepherd, the youngest son in a family full of big, strapping boys. Those older brothers were all members of the Israelite army, but young David was left behind to tend the sheep.  Not that being a shepherd was a “cake” job… David would go after the lions and bears that would run off with one of his sheep, killing it with his bare hands! (See 1 Samuel 17:34-35)

Circumstances brought David to the battlefield one day while Goliath was making his daily taunt… and David realized that no one in God’s army was planning to take the giant’s challenge!

I’m not sure if fear was even on David’s mind as he questioned members of the Israelite army… it sounded to me as if he was incredulous, wondering why in the world no one had gone forward yet?!  (See 1 Samuel 17:25-30)

As an interesting side note, notice how the Israelites were focusing on the reward that Saul would give (which was pretty hefty!)… but David’s focus was on the man who dared defy and insult the GOD of the Israelites!  Perhaps that’s why David didn’t fear… He was looking at the eternal, not temporal, rewards!

Saul heard of David’s line of questioning (he must have been quite bold & loud about it for it to have gotten to the king’s ears… or else they were THAT desperate!) and called David in to meet with him.  Before the king, David volunteers to go before the Philistine:

David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” (1 Samuel 17:32)

Of course, Saul scoffed. Why? Because David was not a warrior - he was a shepherd!

Isn’t it amazing how God chooses to use the unlikeliest of vessels to accomplish His work?  Not only was David young, he also was not used to wearing armor… so he didn’t! He didn’t wear anything a typical warrior would wear, and he didn’t use the weapons of a typical warrior. (See 1 Samuel 17:38-40)

What a sight he must have been, walking out on that battlefield with a staff, a sling, and a bag of rocks! Oh yeah, and no fear.

Why was David fearless? Because he knew whose side he was on!! Check out his response to Goliath’s scoffs and insults:

⁴⁵ David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” (1 Samuel 17:45-47)

Remember our reflective verse from last week? Our battle is not against flesh & blood… the giants & Philistines of our time! It’s a spiritual battle we are in, and David recognized that. David also knew that the Lord is the BEST one to have on his side of the battle… and so he went forth fearlessly, knowing that God will deliver him.

Amazing faith! Amazing fearlessness! …and it can be YOURS, too… if only you’ll trust in God’s power the way David did.  Be fearless… come against your enemy in the name of the Almighty God… & watch fear drop like it got a rock to the head. In the name of Jesus, declare that God will have victory in this battle today, & fear will be defeated!

Are you ready to be fearless?

God bless,

Jason & Heather

¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

The Israelites faced Goliath (see Devotional #17) with great fear because they saw their battle being against the Philistines, against a big scary giant. We have to remember when we face opposition that it is a spiritual battle, not a physical one! This was a test of their faith… and the Israelites failed.

As you reflect on this verse, ask God to bring to mind areas in your life where you’ve forgotten it’s a spiritual battle. Ask God to open your eyes to the spiritual warfare going on around you, so you can be better prepared. Stand on God’s promises, and let Him fight the battle for you.

God bless,

Heather & Jason