Christian Artists Street Team on Etsy: fear

Showing posts with label fear. Show all posts

Faith Verses Fear

Ps 19:6

God’s word vaults across the sky from sunrise to sunset, melting ice, scorching hearts, warming hearts to faith.

The Message Bible

Our ladies bible study is studying ‘Becoming a Woman of Faith’ by Cynthia Heald. As a result faith has been on my heart.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/58955240/the-trinity-faith-hope-love

What is faith? The dictionary describes faith as confidence or trust in a person or thing, belief that is not based of proof, belief in God or a code of ethics.

I find that when I am walking in faith I am on the road to conquering fear. At one time fear controlled life. Gut determination to enjoy life and with the power of God to convince myself there is nothing to fear except God has helped me conquer my fears.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/10643132/turquoise-amber-carnelian-wood-and-red

The first fear I remember conquering was to learn to drive a car. I started driving in my Dad’s standard half tone truck on country back roads. As soon as I got my license I was driving in the city, including Toronto. God plunged me into the thick of things.

A few other fears I have conquered during my life were going back to church, being artistic in my pottery and also selling it, motorcycling with my hubby across North America and downhill skiing. I couldn’t cover my face or I would hyperventilate. Now I snorkel and I’m learning to scuba dive. Two reasons holding me back were the fear of people and the fear of getting hurt or killed. In every fear I conquered, God put upon my heart to not listen to those voices of defeat, then he’d give me a word from the bible.

From the beginning of man God has been telling us ‘do not fear’, or ‘You can do this, I got your back’. Despite our unbelief he will never give us more than we can handle. He just takes us to the cliff and holds us there for a while.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/62228737/joyful-noise-psalm-98-bodysuit

One thing that amazed me about God through all of this is that He wants us to enjoy life to its fullest, while working or playing. To soar like the eagle, fly like a bird. God’s creation is too beautiful to let fear stop us from enjoying it.

http://www.etsy.com/people/PinwheelArt

When fear grips me I remember the acronym for fear, ‘False Expectations Appearing Real’. Could faith be ‘Faith Always In the Highest one’? I know I need an ‘O’ at the end. Continue it with a pray.

Oh God, help me to get through this ____________ so I can conquer the fear I am experiencing now.

8:48 AM | Category: CAST, castteam, fear, Monday devotional | 9 comments

Be Still and Know

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God
Psalm 46:10

Springtime Rain by EmboundArt

The storms of life come and go. We can sit in fear huddled in a corner as when a tornado or hurricane is on its way or we can trust that our God will carry us through even though we think there will never be an end. While sitting in a hospital on a dark stormy night I was reminded of all the storms that the Lord has brought me through and wrote the following.

The wind hollers, the windows shudder
Even the curtains begin to sway
The temperature is dipping, the air makes me shiver
As the cold of winter demands its time

There was a season in my life
When the wind’s voice could make me quake
I dreaded the drama of lightning and thunder
And bitter cold permeated deep into my being

But I learned to be quiet, to sit, to listen
To my God’s calm reassuring whisper
Relaxing in His words echoed in the wind,
In His might and power on dark stormy nights.

Somehow in the unsurety of
This chaotic, crazy stressful world
What once created a heart full of fear
Now brings a sense of comfort and peace

It now reminds me that God controls
The heavens and the earth, the winds and the rains.
And at long last I can sleep restfully and be still
Being fully assured that He is God

Fill my heart with joy
when their grain and new wine abound.
In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, LORD,
make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:7-8

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Once again here are some wonderful Etsy shops... please check them out!

Rainy day in New York by MYSAVIOR

Sterling silver tornado earrings by shazzabeth

London/France necklace by wearableartbypixie

Rain rain creeper by roseprintsonline

The Wind and The Rain by Wenchie

Raindrop purse by Snickerslynn

Midnight rain earrings by RainDropNotions

9:30 PM | Category: devotion, fear, Phyllis Ducey, rain, storm, wind | 12 comments

Spirit of Fear

by Phyllis Ducey
pfdoriginalartworks

"God did not give us a spirit of fear

but of power, of love and a sound mind."

2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)

Shelter me photo by tinybox

I love this verse... it has spoken to me deep within and has aided me in controlling my thought processes. I have often felt as though my mind contained myriads of caverns, each leading down unknown tributaries. There are times I would get lost in those caverns... some were dark and tortuous while others lead towards the light. And at those times it would seem that I would never find a way out. But as I grew in knowledge of God's Word and learned to apply it with trust, light began filtering in and the caverns turned into paths of discovery.

There is so much content in these mere 18 words that I thought I would break it up to several sections. In the next two weeks I plan to write about how God has brought this verse alive to me. Today I would like to focus on the word fear. It is used in various ways in the Bible.

There is the word as used in "fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov 1:7). Fear in that verse is like awe or deep reverence. Possibly you could compare it to the first time you may have seen the ocean. It is incredibly vast, it is gorgeous, its depth (not only physically but also in its colors) is amazing, it is inviting and at the same time so powerful it can overwhelm you. It fills you with awe. And that is the type of fear this verse refers to. Once you begin to grasp how awesome God is -- how incredibly loving, how gracious, compassionate, powerful and just -- you can start to understand why fear of Him is the beginning of wisdom.

Sometimes fear is used in the sense of cowardice such as when the storm came up when the disciples were in the boat. (Matt 8:26) "Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then He got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm." Cowardice is probably the most common way we think of fear.

And there is a "slavish" fear. This is the fear the apostle Paul speaks of in 2 Tim 1:7. Slavish fear is not unlike the cowardice kind. It prevents us from doing something or keeps us under its control such as a slave is to his master. I think each of us have our own inner fears that prevent us from doing things that could possibly enhance our lives. Some more obvious than others such as if you had a fear of flying that prevents you from traveling to new and interesting places.

This part of the verse "God did not give us a spirit of fear" has been important to me because many of the caverns of my mind were carved out by fear prior to Christ in my life. One cavern that I got lost in was low self-esteem which was filled with all sorts of tributaries. Fear of not being as good as others; fear of when I did something well, someone would figure out that it was a fluke and I was a sham. Fear that I really was not a good person inside. Fear of being exposed.

God has taught me to move forward in spite of my fears. When that fear rises in me that makes me feel as if I am immobilized or I can't find my way out, I recite this verse. I dwell on it. I trust it. I trust God at His Word. Light creeps in as I realize that the fear is not from God and I remember that if He is for us, who can be against us? (Rom 8:28) That He created me to be me with all my foibles, talents, weaknesses and strengths. He allows me to make my choices and when they are wrong, He invites me to His side for forgiveness. He has taught me how to rebuke the wind and waves and allow Him to calm the restless seas within. And as I choose to allow Him to shed His light, I have no doubt that "God did not give us a spirit of fear".

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Below are some wonderful Etsy shops that I hope you will take a few minutes to discover all their great items, heart their shops and maybe find things to use as gifts (Christmas is only 9 months away!). Some of the items relate to my verse and some I just chose because I so admired their work.