Day 84: Jeremiah 46:27

"But as for you, O Jacob My servant, do not fear, Nor be dismayed, O Israel! For, see, I am going to save you from afar, And your descendants from the land of their captivity; And Jacob will return and be undisturbed And secure, with no one making {him} tremble. "

Day 83: Jeremiah 30:10

"'Fear not, O Jacob My servant,' declares the LORD, 'And do not be dismayed, O Israel; For behold, I will save you from afar And your offspring from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return and will be quiet and at ease, And no one will make him afraid.'"

Day 82: Isaiah 54:14

"In righteousness you will be established; You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear; And from terror, for it will not come near you."

Day 81: Isaiah 51:7

"Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, A people in whose heart is My law; Do not fear the reproach of man, Nor be dismayed at their revilings."

Day 80: Isaiah 44:2

"Thus says the LORD who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you, 'Do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant; And you Jeshurun whom I have chosen."

Day 79: Isaiah 43:5

"Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, And gather you from the west."

Day 78: Mark 5:36

"But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, 'Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.'"

Day 77: Luke 2:8-20

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them." KJV

Merry Christmas!

Day 76: Matthew 1:18-25

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew:
"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.' Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 'BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,' which translated means, 'GOD WITH US.' And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus."

Day 75: Psalms 56:4

"In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can {mere} man do to me?"

Day 74: Isaiah 43:1

"But now, this is what the Lord says-- he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.'" (NIV)

Day 73: Jeremiah 46:28

"'O Jacob My servant, do not fear,' declares the LORD, 'For I am with you. For I will make a full end of all the nations Where I have driven you, Yet I will not make a full end of you; But I will correct you properly And by no means leave you unpunished.'"

Day 72: Luke 5:8-11

"But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, 'Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!' For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.' When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him."

Day 71: Isaiah 41:13

"For I am the LORD your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, 'Do not fear, I will help you.'"

Day 70: Psalms 78:53

"He led them safely, so that they did not fear; But the sea engulfed their enemies."

Day 69: Matthew 10:26

"Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known."

Day 68: Matthew 10:31

"So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows."

Day 67: Zechariah 8:15

"So I have again purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear!"

Day 66: Joel 2:22

"Do not fear, beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness have turned green, for the tree has borne its fruit, the fig tree and the vine have yielded in full."

Day 65: 1 John 4:18-21

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also."

Day 64: Deuteronomy 3:2

"But the LORD said to me, 'Do not fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand; and you shall do to him just as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lives at Heshbon.'"

Day 63: Deuteronomy 1:29-31

"Then I said to you, 'Do not be shocked, nor fear them. The LORD your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.'"

Day 62: Luke 1:13

"But the angel said to him, 'Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John.'"

Day 61: Deuteronomy 1:21

"See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed."

Day 60: Deuteronomy 1:17

"You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not fear man, for the judgment is God's. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it."

Day 59: Numbers 21:34

"But the LORD said to Moses, 'Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.'"

Discernment v. Fear: A Christian Response to "The Golden Compass"

Twenty days till Christmas, but only two days till the opening of the much-publicized movie, "The Golden Compass," based on the first book in atheist Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy. The warnings and hype surrounding this new release are reminiscent of the response to "The DaVinci Code" a few years ago. Controversies like this always put me somewhat ill at ease - what do we as Christians do with these morally or theologically flawed books and movies? Do we ban them from our homes? Do we close our eyes and refuse to look? Do we wring our hands and wait for the controversy to go away? Do we feel threatened? Do we cause an uproar?


Thank you to Cindy Kusmer for pointing me toward an article from Christianity Today entitled "Fear Not the Compass." Perhaps it will be helpful to you, as it was to me, in identifying some areas where knee-jerk fear can be replaced with a more thoughtful and discerning response. It's worth a read.

See my November 8 posting on GottaWearShades for other links regarding "The Golden Compass."

Day 58: 2 Kings 6:16

"So he answered, 'Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.'"

Day 57: 1 Kings 17:13

"Then Elijah said to her, 'Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring {it} out to me, and afterward you may make {one} for yourself and for your son.'"

Day 56: 2 Samuel 13:28

"Absalom commanded his servants, saying, 'See now, when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, "Strike Amnon," then put him to death. Do not fear; have not I myself commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant.'"

Day 55: Isaiah 44:8

"Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one."

Day 54: 2 Samuel 9:7

"David said to him, 'Do not fear, for I will surely show kindness to you for the sake of your father Jonathan, and will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul; and you shall eat at my table regularly.'"