Sold Out For Jesus daily devotion online
G. John White's first devotional Sold out for Jesus covers 12 vital themes of Christianity.
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August Topic: Security, Significance and Self-worth |
We all need to come back to basics from time to time and what better time to do it than now. Let's spend this month together reminding ourselves of those important issues which make up some of the foundation of our Christian relationship with God and our walk with Him. |
1 John 4:18
PERFECT LOVE CASTS OUT FEAR
There is a vast difference between fear and respect.
You can fear someone without having any respect for them at all and conversely you can respect someone without having any fear of them.
I had a boss once, who believed that the "boss" should be the most hated person in the office - and he succeeded totally in his ambition! You think I'm joking don't you? Let me tell you of 3 aspects of his strategy.
Firstly, he was a perfectionist and would find something wrong even if it was the colour of the ink!
Secondly, when I was assigned to him, at his request, for 6 months, he told my newly-wed wife at the beginning of the term, "I am going to break John!"
Thirdly, one day when I was working for him, he called me into his vast office after his secretary had already gone home, to tell me that some of the work she had done was wrong and it had to be corrected before it was sent to Head Office that night. I wasn't a very fast typist and I found more mistakes than those he pointed out.
Half an hour later, when I was very near the end, he passed by his secretary's office, where I was working furiously to get the work completed so it could go that night, he popped his head around the door and said "Bless you John, you are not paid to be a typist!" and walked out and off home.
No, "thanks for staying John, but I didn't mean for you to do it" or "Sorry it's taken you so long but I must go, so it'll have to go tomorrow now." Just "You are not paid to be a typist" and he disappeared off home!
He was feared by everyone, because we all knew that whenever we did something for him, he would find fault with it.
In a way, I was even more sorry for him, because he followed a man who had retired in the post (as he would do, too) who was the complete opposite, and the contrast was so stark. His predecessor was a typical English gentleman, a tall Yorkshireman, who said things as they are and expected the best in you and in your work. But he cared too. He considered himself the trainer for better people to follow him. We all had tremendous respect for him, would bend over backwards to accomplish anything for him and yet we had very little fear of him!
God is perfect and perfect love casts out all fear. God's love is totally unconditional. He wants the best for His children, so much so, that not only did He send Jesus to die for us, but also the Holy Spirit to be our friend and guide and to give us the strength of God to walk in His ways. If you are afraid of God, you don't know Him well enough as your Saviour and Lord.
Mind you, if I didn't know Jesus as my Saviour, I'd be scared stiff!
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