Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Ed Young, from his book, The Fear Virus: Vaccinating Yourself Against Life's Greatest Phobias (p.80). Creality Publishing. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) We really do need each other. Ed says, “When we do not take those risks, when we hide behind our fears, we are disobeying God. Now when I say relational risk, it might not be the kind of risk you are thinking of. It’s not about adventurous and dangerous ‘James Bond’ kind of stuff. No, what I mean by relational risk is the boldness of being friendly. Although it might not seem like it on the surface, if you really think about it, friendliness is a very vulnerable and bold action. Proverbs 18:24 says, ‘A man who has friends must himself be friendly’ (NKJV). We all want friends. And if you want to have friends, you need to ask yourself a couple of questions. What kind of friend would I like to have? Am I willing to be that kind of friend?” He goes on, “I

A thought by Ed Young, from his book, The Fear Virus: Vaccinating Yourself Against Life's Greatest Phobias (p.79). Creality Publishing. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I need love, I really, really do! Ed says, “An intentional decision to love God with all of your being comes first. And an intentional decision to love others as yourself comes second.” He goes on, “The Bible never tells us to love ourselves. That is a given. I love myself. You love yourself too. But when I am asked to love my neighbor as myself, that is a tall order. You might say, ‘I want to have deep relationships. I really want to connect with others.’ Many of us say that, but in reality, we don’t mean it. The truth of the matter is that most people, including Christians, have surface-level relationships. We may have known people for a long time, but we are still talking about the same stuff: the weather, sports, and current events. We are fearful

A thought by Ed Young, from his book, The Fear Virus: Vaccinating Yourself Against Life's Greatest Phobias (p.77). Creality Publishing. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) It really does! Ed says, “It is our loneliness that motivates us to become Christ followers. Talk to people who have been followers of the Lord for years and years. They will tell you that they felt lonely—a gnawing sense that something was wrong. They had holes in their hearts that brought them to a place of receiving Christ. Maybe you are there with that same gnawing feeling at the core of your being. You can satisfy your spiritual longings only by establishing a personal relationship God, and it all begins by placing your faith and trust in Jesus Christ.” He goes on, “What if you’re a believer? What if you are like me and you know Christ personally, but now and then you still feel a sense of loneliness?... What do we do with those feelings when lone

A thought by Ed Young, from his book, The Fear Virus: Vaccinating Yourself Against Life's Greatest Phobias (p.73). Creality Publishing. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Maybe you're one of them or you know someone who is. Ed says, “Ironically, we are not alone in feeling alone, but when fear comes in and whispers, ‘You are alone, no one cares, no one has experienced what you’ve been through,’ we feel utterly isolated. ” He goes on, “In the midst of the pandemic, we were told to self-quarantine. For a lot of people this made their fear of loneliness rise to the surface. God made us to be relational; He put those longings in us. While desiring relationships is good, fear of loneliness can cripple us and cause us to act in unhealthy ways. When our hearts feel broken with longing and fear of loneliness, we must remember that with God, we are never truly alone. He understands us better than we understand ourselves, He

A thought by Ed Young, from his book, The Fear Virus: Vaccinating Yourself Against Life's Greatest Phobias (p.59). Creality Publishing. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) It really can, can’t it? Ed says, “It can keep us from what God has for us, it can make us stagnant in our faith, our relationships, our careers, and our goals. When the fear virus attacks our hearts and starts whispering about failure, we have to fight back. We must remember that God is with us, guiding us, helping us finish the work that He started in us. God is a God of victory. He never lets it end with failure if we turn to Him; He always redeems, always loves, always lifts us up. Undoubtedly, you have some dreams that have not been realized, and we have to ask ourselves: What is the blockage? What is holding you back?” He continues, “I believe the answer is fear. Specifically, we have paralyzed our own hopes and dreams by our own fear of failure.

A thought by Ed Young, from his book,  The Fear Virus: Vaccinating Yourself Against Life's Greatest Phobias    (p.34). Creality Publishing. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) That makes sense, doesn't it? Ed says, “Have you ever tried to move the steering wheel of a car that is not moving? The friction of the rubber against the pavement resists the guidance from the steering wheel. On the other hand, when the vehicle is in motion, you can steer the car with your pinkie finger. I wouldn’t recommend this as a rule, but you can do it. Vehicles were designed to be steered on the go. ” He goes on, “Likewise, people were created by God to be guided on the move as He often illuminates one step at a time. I wrote earlier of how Proverbs 3:5-6 has been a guiding verse for my family. It promises that God will make our paths straight if we trust Him one step at a time. Another one of my favorite passages in Scripture is Psalms

A thought by Ed Young, from his book, The Fear Virus: Vaccinating Yourself Against Life's Greatest Phobias (p.28). Creality Publishing. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) We do that, don’t we? Ed says, “Dr. Robert Leahy, clinical psychologist and director of the American Institute for Cognitive Therapy in New York, reported a study that he did showing that 85 percent of what subjects worry about never happens. And with the 15 percent of events that did happen, most of the subjects discovered either they could handle the difficulty better than expected or they were grateful for a lesson learned through the experience. We take things from tomorrow and the next day and we dump it on today. That’s why Jesus is saying to us, ‘Don’t do it. You take care of what God has given you today and don’t freak out about tomorrow.’” Earlier he said, “We all deal with different fears. For many of us, it’s the fear of the future, the fear

A thought by Ed Young, from his book, The Fear Virus: Vaccinating Yourself Against Life's Greatest Phobias (p.23). Creality Publishing. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) But we don’t need to stay that way, do we? Ed says, “We are in such turmoil, so apprehensive and anxious. Our heavenly Father is saying to us right now, ‘Trust me, I’m in control, I will get you through this and I will show you the way. You are safe with me. I know the way home.’ “It’s one thing to trust God in times of plenty; we can sing worship songs about His goodness all day long. It’s a completely different thing to trust God in times of lack, times of want, times of fear. In times like these, we all need the reminder that God is trustworthy. ” He goes on,  “Do you know what the word trust means? Our English word trust comes from an Indo-European root word meaning ‘to be solid,’ which is also the source of our word tree. If you want to be

A thought by Ed Young, from his book, The Fear Virus: Vaccinating Yourself Against Life's Greatest Phobias (p.17). Creality Publishing. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) So, we need to name them. Ed says, “We might find ourselves doing certain things without knowing why we are doing them. Our bodies and minds naturally seek coping mechanisms, even if we aren’t aware of the reason we need to cope. For example, you might be unaware of your social anxiety, but every time you meet with someone you are always picking at something—tearing up a piece of paper, picking at your cuticles, playing with your keys. Those habits are your body’s ways of coping with stress and fear. You might be unaware of your fear of abandonment, and every time you start a new relationship, you become really clingy and always need to be around the other person. Maybe you have an unnamed fear of clowns, and you haven’t been to a carnival in years. Whateve

A thought by Ed Young, from his book, The Fear Virus: Vaccinating Yourself Against Life's Greatest Phobias (p.13). Creality Publishing. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) That is so true. Ed says, “That reminds me of Psalm 27:1: ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?’ When you know The Man, you don’t have to fear the little man.” The little man was who Ed feared when he was young till finally his mom turned on all the lights and showed him there was no little man. It seems that the light showed that it was the vacuum cleaner that he thought was the little man. He goes on, “When the fear virus takes root in our hearts, it distorts our perceptions and leaves us feeling out of control. We fear the feelings of helplessness caused by fear, so we try to run away. We can’t run away from our heart condition, the deep-rooted fear in our hearts, and pretend we are healthy; we have to do the painful work of subm

A thought by Ed Young, from his book, The Fear Virus: Vaccinating Yourself Against Life's Greatest Phobias (p.8). Creality Publishing. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Yes, we are. Ed says, “I’m not talking about the vital organ in your chest but the heart that is the seat of yourself, your intellect, your morals, and your spirituality. And because of sin, we are heart patients, vulnerable to sicknesses like fear. You may not know it, you may not feel it, but at this very moment you could have a severe case of the fear virus attacking your heart. You could be in danger right now of missing out on God’s best for your life because fear is choking out your future. We all need to come to terms with the fact that we are heart patients and we have a fear virus that is taking life out of us. But there is a peace and joy God has for you—regardless of the circumstances in the world…” He goes on, “Fear is often rooted in the ine