https://odb.org/MY/2021/12/20/fear-not-2
When I was young and I haven’t yet known Christ then, I was taught a simple ritual to pray from my late mother from the Taoist traditions of her family (my late mum became a fervent Christian after accepting Christ a few years after I accepted Christ). I won’t describe it here but suffice to say it involves a prayer to God in heaven. The prayer was like a call for help but alas I had no assurance then that God in heaven or anyone out there would listen me or pay any attention to my prayer. Mainly, because I didn’t really know this God in heaven or whether I had any standing with Him but I nevertheless prayed to Him for protection.
However I recall that despite this avenue to call for help, I was still afraid of the unknown and the future. I was afraid of darkness and after watching the movie Exorcist between the spaces of my fingers covering my eyes, I remembered that I had nightmares everytime I recollect the terrifying scenes from that movie.
After I knew Christ when I was 14 and started going to church and be involved in ministry from 16 onwards, I recall that the nightmares had sort of miraculously ceased. I was no longer fearful of the dark and the monsters that it could bring. The difference is that I now have Jesus in my life and I could reach out to God the Father, our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord. I realised that there is power in the name of Jesus, that as children of God professing His name, demons will flee, spirits will not be able to make us fearful. I learnt very early that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4)! Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7).
As we usher in the Christmas season and celebrate the symbolic day of Jesus’s birth (we know that the actual day is not 25th December of the gregorian calendar), let us remember the Good News of Jesus’s birth and how He changed our lives from the day we knew Him until today. Remember what He has done for us and our families and how He has seen us through all that we had gone through throughout the years. Be thankful and grateful for the privilege of knowing God the Father, Christ and the Holy Spirit. God’s love and compassion and His abundant grace have been with us through it all and will be with us and our loved ones as we journey on this path of righteousness and faith. His steadfast love never ceases, His fauthfulness endures forever. He is our God and we are His children. As we call upon His name, we know He will answer us. We know our prayers are heard, every single one of our prayers as whatever we bind on earth, will be bound in heaven and whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:29) because we have the name of Jesus with us and in us, the name that is above all names! The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!
Have a Blessed Christmas, everyone!
Ronnie's Thoughts 