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Not only that, but he even went so far as to deny Christ altogether, three times! And the Lord STILL designated him as the rock on which He'd build His Church!
Interesting how the Church is mostly Pauline then...I wonder if Jeshua was in fact talking about Himslef...
I have a bad phobia when it comes to anything medical...and when something with me isnt 100 percent, i get bad anxiety...if i have a flu...i have anxiety the whole time that it is either something else besides a bug or that im not going to get better, so i cant even relax while not feeling well...so you can imagine what i am feeling.
I tell myself I honestly think that if I trusted in the Lord 100 percent like I should that I would not have these worries...
Thank you everyone for your responses.
Every man, woman and child on this planet has been given a number by Hawyaw...And no one can live past that number or die before that number...Knowing this is what helped me deal with Desert Storm...I know that I am going to die when, where and of what Hawyaw has decreed for me so it is useless to stick my head in the sand and hide from life...Do not fear what you cannot control...Do not fear what is in the control of Hawyaw...Which is every detail of the Universe...
What are you worried about? When you boil it down, it's just that you're afraid you might die. Well...so what? Why is that frightening to you?
Let's face it: none of us WANT to die, but it's an appointment we can't avoid. If not today, then next week. If not next week, then next month. Ultimately and inevitably, our death date will come and that's that. Worrying and sweating and trying to put it off doesn't do any good. The Bible says it is "appointed unto man once to die," and there's no avoiding that fate, no matter how much we worry about it.
Let me relate a true story which, while it may make me look a little weird, might be helpful to you.
During the war, I was in the Infantry, and after I'd been there for 6 or 7 months, I'd come to the soul-deep conclusion that I wasn't going to survive long enough to go home. We were immersed in death, 24 hours a day, and the odds just seemed too long to fathom. If we weren't seeing death, we were smelling it. If not smelling it, we could hear it. It was just relentless and went on almost continuously day after day, week after week, month after month. There was no point at which we were free from it's embrace or it's presence. Not only that, but we lived constantly with the sure knowledge that our time could come at any given moment, in any place, in any circumstance and that wears on you after awhile.
Finally, I got angry at death for taking so long. Life in the Infantry is brutal; physically, mentally, emotionally. The burden of carrying the surety of your own, sudden, violent death is heavy and I just got tired of carrying it. Eventually, I slipped into a form of insanity, which is not uncommon for men in that position.
Anyhow, one day we were moving along in some heavy brush, but out in the open, not in the jungle. I looked up and saw a black figure come flying over a mountain and heading directly toward us. It was Death, the Grim Reaper in his classic guise: long, black robe, hood, giant scythe and all. Yes, I was delusional and knew it at the time, but there he was anyhow.
He came alongside me and matched his pace to mine for awhile. I was walking; he was floating as he had no visible feet. Neither did he have a face inside that hood. It was just a deep, eternal darkness in there.
I said something like, "Hey death. Come to get me?"
"No," he replied, "Not today. I have an appointment over the hill in a few minutes, in the next valley." We moved along together for awhile and he eventually said, "Goodbye" and flew away. A couple of days later, this happened again.
I said all that to say this: I did not find death frightening at all. He was just doing his job and it wasn't personal to him. In fact, I found it strangely comforting and it's remained comforting to me now for 40 years.
Illusion? Yes. Gift from God? Maybe, you tell me. The point is that while I now may worry about the pain of my particular method of death, I no longer fear it all. It's just as natural a part of living as is being born and it holds no terrors for me.
Hopefully, you can draw the same reassuring comfort from this event as I did and find peace.
Very interesting account...Before and during Desert Storm I had no fear of death, I was square with that, however, before the war broke out and my squadron was activated, I was deeply concerned how Hawyaw would view me for killing another person in war...My Pastor helped me out with Scripture...He said, 'Murder is one thing and killing in defense of yourself or another or in time of war is another thing'...He showed me in Scripture where Hawyaw sent His armies against His enemies...He showed me what David did and how he was still a man after Hawyaw's own Heart...It gave me peace under those circumstances...That peace was still there even after I returned to the Army right after 9/11...For the next phase of the Middle East war...I still prefer peace, love and joy...I do not like taking another's life, even under conditions of war...But, I am still at peace as to how Hawyaw will look at me under those circumstances...
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