DAILY VIDEO DEVOTIONAL
A number of years ago, I was visiting a family of mountain climbers in what was then East Germany. They wanted me to see a very beautiful part of their country. The only problem was that we had to climb a very high mountain, and I had a fear of heights. But they assured me it was very safe and that we could climb the mountain on a secure trail. So two American friends and I agreed to go with them.
Everything was just as told me, until we got about fifty meters from the top. Then we had to start pulling ourselves over rocks and begin genuine mountain climbing. Something inside me snapped. I grabbed a rock and held on for my life. No one in our group saw me because I was the last one. When everyone reached the top, I could hear everyone saying, “Oh, look how beautiful!” Then someone said, “Where’s Sammy?”
They looked down and saw me frantically holding onto the rock. I couldn’t move. I was paralyzed. They said, “Come on up, Sammy. It’s fantastic up here.” All I could say was, “I can’t move!” After much debate, my friends finally had to pull my fingers off the rock and carry me down the mountain. It was one of my most embarrassing moments.
But I learned a great lesson that day: the power of fear. Fear had crippled me. Since then, I’ve seen fear paralyze many people. I’ve seen people rendered immobile by the fear of failure, the fear of the future, and the fear of death.
But perhaps the greatest, most common crippling fear I’ve seen is the fear of rejection. Because of this fear, I’ve seen people do harm to their own bodies. I’ve seen people compromise their morals, trample their beliefs, and become spiritually defeated.
There’s one great solution to fear: perfect love. The Bible says, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love (1 John 4:18). There is only one place in all of history where perfect love can be found: the cross. On a hill outside Jerusalem, between two thieves, suspended between heaven and earth, hung the perfect Son of God. He cried out those words that would ring throughout history as the perfect love of God: “Father, forgive them …” (Luke 23:24).
Only Jesus had the ability to forgive those who hated Him, those who were the enemies of God. He loved all of mankind with the perfect love of God. He loved you and me with perfect love. It’s that love that casts out the fear of rejection. That love allows us to know, feel, and experience God’s acceptance. Jesus said, “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out (John 6:37 nasb). When we come to Jesus, we encounter the perfect love of God — and fear has to flee.
If you find yourself a captive to the fear of rejection, then come to the cross. You’ll find the perfect love of God that will release you to be all that God intends. Courage flows from the cross. The cross permeates the innermost parts of your life and enables you to see God in His infinite love. Look to the cross! Live near the cross! Take up your cross! Follow Jesus!
12) “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13) About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14) We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,[a] ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15) “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16) ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. 17) I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18) to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ 19) “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20) First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. 21) That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. 22) But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— 23) that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.” 24) At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.” 25) “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. 26) The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. 27) King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.” 28) Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” 29) Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.” 30) The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them. 31) After they left the room, they began saying to one another, “This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.” 32) Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
Book of the Month
Sammy Tippit told his fiancée, “I can’t promise we’ll be rich, but life won’t be boring.”
Sammy had no idea what an understatement that would become. Beginning in the bars of Baton Rouge and the nightclubs of Chicago, Tippit has shared the news of life-changing faith in Christ all over the world – including in the middle of a revolution in Romania, the aftermath of genocide in Rwanda, and war in Burundi and the Congo.
Sammy’s lifelong adventure has come at a great price. He’s been cursed, threatened, arrested, deported, and blacklisted. He’s also been personally broken, ravaged with illness, and devastated by grief.
Yet he continues to preach to in stadiums, in open fields, and via satellite technology to hundreds of thousands around the globe. For all other books…
About Sammy Tippit Ministries
STM has been providing inspiration and help around the world for nearly 50 years. Sammy Tippit, founder and president, is a world renowned counselor, teacher and evangelist with experience serving and helping people in over 80 countries. Sammy provides materials that help people tackle a broad array of social, societal, psychological and spiritual issues. He is particularly passionate about making materials accessible to other countries around the world. Sammy is married to Debara “Tex” Tippit, and they have two children and five grandchildren.
Sammy Tippit Ministries is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization.
Contact: info@sammytippit.org
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