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Fear Not

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About the Series Leader
William Gaultiere, Ph. D., is the Director of Spiritual Formation Ministries at the Crystal Cathedral. Learn more about Bill and his ministry at his
"Christian Soul Care Blog."

 

Wednesday Nights

Welcome to "Come & Grow" Wednesday Nights! We invite you to come join us at the Crystal Cathedral to grow closer to Jesus. Here are the most recent notes from the current Wednesday night series:

Fear Not
Led by Bill Gaultiere
& the Spiritual Formation Ministries Team
Crystal Cathedral, Family Life Center 470
Wednesday, 7 to 9 pm

WEEK 3: Fear Not: You are the Disciple Jesus Loves!
November 11, 2009

Last week Kristi and I were in New Mexico at the CLASS Christian Writers Conference. I served as the Spiritual Director for the conference. I led devotions every morning, taught some workshops on spiritual disciplines for writers, and met with people for spiritual mentoring and prayer. Kristi also taught workshops and met with people. It's such a joy to help other people draw closer to Jesus!

We had a wonderful time - not only in ministry, but also being refreshed. One afternoon we had a mini-retreat as we took a beautiful hike up to Chimney Rock and sat and prayed together looking down at the valley below. Just hanging out and talking with other Christian writers was a great blessing for me! I don't think I've ever been around so many creative introverts at one time!

So Kristi and I were renewed and rejuvenated by the Lord last week. And we were encouraged that he was ministering to others through us.

I'm thankful that while we were away that Rhea Zakich led our "Come & Grow" class and helped us to go to Jesus to get our "Fear Knots" untied. Weren't you encouraged by God through Rhea last week? What a blessing to have her creative teaching and facilitation of conversation and prayer! I benefited from going over her notes from the class.

We all know the experience of having a "knot in our stomach." That's anxiety. Anxiety begins with worried thoughts. Progresses to distressed emotions. And hangs around in our body as a knot in our stomach.

And we all know what is like to be "tied up in knots." When anxiety overwhelms us it is paralyzing. We have trouble making decisions. We're pressured to make the right decision, afraid to make the wrong decision. Anxiety drains away our energy and so it is hard to concentrate and focus. We get tied up, bound up and unable to think and move effectively.

Remember that Jesus' answer to our "Fear Knots" is to "Fear not!" Remember that in Luke 12:32 he said:

"Fear not, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom."

Our heavenly Father has already given us access to his kingdom through Christ! And we learn how not be afraid and anxious as we learn how to live in God's Kingdom.

Though the kingdom of the heavens is invisible - it's not material it's spiritual - it is reality; it is real life and it is right here and right now.

In Luke 12:22-34 Jesus is inviting us to live in the reality of God's Kingdom with him. It's an amazing passage. Has anyone besides me memorized it? Are you working on it? Meditating on it?

We'll we're going to meditate on it a bit together this evening. But first let's be sure we don't forget why we do spiritual disciplines like Scripture memory and meditation. If you memorize the Luke 12 passage does that mean that you're a better disciple of Jesus than someone who doesn't? No!

How do we measure spirituality? The Bible is very clear on this: spiritual maturity is measured by how well we love our neighbor, whoever is near us at the moment - including those who are difficult or mistreat us.

We use spiritual practices to help us to become the kind of people who love God and others more. Spiritual disciplines have no value in themselves; they are "means of grace," ways for our hearts to be formed in the image of Jesus Christ.

So let's read out loud together Jesus' promises for us, his disciples, from Luke 12:

• God feeds us day-by-day, like the ravens (verses 22-24).
• We are much more valuable to God than birds! (verse 24).
• God clothes us beautifully, like the lilies of the field (verses 27-28).
• We don't need to worry because our Father knows our needs (verses 29-30).
• If we seek God's kingdom then he will give us all that we need (verse 31)
• We do not need to be afraid for our Father has been pleased to give us his kingdom (verse 32).
• We have heavenly treasure that is secure forever (verse 33).

Check In
I wonder what Jesus has been teaching you this week? Have you done some spiritual workouts to help you grow in your apprenticeship to Jesus, to help you become a more loving person?

Are you bringing your "Fear Knots" to the One who said, "Fear not"?

Or did you spend some time memorizing or meditating on the Luke 12 passage?

Perhaps you tried some centering prayer, perhaps using the Breath Prayer that Rhea led us in: "In your arms, Lord, I find peace"?

I'll check in first. Then others of you can share...

Last week we were in Abique, New Mexico, which is in the middle of nowhere. We were at the "Ghost Ranch" but we called it the "Holy Ghost Ranch."

One night I went out alone into the middle of a field. All around me, on every side were mountains. On three sides the red rock mountains were quite close. Above me was the night sky filled with stars.

I imagined the mountains as the arms of the Lord embracing me, holding me in his green pastures. And I was at peace, laying down in my Good Shepherd's pastures of grace with his blanket of stars covering me.

I thought of David's prayer in Psalm 18:19 "You, O Lord, brought me out into a spacious place." The open space of beauty if the kingdom of the heavens - being in the presence of Jesus Christ, the king who is kind, with his Father and the Holy Spirit, and angels all around and the prayers of the saints, together ministering to God with me and reminding me of God's love.

"You, O Lord, brought me out into a spacious place." Do you know that prayer? Psalm 18 is an amazing Psalm. It describes what it is like to live in the glorious spaciousness of the Kingdom of God.

I love to pray from Psalm 18. It's a long Psalm, but here are a few of my favorite lines that I paraphrased as a prayer:
I love you, O Lord, my strength!
I cried to my God for help...
He parted the heavens and came down;
He soared on the wings of the wind;
He reached down from on high and took hold of me
And drew me out of deep waters.
He brought me out into a spacious place;
He rescued me because he delighted in me!

You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning;
You turn my darkness into light.
With your help I can advance against a troop
And scale a wall;
You arm me with strength.
You make my feet like the feet of a deer
And enable me to stand on the high places.
You stoop down to make me great!

The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!
Exalted by Jesus Christ my Savior!

What has the Lord shown you this week? In your apprenticeship to Jesus what are you learning? Or what are you struggling with? Or maybe you have a question? Please share briefly - it will be a blessing to others here.

Identity

Tonight we're going to learn about our identity. If we are secure and stable in our identity as apprentices to Jesus, living with him in God's kingdom, then we will not be overwhelmed with fear and anxiety in life.

Each of us need to look in the mirror and ask ourselves honestly: what is the true basis of my identity? Probably all of us in this room would say it is Jesus. If we list out our values we'd put following Christ at the top. But is our relationship with Jesus really what is most important to our sense of well-being and self-esteem?

Maybe we actually get comfort and confidence from things besides Jesus, like our accomplishments, money, appearance, what people say about us, or our ministry?

I want to tell you about a defining moment in my life when God gave me a painful, but powerfully helpful lesson, about rooting my identity in Christ.

In the late 1980's when I was completing my Ph.D. in Psychology and getting my clinical hours to become a Psychologist I had a side job as a security guard here at the Crystal Cathedral. Kristi and I were married and we were living in a small condo. We were both going through graduate school, which, by the way, isn't the smartest way to begin a marriage! But we wanted to finish our education before we had children.

So I was working as a security guard to help pay our bills. And it was a good job for a student because I could study. At the same time I was working as a psychotherapist intern and was building up a counseling practice. I was excited to be getting new referrals and embarking on my new profession.

But after I got my Ph.D. degree I kept losing therapy clients (they moved out of the area, had financial problems, overcame their problem, or just stopped coming because they didn't like me as a counselor) and I wasn't getting any new clients. Before I knew it I had just two or three clients to see a week. Most of my income was coming from my job as a security guard! I was dismayed. I was William J. Gaultiere, Ph.D. - the "Doctor of Security!"

I marketed my services as a psychotherapist but no referrals came. I prayed and prayed for God to bless me but no referrals came.

One day I was wrestling with God over this, reading his Word, pouring out my heart, and asking him to help me and he spoke to my heart in a still small voice (I wrote down what I discerned in my journal)...
"Bill, this is what I have for you for this season in your life. I want you to learn to be happy without achieving the success you want. Base your identity on being in relationship with me. Learn to be content simply because you belong to me."

I had known that my real identity was in Christ, but now I had to live it out in what was a very embarrassing and disappointing situation for me. For one whole year I was a security guard with a Ph.D. But with God's help I learned to accept this and to find my joy and identity in my relationship with Christ and being a part of his kingdom.

I stepped out of the kingdom of Bill and into the kingdom of Jesus! I took Jesus' hand and followed him.

What do you Want Jesus to do for You?
To anyone who expresses interest in him Jesus asks, "What do you want me to do for you?"

Two of John the Baptist's disciples were John and Andrew and when he pointed out Jesus to them and told them that he was the Lamb of God. So they went to Jesus and Jesus said to them: "What do you want me to do for you?"

They replied that they wanted to see the Messiah and follow him. They discovered the opportunity of a lifetime: to be a disciple of the Messiah! It was the same for all the disciples (John 1:35-39).

But later on, after the disciples had followed Jesus for a while, Jesus asked James and John this same question again and their answer was:
"Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory" (Mark 10:37).

James and John asked for Jesus to make them great and powerful. These two brothers weren't called the "sons of thunder" for nothing! They were ambitious young men! They wanted to be successful!

Aren't we just like James and John? We may start off following Jesus with good intentions, but then we get selfish or ego invested. We start focusing on promoting my reputation or my project. We lose sight of God's kingdom and we get focused trying to get God to make our lives turn out the way we want.

Jesus showed his disciples how blind they were to ask for him to make them successful. Jesus showed them that the disciples that they were like the blind beggar. Jesus healed the blind man and he saw the Messiah face to face and followed him down the road (Mark 10:35-52).

Jesus' disciples got the point. John in particular knew that being Jesus' apprentice was his opportunity of a lifetime! He followed Jesus everywhere he went for nearly three years. He gave up his ambition to be a successful fisherman. And he gave up his ambition to be glorified as the greatest apostle. His one ambition became to be Jesus' best friend.

John learned to identify himself with the words: "I am the disciple Jesus loves!" Five times he says this in his Gospel (John 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, 21:20). What did John wanted Jesus to do for him? To be Jesus' best friend!

How would you answer Jesus' question? The risen Christ is here with us this morning and he asks each one of us, just as he asked blind Bartimaeus and his disciples: "What do you want me to do for you?"

Everything in our daily lives changes for you and I if we answer the question as John did: "Jesus, I want to be your best friend! I want to be your beloved disciple! I want to live in your kingdom! I want to be with you all the time and become like you!"

An Example of Overcoming Fear

For instance, the other day I was tempted to become fearful. (This is a familiar temptation because most of my life I've suffered from anxiety.) My income is way down this year and, with a son in college, our family expenses are way up. And here at the Crystal Cathedral, where I work part time as the Director of Spiritual Formation Ministries, we've been dealing with financial shortfalls.

Most of my life in this situation I've gone into obsessive worrying or strategizing on how to solve my problem. But in recent years I've been learning to fill my mind with God's Word and to practice God's presence. So oftentimes when fears or worries attack me God's Word is already alive in me, prayer is already rising up or it's ready to.

So on this day, because it was the first day of the month, I was praying Psalm 1, which I had memorized. So instead of spinning into fear and anxiety I simply began to meditate on Psalm 1:
"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked... but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by the stream of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither... For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous."

I smiled and began thanking the Lord. Here's what I wrote in my journal after praying Psalm 1:
"Yes, Lord Jesus, I am so blessed to follow you on the path of life, to be the disciple you love. I'm not going to worry about things I can't control. What I can do is to keep delighting in your Law and your Word. I rejoice to know you and to be taught by you and that you help me to bear fruit for you. Thank you Lord that you watch over me."

What could be better than to be the disciple Jesus loves? To live as Jesus' beloved apprentice and invite other people into this is the best life! It puts everything else in perspective and gives us peace.

Say to the person next you: "You are the disciple Jesus loves!"

Weekly Prayer Experiment

Let's spend some in prayer and meditation before we go into our groups at the tables. I like to think of this as a time for "Soul Shepherding."

I'm going to lead us in a meditation. My hope is that this week you will try to do this on your own as a "prayer experiment."

And also you have the Luke 12:22-34 passage to work on.

Some time ago I was praying through Psalm 148 when verse 14 gripped my heart:
"The Lord has raised up a horn (the Messiah) for... the people close to his heart."

As I was meditating on being close to the Lord's heart it reminded me of the Apostle John leaning on Jesus' chest at the Last Supper (John 13:23).

And I recalled the words that the resurrected Christ spoke to the Apostle John in Revelation 3:20 (MSG):
"Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I'll come right in and sit down to supper with you."

It's a sign of friendship to invite someone into your home to share a meal. This was especially true in Jesus' day and culture.

These reflections led me to write a little "prayer poem" that I put into My Psalms Prayer Book. I'd like to share it with you as a meditation...

Come Close to Christ (From Psalm 148:14, John 13:23, Revelation 3:20)

Come Close to Christ
Supper with the Savior
See his smile
Lean on the Lord
Hear his heartbeat
Delight to be his disciple

Imagine Jesus knocking on the door of your heart...

He would like for you to sit down to a meal with him...

Be like the Apostle John at the Last Supper who sat right next to Jesus on some cushions on the floor...

Go ahead and do as John did and cuddle up to your best friend Jesus...

Lay your head on his chest...

Hear his heartbeat for you...

Smile and say with John: "I am the disciple Jesus loves!"

 

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