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.  We love because he first loved us.  1 John 4:18-19

Punishment refers to "taking away".  When we punish someone, we take something away from them.  When we fear, we punish ourselves by taking away the feeling of trust.  Furthermore, Love can be seen as "adding to".  When we love others or experience love ourselves, our lives become better.  If we love (add to) and avoid being fearful (taking away) then the math adds up to a net sum gain.  The more we love and the less we fail to trust, the more love we all will have.

Lord, help me to add to my life and to others by loving more and fearing less.

Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.  Proverbs 12:25

We bring anxiety upon ourselves.  Whether it is part of our nature or situational, we all have found ourselves to be anxious.  However, we often fail to recognize when we cause anxiety in others.  Anxiety is defined as a "perceived threat".  Sometimes we unintentionally cause people around us to feel less confident in their own abilities than they should.  We inadvertently cause them to question their competence or worth.   The solution to anxiety is encouragement.  Encouragement is defined as "instilling courage".   When we encourage others, we build courage in them and remind them that they are competent and that they are worthy.

Lord, thank you for encouraging me and help me to encourage others.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.  1 Peter 4:8 

Read your bible.  Go to church.  Pray.  Serve the poor.  Help others.  Be kind.  Don't lie.  Keep the Ten Commandments.  Tithe.  Go on a Couples Retreat.  Listen to Christian music.  Post devotionals on line.  These are all great behaviors but none of them will get us into heaven.  The best behavior and the one that surpasses all others but also leads to us doing all of the other behaviors is Loving God and Loving Others.

Lord, help me to see that love is the goal and the other behaviors mean nothing if not executed with love.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.  2 Peter 3:9

The Rolling Stones may have had other plans for their song but it is pretty accurate when depicting our general human nature and it resembles how God deals with our selfishness.  The lyrics are "You can't always get what you want ... You get what you need".  For those with children, you know how it works.  Step 1:  Child asks for something.  Step 2: You say No with the justification that if you give them everything that they want, you will create an extremely selfish and self-centered human being and you love your child too much to do that.  Step 3:  Child cries or throws a tantrum or gets angry and storms off cursing your existence.  Step 4:  You stand your ground despite how much you hurt for your child or are annoyed by their behavior.  Step 5:  Ten years down the road you are thankful for not giving in.

Lord, I may not appreciate how You are dealing with me now but I appreciate that You love me enough to deal with me in the right way.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.   2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Our selfishness is no more evident than when it comes to how we assign credit.  When things aren't going our way, we love to blame someone or something.  But when things aren't going our way and we find our way out of the situation, we love to take the credit.  "Look at what I just overcame with all of my skills and brainpower and awesomeness".  The fact is that most of the time, we should take responsibility for our situation and it is through the Grace of God that we are able to overcome our circumstances.  A sign of selflessness is when we are able to recognize our complete dependence on God and to point any credit to Him and others who help us out.

Lord, thank you for surrounding me with others who help me to overcome my trials and most importantly, thank you for being my strength.

For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.  Habakkuk 2:3

We all have expectations.  Unfortunately, most of our expectations are not based on anything concrete or factual.  Most of our expectations are based on wants or desires or feelings or wishes.  When expectations have no true basis in fact, then they will ultimately lead to disappointment and often anger, sadness, depression, and even fear.  For example, we often expect our friends or family members or coworkers or teammates or clients or employees to behave or relate to us in a certain way.  That expectation is based on our desire for them to act how we want them to act.  We rarely take into consideration their own personalities and worldview and more importantly, we fail to realize that they are fallen and selfish human beings, just as we are, and will usually make more mistakes than do the right thing.

Lord, thank you that when you promise something, You will always follow through, although it most likely won't be in my time frame.  Help me to be patient with You and also patient with those around me as my expectations are not valid.

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. Lamentations 3:25-26

To "Hope" is to "Wait".  Hope requires the ability to wait for something that is not currently in front of us.  Hope and waiting require patience and all three require trust.  A hope without trust in God is a "hopeless hope".  A hope without trusting in God is merely a wish.  Throwing a coin into a fountain or blowing out the candles on our birthday both include wishes.  The expectation of fulfillment is low.  The same is true with a hope in the absence of trust.  However, when we trust, we are able to wait as long as it will take for the hope to be fulfilled.

Lord, please fill me with trust so that my hope is not hopeless.

Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”  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.”  Acts 26:28-29

We may find ourselves in a situation to share the Good News of Jesus with a friend, or coworker or stranger.  We may feel that we need to persuade them to follow Christ.  We must learn that we can't and won't ever convince someone to follow Jesus.  We must pray to God and ask God to change their heart.  Only He can make that happen.  We can also pray that God may use us in some way to assistant in the process.

Lord, I pray for those around me to know You and that I may be used by You to help others to know You more.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  James 4:7

A simple psychological principal is that telling ourselves or other to "Don't" is less effective than telling them to "Do" something else.  "Don't hit the ball in the water" is a common golfer mistake.  "Keep your head down and follow through" is more productive.  Focus should be on what we should do and not on what we should avoid doing.  The same is true in our spiritual life.  We should focus our attention on the right things to do and avoid focusing on the "don'ts".  

Lord, help me to submit to You and to resist evil.

You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.  Psalm 16:11

Happiness is a reaction.  Joy is an attitude.  Happiness is a result of life going your way.  Joy is a response to knowing that God is in control of your life.

Lord, thank you for the joy and contentment that only You can provide and that can not be taken away by any worldly circumstance or situation.