06 Jun Not Even Death Can Hurt Us By Dodie Osteen
John liked to tell a story from his childhood about a big, old, spooky two-story house that he, his brother, Jack, and their friends thought was haunted. One late fall evening, Jack and John were sitting on a curb across the street from that foreboding empty house. Jack was about ten years old, and John was eight. Both were fearful, but in the evening shadows, John was growing more frightened by the minute. Suddenly, Jack stood up and said, “I’m going in there.” It was almost dark and John remembered thinking, I’ll never see my big brother again!
Some other boys joined John on the curb, and they held their breaths and waited together while Jack investigated the “haunted” house all by himself. Pretty soon Jack showed up on the upper-story balcony and shouted down, “It’s alright, fellas. I’ve been through this old house, and there’s nothing in here that can hurt us!”
That’s how Jesus is when we’re frightened about something. Isaiah 40:4 says that He goes before us and makes the crooked places straight. To me, this means He checks things out for us and lets us know if and when it’s safe to proceed.
There are a lot of things that people fear, especially death and dying. But Jesus marched down into the jaws of hell itself and wrestled with the principalities and powers of darkness for three days and nights. And on the third day, He came out! His cry to you and me is, “There is nothing in death to hurt you if you’ll make Me your Lord and Savior!”
There is nothing to fear from anything or anyone when Jesus is your Lord!
Life Lesson: When you act on fear, you are saying by your actions that the enemy is mightier than God. When you act on the Word of God in faith against fear, you are demonstrating that God is greater than the devil. Acting on the Word of God in faith activates the power of God!