Church is up friends…church is up! Yeah, it’s Sunday, meaning it is time to visit the Lord’s sanctuary to get renewed and refreshed in body, soul, spirit and mind, through offering up prayers and praises – both spoken and sung – and hearing His awesome Word in the company of other believers! What a fine time it usually is, and will certainly be this morning too. (smile) Oh Glory to our wonderful God! And we’ll begin offering up praises first in song; a modern or contemporary gospel song aptly titled, ‘I am no longer a Slave to Fear.’ It’s a soulful bit of music with a rising middle and end, and we’re doing the Tasha Cobbs version. So let’s get to it nuh by singing the chorus twice to start. And please remember, it’s not only a song of praise but one of abundant faith, so let’s sing it like we really mean it!
Altogether now in full voice and sweet harmony: ‘(Chorus: I’m no longer a slave to fear, For I am a child of God… I’m no longer a slave to fear, For I am a child of God.) You unravel me, with a melody, You surround me with a song, Of deliverance, from my enemies, Till all my fears are gone. (Chorus: I’m no longer…I am a child of God (2) From my mother’s womb, You have chosen me, Your LOVE has called my name, I’ve been born again, Into your family, Your blood flows through my veins. (Chorus: I’m no longer…I am a child of God (2) Oh oh, oh oh oh. Oh oh, oh oh oh!
You split the sea, so I could walk right through it, My fears are drowned, In perfect LOVE You rescued me, so I could stand and sing, I am a child of God… You split the sea, so I could walk right through it, My fears are drowned, In perfect LOVE You rescued me, so I could stand and sing, I am a child of God… Oh yes, I know who I am, I know who I am… I am a child of God! He calls me the head and not the tail. Above and not beneath, a lender and not a borrower, so I no longer walk in fear, but in faith. For I am a child of God. I am a child of God! If you are a child of God, then sing Hallelujah to His glorious name!’
Oh mih people, what a moving and faith filled song! And we certainly did it justice. Let’s hope that what we said was really sincere and true; that we’re no longer slaves to fear, because we’re now children of God, and as Bruh Paul rightly declared to the Corinthians: ‘For we walk by faith, not by sight.’ And the prophet Habakkuk said it this way earlier on: ‘Behold, his soul which is lifted up (proud) is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.’ (Hab.2:4) And the author of Hebrews later enlightens us thus on the subject. ‘Now faith is the substance (realization) of things hoped for, the evidence (conviction) of things not seen.’ (Heb.11:1) That means living in the trust and promises of God, not seeing what we’re hoping for, but trusting that if God promised it, He will keep His promise!
And I like how the song spells out some of the promises that the Lord has fulfilled. In the first verse it talks about ‘a song of deliverance from mine enemies, Till all my fears are gone.’ And Bruh David points it out in his immortal psalm 23: ‘Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil: my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.’ (Ps.23:5-6) What a mighty God we serve friends, even in the presence of our enemies He will magnify and raise us up!
Then in verse two, it says: ‘From my mother’s womb, You have chosen me, Your LOVE has called my name…’ Oh my people, those words surely echo the call of the Lord to Jeremiah: ‘Before I formed thee in the belly (womb) I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee (set thee apart), and I ordained (appointed) thee a prophet unto the nations.’ (Jer.1:5) Then the last verse reminds us of one of God’s greatest miracles, and the keeping of one of His big promises, to get the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt. ‘You split the sea, so I could walk right through it, My fears are drowned, In perfect LOVE You rescued me, so I could stand and sing, I am a child of God…’
How can we ever forget God splitting the Red Sea by having Moses extend his hand over it, so the Israelites could cross over on dry land, then having Moses extend his hand over the sea once again, to put it back together and drown Pharaoh and his whole Egyptian Army? (Ex.14:21-31) But sadly, both the Israelites back then, and we, in these evil times, have forgotten the Lord’s promises and great deeds on our behalf, and have succumbed to the fear engendered so deceitfully by the evil one and his evil cronies.
But let’s remember some of Jesus’ words on the subject nuh. Listen to what He told the disciples when they were scared out of their skin during a stormy sea crossing and He had to get up from a nap to calm the waves and wind. ‘Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith’ (Matt.8:26) And another time when they were anxious, he quieted them with these words: ‘Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’ (Luke 12:32) And it indeed God’s desire to do so, we just have to put Him first in our lives and be obedient to His will. And please note too, that almost every time Christ healed someone, His mentioned these words, or some conveying the same idea: ‘Thy faith has made thee whole.’ Yes friends, faith, fueled by hope and trust are the engines that will keep us on the straight and narrow, and also keep us secure in the knowledge that we are indeed, children of God! Much LOVE!
…you can’t have faith…without first having hope…
SCRIP-BITS 