For me, this year so far has been a real learning experience in how to avoid anxious thoughts.

In Phil. 4:6, the Apostle Paul says, "Be careful for nothing.”

Of this counsel, Bible scholar C.R. Stam wrote many years ago, “In our modern day language we would say, ‘Don't worry about anything.’ The Greek word behind the term ‘careful’ here is merimnao, which means to pull in different directions, to distract. This is exactly what worry will do to you—it will tear you apart both emotionally and physically. It can be one of the leading causes of ulcers, which is something else to worry about!

“Worry always dwells on the future in regard to what may or may not happen. . .Worry is a sin! As we have seen, it focuses on the future, which is divine ground. It has been correctly said, ‘Worry is assuming more responsibility than God intended you to have.’ ”

One of the things I’ve really had to examine is how some of my fears revolve around what other people are thinking or will think about me.

It’s funny how humans fear more what other people will think than what God thinks.

In Luke 12: 4-5, Jesus Christ advised, “And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.

“But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

My pastor, Richard Jordan, says about this passage, “It’s important to know who to fear and Christ says you’re to feel about things just the way God does. You’re going to fear God and think the way He thinks rather than fear the Pharisees and think like they think.

“Obviously killing your body does not equal killing you. That’s a great statement demonstrating something about the nature of man. It shows someone can kill your body and yet you can do something to your soul that’s still there.”

Next in the chapter, Jesus Christ reasons, “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

According to Jordan, he once typed into Google the key words “hairs on your head,” and learned that an average blonde person has 145,000 hairs on the head, a brunette has 120,000 and a red head has 90,000.

“So if you’ve got all those hairs on your head, the Father hasn’t forgotten you,” says Jordan. “You’re more valuable than a bunch of birds.”

In the very next verse, Luke 12:8, Christ assures, “Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God.”

Jordan explains, “Jesus said not only did the Father not forget, but you know what’s going to happen if you acknowledge the Son? He’ll acknowledge you and He won’t forget you either.”

In verses 9 and 10, Christ goes on to say, “But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.
”And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.”

What’s unfortunate is how many preachers take Luke 12: 8-10 out of context to destroy a Believer’s confidence in eternal security, all because they’re unwilling to recognize that the verses are written to the nation Israel with the Tribulation in view and not to members of the Body of Christ in today’s “dispensation of grace.”

In a lot of churches, they’ll make you think the condition for having God acknowledge you in His presence is that you’ve got to “confess Him.”

“Whole generations of people have been raised believing that the way you get saved is to walk an aisle and make a public confession,” explains Jordan. “This goes back to men like Charles Finney and then D.L. Moody. The idea is to have every head bowed and every eye closed tonight and the organ softly playing ‘Just as I am.’ You need to ‘step out for Jesus’ and walk the aisle. The whole thing becomes about courage—it’s not faith. It’s, ‘Man, I’ve got guts.’

“To have faith, you have to have absolute personal privacy. Faith is a personal matter and if I invade your privacy and space with psychological techniques to try to force you to do something I want you to do, and I force you to do it, you didn’t really do it out of the choice of your will.”