A Heavenly Home is Joyful -Day 6

"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands."

I have a confession to make. I am a serious person. I am reading 7 by Jen Hatmaker and wishing that I could communicate really powerful truths and be so funny about it, but alas, that would be a big stretch for me. 

My seriousness stems in large part from my battle with fear. This battle has made it easy for me to feel that if I am not on guard, the devil is going to sneak in and destroy my family. I often find myself overly vigilant about what I do, in case it might be wrong. Part of this may be motivated by an honest desire to glorify God, but much of it may just be fear, and although my fear might be of how the devil might tempt me or my family, it is a well known fact that fear is also from the devil.

The problem is, fear is the total opposite of faith (1John 4:18, Hebrews 11), and God's word says that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6)

I think that this battle with fear is why I love Psalm 100 so much. All the word pictures in this Psalm portray happy little sheep cavorting in a safe pasture, and happy little children dancing and singing in a safe courtyard. Happy children who know that their daddy is good, are not afraid. 

 We who have accepted Christ as our Saviour have the best Daddy ever, the richest Daddy and the most loving Daddy. Because of who our Daddy is, we can be full of joy. We can live free of fear, knowing that we are in safe pastures and God is watching out for us. 

As we let this truth sink in, the truth that we don't have to be afraid, our homes will become joyful places, lighthearted places, places where our children are free to grow and develop without fear.

What verses help you combat fear? How does your home reflect the joy of the Lord?

For the rest of my series on Heavenly Mothering, click here