*TODAY'S PROPHETIC DECLARATION - TUESDAY, 25TH AUGUST, 2026.*

*ONLY BELIEVE!*

Scripture:
“And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.” — Mark 5:37 (KJV)

*Reflection – Stay Close to Jesus When Faith Is Tested*

Mark 5:37 comes in the middle of the story of Jairus, whose daughter was critically ill. Jairus had come to Jesus believing that Jesus could help. But as they journeyed, the situation became even worse.

Jesus strategically chose only Peter, James, and John among the twelve disciples to accompany Him as He continued toward Jairus' house. You may what to ask why the three among the twelve? This Show us that even among the elected or selected there are favourites and disciples who are more closer to Jesus than the others. Are you among the inner circle of Jesus?

Immediately after this, Jesus would challenge the atmosphere of fear and unbelief with the powerful command:

“Be not afraid, only believe.” — Mark 5:36

The lesson is powerful: when circumstances become more difficult, stay close to Jesus.

There will be moments when circumstances appear to contradict what you have prayed for. There may be voices telling you that your situation is finished, your opportunity is gone, or your dream is impossible.

But Jesus is still present.

Today, choose carefully whose voice you listen to. Stay close to Christ. Let faith speak louder than fear, and let God's promises speak louder than discouraging reports.

*Prophetic Declaration:*
Today, I declare that I will remain close to Jesus Christ regardless of what happens around me. I shall not allow fear, bad reports, disappointment, or the opinions of people to separate me from my faith in God.

I declare that when circumstances become difficult, my faith shall become stronger. When the situation appears impossible, I will remember that nothing is impossible with God.

I reject every voice of hopelessness, fear, confusion, and discouragement that tells me to give up. I choose to listen to the voice of Jesus, who calls me to trust Him.

Today, I declare faith over fear in every area of my life.

I proclaim faith over my family, ministry, work, business, studies, relationships, finances, plans, and destiny. May God's power and wisdom guide me through every difficult circumstance.

I declare that no negative report shall become the final report over my life. I will not make permanent conclusions based on temporary circumstances.

Today, I receive grace to wait for God's intervention even when I cannot see how He will make a way. I shall not run ahead of God because of fear, and I shall not abandon my faith because of delay.

I declare that every situation that appears beyond human possibility is placed in the hands of the God who has ultimate authority over life and every circumstance.

I proclaim that the Lord shall give me discernment concerning the voices I allow into my heart. May He surround me with people who strengthen my faith, encourage my walk with Christ, and speak wisdom into my life.

I declare that my faith shall not be based merely on what I see. I shall walk by faith and trust God's character even when I do not understand His process.

Today, I refuse to surrender my hope. I refuse to call dead what God has not called dead. I refuse to give up on what God has instructed me to continue pursuing.

I will not be afraid.
I will believe.
I will remain close to Jesus.
I will trust God's timing.
I will wait for His word to prevail.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!

*Action Steps for today:*
Begin with faith: Thank God before you present your requests, remembering that He is greater than every challenge.

Read Mark 5:21–43: Pay particular attention to Jesus' words to Jairus in verse 36: “Be not afraid, only believe.”

Declare: “I will not be afraid. I will believe. Jesus has the final word over my situation.”

Guard your atmosphere: Be intentional about the voices, conversations, and content you allow to influence your faith.

Surrender one impossible situation: Give it completely to Jesus and refuse to carry it through anxiety.

Take one step of faith: Continue doing what God has placed in your hands, even if the final result is not yet visible.

End with worship: Thank God for His presence and trust Him with the outcome.

*Prayer:*
Heavenly Father,
Thank You because You are greater than every situation I may face.

Lord Jesus, help me to remain close to You when my faith is tested. When I hear discouraging reports, remind me of Your promises. When fear rises, remind me of Your power.

Deliver me from the fear of bad news, delay, disappointment, and uncertainty. Give me grace to believe You even when circumstances appear impossible.

I surrender my family, ministry, work, business, studies, relationships, plans, and future into Your hands.

Lord, give me wisdom to know which voices to listen to and which ones to reject. Surround me with people who strengthen my faith and help me remain focused on You.

Where I am tempted to give up, give me strength to continue. Where I am tempted to fear, give me courage to believe.

Help me not to judge Your ability by my circumstances. Teach me to trust Your wisdom, Your power, and Your timing.

I choose faith over fear. I choose hope over despair. I choose to remain close to Jesus.

Let Your perfect will be accomplished in my life.

In Jesus' mighty name. Amen.

*Blessing for today:*
May the Lord strengthen your faith today and silence every voice of fear and discouragement.

May you remain close to Jesus through every season. When circumstances become difficult, may His presence give you courage; when the road becomes uncertain, may His Word give you direction.

May the Lord protect your family, establish your ministry, bless your work and business, guide your studies, and order every step of your destiny according to His perfect will.

May no temporary situation make you abandon your confidence in God.

Fear not.
Only believe.
Stay close to Jesus.
Trust His timing.
Expect His faithfulness.

“BE NOT AFRAID, ONLY BELIEVE.” — MARK 5:36

May your faith remain strong, your heart remain peaceful, and your eyes remain fixed on Jesus today.

Good morning beloved and do have a blessed and victorious day Shalom!

*Remember: Your confession is your possession.*

*Postulant C. O. Oyadosu.*

_Please share with others, thank you and God bless you _

For counseling, prayers and partnership or you want to share your testimonies with us; please call or Whatsapp: +2348063128703
Or
Email: clementoyadosuAnderson Mwila.com

Aflame - Shared by Smith Wigglesworth
"Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. -Ezekiel 37:5
As we speak in the Spirit, we feel that the fire that burned in the hearts of the two men on their way to Emmaus, when Jesus walked with them, is burning in our hearts. (See Luke 24:13-32.) It is sure to come to pass that when we walk with Him, our hearts will burn; the same power of the Spirit is present today to make it happen. The two men on their way to Emmaus could not understand what was happening on the road, but a few hours later, they saw Jesus break the bread, and their eyes were opened.
But, beloved, our hearts always ought to burn. There is a place where we can live in the anointing and the clothing of the Spirit, where our words will be clothed with power. "Do not be drunk with wine ... but be filled with the Spirit" (Eph.5:18). Being filled with the Spirit is a wonderful privilege.
It was necessary for John to be in the Spirit on the Isle of Patmos so that the revelation could be made clear to him (Rev. 1:9- 10). What does it mean to this generation for us to be kept in the Spirit? All human reasoning and all human knowledge cannot be compared with the power of the life that is lived in the Spirit. In the Spirit, we have power to loose and power to bind (Matt.16:19). There is a place where the Holy Spirit can put us where we cannot be anywhere else but in the Spirit. But it is only in the Spirit.
Now, I read in Matthew 16:19 that Jesus says, in essence, "I will give you power to bind, and I will give you power to loose." This is a power that many of us have not yet claimed, and we will not be able to claim this manifestation of the Spirit unless we live in the Spirit. When are you able to bind and loose? It is only in the Spirit. You cannot bind things in human strength or with the natural mind. This power was never lacking in Jesus, but I feel that there is a great lack of it in most of us. God help us!
"The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me" (Luke4:18). Beloved, there was a great purpose in this Spirit being on Jesus, and there is a special purpose in your being baptized in the Spirit. We must not forget that we are members of His body, and by this wonderful baptismal power, we are partakers of His divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4).
The revelation came this way: I saw Adam and Eve driven out of the Garden and a flaming sword at every side to keep them from entering into the Garden. But I saw 'that all around me was a flaming sword keeping me from evil, and it seemed this would be true if I would claim it, so I said, "Lord, I will." The flaming sword was around me, delivering me from the power of hell. In this way, we are preserved from evil. God is like a wall of fire around us (Zech. 2:5); why should we fear? What a wonderful salvation! What a wonderful Deliverer!
Notice Ezekiel 37. The only need of Ezekiel was to be in the Spirit, and while he was in the Spirit, it came to him to prophesy to the dry bones and say, "O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD" (v. 4). And as he prophesied according to the Lord's command, he saw an "exceedingly great army" (v. 10) rising up about him. The prophet obeyed God's command, and all we have to do is exactly this: obey God. What is impossible with man is possible with God (Luke18:27).
I pray to God that your spirit, soul, and body may be preserved holy (1 Thess.5:23), and that you may be always on fire, always ready with the anointing on you. If this is not so, we are out of divine order, and we ought to cry to Him until the glory comes back upon us."
Read Smith Wigglesworth's other works at http://www.teleiosministries.com/Gifts-of-Healing.html
Free Downloads at www.teleiosministries.com

GSIM FAMILY, THE MOMENT IS HERE!

OUR FATHER IS COMING HOME!

When a Father comes home, the children gather.
When a General of Faith returns, the Kingdom celebrates!

Gospel Spirit International Missions [GSIM], in collaboration with Hallelujah Gospel City Assembly [HAGCA], is delighted to announce a special HOME COMING RECEPTION SERVICE in honour of our Father, Mentor, Shepherd and Grand Patron of Faith, Rev. Uyobong Richard.

After serving with Christ Faith Church Claudia Cable, North America Branch, in the United States of America, our Father is returning home!

This is more than a homecoming—it is a moment of HONOUR, GRATITUDE, CELEBRATION AND THANKSGIVING TO GOD!

For many of us, his spiritual investment has helped shape our lives, establish spiritual foundations and launch us into our various assignments in Christian ministry.

Now, it is our turn to say:

THANK YOU, FATHER!
WELCOME HOME!

Wednesday, August 26, 2026
5:00 PM PROMPT
Hallelujah Gospel City Assembly [HAGCA]
#37 Faith Road, Off Nkemba Street, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

EVERYONE CONNECTED TO GSIM & HAGCA IS INVITED!

Friends.
Families.
Partners.
Members.
Ministers.
Sons and daughters.
Lovers of the Gospel.

LET US TURN UP IN OUR NUMBERS!

Let's give our Father a homecoming worthy of the Father—a celebration he will never forget!

A FATHER IS COMING HOME.
A LEGACY IS BEING HONOURED.
A FAMILY IS GATHERING.
THE KINGDOM IS CELEBRATING!

WELCOME HOME, FATHER!

SEE YOU THERE!

#GSIM
#GSIMFamily #WelcomeHomeFather #HomeComingReception
#HAGCA
#Uyo
#AkwaIbom
#GeneralOfFaith #HonouringOurFather #KingdomFamily

Today’s Walk in the Word is a brief devotional by Joe Barnett that appears Monday through Friday.



Aug 23, 2026 11:00 pm

Be Holy

Be holy, for I am holy.
—1 Peter 1:16

Justin Martyr’s First Apology (his defense of Christianity) was addressed to Emperor Antoninus Pius, challenging the emperor to examine the exemplary purity of Christians.

“As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Pt 1:15–16).

The primary meaning of holy is different. The secondary meaning of holy is pure. God is different from any other and pure like no other. Peter enjoins Christians to be different from others, with pure conduct shaped by God’s standards, rather than by prevailing culture.

In the next verse, Peter entreats Christians to “conduct yourselves throughout the times of your stay here in fear” (1 Pt 1:17)—not a cringing fear of punishment, but a respectful fear of misrepresenting your Savior and disappointing your Father.

Father,
I don’t want to disappoint you.
Amen

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Matthew 21:1-17

Now Jesus has determined to enter the final phase of his earthly ministry, elsewhere in Luke in the King James vernacular He “set His face toward Jerusalem”. It is here that in Matthew's own style to point to Jesus as the prophecied Messiah using the verse from Zechariah while describing Jesus's actions.

Zechariah 9:9
[9] Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Zechariah is writing a list of things to come while addressing the situation with the rebuilding of the walls and temple to replace the first destroyed Solomons temple. Don't forget that the first hearers and readers of Zechariah had no king.

Both the northern and southern kingdoms have been destroyed and there is no king in either. So when Zechariah says a King is coming, there is no doubt Zechariah anticipated this King to be the Messiah. The Jews understood this, so when Jesus rode that donkey into Jerusalem they clearly understood this to be the receiving of the Messiah.

Now here's the part where my ADHD brain begins asking, was there some supernatural knowledge that this colts owner was privy to regarding this or did he just faithfully accept, “The Lord has need of this” as a valid reason?
We will never know for sure but it is fun to think about.

The actions of the crowd are those of a city welcoming a king after a great victory or anointing. The laying out of cloaks, palm leaves and more were to not allow this arriving king to soil the feet of even the animal he's riding in on.

The children are calling out, “Hosanna” which means “God save us”. Let's make this clear, there was NO confusion about Jesus's claim here. The Jewish Leaders were well aware of the Messianic claim here. So when He dismounts in Jerusalem and begins what is considered the second cleansing of the temple there is no debate, Jesus is claiming to be the Messiah in no uncertain terms.

So when the leaders approach Him with the question, “Do you hear what they are saying?” Jesus quotes Psalm 8:2 in response.

Psalm 8:2
[2] From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have established strength Because of Your enemies, To do away with the enemy and the revengeful.

In the Hebrew, the word used means strength from the root word for stronghold. Here, Jesus is quoting the Septuagint or Greek version where the word ‘praise’ is used. It's this praise that acts as a source of strength against God's enemies.

Yes, Jesus is calling the Jewish leaders the enemies of God. And without even attempting a debate with them, Jesus turns his attention to healings amidst the destruction.

Some Jews believed He was there to act as King and they were ready and willing to go to war against Rome to have a king back. They were willing to die for this new king. But He didn't take a throne they could see, didn't receive a crown of a king and simply continued preaching. And this event took place roughly a week prior to the cross.

So the calls took a week to devolve from Hosanna to “Crucify Him” because the Kingdom Jesus ushered in was the Kingdom of Heaven, not Israel. How many times in our lives do we go from thanking and praising Him to neglecting Him, because the answer to our praise and prayers isn't the answer we expected? It doesn't take much to turn someone from God. A week? God, please give us the strength to continue in faith.



[1] When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples, [2] saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with it. Untie them and bring them to Me. [3] And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them on immediately.” [4] Now this took place so that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled: [5] “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold your King is coming to you, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ” [6] The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, [7] and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their cloaks on them; and He sat on the cloaks. [8] Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. [9] Now the crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” [10] When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” [11] And the crowds were saying, “This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee.” [12] And Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. [13] And He *said to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a den of robbers.” [14] And those who were blind and those who limped came to Him in the temple area, and He healed them. [15] But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant, [16] and they said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus *said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?” [17] And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

August 24
“WHO GOD IS TO ME”
THE ONE WHO WALKS WITH ME
Isaiah 43:2 (LLV) —
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and the flame will not consume you.”
There are promises
we might wish
God had made.
“You will never
face deep water.”
“You will never
walk through fire.”
“You will never
experience anything
that frightens you.”
But God
does not say
those things.
He says,
“When you pass
through the waters…”
“When you pass
through the rivers…”
“When you walk
through the fire…”
Not if.
When.
Faith does not
exempt us
from difficult
places.
But neither
does difficulty
mean God
has abandoned us.
“I will
be with you.”
Perhaps those
are the words
we need most
when the water
begins to rise.
God does not
always stand
on the distant shore
and call,
“Keep going.
You'll make it.”
He enters
the water
with us.
When the river
is stronger
than we are,
He is there.
When circumstances
feel overwhelming,
He is there.
When we find
ourselves walking
through something
we never imagined
we would face,
He is there.
And notice
another important word:
“through.”
The water
is not
our destination.
The river
is not
our home.
The fire
is not
the end
of our story.
We pass
through them.
Sometimes
God delivers us
by removing
the difficulty.
Sometimes
He delivers us
by carrying us
through it.
And sometimes,
only after
we reach
the other side,
do we look back
and realize
how faithfully
He was with us
every step
of the way.
We may enter
the water
afraid.
We may enter
the fire
wondering
how we will
possibly endure.
But we never
enter
alone.
The God
who promised,
“I will
be with you,”
does not leave
when the road
becomes difficult.
That is precisely
when His presence
becomes
most precious.
A new beginning sometimes lies on the other side of deep water:
I do not need a life without difficult passages; I need the assurance that God will walk through them with me.
Reflection: Am I interpreting a difficult season as evidence that God has left me, or am I looking for His presence with me in the middle of it?
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You that You never promise from a distance. When I pass through deep waters, You are with me. When circumstances threaten to overwhelm me, You remain beside me. When I must walk through the fire, help me trust Your presence more than I fear the flames. Give me courage for today's passage and faith to remember that I am only passing through. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Don’t Give Up on God (Galatians 6:9)

There are moments when you feel tired.

Tired of praying.

Tired of waiting.

Tired of trying.

Tired of fighting the same battles.

Tired of seeing other people move forward while you seem to be standing still.

And sometimes the easiest thought is:

“Maybe I should just give up.”

But God's Word reminds us:

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Read that again:

If we do not give up.

Following Jesus doesn't mean you will never become tired.

Faith doesn't mean you will never experience disappointment.

Being a Christian doesn't mean every prayer will be answered immediately.

There will be seasons when you have to keep walking even when you cannot see the destination.

Think about a farmer.

A farmer plants a seed, but doesn't see the harvest immediately.

There is a season of waiting.

A season of watering.

A season of working.

A season when nothing seems to be happening above the ground.

But beneath the surface, something is happening.

Your spiritual life can be like that.

You may pray and feel like nothing is changing.

You may read God's Word and wonder whether your situation will ever improve.

You may serve others without seeing the impact.

You may share your faith and wonder whether anyone is listening.

Don't assume that nothing is happening simply because you cannot see the results yet.

God can be working in ways you don't understand.

Your responsibility is to remain faithful.

Keep praying.

Keep trusting.

Keep serving.

Keep learning.

Keep loving.

Keep obeying.

Keep sharing Jesus.

And when you fall, get back up.

Peter failed Jesus.

David made serious mistakes.

Elijah became discouraged.

Moses became frustrated.

Many people in Scripture experienced moments of weakness.

But their weakness wasn't the end of their story.

God's grace met them there.

Maybe today you feel like you've failed God too many times.

Remember:

Failure is not an invitation to run away from God.

It is an invitation to return to Him.

Confess.

Repent.

Receive His grace.

Get back up.

Keep walking.

Sometimes perseverance doesn't look dramatic.

Sometimes it simply means getting out of bed and praying again.

Opening your Bible again.

Going to church again.

Trying again.

Forgiving again.

Serving again.

Believing again.

Taking one more step.

And another.

And another.

You don't have to finish the entire journey today.

Just take the next faithful step.

There may be people around you who are also struggling silently.

Your perseverance can encourage them.

When they see you continue trusting God through difficult seasons, they may discover that faith isn't about having a perfect life.

It's about having a faithful God.

And ultimately, our hope isn't based on our ability to remain strong.

Our hope is based on Jesus.

He endured rejection.

He endured suffering.

He endured the cross.

And He rose again.

Because Christ overcame, we have reason to keep going.

So if you're tired today, rest—but don't quit.

If you need help, ask for it.

If you need prayer, pray.

If you need encouragement, reach out to another believer.

But don't walk away from God because the road is difficult.

The harvest may not be visible yet.

Keep sowing.

Keep trusting.

Keep believing.

At the right time, God will bring about what He has planned.

Don't give up in the season when you cannot yet see the harvest. God is still working.

What is one area of your life where you need to keep trusting God instead of giving up?

#DontGiveUp #Galatians69 #Perseverance #KeepTheFaith #TrustGod #FaithOverFear #ChristianYouth #JesusSaves #ShareJesus #DailyFaith #Lordsbook #JMSM #KNKA

If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

John 14:3 ɴᴋᴊᴠ

There are two things that constitute the joy of a Christian, which are his strength on the road, and the object constantly before his heart. First, present communion and fellowship with God the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. Second, the hope of the coming of the Lord. And these two cannot be separated without loss to our souls, for we cannot have all the profit without both of them.

If we are not looking for the coming of the Lord, there is nothing that can separate us in the same way from this present evil world; neither will Christ Himself be so much the object before the soul, nor yet shall we be able, in the same measure, to apprehend the mind and counsels of God about the world, if there be not this waiting for His Son from heaven.

Again, if this hope be looked at apart from present communion and fellowship with God, we shall not have present power, the heart being enfeebled by the mind being too much occupied and overborne by the evil around. For we cannot be really looking for God’s Son from heaven without at the same time seeing the world’s utter rejection of Him, that the world itself is going wrong, its wise men having no wisdom, all is going on to judgment, the principles of evil are loosening all restraints. The soul thus becomes oppressed, and the heart sad; but if, through grace, the Christian is in present communion and fellowship with God, his soul stands steady, and is calm and happy before God, because there is a fund of blessing in Him which no circumstances can ever touch or change. The evil tidings are heard, the sorrow is seen, but the Christian’s heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord, and this carries him far above every circumstance.

J. N. Darby


https://gbv-online.org/calendar/773/date/2026-08-24

Fear is a clever adversary.

When we think of fear, the first things that come to mind are old, decrepit Victorian mansions or abandoned houses fueled by stories of stories of swinging chandeliers or doors that creak open on their own.

Or we might think of less dramatic fears: heights or flying or small spaces.

Unless you’re suffering from one of these or other phobias—or ghosts—it is rather easy to simply discard fear as something other people experience.

But fear is not so simple.

Most often, it sneaks into mind and festers and builds like a bacteria that, if untreated, to infection, sepsis, and even death.

You can try preventative measures to keep it at bay, but bacteria can still get in. And you never know until you’re infected until the symptoms appear.

This is the primary modus operandi of fear.
It sneaks in, debilitates, and even paralyzes.
Ultimately, it renders its victim completely helpless.

This came to light during an unrelated discussion with my wife.

We have been trying to put the finishing touches on my next manuscript, which frankly has been simmering on the backburner over the last several due to life distractions. Currently, it is coming down to fact-checking and formatting endnotes.
It is especially nerve-racking because, unlike my previous book, we chose to self-publish this one. We have to get it right. It is all on us.

It’s been difficult to release the manuscript. We’re haunted by the questions: is there more that can be done? Is the subject even all that relevant anymore? What am I missing?

We check and recheck every detail.

We don’t want to let go and send it into a very cruel world.

We both recognized this paralysis after hearing ourselves begin everything with the phrase: “I’m afraid…”

This realization suddenly made this year make sense.

I have felt a bit off most of the year. I have become more subdued, resigned, troubled. I thought I was hiding it okay until a former (and very discerning) student came up to me recently and asked, “Mr. H., are you sad?”

That simple, innocent question shook me into an awareness. I don’t necessarily think I am depressed, but something is not right.

Since then, between that question and this recent epiphany with my wife, I realized that fear has crept into my life and is now controlling my psyche.

The first part of 2026 has been difficult. Now, I won’t pretend that it was somehow more difficult than others. But it has been tough. The remainder of 2026 has been trying to recover from it.

Last March, within days of the door slamming shut on my wife’s 25-year career, I lost my mom. In a way, I lost her over the last several years as she sank into dementia, but last March her battle ended.

Add this to standard stresses associated with a second semester in a high school, which in and of itself is enough to deplete my tanks. Now I have to tap into mental and emotional resources that don’t exist.

Fast forward to the present and I can see how God was with us in the storm. He gave me mental and emotionally resources, I never knew existed. He took care of us despite a huge income drop and being uninsured for a couple of month. Further, I know that my mom is now thinking more clearly than I could ever dream.

God gets the glory.

However, the enemy used a different tactic to paralyze me. Out of these hardship, fear crept in. And now I realize I am infected with it.
Watching my mom sink into the darkness of dementia, I have become afraid that one day I might suffer from that myself. I am afraid of losing my mind.

Unfortunately, once fear has a foothold, it doesn’t stop there. Fear escalated from fearing dementia to fearing getting old in general.

I am only a few months away from leaving behind my fifties forever. I began to fear getting old.
I fear my body slowing down. Simple things become a little harder. My back, my knees, and feet start to hurt a little more. I have a little more trouble hearing someone in a noisy room. I am doing that weird thing with my glasses when transitioning between reading close up and at a distance. It takes longer to get over a cold. Last July, I turned an ankle in Colorado that still aches today. The thought of not driving because driving in the winter or at night just isn’t worth the risk. I don’t want to give up the things that require the energy I had when I was young. How many summer road trips do I have left? What happens when I can no longer match the energy of a classroom of high school students?

Fear takes that into a whole new direction. I really don’t want to stop teaching. I love the classroom. I love the cycle of the school calendar. But what happens when my body can’t keep up? Can my filters remain strong enough to keep me from saying something mean or stupid? Will I become tiresome, or in the way? Can I keep my teaching style and not turn into a grumpy old stooge? Worse yet, what happens when I become irrelevant?

I have found myself somewhat paralyzed by this fear.

And it has dragged me down.

It has made me “look sad.”

All of this came together with the recent discussion with my wife.

Fear has overtaken me. It has taken control of me.

But is it too late?

Thankfully, no.

The most used phrase in the entirety of scripture is: “do not be afraid.”

However, one important observation that seems to be overlooked is that that phrase is almost always spoken from the supernatural point of view: God to human, Jesus to human, heavenly messenger to human.

From a broader, heavenly perspective to a limited, natural one.

“Do not be afraid.”

I have thought about this constantly since that epiphany I had with my wife.

I should not—must not—live in fear. Not as a child of the King.

But how do you switch fear off? It is not as simple as a light switch.

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

The enemy’s game plan is to always whisper thoughts into our head that will trigger fear.

We have to be on guard always. When we get the sense of fear, we must be deliberate and take that thought captive and replace it with truth: “My God is bigger”; “He is my protector and comforter”; “This thought is not coming from him”.

Fear does not sit on the throne, God does. Fear, by definition, is limited, God is infinite. Fear is merely a tool, God is the creator of everything, including us who are made in gis image. Only God can break through the paralysis fear brings and can heal us.

Does that mean those things I fear will never happen? No. They likely will. But however the upcoming years pan out, he is with you, with me.

And whatever the future brings, God is God. And he is good.

FAITH DOESN’T QUIT IN THE MIDDLE.

It’s easy to have faith when everything is going right. But REAL FAITH keeps believing when the answer hasn’t come yet, the road gets hard, and you’re standing somewhere between the prayer and the breakthrough.

Don’t give up because you’re in the middle.
Don’t turn back because it got difficult.
KEEP PRAYING. KEEP TRUSTING. KEEP GOING.

God is still working—even when you can’t see it yet.

If you’re choosing FAITH OVER QUITTING, drop a in the comments!

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