Build it because He already planned it . . .

New Year, Same Old Fears . . . Not This Time!

Welcome to The Great 5-in-5 Build – 5 Fears Faced Unafraid in 5 Months, starting February 1! We’re about to learn all about trust in God and where it’ll carry us – grab your toolbelt . . . .

Do you have any fears or anxieties interfering with your life and the plan you know God has for you? Are you fighting the same battles over and over, stalled in what you don’t know and afraid to trust what God tells you? Have you built anything wonderful lately?

If some of that describes your life, or if you’ve overcome much of the same and can help your fellow builders, please join us for this blog tour and study of how we can live our lives UNAFRAID, how we can have joy in the building of everything God says we’re here to build.

The Israelites, about 2500 years ago, were able to leave Babylon after a long captivity and return to Jerusalem to rebuild the burned temple Solomon had built. What a job God gave them (and we’re going to see just how significant that was as we go), but they struggled in their fear and lack of trust.

We’re going to learn from them and see how their lessons guide us in the building of our “temples” today -- our lives that reflect God and His grace to those around us. And we’re going to enjoy it, because God gave us this life where He is the center -- and that means joy and peace and progress and courage. And that means YOU!

Please join us each month, beginning February 1, as we examine a particular fear. We’ll look at fairly universal fears we all struggle with, have or will because they touch our basest human needs and emotions. Each fear has lots of faces and stories as varied as our readers -- and just as many victories. We want to celebrate those stories and victories and pass on help to others, because that’s what our mission is here: receiving God’s grace and reflecting Him back to others and helping them build in whatever way we can.

I’ll post an initial message about each fear the first of each month, February through June, as well as a brief study guide. Fellow bloggers are welcome to post both my messages and the study guides to their blogs, and each month, one particularly blogger will join me in examining each fear [schedule below].

All readers, of course, are encouraged to post their experiences, struggles, lessons learned, victories and joys for others to learn from as well.

And everyone who participates will be part of our Toolbelt Brigade – those of us working each day to build where God says build, unafraid. And that means we’ll still be swinging a hammer long after this 5-in-5 Build is over, because as long as God’s left us here, He’s got a plan. All we have to do is our part, and we do it much better in faith than in fear.

So please join us beginning February 1 as we work to make this year different from all the rest. Our temples are waiting . . . .