How God Will Make You Strong, Courageous, and Unafraid Today
Do you worry about the future?
Do you find yourself imagining what-if or thinking I can’t?
I’ve been trying to imagine what it must have been like for the wilderness wanderers as they prepared to enter the Promised Land. 40 years earlier their parents had planted seeds of doubt and fear of the things they’d seen on the other side of the Jordan River.
Now it’s time . . . and God said:
“Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
Deuteronomy 31:6
But He didn’t just say it once . . . He said it again:
“Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
Deuteronomy 31:8
These words were spoken to over a million people. They were to move them as a nation . . . God had just finished instructing them giving them a choice between “life and death, blessing and curses.” (Deuteronomy 30:19)
God, through Moses, counseled them to “choose life.”
You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life.
Deuteronomy 30:20
And the blessing of loving and obeying is that God promises that He will personally go before . . . He will neither fail nor abandon.
I believe the message to you and me is not that God will go before us and lead us when we insist on going our own way.
But when we follow Him in obedience and love . . . He has promised to faithfully lead us and be with us.
You and I don’t need to fear what-ifs when we love and follow the Lord. And we don’t have to believe that “we can’t” when we trust the One who promises to give us strength and courage.
Every day offers new situations, concerns, possibilities, and more but when you and I follow the Lord in obedience and love . . . He promises that He will give us the strength and courage we need for whatever He allows.
I can do all things through Christ, because he gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13 (NCV)
A Prayer to Choose Life and Obedience
to Have Strength and Courage
Father, I am so thankful for Your Word. I’m thankful to read about people like me . . . people who have doubts and fears, who want to obey but fall short every day, and people who have been blessed by Your unfailing love and forgiveness.
You give me choices every day. You allow me the freedom to obey or disobey, to love or reject. Please help me by the power of Your Spirit to love You with all my heart and soul, mind and strength. Help me know Your will and willingly obey. Help me commit myself fully to Your sovereignty and trust Your plans and purposes.
Father, please give me the strength and courage I need when the enemy tempts me with doubt and fear. Please help me face each day with the confidence that You are with me, that You will never fail me nor abandon me. Help me focus on Your promises and set my heart and mind on all that is true and honorable, right, good, and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8)
I love You and thank you for all You have done for me in the past. I worship You for who You are. And I praise You for giving me everything I need each day. Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
I’m taking my list of fears and worries to God once again today and I’d love for you to join me.
Jesus said:
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28
When His disciples were afraid in the storm, He walked on the water to them and said:
“Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage! I am here!”
Mark 6:50
And He’s saying the same to you and me today.
So be strong and courageous the Lord is with you.
May God bless you today. Remove your fear and give you all the strength and courage you need.
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Thank you Deb. I count my blessings today that my Lord spoke through you to me . My Soul Praise the Lord for his comforting words helped me to gain my sprit back. Amen.
Thank you so very much, Marina! I am blessed by your kind encouragement. May God be with you and bless you!
Hi Deb, I just want to say thank you for sharing these posts with us. You must be a woman constantly SEEKING the Will of God.
Today we were asked to write down the one word we’d make ours for this year, and instantly I chose seek. I read in one of your posts that you made SEEK your word for the rest of your life, and that made me think. How were you so certain that next year that word wont change to HAPPY, or LOVE or CONTENT. But then I had a realisation that if you want happiness, love, contentment, you name it, it all STARTS WITH AN ATTEMT OR A DESIRE TO OBTAIN OR ACHIEVE, (this is the definition of seek). SEEK is the starting point of everything. No wonder the scripture says SEEK the Kingdom of God, and all else be given to you.
God blesses you, so that you can be a blessing to everyone thats reading your posts.
May God continue to bless you.
Hi Jenny! Thank you so much! Yes, that became my thinking exactly. I had pursued various words for several years. When God gave me the word SEEK, I realized that if I continued to SEEK Him through the truth of His Word and prayer . . . everything else would fall into place. Luke 12:33 is a promise I hold close as I trust God to meet every spiritual need in my life. God bless you as well.
What a nice post! I have dealt with a lot of fear and anxiety over the past 7 years. And reading God’s word and remembering his promises have helped me to overcome a lot of those fears. But it is nice to know that I am not the only one that has had fear and anxiety. Knowing the people in the bible have been through it too also helps in coping.
Thank you, Cori! Isn’t it a blessing that God wants us to know the history of His love and the lessons of imperfect people? His Word faithfully blesses, encourages, and give me hope. God be with you and bless you!
Hi Deb, these past couple of days it’s 2 for 2 ????. It feels like as a direct message to me…. And I have to say shamefully from experience, that God’s love is so great that even when I wondered away following my own will and desire, He still stood by lovingly, guarding my steps and limiting the damage I could do to myself. He always pulled me back from the cliff and turned my eyes back to Himself.
The depth and height of His love is truly amazing, undescribable, and incomprehensible. I gave Him 100 million reasons to cast me from His sight…yet He faithfully loves me. I only wish, only wish that I could love Him back just a fraction of it….
I completely agree, Gaby! His love is truly amazing! He is always our prodigal Father – watching and waiting for us to respond to His love. Thanks so much for your kind encouragement. You bless me! Hope you’re enjoying a wonderful weekend.
Thank you very much I am learning a lot from from your teaching