January 8th

Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give way to panic before them. For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory. Deuteronomy 20:3b-4.

The Lord is our strong man who makes us strong in our mind, bodies and emotions. His strength and commitment to us removes fear, terror and panic. These negative qualities will do us little or no good as we face the giants of our lives. It is the strength that comes from the Lord that makes us successful. The Lord tells us that without me you can do nothing.

We accomplish nothing when we partner with fear except to save ourselves for more trouble down the road of life. The reason we want to be strong and courageous is to do it right the first time so that we do not have to do it again and end up in a worse situation. Fear lives up to its name by repeatedly making bad things even worse.