Day 45: 2 Kings 17:39

"Rather, worship the Lord your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies." ~2 Kings 17:39, NIV

Other than the fact that God tells me to not be afraid, there is one reason that I should never need to fear, and that is in the personality of God Himself. The more we learn about Him, the less fear we should have. Who will deliver us from our enemies? It's God. We can't save ourselves, that's just a fact of life. If we can't trust in our own strength, what can we trust in?

Yup, we all know in our heads that it's Him. Get to know Him better by praying and reading His word! And worship Him! Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened. You can count on it.

Day 44: Hebrews 10:31, 35

"It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God. [...] So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the reward that it brings you." ~Hebrews 10:31, 35, NLT

I recommend actually reading Hebrews 10 for today. I don't think you will regret it. Put on a Red's "Take It All Away," and you'll be set. Read. Pray. Praise.

Trusting God isn't JUST something I should instinctually do. It's also apparently something I'm rewarded for. Even if that reward is "just" peace of mind at the time. The way I've set up the verses above makes it sound like a threat... which is why I maintain that YOU read the entire chapter. But also don't forget to maintain your confident trust in the Lord.

Here, have a link: Online Bible

And another link for the song: "Take It All Away"

Day 43: Acts 18:9

"One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and said: 'Don't be afraid! Speak out! Don't be silent! For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.'" ~Acts 18:9-10, NLT

"One night the Master spoke to Paul in a dream: 'Keep it up, and don't let anyone intimidate or silence you.'" ~Acts 18:9, MSG

These commands to Paul that came during one of his stays in Corinth are blatantly applicable to today. After all, the only difference between Paul and me is the fact that I live in the 21st century, and Jesus did not blind me when He revealed Himself to me. Truth is, our goal in life, our purpose - it's the same as Paul's was. We are to spread God's word, spread His truth, reflect His light. God's command to us, then, is to not be afraid, to speak out, and to not remain silent! God's word today and everyday is to keep up the good fight, and not let anyone or anything intimidate us into silence about Him.

Lord, help me to remain indomitable in the face of adversity against You. May my voice ring out through the dark, proclaiming Your truth and Your hope!

Amen

Day 42: Jeremiah 46:28

"Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant, for I am with you, says the Lord. I will completely destroy the nations to which I have exiled you, but I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you, but with justice; I cannot let you go unpunished." ~Jeremiah 46:28, NLT

Okay. So I'm not a Jacob. But I AM God's servant. Thus, to me the Lord says I shouldn't be afraid, because HE is with me. That is the most important part, and if you've got that you don't even need to read any more.

But I'm going to write more because of what God says next. He will completely destroy the nations He has exiled me to - the world and Satan, nowadays - but He won't completely destroy me for my sins. And that is a reason to hope. (Although I already knew this, since I've got Jesus... but anyways, it's a good reminder!)

All that hope doesn't mean He's not going to discipline me, though! It's not like I can just get away with anything because He'll forgive me afterward. Every sin has physical consequences. We can't get away unpunished! Be it failure of health, be it failure in family, be it an "F" at school, sin has consequences. And we can't just ignore that. But we don't need to be afraid of being "not good enough," and we certainly needn't fear God destroying us completely, or God allowing the devil to crush us. As long as we're following Him, His hand will be upon us, to hold us on the right path and to protect us. Amen!

Day 41: Mark 5:36

"Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him 'Don't be afraid; just believe.'" ~Mark 5:36, NIV

Jairus, he's a nice fellow and a synagogue leader. Since his daughter is dying, he asks Jesus for help. Which is a good choice that we can take example from. But it's not quite that simple, Jesus doesn't snap his fingers and make the girl healed in the second of asking. He goes with Jairus to their home. But along they way, an old lady gets healed. Cool, right? Double healing!

Thing is, that took some time off of the daughter's ticking clock, and after the healing of the old woman, a bunch of people went to Jairus and told him his daughter is dead.

I think we can all relate to Jairus. We may have a problem. So we bring it to God. That's good, that's right, and what God wants. But on the way, God does something, something amazing - but do we see it that way? Or do we just see God "wasting" time, and our problems increasing? How many times have you been tempted to give up? How often have you been terrified that... He's not there anymore?

Jesus hears your doubts, and you know what He says when He hears them? The same thing he told Jairus after his daughter had died: "Don't be afraid; just believe." He says it to you, He says it to me, c'mon, just believe!

Day 40: Deuteronomy 31:23

"The Lord gave this command to Joshua son of Nun: 'Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you." ~Deuteronomy 31:23, NIV

I always felt bad for Joshua, being the son of "None." I mean Nun, of course! (To use a prevailing Shakespearian sentiment, who needs to know how to spell?) Okay, okay, wordplay aside I'm actually really jealous of Joshua. As I read the book about him, God is always telling him to be strong. And courageous. God's always promising Joshua great things.

But wait!

God breathed the word - He wrote it for us too! So... all those times God tells Josh to be strong, to be courageous, when God promises Joshua all of those amazing things over his life, He's telling it to us! So the Lord's command to you, son/daughter of _insert your parent's name here_, is:

"Be strong and courageous, I myself will be with you."

I hope we will follow God's command today. We want to please Him, after all. So take courage, little heart! Your God LOVES you. He's got BIG plans for you, plans to make you great in His sight, to change your world for Him!

Day 39: Psalm 34:22

"But the Lord saves his servants' lives; no one who trusts in him will be judged guilty." ~Psalm 34:22, NCV

The Lord brings judgement. And if we've sinned, the judgement for our sins results in death. But wait! We've got Jesus on my side! And thanks to Jesus, our life is SAVED, and as this psalmist said hundreds of years before Jesus came, no one who TRUSTS in HIM (coughJesuscough *hack*wheeze*sputter*) will be judged guilty.

If we continue defining trust as the opposite of fear, we don't have to be afraid of God's judgement on us unless we haven't confessed our sins and asked Jesus to forgive us. We are servants of the living God, even better, we're His children. He is a GOOD father, we can trust Him, and we don't have to be afraid of anything because our good father saves our lives.

ALL. THE. TIME. (you better believe it!)