The scripture for today, January 9 (1/9), is Joshua 1:9 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord, your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Fear can paralyze. Just ask Joshua. He had just been given the job of conquering horrible people who practiced prostitution as a religion, self-mutilation, and sacrificing their children to the fire god. Plus, his spies said those bad people were like giants and his army was made up of the children of former slaves with no experience.
Guess what God said. “Go anyway. Conquer anyway.”
What do you fear? A few people fear spiders and night time and heights and such. A lot more of us fear changing a bad habit that has us in its claws and won’t let us go. Even more serious, do you fear telling a neighbor, someone in a club, a relative about Jesus’ willingness to save them from hell and get them ,entrance into heaven? To all this, God says, “Go anyway.”
Some of you reading this live in countries where it is dangerous to be a Christian. Do you fear being arrested, tortured, killed for your faith? God tells you, “Be strong! Be courageous! Do not be terrified!” Why. Because “the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
What keeps the fear under control? “Perfect love casts out fear” (I John 4:18). Love yourself, love your neighbor, love God.
Today, whatever it is holding you back, “Go anyway, Conquer anyway.”
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