‘Do not be afraid…’
Deuteronomy 31:8 He will never leave you not forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Isaiah 35:4 Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you,
Isaiah 41:10; Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will uphold you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Psalm 56:3 Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?
‘Fear not, do not be afraid, be strong and of courage’ and verses just like them appear 365 times in the Bible. God wants us trusting in Him to guide us through scary treacherous pathways. That is sometimes scary in itself. You believe in faith that He is there always, then troubles start, fears multiply and you clearly SEE things getting worse, so begin to fear more. So in order to defeat these fears, we must know and be able to retrieve these words and promises.
I believe we have so many of these verses to fear not as reminders, daily reminders if we separate one for each day, since God knows our human selves will feel fear at times. We need to be reminded that He is there, in control. And that certainly does not mean that we don’t rest on our laurels and not do what we can to follow His path to improve circumstances, but it means TRUSTING in Him to have the final answer, to get us safely to our place, out of the wilderness. And that is what He means each time He urges us to ‘fear not…’ ‘Move forward, I know you are unsure, but trust in Me and move ahead. I am there to guide your path.’
It’s not that God is saying never feel fear, it is feeling fear, but moving ahead in trust at the same time. It feels much easier to me to move ahead when I remember I am not alone and should not be doubting and fearing the future. He will guide my paths because I am one of His children. And I trust Him.
Yes, I have fear sometimes, and have to remind myself of these verses, have to go and look up others and reinforce my mind. But fear is the devil’s best tool. He loves to make you doubt, ensure you know you will fail, that God cannot possibly endorse this silly endeavor you would like to try, and on and on….
So God’s word reminds us over 365 times, to ‘fear not, be not afraid, have good courage.’ I challenge you to find more verses than the ones I wrote. Tuck them into the fabric of your mind so you can pull them out when the devil tries to evoke fear and doubt in your spirit.
Thank goodness for these verses for me to step forward and ‘do not be afraid’ with all of ‘myBellaviews.’
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