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Don't be Afraid
Fear thou not; for I am
with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen
thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right
hand of my righteousness.
Isa 41:10.
The phrase "Fear not"
is regularly mentioned in the Scriptures (63 x in KJV). It follows
that when we are intimidated, God wants to and will help us. The
hymn-writer expressed it like this:
Fear not, I am with Thee, O be not dismayed
For I am thy God, I will still give thee aid.
This promise is
as true now as it was when originally given, that those whom God has
chosen need not be afraid. The reason is simply “for
I am with you”. We cannot see Him,
but we may know His presence. Even in the valley of the shadow of
death He says, “Fear not, I am with
thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God.”
In all our trials, His presence is our strength, our comfort and our
protection. He will never leave one whom He has chosen for His own.
If Omnipotence is working on our behalf,
no lesser power can defeat Him. This condition is a challenge to all
doubters. There is no one on a par with God.
Our lives are hid with Christ in God
(Col 3:3), secure for all
eternity.
Believer, we have to say “since I
belong to Christ I am continually with God!” By this is
meant we are:
continually upon His mind, He is
always thinking of us for our good.
Continually before His eye;-the eye of
the Lord never sleeps, but is perpetually watching over our
welfare.
Continually in His hand, so that none
shall be able to pluck us from it.
Continually on His heart, worn there
as a memorial, even as the high priest bore the names of the
twelve tribes upon his heart for ever.
Paul asked the
rhetorical question, ‘If God be for
us, who can be against us?’ (Rom
8:31). Some might answer “a great
many”. Sinners may be against us, and so may the great enemy of our
souls, but their power to destroy us is taken away. They are
nothing, as compared with Him who is on our side.
Fear not for I am with you.
We are assured of His presence, His help,
and His sustaining power in what must be one of the loveliest verses
in Isaiah.
Have you got that sinking feeling? When it
is, here are some promises to hold on to:
Don’t give up.
The Lord will sustain you by His grace (2Cor
12:9).
Don’t give in.
Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world! (1Jn
4:4)
Don’t give out.
The Lord is your strength (Isa 41:10).
Don’t give over to discouragement.
The Lord brings things into our lives to draw us closer to Him
and adds endurance to our faith (Jas
1:3).
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