Daily Devotion With Pastor Dan – 8-7-2020
I was thinking this morning of just how fearful so many are with what is going on in the world today. I know for me, fear is possible if I take my eyes off the Lord and His Word for just a short time. I am constantly reminded by the Lord to stay in that sweet fellowship with Him so things like that don’t happen. I even have been reflecting a lot on the 91st Psalm and His protection over us, especially during these times. I heard a story once of a father reading a bedtime story to his little daughter, as he did almost every night before she went to sleep. They were reading a book about the animals in a zoo, and with her imagination, it was as if she and her father were actually there at the zoo. She was looking through all the pages of the animals, but when she came to the page with the grizzly bears, she told her father, “You would have to carry me.” Curious, her dad asked her why he would have to carry her. “Because I’d be scared,” she said.
We can be certain that the Lord will do the same for us when we are afraid. When the scary times come, when we are called on to do the hard things life demands, God will lift us up and carry us along. He gives us His strength in Christ…..
(Philippians 4:13)…..I can do all things through [a]Christ who strengthens me.
(John 15:5)…..“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Is there something frightening in our life? Let’s ask our heavenly Father to see us through (Psalm 23:4). He will gladly hold us in His loving arms and carry us. This message of encouragement was sent to the church at Smyrna in Asia Minor by the Lord, saying, “Do not be afraid” (Revelation 2:10). He continued by saying, “of what you are about to suffer.” The devil is going to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested. You will have tribulation for ten days. “Be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life.” The faith of these first century Christians was at a place where even the Lord’s assurances that things were going to be terrible did not discourage them. Many in our day want to know the future. Would you want to know if severe persecution was about to come?
All of your brothers and sisters would not survive. This could include you. It is better to live one day at a time. The knack of not borrowing trouble is a good trait for a child of God. It is God’s plan for us not to be fearful of what tomorrow holds for us …. “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
The lives of God’s people at Smyrna had to be saturated with their love and dedication to Jehovah God. Nothing short of that would bring them through the vicious attacks of their enemies. Powerful personal commitment would sustain them. Even knowing what was ahead, would only bring them to a closer union with their Lord.
Today, with all the uncertainty in our nation and world in general, can we be assured that the Lord will not forsake or leave us alone? Take a moment and read (Hebrews 13:5) (Genesis 28:15) (Joshua 1:9) (Matthew 28:20).
Fear not! “God is able to make all grace abound toward you” (2 Corinthians 9:8).