DECLARE WAR ON FEAR

There are two Hebrew words for fear used throughout the Bible.

The first is yahreh, which means "dread"—to dread or to be frightened of—and the second is aratz, which is the term that is used in Joshua 1:9, meaning "to tremble at."

The Lord commanded Joshua not to tremble at the hostile armies surrounding him:

"Do not tremble, Joshua, or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you."

This same message is for every one of us today, no matter what forces might be threatening us at this time.

We may even see storm clouds gathering on the horizon, but we must resist being shaken because God is with us and for us.

Like Joshua, we must resist all temptations to fear by finding courage and refuge in the Lord.

We must wake up and fight fear with the weapons the Lord has given us—His Word, the name and blood of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

We must also remember that He is fighting the battle with us and for us.

It is time that we become proactive wielding the Word of God in our fight against fear.

We must shake off passivity.

It is time to fight, not to yield; to be on the offensive, not the defensive.

We must put on the whole armor of God, which will shield us from fear, standing our ground in Messiah (Eph. 6).

Having done our part, we can stand still, trusting in God's love and grace knowing that He is going before us and working on our behalf.

Joshua obeyed God even though hostile forces were surrounding him.

He chose to be strong and take courage; not to be fearful, dismayed, terrified, or anxious.

He believed God, beloved, and you and I can too.

As a result, Joshua was able to lead his people, the children of Israel, into their God-given inheritance.

If we want to receive and enter our destiny as God's children, we must learn to resist all fear in its varied forms.

Indeed, we must declare war on it, not tolerating it even for a second.

God wants us to experience and possess the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

Though the enemy will attack us, we must not give in, for "greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

We must resist him:

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:8 NIV).

We are not to flee from the devil in fear, but to stand, go on the offense, and cause him to flee from us through faith!

As we do, the peace and love of God that has been promised fills us.

Prayer:

"Father, we pray that You will continue to reveal Your Son to us, and that we will not let any fear stand in the way of following Him.

Jesus, You said that You have revealed the Father's name to Your children and that You will continue to reveal it.

So we ask You to continue to reveal Yourself to us, giving us the strength and courage to follow after You without allowing fear to keep us from You.
Amen. "

From" Today's Word by Joel O

Stay Strong!