Deuteronomy 31 verse 6 says:

Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”

I love Joshua! He is one of my favourite characters in the bible. He was such a “get it done” kind of guy.

We don’t see much of Joshua’s weaknesses, but what we do read is the Lord constantly commanding, encouraging and reassuring Joshua “be strong in God – do not fear!”

Fear is such a common enemy because it constantly seeks to rob God’s people. Fear’s goal is to rob God’s people by neutralising the one key element needed to possess God’s promises: FAITH.

The above verse tells us some key points for how Joshua was to go in Faith, not fear:

• FAITH is to “not fear”. The “what ifs” and “could be’s” are not the primary power at work in your life
• FAITH gives “strength and courage”. When we are full of faith in God we can stand strong and endure opposition.
• FAITH comes from knowing “the Lord God goes with you”. It is the presence of God that powers our life.
• FAITH springs for the conviction God is good and will never leave us. When we go in Faith, God IS with us; He won’t dump you on a whim or in a mood.

Joshua was a great man of God because of His great faith. He wasn’t beyond a gentle reminder to keep going in faith, and neither are we.

PRAYER: Father, I love you and I choose to walk by Faith today. I receive your life giving word into my life and rebuke fear in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Deuteronomy Chapter 30 verses 11,14-16 and 19 says:

11 “For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach…
15 “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; 16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it…
19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants

Life is full of choices. Choices we make every day.

Even in our relationship with God, the basic substance of that relationship – like every relationship – is a choice to love.

Here we read what our relationship with God boils down to, something that is “not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach…” (verse 11).

We get to choose each day who we will live for, what we will focus on, what we will cherish most. We choose whether we will love God more than anyone or anything else.

Understanding the ability to choose is simple and extremely powerful. There are benefits and blessings for choosing well. There are also consequences for choosing poorly. The results of our choosing are there to guide us and encourage us in making our choices. Therefore choose life!

PRAYER: Father, I choose you today. I choose to love you, follow you, draw near to you. Thank you for choosing me first. I love you Lord, Amen.

Deuteronomy 20 verse 8 says:

Then the officers shall speak further to the people and say, ‘Who is the man that is afraid and fainthearted? Let him depart and return to his house, so that he might not make his brothers’ hearts melt like his heart.’

Better to fight with a smaller number full of faith, than with a greater number that is less than uncompromising in their commitment to the battle.

Why is this? Isn’t there more likelihood for success in greater numbers? Isn’t it better to have more with you than less in the battle?

No, not necessarily.

To have in your army those that are uncommitted and lacking in courage and complete abandonment to the cause, can have a highly detrimental effect to the rest of the soldiers. Like a virus, a lack of courage and complete abandonment can spread a dilution of morale through the camp like wildfire.

The effect fear can have on group confidence can be devastating. It is why in sports, a lack of courage is so frowned upon. It effects the whole team. It says I am more concerned with my own well being than the well being of the team. It is self over the greater good.

That is not an attitude than will win you too many wars.

Jesus applied this principle Himself. He was with a young girl who had passed and was there to pray for her raising back from the dead (Matthew 9:23-26). Except the room in which she was in was full of people mourning. Jesus went in to that battle with faith, expecting she would live again. The crowd had no such expectation; they were well into mourning her loss and preparing to move on in life.

So Jesus removed them and their infectious fearful, courage-less attitudes from the room and raised the daughter from the dead.

What does this tell us? If you are going to war in the Spirit you only need people around you who will believe with you. If you are facing a war with finances, with a wayward child, with a career need, with a ministry facing difficulty, with a loved one needing breakthrough, whatever it is – you don’t need everyone to know. Just a few, but a few full of faith, full of confidence in their God, full of expectation, is all it takes.

Faith is the antidote to fear. Align yourself with men and women of faith and rise up in the power of the Lord!

PRAYER: Father, thank you for the victory. Thank you for the miracle and the overcoming. I receive the answer to my prayer right now by faith. Thank you Father for your faithfulness! In Jesus name, Amen.

Deuteronomy 15 verse 10:

You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings

Clearly, being generous with those in need is something God requires of us. God commands generosity from us because in so doing it is supporting the social fabric that God Himself instituted in creation.

To be generous is not to give with the motivation to receive a return on your investment. To be generous is to give out a love, joy or compassion that moves you to do what you can to meet a need. To be truly generous is not to give with regard to yourself but to the other person. To be truly generous is costly, to benefit gained for the other person is considered more valuable than the personal cost incurred.

When we live and act with generosity, it pleases God. It pleases Him because by obeying His command we are honouring to Him. But more than that being generous reflect His character to others. God is a generous God!

God is generous towards us in the riches of His love. God is generous towards us in that He gave, at great cost, His Son that we may live! He is generous to us in His unsearchable mercies that wash away the guilty stain of our sin.

God is generous so that we can be generous. When we are generous there can be no doubt the please in which we live becomes a better place to live. Why? We are reflecting the character of God.

Not only that, there is another little bonus for the generous. God says when you are generous and show a concern and regard for others, even when it comes at a cost yourself, then I will bless you! “I will bless you and cause you to know my blessings in ALL your work and in all you put your hand to!”

Why? Because the generous person proves to God they can be trusted with the blessings of God.

PRAYER: Father, thank you for your generosity towards me. Enable me by your Spirit to cultivate generosity in my life toward others. I love you Father, Amen

Deuteronomy 7 verse 26 says:

Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Regard it as vile and utterly detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.

In our politically correct world to say something evil is detestable will more than get a reaction. Such strong and forceful language is considered to be the realm of the bigoted and hateful. Such judgemental statements are offensive and should be banned or at least censored.

Except in this case, it is not some extremist radical who is making comment on what is evil and detestable. It is God Himself!

It is true that God is our Father in heaven who wishes to express himself through love to His creation. However, He is also a good Father who when He sees something that is going to cause heartache, pain and even destruction to His children, He has no hesitation in calling it out! That is love in action.

There are forces at work in God’s creation that are evil in nature and are detestable to the Lord. These detestable things are perversions, lies, bondages and sins that the enemy uses for the sake of evil.

In the case of the text above, these evil things are objects of idolatry and false worship. In the view of God, such things are to be “utterly detested”!

Why does God hate such things? Why does God reaction with such strong emotion? Why does He want His people to be separated from all things evil and detestable?

The reason God wants His people separated from such evil and detestable things is their destiny is destruction! We can either be set apart for God and His purposes or we elect to set ourselves aside with that which is evil and detestable to God, and in so doing, we risk being “set aside for destruction”.

PRAYER: Lord, please grant me discernment to hate what you hate and love what you love. Fill me with your presence and lead me into all truth. I love you Father, in Jesus name, Amen.

Deuteronomy 1:27-28 says:

and you grumbled in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. 28 Where can we go up?…

It is amazing the depths of negativity we can descend to when we remove our eyes from the Lord and become introspective, seeing only the worst around us.

For a people who saw such radical and miraculous events unfold to bring them out of Egypt, their view of the Amorites is at best irrational and worst insane!

But the fact is when we see with eyes of fear (verse 29 says “do not… fear them”) we can not see with the eyes of faith. When fear grips us we can only see the problem and the terror that brings, without it even being there. We “see (negative) things that are not, as though they are”.

Instead, when we sense fear rising, we need to halt and about face on our words and beliefs. We need to begin to speak in faith and see accordingly! Otherwise we will end up in a prison cell of fear believing such irrational (and untrue) things as “God hates us”.

PRAYER: Father, I ask you to deliver me from all fear. Help me to discern fear and renounce any place it might have in my thinking or doing. I submit to you Lord and ask you fill me with faith today. I choose you and your way Lord, In the name of Jesus, Amen.