Be
Courageous
Beloved,
I say, let your fears go, lest they make you fainthearted. Stop inspiring fear
in those around you and now take your stand in faith. God has been good and He
will continue to manifest His goodness. Let us approach these days expecting to
see the goodness of the Lord manifest. Let us be strong and of good courage, for the Lord will fight for
us if we stand in faith. Francis
Frangipane
cour·age
1. The quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty,
danger, pain, etc., without fear.
I was studying in the Bible about courage and
there was a sentence that kept repeating over and over again. “Be of good courage.” What does it mean to be
of good courage?
When I was young we had woods behind our
house and I didn’t like to go out there at night. It was dark and my imagination would often
take over. I could imagine all kinds of
things out there that I should be afraid of.
There were some old cars on one portion of the property that gave me the
creeps. I always imagined someone in one
of them just waiting for me to walk by and then they would grab me. It didn’t matter that the cars had no doors,
windows or tires for that matter. My
fear was bigger than my faith.
As I have gotten older, the fears of
childhood gave way to those of adulthood. I admit I still let fears overtake
me. I find that the more I spend time in
God’s Word the less fear plays a part in my life. I read about David and Goliath and the courage
he had to stand up to a giant. Then
there is Noah who was told to build a boat where no water existed. That took courage. Then there was Daniel who was cast into the
den of lions for worshiping God. Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abed-nego exhibited great courage when they refused to worship Nebuchadnezzar’s
gods and the golden image and were thrown into the fiery furnace.
When I think of all the stories of courage in
the Bible, my fears seem trivial in comparison. I haven’t had to face a giant,
lions or a fiery furnace. I am afraid I
would have been an embarrassment as a super hero.
The question I asked myself is how do we
become people of great courage? We must
meditate on God’s Word. We need to live
it, breathe it and sleep on it day in and day out. God calls each of us to be courageous for
Him. If Jesus could stand up to Satan
with the Word of God then we can too. If you are feeling more like the cowardly lion
in the Wizard of Oz than a mighty warrior of God, spend time in His Word. Courage will come and you are not alone.
Prayer for the Day:
Heavenly Father, I am not always courageous and I am ashamed to say I don’t
always stand up for You. Help me Father to meditate on Your Word and to bury it
in my heart so that any time fear tries to overtake me, I will be able to step
out with courage and stand for what is right and good. You are my strength and I praise You.
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