BIBLE IN A YEAR: Ps 22-24
CONFRONT YOUR FEAR Tuesday, September 21, 2010
MEMORIZE: “The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace” (Exo. 14:14) READ: Mark 6:45-51 Apart from enemy’s renewed determination to hold you back and your need of God’s high hand, another challenge that confronted the Israelites as they set out for the promised land was fear. Even though they had left Egypt, they were gripped with fear. The forces of fear and intimidation opposing a crossover could be so strong to the point of making the one who is crossing over to beat a retreat. Some people cannot start a project, relationship or take a Spirit-led step on an issue because of fear. Some start but cannot continue out of fear. One foe you must conquer in your quest to cross over to the other side is fear. In today’s reading, after the Lord asked His disciples to go over to the other side, they faced fear as one of their challenges. Fear has a crippling effect. It stifles your faith. It robs you of the only means of pleasing God - faith. The purpose of fear in your life is to make you an enemy of the Almighty God. Are you being intimidated by fear? Resist it, break its hold over your heart and spirit and plead the blood of Jesus over your heart and spirit. Moreover, one good lesson from the Israelites’ experience is that if God is on your side, the enemies that are determined to stop your move to the next level are about to face extinction (Exo. 14:13). Their fate is already determined. The forces you see working against you today will soon be no more. When they perish, their evil pressure will also cease. God is not only interested in stopping the attacks of the enemy, He wants to also stop the enemy. He is not only interested in stopping the bullets and arrows of the enemy but their guns and bows too. With God, there are no half measures. God’s deliverance is full and complete. In addition, a time of crossover is a time for God to fight for His own. Even when God is just beside us, ready to take on our fights, we insist on fighting our fights and end up losing the battle. Leave that battle to Him! Vengeance is His. If you take it upon yourself to revenge, God will simply step aside. If you want God to fight for you, put an end to those physical, carnal and fleshly fights. Let Him do His job! ACTION POINT: In overcoming the enemy, there is division of labor. Your job is to hand over the problem or enemy to God, while His is to do the fighting. Keep to your part!