Day 358
Deuteronomy 11:25
"There shall no man be able to stand before you; for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you."
It is important to know that God is not intimidated by people who oppose Him or His people. When God sends us somewhere, we need to know that He is the kind of God who will protect us when we are following His instructions.
When Laban, Jacob's father-in-law, thought he could run Jacob down and do what he wanted to him, God appeared to him in a dream and warned him to be careful about what he did to Jacob. When Potiphar's wife thought she could get rid of Joseph because he would not disobey God and meet her demands, she got a surprise when Joseph was promoted above her and she had to bow before him. When Pharaoh thought he had control over the Israelites and could threaten to kill Moses if he continued to bother him, God brought such a great plague of death in the land of Egypt until the king gladly yielded to the demands of Moses.
There are numerous accounts in the Word of God that demonstrate God's faithfulness to stand up for His own, and we can find many modem stories that show the same thing. God does not just sit back and let anything happen to His ambassadors. He will rebuke kings for our sakes. We need to advance with that attitude.
There are those who have died for the cause of Christ, and sometimes we do not understand why their Jives were not spared. However, we must not resign to a "whatever the will of the Lord is" attitude. We must realize that a number of variables can be involved in our leaving the earth early. God will receive us whenever we come to Heaven. However, we cannot claim it is the will of the Lord every time someone checks out of here early. Sometimes people fail to complete their assignment because they did not follow the leading or the direction of the Holy Spirit. Some have been afraid and acted in fear, instead of faith. Others were doing good things, but not what God told them to do. We must make every effort to do what we can to fulfill our assignments and live long lives. At the same time, we must never be afraid to die, because if we lose our lives for the cause of Christ, there is a great reward for us. If we die early because we just missed it, we are still going to be with the Lord.
Once we have settled the issue that death is not something for us to fear, then let us press forward, unafraid. Let us do our best to follow the Holy Spirit, as He directs our steps. While we are serving God, let us keep the attitude of invincibility in Christ. When we run into those who would oppose us as we attempt to carry out the plan of God, let us remember that our God is a God of war and will fight for us until the fear and dread of us falls on those who are against us.
I will endeavor to follow the Holy Spirit and fulfill the plan of God for my life without fear of death. I will expect the supernatural intervention of God when people oppose me. I am God's ambassador, and He will back me up. He will not allow anyone to stand in my way and stop me from accomplishing what He has told me to do.