Do not Be Afraid, nor Be Dismayed (Part 2)

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe 

(Read Part 1 at pastorlonnie70.blogspot.com)

Believers, however, are called to be Joshuas in this world. God has commanded us to be strong and of good courage. The word translated as courage has many synonyms. In the Hebrew, to be courageous is to be strengthened, established, strong, fortified, and obstinate. 

Joshua is the Hebrew for Jesus.  We are to be like Jesus in this world.  “I Am Covered over with the Robe of Righteousness” is an old chorus with a forever truth based on Isaiah 61:10:  

 Isaiah 61:10 KJ21 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall be joyful in my God. For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.   

I Am Covered Over With The Robe Of Righteousness That 
Jesus Gives To Me; 
I Am Covered Over With The Precious Blood Of Jesus 
And He Lives In Me,  
Oh What Joy It Is To Know My Heavenly Father Loves Me So, 
And Gives To Me, My Jesus, 
When He Looks At Me He Sees Not What I Used To Be, But 
He Sees  Jesus. 
 

In the same light, because we are covered with the robe of God’s righteousness, when the world looks at us, they should not just see what we used to be, they should see Jesus in us. We are to be courageous, strong, established in our faith, and determined to walk in truth.   

Psalm 22: 3: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? 2 O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou you hear not; and in the night season, and am not silent. 3 But thou art holy, O you that inhabits the praises of Israel, of your people. 

This is psalm of anguish.  Jesus quoted it on the Cross.  It is appropriate to vent our anguish to the Lord rather than deny it,  Everything is not all right. When we release that anguish to the Lord, we are open to remembering Who He is:  He is holy and inhabits our praise.  That is what Job did.  When he had vented his despair, he was able to hear the voice of God in the whirlwind and declare that he had been speaking about things that he knew nothing about. 

If God inhabits our praise, who inhabits our fear, complaining and whining? 

Speaking forth the Word causes courage to resonate on the air waves. Declaring the Word allows us to anoint ourselves and others with courage. Meditating on the Word—allowing that truth to become part of our spiritual DNA—enables us to move forward in boldness. 

 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7). The sound mind, which is wisdom and caution, comes from God, but a spirit fear does not come from God.