His Encouragement #143

Welcome to His Encouragement Thursday! I don’t know about you, but Thursdays are my struggle day of the week. By Thursday, I have already been working hard at school and at home, and I just wish it would hurry up and be Friday already. LOL! I definitely need a little extra Jesus time on Thursdays.

Trisha, my blogger friend at Joy of Reading, and I decided on calling this post “His Encouragement” because our real source of peace, strength, and security can only come from Jesus Christ. He and He alone is our constant! We pray and hope that these Thursday posts become a real encouragement to you and help you end your week strong in God’s love and purpose for you. God bless!

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Today’s Thursday Encouragement:

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.
Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV

I love this verse so much!

My favorite word is “them.” Here is why — I know we are not ever supposed to be “pick and choose” Christians. We are to read the WHOLE Word of God — the parts that make us happy AND the parts that convict us. With that said, this verse is a pretty cool stand-alone verse because of the word “them.”

This world is full of people, all kinds of individuals. We all have unique personalities and characters. And, we all have our own fears and anxieties.

Yes, this verse is part of a larger message delivered by Moses to the Israelites right before they entered the Promised Land. Yes, he is reminding the Israelites of God’s goodness to them while they were in the Wilderness, and he is encouraging them for the daunting task of moving into the Promised Land. So, the word “them” refers to a specific group of humans, a specific, very real enemy to the Israelites.

But as a stand-alone verse, I imagine God is speaking to me personally today in 2021. He is telling me to chill out and be strong and courageous right now, today! To not fear or be in dread of “them.” You know, all those things that I let get to me — my stupid fears and anxieties, my doubts and my worries, my moments of lost faith. In this verse, God is telling me that the reason I don’t need to fear or be in dread of all my “thems” is because He is ALWAYS with me even when it doesn’t feel like it. According to this verse, I don’t have to fear or dread my “thems” because God PROMISES that He will not leave me or forsake me. I do not have to fear or dread anything cause God is by my side, and because He is by my side (and BIGGER than anything or anyone) those “thems” are nothing.

You know what?! It’s the exact same for you, too!

What are your “thems”? Admit them. Tell them to God. Then read this verse as if God is talking out loud to you right now: “[Insert name here], be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of THEM, for it is ME, your Abba, the Lord your God who goes with you, [insert name here]. I will not leave you or forsake you!”

God is SO good and He loves His kids so very, very much.

Praise You, Jesus! Amen!

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NOW, IT’S YOUR TURN!

WHAT BIBLICAL VERSE IS ENCOURAGING YOU TODAY?

Check out more Thursday Encouragement from my fellow blogger friends:

Trisha @ Joy of Reading

Jacquelyn @ A Heavenly Home

Jessica @ A Baker’s Perspective

Becca @ The Becca Files

Gina @ Stories by Gina

Rebecca @ Rev. Rebecca Writes

Andi @ Radiant Light

Leslie @ Words of Hope

Claudia @ Claudia Moser

Keneesha @ Women Loving God’s Way