REMEMBER AND FEAR NOT

Deuteronomy 7:7-8,17-19 states, "The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you... the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt... If you should say in your heart, 'These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?' -- you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out..."

First, let's get a little background on Deuteronomy.  Moses is reminding the children of Israel who God is, what He has done, and what He will do if they will obey Him. In these particular verses, he is reminding them of God's love for them and exhorting them to have courage to DO WHAT GOD HAS CALLED THEM TO DO. He is asking them to remember everything that God did to rescue them from their bondage in Egypt so that they will have the faith to go in and take the Promised Land.

This is a picture of you and me.  We are God's children whom He loves just because He does!  Many of us live in fear.  Many of us know what God wants us to do and how he wants us to act, but are afraid to do the right thing. Maybe we are afraid of the outcome. Maybe we are afraid of what others might think or do to us.  Maybe we're uncertain if God will really come through for us.  Whether it is a big, life-changing decision or the small decisions we make on a daily basis, most of us could agree that we give in to fear...at least every now and then.  

As I was listening to Jon Courson, he made a statement that really caught my attention regarding fear.  He basically said that fear does not primarily come from a lack of faith, but from a lack of memory. When we cease to remember all that God has done for us individually, then we lack the courage to do the right thing.  On the contrary, if we will meditate on all the things God has done for us and all the times He has come through in our lives, then this gives us the faith we need to overcome ANY fear.  

Notice that God never stopped loving the children of Israel.  He loved them from before the beginning of the creation, through their disobedience and fear, unto this day.  The difference was that the Israelites didn't necessarily "feel" loved on while they were in the wilderness.  They weren't experiencing the blessings of God because of their fears (which led them to disobedience).  In the same way, God will never stop loving each of us when we choose to live in disobedience caused by fear.  We'll just miss all the blessings that He has for us!

Let each of us take a moment to remember all that God has done for us... beginning with the cross.  Then, let us thank Him and nail all of our fears for this day, week, month, or year TO THE CROSS!!!  

1 John 4:18 states, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.  But he who fears has not been made perfect in love."