#MeditationMonday‬ – Out of the abundance of a man’s heart, his mouth speaks.

Hello! Welcome, today’s #MeditationMonday verse is: Isaiah 41:10.

Before we get to that however, I want to mention a few changes and updates. The month of December is upon us and here at G4J, the theme shifts from “Ministry” to “Birth” (one of the 4 arms of TG4JI). We’ll be spending the next month looking at the birth of Jesus, studying the lessons and events surrounding it.

It’s also a season of prayer & thanksgiving for us at G4J. We thank God for all that He has done for us this year and we pray seriously for His guidance in the forthcoming year. Please keep us in your prayers as well and may God bless you as you do so!

Back to today’s verse. Isaiah 41:10 (NKJV) says:

Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

We can read certain verses from Scripture a hundred times and fail to take them to heart, the way the Lord wants us to. Isaiah 41:10 is one of them. It is so rich with the promises of God, that it warrants some special attention from us.

The first thing the Lord says in this verse is that He doesn’t want us to be afraid. “Fear not [there is nothing to fear].” It’s been said that there are 365 “fear nots” in the Bible, one for every day of the year. God warns us against fear because it can short-circuit the answered prayers and blessings He has in store for us. As the Lord has plans for our lives, Satan and his dark forces do, too. We know from scripture that God’s plans for us are good (Jeremiah 29:11) while the devil’s plans for us are evil (John 10:10).

Faith in God and His Word opens the door to His plans and purposes for our lives, while fear opens the door to Satan’s. We must keep these things in mind when adversity hits and do everything in our power to resist becoming fearful–including praying, praising, and immersing ourselves in God’s Word.

Isaiah 41:10 continues with why we should not fear, because God is with us. “I am with you.” The best reason of all for us not to give in to fear is that we have the Lord’s presence to accompany us at all times, everywhere we go (Joshua 1:9). Jesus Himself said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). In desperate times, our feelings will tell us that we’re all alone in our troubles. We can live by those feelings, or we can choose to live by faith; the choice is ours. If we choose to live by faith, as the Bible instructs us in 2 Corinthians 5:7, we will position ourselves to receive the rewards and victories the Lord has in store for us.

The next thing God says in Isaiah 41:10 is “Be not dismayed, for I am your God.”  This simply means, stop looking around in terror. Don’t we know the might of the God we serve? When we give God His rightful place in our lives, He becomes responsible for our welfare and well-being. He fights our battles for us and makes Himself available to us in every moment. If we let God be God in our lives on a daily basis, we’ll bear witness to Him moving heaven and earth to fulfill His purposes for us, and to bless us with His best.

“I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you.” We often may feel as though we’ve been “ambushed” by sudden calamities or troubles, but nothing that comes our way is a surprise to God and this should give us great comfort in desperate times. Before Adam, Christ is. This means before we ever have a problem, God’s got solution prepared for us. What we often fail to do is ask Him for the solution. In times of trouble, our first cry for Help should be to God. No matter what happens, we can overcome once we’ve asked God to strengthen and help us.

Lastly, God says “I will uphold you with my righteous hand”. The Bible tells us repeatedly that our God is righteous. He is committed to seeing His faithful ones come out victorious in every situation. Many times it seems like we are the losers, but where we deal with problems using godly principles, our victory can only be delayed, it can never be denied.

This word is particularly for students. As assessment season begins, many are fearful of exams and tests. The stress and pressure is getting out of hand for so many but you dear brother or sister are not like the rest. You are a christian, heir of the Most High God. You have no reason to panic. Stay calm and rest in this verse.

Fear not, do not be dismayed, know that God sees your hard work and He will add His 90% to the little 10% you’ve done to give you a 100% result that will bring Him glory.

I challenge you to claim these precious promises in faith, and open the way for God to reveal Himself to you like never before! God can also reveal the hidden things of men to you, ask Him to start showing you the exam questions today and guiding you in your reading.

Read more about discerning and knowing when God is speaking to you here: The Art Of Hearing From God.

Prayer: Dear Lord, I praise you for each “fear not” that guides my day. I thank You for Your righteous hand strengthens me. Thank You for upholding me and providing solutions to all my problems. Abba Father, please give me a personal revelation about this verse and help me to apply it to my life, in Jesus Name I pray (Amen).

Grace & Peace!

---

Note: There will be no posts from the 20th December - 20th January. This is a time of retreat for us at TG4JI to focus on how to proceed in the new year and to listen earnestly to what God has to say as He crowns the year with His goodness (Psalm 65:11). We also encourage everyone to spend the last days of the year earnestly praying about the coming year, there's a change in the atmosphere, don't miss out on it.