January 22nd, 2007 - Deuteronomy 20: 1-4

Jesus made a mighty promise to His people- I will never leave nor forsake you. In the passage in Deut 20, we note that the Lord told the children of Israel that they should not fear when the enemy seems to be overwhelming them by their number. Today we need to take heed to this word as we are being confronted by many obstacles which block our pathway and impede our progress in the work that God has called us to do. We too easily forget that we are in the service of the Most High God, the ALL POWERFUL ONE and we retreat from the enemy.

Today God is saying to you - do not be afraid of them because He is greater than what we see or imagine. As the battle lines are drawn, we need to hear what God is saying as represented by the priest speaking to the people. He can do this directly via Holy Spirit or via His servants - the prophets. We need to keep our ear attentive to His voice and test every spirit lest we mistake the deceptive voice of the enemy to be the voice of God or the voice of reason and make the incorrect move or action. Too many Godly friends have become the voice of the enemy unknowingly and we accept what they say without testing their words. Do their words match up with God's declared will for you?

God reassures us that He will go with us to fight against the enemy and He will save us. We must go and face the enemy as He will not go to fight the enemy without us. What more do we want? Faithful is He who has promised and He will not let any of His promises fail to materialise. He said specifically that He will save us. What will He save us from? He will save us from defeat and being destroyed by the enemy. This means that we will be victorious once we go and face the enemy with Him. Live for Him today and He will never leave you. In this knowledge, you can face every obstacle and see it fall before you as He will clear the path when you move along it. The path will not be cleared if you sit back and wait for it to be cleared. Do you know that He is with you? If you do, then face the enemy and he will flee from you in Jesus Name!

• Deuteronomy 20: 1-4 When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.