Troubled times swirl around us and the swirl is getting swifter and swifter with each passing day. Horrendous happenings that bring sorrow and heart aches seem to occur daily shattering families, destroying relationships and causing insecurity. These are days that we need courage, not only for ourselves but enough to share with others.

Courage has many facets, attitude leading the way. Throughout 2012 the goal of these writings will be to increase your courage so that you may face the battles of life head on. There will be a daily challenge as we move on into conquering new areas in our lives. I only ask that you read the book of Joshua and read it again until you realize that God is with you and is fighting with you for every battle that you face.

These writings will no longer be under the title of Just for This Day. JFTD is being prepared for publication; I will let you know when they are available in book form. The title of the new writings will be ‘Courage Courier’. I will initially send it to all of you and if you do not want to receive it, you can let me know and I will remove your name.

I love it when the Lord does new things! I know that day by day He will lead us into understanding more about Himself so that our courage will increase.

Joshua 1:9   Amplified Bible
Have not I commanded you? Be strong, vigorous, and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

O My child, I love you, I love you. Lift your eyes to the heavens, they are filled with clouds; yes, they are heavy with water. Set out the buckets and make preparation: for already the wind rises, the leaves rustle in the trees; the birds hasten to their nests, and lo, I come.

I come to revive and refresh. I come to quicken and to cleanse. I come as floods upon parched ground. So shall new life spring forth, and the desert will be filled with flowers.

For since time was, have I ever forsaken My people? I have undertaken for them and protected them. I have delivered them in every time of need. I have rescued them from calamity; I have denied them nothing of the desires of their hearts.

They have not always asked in wisdom, but I have never failed to respond. Do you think I love My Church less than I loved ancient Israel? Do you think I stretched forth My hand for them and through mighty miracles set them free from the bondage of Pharaoh, and made them a way to escape through the Red Sea and provided for their daily needs through the wilderness journey and gave them water out of the rock, and will do less for you?

You are twice-loved, You are My body, the Church and you are My Chosen Bride. Your slightest wish is My command, for I delight to please you even as a bridegroom seeks to please his bride. How much more do I long to give you tokens of My affection, My love for you passes all human comprehension………… For only as you know with certainty that I love you, though you bring no gift, can you return to Me love that will remain constant both when I bless and when I withhold. Psalm 107:1

“From Come Away My Beloved  Published by Barbour Publishing, Inc. Used by permission.”

To guard means to shield from danger or harm. To protect means to watch over to keep from being damaged attacked, stolen or injured. Satan is the great thief; he is constantly trying to steal from us. He steals things that cannot be bought with money or even gold. He tries to deceive us through our thoughts.

His number one attack point is our confidence in the Lord. He brings to mind all of our weaknesses and failures and we identify with each one and begin to wonder how God can be pleased with us. He is pleased with us, regardless of the weaknesses and failures that we yield to, He offers forgiveness. Even when some things have already been forgiven, Satan will remind us of them.  We need to remind him that they have been removed from our record. When we lose our confidence with God it affects all aspects of our relationship with Him. We cannot feel His love, our faith is like a dry leaf in the wind, His Word is knowledge but not life and peace and joy become unattainable. We constantly need to be on guard and protect our confidence with God. We need to keep His promises safe in our hearts and hide them in our memory so He cannot steal them from us.

1 John 5:14          Amplified Bible
And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him; [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us.

Rivers need to be protected from garbage. Some are crystal clear and as the water flows over the rocks it almost sings a song of freedom. Others have fallen logs and weeds along the side that interfere with the flow. Our lives are like the riverbed, sometimes the debris needs to be cleared away so that the living water is able to flow freely, and this is our responsibility. Some will say that they can no longer feel the presence of the Lord in their lives or that the heavens are like brass and their prayers are not getting through. It is like the river of living water has dried up.

In the natural when a polluted river is cleaned up, it produces life again. It is the same spiritually speaking, the living water is always there, it may have been stopped up at some point and something has interfered with its flow. We need its life giving qualities and the refreshing that it brings as it flows through our lives. It is always available but we must clear up the garbage in our lives so that it may flow freely.

John 7: 37 -39
Now on the final and most important day of the Feast, Jesus stood and He cried in a loud voice, if any man is thirsty let him come to Me and drink! He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the scripture has said. From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water. But He was speaking here of the Spirit, Whom those who believed (trusted and had faith) in Him were afterward to receive. For the [Holy] Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (raised to honor).

For some it seems much easier to acknowledge the negative things of life instead of the joys. I wonder what those shepherds and the Inn keeper were thinking the night that Jesus was born. No doubt they were weary from the labors of their day and they were not exactly looking for joy! So like us!

When the angel appeared to the shepherds, the first thing he said was “Do not be afraid!” The next thing he said was “I bring you good news of great joy!” That great joy has come down through the ages and we can experience it daily. It surpasses all other joys because it is like a quiet calm within us, it will be constant if we guard it and expect it. When we lose it we just need to rehearse all of the good things that the Lord has done for us and thank Him again and that joy that passes all understanding will settle down within us again. The joy of the Lord is our strength and we can expect it to stay with us if we live to please Him.

Acts 2:25-28              The Message
David said it all: “I saw God before me all the time; nothing can shake me He is right at my side. I am glad from the inside out, ecstatic; I’ve pitched my tent in the land of hope. I know you will never dump me in Hades; I’ll never even smell the stench of death. You’ve got my feet on the life-path, with your face shining sun-joy all around.”

The Apostle Paul said that the desire to do good is not enough to overcome the inbred tendencies of fallen mankind. (Romans 7:21-23) He said to ‘walk’ in the Spirit and we would not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. To be able to walk in the Spirit we do not have to reach a level of perfection before we begin our walk.  That word ‘walk’ says to me that it is a steady moving ahead.

The work of the Holy Spirit is to bring us to maturity in spiritual things.  He is like the radar system that warns us of enemy attacks and yet He is like the GPS that tells us which way to go. We learn to walk in the Spirit as we hear and obey that inner radar beaming out a signal. It becomes a walk teaching us what is pleasing to God and what is not. There are many crossroads along the way, we may get sidetracked but we will always come back to where we turned off. This walk brings security and peace, it replaces striving for perfection, it is simply a walk with God, the third person of the Trinity, to help us mature and reach our potential in Him. We need to be alert to this radar system and use our GPS. Jesus paid for them and they are free to us.

Galatians 5:16-17 & 22-25        New King James
I say then: Walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, for the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness and faithfulness, gentleness, self- control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit.

Jesus lived and died to do His Father’s will. His only goal in this life was to glorify the Father and He achieved His goal.  He knew that there would be days when we did not feel worthy to ask for things that we need and so He said, “Ask in My name.” When we speak the name of Jesus in reverence it is like we are saying “it is not on my own merit that I ask this, but Jesus said I could use His name.

You may remember this old hymn. The name of Jesus is so sweet, I love its music to repeat, it makes my joys full and complete, that precious name of Jesus. Jesus, O how sweet the name, Jesus, every day the same, Jesus, let all saints proclaim, His precious name forever.

Not only is His name like music to bring peace and joy to us it is also like a shield to ward off the enemy’s darts and to protect us from harm’s way. In the overloaded day when stress leans upon us, just whispering His name will bring a release. When the clouds of sorrow or loneliness or uncertainty shroud us, that name of Jesus will chase the clouds away. We need to use this valuable gift that He has given to us; He said we could ask anything in His name.

John 14: 13-14   New King James
And whatsoever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name I will do it.

The Messianic prophecy of a child being born said that He would be called, Wonderful Counselor and Prince of Peace among other titles.  Jesus spoke of peace over and over and cautioned us not to allow our hearts to be overcome with anxiety and fear. When we come to a challenge in our lives we often make snap decisions that create turmoil. When we take the time to inquire of our Wonderful Counselor, He will help us out of our situation. It may not be instant, but it will be the perfect solution. Our trust will hold us steady and His Word will fortify us.

The amazing thing about peace is that we may have a portion of it in some areas of our lives and yet turmoil rages in other areas.  The Lord’s plan is that we be free from all turmoil, He is the One Who said, “Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.” He sets us free when we do what He tells us to do about certain situations.  He said that the peace that He gives is not like the peace that the world gives. The peace that the world gives may come from denial, pretense, alcohol or drugs and is short lived. The peace that Jesus offers extends into eternity and it springs up as we trust and obey His leading. As you prepare for Christmas, remember He is the Wonderful Counselor and Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

John 14:27    Amplified Bible
Peace I leave with you: My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed: and do not permit yourself to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]

The reason that Jesus was willing to leave Heaven and live as a human being was because He delighted to do His Father’s will. His goal while living on this earth was to glorify His Father in Heaven. He was ‘given’ to show us the way to the Father. He is the Way. He is like the portal to Heaven that we pass through when we accept Him as Savior. He is the truth. Everything about Him is true and everything He taught and said was true. He is the life. Not only does He give life, He will be the life of our life if we allow Him to be.

I wonder what our Christmas season would be like if every morning and every evening for the next twenty four days we would thank God for giving Jesus and thank Jesus for His willingness to come. One thing for sure, it would remind us of what we are celebrating.

John 14: 6 & 7 Amplified Bible
Jesus said to him, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life: no one comes to the Father except by (through) Me. If you had known Me [had learned to recognize Me], you would also have known My Father. From now on, you know Him and have seen Me.

We can take a lesson from Caleb. The tests and trials that come our way need to be challenged not feared. Too often we merely accept what is happening in our lives without looking for the source of the problem. Some things happen because of poor choices that we have made and others arise for various reasons.  We need to ask ourselves why God has allowed the trial and where did it come from. Being honest will help us accept our responsibility in the situation and examining it will reveal the source. When these two questions are answered we will not simply accept what is happening and wait for it to come to an end but we will face it, do what we have to and claim what God has promised us.

Caleb knew that the God Who had delivered them from Egypt’s bondage and provided their every need was still with them and would help them to overcome  their challenges. The Lord , our God, has not changed. He is with us as we meet each challenge in life and will fight for us . His able to change circumstances and subdue our enemies but we have a part to play, He will not do it all. When our focus is on Him and not the challenge, He will bring us into our promised land.

2 Chronicles 20:15b &17          Amplified Bible
The Lord says this to you: Be not afraid or dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s. You shall not need to fight in this battle; Take your positions, stand still, and see the deliverance of the Lord [Who is] with you. Fear not nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them for the Lord is with you.