FEAR NOT for January 30, 2016

Joshua 8:1 "And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land"

COMMENTARY & PRACTICAL APPLICATION from David Guzik @ blueletterbible.org: It is often the most difficult to regain lost ground such as [Joshua and the Israelites had at] Ai. When we have failed at some point in our Christian lives, we need to know how to get back on track. God tells Joshua, "Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed." This was the first key to regaining victory. They had to receive encouragement from God. Though Israel stumbled through Achan's sin as shown in Joshua 7, they dealt with the failure and now had to move on. What is past is past. We must deal with it before God in repentance and dying to self, and then look forward to what He has for us right now. God wants us to use our failures in a good way, to use them as a foundation for great victory in the LORD.