FEAR NOT for July 5, 2016

I Chronicles 28:20 "And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD."

BACKGROUND/COMMENTARY (from david guzik@blueletterbible.org): "'Be strong and of good courage, and do it; do not fear nor be dismayed:' David here echoes ...God's exhortation to Joshua before he led the people of God into the Promised Land (Joshua 1:5-7). This was appropriate, because Moses was a great leader who could only lead the people of Israel to a certain point - the rest was up to Joshua. The same pattern applied to David and his successor Solomon." "In describing David's plans for building the temple, Chronicles has paid special attention to portray David as a second Moses and Solomon as a second Joshua." (Payne) 
"And do it:" It is easy to see how important this was for David. He had spent enormous effort to prepare the temple but would all be naught unless Solomon did in fact do it. "Do not talk about it; do not sit down, and dream over the plans, and think how admirable they are, and then roll them up; but, 'Be strong and of good courage, and do it.'" (Spurgeon) 

PERSONAL APPLICATION: "Do not talk about it; do not sit down, and dream over the plans, and think how admirable they are, and then roll them up; but, 'Be strong and of good courage, and do it.'"
WOW -- talk about a bulls eye shot!! In recent days, my husband and I have been talking about going back to the Philippines for a few years to make a difference for the Lord in Brookes Point, Palawan. There is a lot that needs to be prayed about before we take this step again, so we're taking our time to really pray about this move. We went back in 2008 -- leaving behind our jobs, our nice life here in the States, our kids, and our first grandchild -- and were there for almost 5 years before the Lord brought us back to the States. It's now been almost 4 years since we returned and there's the feeling -- conviction, really -- that our sabbatical is coming to an end and it's time to once again be involved in full-time ministry overseas. With these words, "be strong and of good courage, and do it," I can heard God's voice and I see this as another confirmation that we should be willing to go out again and that He is preparing the way for us and preparing the ministry that He wants us to do. Our response:  we just need to step out in faith -- JUST DO IT! -- follow Him and be willing to make a difference in the lives of others back in our homeland.