Text: Joshua 1:1-9
Memory Verse:
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” ‭‭Joshua 1‬:‭9‬

As a child, being the last born of my parents and pet, I became my parents CCTV. I reported my siblings’ wrongdoing as soon as my parents arrived. So, I feared whenever my parents weren’t around for what one of them who often broke the rule could do to me but fearless to confront him when they were at home.
Likewise, the consciousness of God’s presence will drive out any form of fear and it’s absence brings fear. At the demise of Moses, knowing how the Israelites made Moses, his master to fall, despite his God-attested meekness, Joshua was afraid of wearing the big shoe of leadership he was called to wear. Knowing this, God repeatedly told him not to be afraid because He was with him (Josh 1:5, 7, 9).
Also, the Israelites feared when they thought that God was no longer with them. Thus, God assured them of His presence and that was sufficient to drive away fear. “Fear not, for I am with you….” (Isa 41:10a).
In Psalm 46, David declared fearlessness in the midst of earthquakes, roaring of the sea and war threats because of the assurance of the presence of God. “The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah” (Psa 46‬:‭7‬). In Psalm 23:4, he reiterated that, even walking through the valley of the shadow of death won’t leave an iota of fear in his heart because of the assurance that God was with him in it. He also expressed, in Psalm 118:6, that he won’t fear despite the threats of any mortal because God was on his side.
In Luke 24:33, the fear of the two disciples suddenly vanished when they realized that it was Jesus who conversed with them and thereafter they went boldly to Jerusalem.
In Matthew 14:26-28, the disciples feared because of the consciousness of Jesus’ absence but fear disappeared as soon as they realized that it was Jesus on the sea.
In Mark 4:38-39, the disciples feared because they thought, the sleeping of Jesus in the boat meant His absence. He woke up and rebuked them for fearing.
Friends, the first thing to do to overcome fear is to assure yourself of God’s presence with you. Fear and loneliness don’t come from the absence of people around you but from the absence of God in you.

Prayer points
1. Father, let me never lose the consciousness of Your presence nor do anything that will take it away from me in Jesus name.
2. I overcome every form of fear now by the assurance of God’s presence in me in Jesus name.

Today’s declarations
1. I don’t fear any challenge or opposition because God is always with me.
2. Even in the absence of people around me, I am not lonely nor fearful because God is with me.

Contact: pastor@thf.org.ng