February 28

Take Courage!

"Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid." Matt. 14:27

Fear is a very effective tool of the devil. Fear causes us to stop dead in our tracks, to doubt God, thus crippling us spiritually. These words of Jesus tell us simply that we have nothing to be a afraid of when He is near. He has promised that He would never leave us nor forsake us; therefore, we never have cause to fear in any situation in our lives. Paul exhorts us in Hebrews 12:2 to fix our eyes upon Jesus. When our gaze is fixed on the Saviour, we gain courage to go on in a "seemingly" fearful situation. Through our constant gaze upon Him, we receive the strength to go on. When we take our eyes off Him and rely on our own strength, we are doomed to fail and live lives full of fear. Does Jesus' presence change our circumstances? No, but His presence changes us, and because of Him, we can live lives of confidence. Let us take courage then, knowing that Jesus is with us always and we have nothing to fear.

Father, we thank You for removing all fear from our lives and replacing it with Your love, a love that will see us through all of life’s afflictions. Jesus, we thank you for these words that still ring true, “Take Courage, it is I.” Thank you for always being there for us and for never letting us go. Give us your courage that we might live lives of encouragement to others. We ask this in your name. Amen