Deuteronomy 31:6 ‘Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee’

DAILY READING; • Hebrews 12; Exodus 16:1-17:16; Proverbs 7:6-27

One of the subtle but yet very powerful aspects of military warfare is psychological manipulation. Especially during World War II, this psychological warfare was heavily employed by each warring nation to target the emotion and sentiment of enemy soldiers.
The objective was to infiltrate the minds of these soldiers and so demoralize them that they would consequently become too discouraged to continue fighting.
One of the methods used to spread this negative propaganda was a kind of bomb called the leaflet bombs. These leaflets, written in a way to inflict doubts and fear into the minds of the readers were often dropped by bomber planes over the enemy population. Some of the leaflets were filled with messages specifically targeted at the fighting soldiers to cause them to lose their motivation and enthusiasm.
For example, some leaflets depicted scenes of marital infidelity, a theme that no doubt touched on the insecurity of some of the soldiers, who were far away from their wives and homes. Also warning leaflets of impending destructive attacks were dropped on these soldiers to create fear in their hearts.
The intended effect of the psychological warfare was to demoralize troops, intimidate them and instill fear in their hearts so that they would surrender their fight and abandon their objective.

Spiritually the enemy applies the same tactic today in the attempt to demoralize believers. Through words of fear and discouragement, the enemy often attacks the minds of believers to get them to stop their work and abandon the promise from God.

When Nehemiah received a mandate from God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, he and the Jews began this work with excitement and zeal and the people worked with all their heart.
However, soon after, the enemy began to bring negative propaganda of impending attacks which made the people so afraid and discouraged that they abandoned the work, saying “We cannot rebuild the wall.”
However Nehemiah encouraged the people to keep their gaze on God, and not on the fearful propaganda of their enemies. He told them `Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome.’” (Nehemiah 4:14)
As a result of putting their focus on God, the same people who had earlier cried “we cannot rebuild the wall” completed the work in 52 days.

Just like Nehemiah, God has called many of us to build and accomplish great things this year. However, it seems that we have had to continually contend with negative news and propaganda, either of pandemic, economic hardship or social unrest. Through these negative happenings, the enemy has been trying to instill fear and discouragement into many people’s hearts, to get them to abandon God’s promises for this year.
However, no matter what happens, we have to keep our gaze on the infallibility of God’s Word. Let us mind what is written and not what is happening. God knew about the storms before He asked us to cross over to the other side to see His revival and glory this year.
Therefore, in every situation let us keep our focus on the promise and not on the problem. What God has promised to do in our lives this year, will surely come to pass. Nothing will stop the manifestations of His glory, as long as we stay in faith. Indeed the Lord in our midst is greater and mightier than every noise and turbulence of the enemy.

Let us therefore continually keep our focus on God, through the study of His Word, prayers and praise. Indeed as we remain full of faith giving glory to God, our hearts will indeed be strong and our hands will be strengthened to accomplish what God has willed and planned for us this year.

PRAYER; Lord, I thank You that what You have promised to do in my life this year will surely find full expression in this season. No matter what may be going on in the world, surely, I shall still see the manifestation of Your glory in my life in Jesus Name.
QUOTE
God’s promises in Christ in your life may appear delayed, but never forget that delays are not denials. WORDBITE 222