Way of The Warrior- A Daily Devotional

But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. – Isaiah 43:1-3a ESV

Warrior;
This is our God, our DADDY- ABBA God! When my children wake up from a nightmare, DADDY, or MOMMY comforts them; “It’s ok, it’s just a dream. Daddy IS HERE to protect you, it’s ok- FEAR NOT.” This is our compassionate Father God. God is ALL things, and to those that LOVE HIM, SEEK HIM and SERVE HIM- He says FEAR NOT. Jehovah IS OMNI-powerful, OMNI-knowing, and OMNI-present; the first part of the word is omni-. That means ALL, of all things, in all ways, in all places. Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent. The term “omnipresence” is borrowed from Latin. It is a compound of omni, meaning “all,” and ‘praesens’, meaning “here.” Thus, God is always here, close to everything, next to everyone. A. W. Tozer posits that fewer truths are so clearly taught in scripture. Indeed, the scriptures teach us that even the highest heavens cannot contain God (1 Kings 8:27). God sits above time, we are IN TIME. God can be in yesterday, tomorrow, and today- He is not bound by the dimension of time.

Leader, in Psalm 139:7-10 the psalmist makes this point: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast”. Our God is JEHOVAH SHAMAH, the God who is present! Isaiah was written about 760 Before Christ (BC). Even the world knows God split time in 2; Before and After; B.C and A.D. God is telling people today, “I GOT THIS”. One way he does that is that He tells us to RE-MEMBER (put it back together) that I have been there in the past, and I AM here today, and I will be there tomorrow- for He is the PRE-EXISTENT ONE! See John 8:57–58. Isaiah 43:2 wants HIS PEOPLE to fear not by reminding them of what He did at the Red Sea, 500 years earlier, with around 2 million people: Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided. The sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. (Exodus 14:21-22) GOD wants His children to REMEMBER he did it again when they crossed the Jordan in flood season and entered the promise land: see Joshua 3:15-18:… But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water… the priests who were carrying the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant stood on dry ground in the middle of the riverbed as the people passed by. God is saying, “I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again- FEAR NOT”.

Conduit, God goes from past performance to future preparation in Isaiah when he says you shall walk through the fire, and you shall not be consumed. God wrote this so that in 200 years three young men would stand up to the RULER of the WORLD at that time, the ruler of Babylon the Great, Nebuchadnezzar. The three Hebrew boys refused to worship the gods of this world and were questioned about this by the King: Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up? (Daniel 3:14) At this time, the book of Isaiah was out, and these faithful followers of God would have not only known it, but most-likely have it memorized and because they REMEMBERED what God had said, 200 years earlier, through the prophet Isaiah, their retort was BOLD: If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”(v 17-18) And they were thrown into the Fire, and there too was God-for He is OMNIPRESENT: Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. … “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” … “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” (v 24-25) Trust in the LORD and FEAR NOT for our GOD IS WITH US! A FINAL WORD: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:10-13)