When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned. Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. But we must run aground on some island.” – Acts 27:20-26 ESV

Warrior;

The Lord is standing by.  I need to hear that daily; The Lord is standing by!! When things seem so lost and hopeless, I need to hear; The Lord is standing by! When I doubt and wonder if God sees me, or hears me, I need to remember; The Lord is standing by! When I wonder if God is punishing me, or stopped loving me, I need to understand; The Lord is standing by! 2 of the GREATEST commandments- defined as spoken ‘most often’- is to REMEMBER, followed by, DO NOT FEAR.  Remember, Do Not Fear!!  What simple instructions from our celestial Daddy! Any great trainer of Leaders knows that to be used at His highest level we must REMEMBER the right things. God has died and paid the price for all of my\your sins.  It is the accuser of the brethren that chooses to REMIND us of our past, of our impurity, of our disappointment, and our sin. It is written; And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down—he who accuses them day and night before our God. (Revelation 12:10) It is Adonai who chooses to remember our SINS NO MORE! Hear the Word of the Lord; For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:12) We must tune into the 16-18,000 thoughts we have daily and ask ourselves, “is that voice me, my accuser, or my God”? We need to have discernment! In other words, Sheep know the Shepherds voice! 

Leader, At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one. “The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” (John 10:22-31) The Son of Man came to …bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn. (Isaiah 61:1-2) And they wanted to stone Him, and we eventually ripped His flesh off of Him and bled Him out on a cross!  Yet, we wonder why we struggle, and why we suffer?  The better question IS NOT, Why do we suffer? The better question is, “HOW SHOULD WE SUFFER?” We can suffer BETTER when we REMEMBER; The Lord is standing by- we have PEACE in the DARKNESS when we know HE is Jehovah Shammah, the God who is present.

Conduit, which is what the second command is about, DO NOT FEAR.  When we are reminded that the LORD IS STANDING BY, the peace of God which surpasses all understanding is available. This is why we are told that THE BATTLE IS IN THE MIND. Hear the Word of the Lord; We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5) Our creator God made our mind 6 times faster than we can talk.  God commands us, and equips us to HOLD OUR THOUGHTS CAPTIVE, to have DISCERNMENT, to REMEMBER the RIGHT THINGS, and DO NOT FEAR!  If we are children of God, and more importantly WARRIORS OF GOD, then we are going to struggle in this world!  It is the TRUTH! It is written, “Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:32-33) When we REMEMBER, the LORD is STANDING BY, then we can be the WARRIORS that God is allowing us to be in these historic eschatological times- and we WILL NOT FEAR, because the Lord is standing by, and it is HIS BATTLE! Whether your name is Gideon, Scott, Kevin, Lisa, Canika, or Jerome- the battle is the Lords, and you can be HIS WARRIOR! “When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, ‘The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.’” (Judges 6:12) Understand that part of this journey might be to RUN AGROUND, so that we can be transformed through the process of the battle!  God cares how we struggle, how we suffer.  In all things there are only 2 entities to get glory: God or the ‘not God’. The only way to bring God the Glory that He is due, is by remembering Warrior: the Lord is standing by, so DO NOT FEAR! For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. (Psalm 30:5)