DIG for Wednesday the 29th of June…..Joshua did not live in fear…..Joshua 1 v 9

Life without fear is a life of freedom; that is what I have been meditating upon as I travel on my last leg home this morning.

One of the good things about travelling and working away from home (one of the few good things!) is that I get a lot of thinking time sitting in airports and hotels.

Today I’ve been meditating upon what we should see in our lives if we are free from fear; and Joshua “popped” into my mind.

To cut a long story short Joshua led the people into the Promised Land, He was of course a picture of Jesus, leading us into salvation.

The Lord gave Joshua some wonderful advice when he started to lead the people and this is still very valuable to us today.

The Lord told him not to be afraid, not to fear, and He also told him to be courageous and strong (Joshua 1 9).

Being strong and courageous talks to me of assertiveness, and this is what we should see in our lives if we are free from fear.

Assertive enough to strongly live out our lives of faith without being aggressive and offensive.

Assertive enough to talk openly and eloquently about Jesus without being abusive and intrusive.

Assertive enough to carry out what the Lord wants us to do without leaning on the knowledge or suggestions of men.

We are free to live our lives like Joshua and Caleb not like the other “spies”, living in fear because of what the world could potentially throw at them.

A life free from fear is what we should be living.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the example of Joshua, thank you that I can live an assertive life, free from fear”.

Joshua 1 v 9…..Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with the whithersoever thou goest

DIG for Tuesday the 28th of June…..what if, what if, what if…..1 John 4 v 18

Lots of people live with the fear that I had as a youth and young man, the fear of death.

This has gone for me now, however I see a different kind of fear in many people today, and this includes many believers in the church.

Today there are lots of people with a fear of life!

What if I lose my job, what if my wife leaves me, what if the economy falters, what if we leave the EU, what if, what if……

Asking these types of questions is, in my view, a fear of life, as these questions are normally asked if we feel negative towards that area.

Very rarely do we ask what if in a positive light!

Living in the world today we have to accept and deal with uncertainty in many areas such as the economy and relationships.

But as I’ve been writing in DIG recently there are truths and certainties in life, such as righteousness and forgiveness.

Fear is something that we should not have as a born again believer.

An understanding of the love that God has towards us will result in less fear in our lives, that is what the Word of God says (1 John 4 v 18).

If we are in fear over our economic future we do not understand that God loves us so much that He will provide for and bless us (John 10 v 10 and 2 Corinthians 8 v 9).

If we fear the rejection of men we do not understand that God loves us so much that He accepts and approves of us (Ephesians 1 v 6).

Fear, in every area of your life, is a lack of understanding about the love God has for you.

So the way to remove any fear is to dive into the love of God!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you God that you love ME”.

1 John 4 v 18…..There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love

DIG for Monday the 27th of June…..forgiveness is another truth we seem to have forgotten…..Ephesians 1 v 7

Another truth that many Christians seem to “forget” is that they have absolute, complete and unconditional forgiveness from God for all their sin.

There is a wave of wrong thinking in the church that tells us that we have to do something to be forgiven; we have to perform good works in order to receive forgiveness from God.

This is just not true.

You are forgiven, you have already been forgiven because of the performance of Jesus, because of His shed blood (Ephesians 1 v 7 and Colossian 1 v 14).

And the wonderful truth us that you have already been forgiven for all the sin you will commit in the future!

Now this is not a licence to sin of course, as sin has earthly consequences for you, your family and your friends.

But whatever you do wrong, whoever you hurt, you have to realise that you have already been forgiven and then move on.

God does not want you grovelling and begging for forgiveness; this actually shows that you cannot righty divide the Word, not realising what Jesus has already done for you.

Asking for forgiveness is not a sign of humility, it is a sign of arrogance and pride, thinking that you can do something yourself to achieve your forgiveness.

You are already forgiven because of Jesus and the shedding of His blood.

Thank Him for your forgiveness and enjoy your forgiveness.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you that I have already been forgiven for all my sin because of the shed blood of Jesus”.

Ephesians 1 v 7…..In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of this grace

DIG for Sunday the 26th of June…..focus on absolute truth…..2 Corinthians 5 v 21

Yesterday I wrote that we had to focus on the truth in the Word instead of listening to the worries and fear of the world.

One of the greatest truths that I love and often write about is that we are righteous.

If you are born again you are righteous and accepted in the eyes of the Lord.

As a gift of grace through faith in Jesus you have been made righteous; God accepts you because of the work of Jesus.

Don’t worry about what people say about you, don’t worry if people reject you.

Remember that God accepts you and sees you as OK in His sight.

Would you rather have acceptance from men or from God?

The truth is that you already have acceptance from God, so what does it matter what men think?

Now I’m not telling you that you can be rude or offensive and then say, “Well it doesn’t matter what you think”.

But I’m saying that when men reject you and don’t approve of you don’t get worried and anxious, remember that your Loving Heavenly Father accepts you and approves of you.

Are you a Christian?

If you said yes, then you are righteous, you are approved and you are accepted by God.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that as a gift of grace through faith in Jesus I have been made righteous”.

2 Corinthians 5 v 21…..For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be the righteousness of God in him

DIG for Saturday the 25th of June…..why all the doom and gloom…..Psalm 27 v 1

There is a lot of doom and gloom being spread abroad at the moment.

Everywhere you look there are words of anxiety, doubt and fear; and this is not just in the UK but all across the world.

Well I say everywhere but that is not quite true, as this is not what you will read in the Bible.

Yes there are doubts and worries with regards to economics, politics and other things of man.

There should be no doubts and fears if you are in Christ and believe His Word.

The Lord is our light and salvation, no matter what country we live in, no matter what parliament or organisation imposes rules upon us, no matter who is President or Prime Minster.

The Lord is our strength, not the political party we belong to or vote for.

The truth is found in the Word of God, not in the newspapers we may read or the television news programs we may watch.

Men come and go, countries come and go, and organisations come and go.

But the Lord is the one constant in this changing and unpredictable world.

There is one certainty in all of this and that is that Jesus Christ is Lord and through His finished work the born again believer is blessed and highly favoured, with NOTHING to fear.

I for one am going to get into the Word and fill myself with His truth and take less heed of what men are saying!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that you are my light, my salvation and my strength”.

Psalm 27 v 1…..The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

DIG for Friday the 24th of June…..He promised and He delivered….Psalm 32 v 1

The Old Testament is full of the promises of God, about what He will do for man in the future.

The great news is that we now live in the time when these promises have been delivered.

Take the promise that David wrote about in Psalm 32 for example.

He wrote that the man whose transgressions and sin have been forgiven and covered will be blessed (Psalm 32 v 1).

Under the old covenant sin had to be dealt with on a continual basis, under the new covenant sin HAS been dealt with.

We have been forgiven through the shed blood of Jesus (Ephesians 1 v 7 and Colossians 1 v 13).

David write that our sin would be covered; the Hebrew word means to cover, to conceal, to engulf.

If something is covered, concealed or engulfed it cannot be seen, and this is exactly what God has chosen to do with our sin because of the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Under the new covenant God does not remember our sins any more (Hebrews 10 v 17).

It is as if He cannot see our sin, it is as if it has been engulfed, engulfed by the blood of Jesus!

We truly are blessed to be living under the new covenant, where our sin is not imputed against us.

As David wrote we really are blessed!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that we have been forgiven and have had our sin dealt with once and for all through the blood of Jesus”.

Psalm 32 v 1…..Blessed is he whose transgressions is forgiven, whose sin is covered

DIG for Thursday the 23rd of June…..no need to worry…..Ephesians 1 v 3

Well, there is about 2 hours to go and the voting will be finished; the counting will then begin and we will know if the UK is in or out of the EU.

Given what we have been told over the last few weeks we should have a great deal to worry about.

If we stay in it will be an economic disaster and we will be overrun by immigrants from the east.

If we leave we will still face economic disaster and we could be heading for World War III.

I may have taken the worst that each side said, however the fact is that we are being told that there are troubled times ahead if we do not get the decision right.

Well, I don’t know about you (actually if you are a believer I do) but I am going to be blessed and highly favoured whatever result we are landed with tomorrow.

I am blessed and highly favoured right now and I always will be.

My friends, do not be conformed to the nonsense spoken about in the world, but be transformed by renewing your mind to the truths in the Word of God.

You are already blessed with all spiritual blessings through Jesus (Ephesians 1 v 3).

You already have all that you need for life and godliness through knowledge of Him (2 Peter 1 v 3).

You have been healed (1 Peter 2 v 24) and you have been made prosperous (2 Corinthians 8 v 9) as a gift of grace through faith in Jesus.

You had this yesterday, you had this today and you will have this tomorrow.

Don’t worry whatever happens overnight

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I am blessed and highly favoured, healed and made prosperous”.

Ephesians 1 v 3…..Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ

DIG for Wednesday the 22nd of June…..we are under the New Covenant, yet we should still read the Old Testament…..1 Corinthians 10 v 11

As a New Covenant believer I spend a lot of time in post-cross Scripture, however I have learned (mainly from my wife Nanette) that there are very useful lessons to be learned from the Old Testament.

Yes, the epistles are where we learn about our identity in Christ, about what we are and have been made as a gift of grace through faith in Jesus.

However the whole Bible was written for us to learn from; this is what Paul says in his first epistle to the Corinthians.

The examples we read in the Old Testament are there for us to learn from (1 Corinthians 10 v 6 and 11).

And the good news is we can even learn about New Covenant truths from the Old Testament through type and shadows.

For example when we read about David, Jonathan and Mephibosheth we are given a picture of God, Jesus and us.

We can see that because of the covenant God (David) made with Jesus (Jonathan), we as believers (Mephibosheth) are blessed and live in God’s abundance.

I would suggest that you take time out and read the account of David bringing Mephibosheth into this home and to his table (2 Samuel 9 v 1 to 13), and see that this is talking about the abundance of God that is there waiting for you already.

Types and shadows are common throughout the whole of the Old Testament, indeed everything there is a picture, type or shadow of Jesus and His finished work.

We have a wealth of information that we can learn from in the Old Testament.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I can read the whole of the Bible and learn about Jesus and His finished work”.

1 Corinthians 10 v 11…..Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come

DIG for Tuesday the 21st of June…..strife, now that’s not a good thing…..Proverbs 20 v 3

I’ve been getting more and more fed up with the coverage of the UK EU referendum that is due on Thursday.

Keeping out of the debate after learning my lesson during the Scottish independence referendum, I’ve avoided getting drawn into the ‘discussion’ on Facebook and the like.

The biggest lesson I took from the last vote is that strife is not a good thing, and all I see in the current debate is strife, strife and more strife.

The Bible has a lot to say about strife!

Where you find strife you find confusion and evil (James 3 v 16).

Strife is born out of pride (1 Timothy 6 v 4).

A born again believer should avoid try to avoid strife if possible (Philippians 2 v 3).

Strife is included alongside such things as murder, drunkenness and witchcraft (Galatians 5 v 19 to 21).

Strife is stirred up by angry men and men of pride (Proverbs 15 v 18 and 28 v 25).

And I could go on and on, especially quoting from Proverbs, but I think you get my drift.

Now, I am not saying we should not engage in politics or debate, however there are decent ways to go about this and there are ways that encourage strife.

Some of what we are seeing just now through social media by numerous Christians is nothing short of encouraging strife.

Strife is dangerous and should be avoided at all costs; maybe we could help the situation by thinking a little before posting our opinions everywhere!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for your Word and thank you for your warning about the dangers of strife”.

 Proverbs 20 v 3…..It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling

DIG for Monday the 20th of June….salvation (initial and on going) has nothing to do with what you do…..Romans 1 v 16

Romans 1 v 16 is one of my favourite verses in the Word, explaining the requirements for salvation.

Salvation is not just about ‘being saved’ although that is of course vital; salvation is also on going in terms of healing, joy, peace and prosperity.

Jesus died so that you could enter Heaven (initial salvation) however He also died for your healing, and wholeness, peace and prosperity (on going salvation).

This verse in Romans maps out the requirements to receive salvation and it is very easy.

The requirement is belief; belief in Jesus, in who He is and what He did.

No one seriously debates that you are initially saved through your good works and deeds, however when it comes to healing or prosperity it seems to change!

You are saved (initially) as a gift of grace through faith in Jesus (Romans 10 v 9).

Religion and legalism then tells you that in order to be blessed by God (on going salvation) with healing and prosperity for example you have to tithe, pray, attend church and do various other good works.

This is not the case.

You receive your on going salvation in the same way you received your initial salvation, that is as a gift of grace through faith in Jesus.

You walk into the blessings of salvation in the same way as you receive salvation in the first place (Colossians 2 v 6).

The Lord does not want or need your works, He wants your faith and belief.

Once you grasp this concept then good works will flow naturally from you!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I received and will continue to receive salvation as a gift of grace through faith in Jesus”.

Romans 1 v 16…..For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek