Do not be afraid

Our commitment to christ will be put to the test. We will hear whispered warnings and denunciations,as jeremiah does in Jeremiah 20:10-13.Even so-called friends will try to trap and trip us up. For His sake we will bear insults and be made outcasts even in our own homes,we hear in psalm 69:8-10 and psalm 17:33-35. As Jeremiah tells us, we must expect that God will challenge our faith in Him and probe our minds and hearts to test the depths of our love. "Do not be afraid,"assures us three times in Mathew 10:26-33. Though He may permit us to suffer for our faith,our Father will never forget or abandon us.As Jesus assures us today,everything unfolds in His providence,under his watchful gaze, even the falling of the tiniest sparrow to the ground. Each one of us is precious to Him. Steadfast in this faith,we must resist the tactics of satan.He is the enemy who seeks the ruin of our soul in Gehema or hell. We are to seek God as the psalmist says.Zeal for the lord's house, for the heavenly kingdom of the father, should consume us, as it consumed Jesus (see John 2:17).As Jesus bore the insults of those who blasphemed God,so should we(see Rom 15:3).