“Do not be afraid of them; the LORD your God himself will fight for you” (Deuteronomy 3:22).

Great! I can just sit back and keep scrolling on my phone while God does all the work! Sign me up!!!

Only if it worked that way.

So what is God saying?

The context of this passage is that Moses is going to die. God has chosen Joshua to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. Moses reminds Joshua of all the ways God has led them thus far. Joshua, himself, has seen how God has sustained them through the 40 years in the wilderness.

As the mantle of leadership passes from Moses to Joshua, Moses tells Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; the LORD your God himself will fight for you.”

We learn two important spiritual truths:

First, the victory belongs to the LORD. It is God who leads. It is God who guides.

AND Joshua must lead the Israelites into battle and the Israelites must fight as if their lives depended on it…because it does.

When it comes to spiritual victories God will certainly lead us and guide us. But we still need to train. We still need to pray, study God’s word, worship, serve, give. We still need to do all the things that God has given us to grow in the faith. Faith growing and spiritual maturity will not happen as we sit on our butts. God will do it, but we must do our part.

That’s the partnership of spiritual maturity.

Now get busy doing your part!

“Rejoice in the Lord always. It will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7.

Rejoice.
Do not be anxious about anything, instead in every situation, pray with thanksgiving.
And the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds.

The Apostle Paul penned these words over two thousand years ago. Science has finally developed enough to support what Christians have known for two thousand years: anxiety and peace cannot coexist, negative outlook and thanksgiving cannot coexist.

Seriously. They literally cannot coexist. When our brains are giving thanks, complaints and anxiety cannot be present. One necessarily cancels out the other.

Carey Nieuwhof is an author, coach, and one of the leading thinkers about the church. Nieuwhof recently wrote in one of his posts, “The people who complain the most often give the least, and the people give the most (almost) never complain.”

Yup. Science proves it. And the Bible has told us so for over two thousand years.

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Saw this on social media:

If you are a drug addict trying to beat addiction, go to church anyway.
If you are having sex before marriage, go to church anyway.
If you were out drunk all night the night before, go to church anyway.
If you are not sure what gender you prefer, go to church anyway.
If you can’t quit that disgusting habit, go to church anyway.

Church is a hospital for the broken, lost, empty, confused, desperate, and rejected.

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Go to church. Get to know Jesus.