New Beginnings— a Devotional Series by Pastor Jim CymbalaMostră

# New Beginnings —Day 6: I Will Fear No Evil > “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” (Psalm 23:4) Have you ever found yourself feeling all alone in overwhelming circumstances, facing trouble, difficulty and trials… feeling as if you were in a valley with potential disaster looming on either side... going through some attack of the enemy that is so cataclysmic that it seems you will not make it, or that you will lose your mind… hearing the devil whisper, “This is it! You will never get out of this”? In times like these, Psalm 23:4 is so powerful! Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil”! Why? “ Because you are with me , Lord!” A consciousness of God’s presence brings us out of fear, even in the valley of the shadow of death! We can tell Satan, “Whatever you throw against me will not shake me. Look at who’s walking with me…. Almighty God is walking with me; and to get to me, you have to go through him!” That’s better than having a big brother when we were kids facing some bully at school! We have somebody better than a big brother! We have Jesus, who died in our place so that our sins could be washed away and we could have eternal life. After he’s done so much for us and brought us so far, will he let us fall in a black hole now? No! Will some power on this earth be able to overcome his love for us and his protection? Never! We can all agree with this as Christians, but how do we get to this place? How do we arrive at a consciousness of God’s presence in our lives? Thank God for the Holy Spirit in us! He’s the one who makes God’s Word real—who makes it more than just a concept—so that when we say the verse, “I will fear no evil, because you’re with me,” we can know that we know that we know that he is indeed with us! The Psalmist said, “ I sought the Lord , and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4). It’s as we seek the Lord that we are delivered from our fears! It’s as we go to him in prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to make his Word real, that his promises get from our minds to our hearts! In other words, it’s in God’s presence that we become aware of his presence! At the beginning of a new year or season in life, we don’t have to panic or dread what might be up ahead; because God is with us, no matter who or what is up ahead! In fact, “we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28), because he’s with us and has promised never to leave us nor forsake us!