I am he – Day 9

₇Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the presence of all the people of Israel, “Be determined and confident; you are the one who will lead these people to occupy the land that the LORD promised to their ancestors. ₈The LORD himself will lead you and be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you, so do not lose courage or be afraid.”

₈It was faith that made Abraham obey when God called him to go out to a country which God had promised to give him. He left his own country without knowing where he was going. ₉By faith he lived as a foreigner in the country that God had promised him. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who received the same promise from God. ₁₀For Abraham was waiting for the city which God has designed and built, the city with permanent foundations.

₁₃And there was the LORD standing beside him. “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham and Isaac,” he said. “I will give to you and to your descendants this land on which you are lying. ₁₄They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth. They will extend their territory in all directions, and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations. ₁₅Remember, I will be with you and protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done all that I have promised you.”

₁₆Jacob woke up and said, “The LORD is here! He is in this place, and I didn't know it!” ₁₇He was afraid and said, “What a terrifying place this is! It must be the house of God; it must be the gate that opens into heaven.”

₂₀My deep desire and hope is that I shall never fail in my duty, but that at all times, and especially just now, I shall be full of courage, so that with my whole being I shall bring honour to Christ, whether I live or die. ₂₁For what is life? To me, it is Christ. Death, then, will bring more. ₂₂But if by continuing to live I can do more worthwhile work, then I am not sure which I should choose. ₂₃I am pulled in two directions. I want very much to leave this life and be with Christ, which is a far better thing; ₂₄but for your sake it is much more important that I remain alive.

₁There is no need to write to you, brothers and sisters, about the times and occasions when these things will happen. ₂For you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief comes at night. ₃When people say, “Everything is quiet and safe,” then suddenly destruction will hit them! It will come as suddenly as the pains that come upon a woman in labour, and people will not escape. ₄But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the darkness, and the Day should not take you by surprise like a thief. ₅All of you are people who belong to the light, who belong to the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. ₆So then, we should not be sleeping like the others; we should be awake and sober. ₇It is at night that people sleep; it is at night that they get drunk. ₈But we belong to the day, and we should be sober. We must wear faith and love as a breastplate, and our hope of salvation as a helmet. ₉God did not choose us to suffer his anger, but to possess salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ₁₀who died for us in order that we might live together with him, whether we are alive or dead when he comes. ₁₁And so encourage one another and help one another, just as you are now doing.