Fear No Fear

Hezekiah had said to Isaiah, “What is the confirming sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the Lord’s temple the day after tomorrow?”
2 Kings 20:8 (emphasis added)

We often want confirmation of things that we’ve been promised or things that we want. Confirmation is always nice because then we have that stamp we can see. The evidence that we will be getting what it is we want or that the promise was true. Gideon felt that way. He felt he was from the least of the least of the least. And here was God asking him to defeat their worst enemy. He asked for a fleece.

“Gideon said to God, “If you really intend to use me to deliver Israel, as you promised, then give me a sign as proof. Look, I am putting a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece, and the ground around it is dry, then I will be sure that you will use me to deliver Israel, as you promised.” The Lord did as he asked. When he got up the next morning, he squeezed the fleece, and enough dew dripped from it to fill a bowl. Gideon said to God, “Please do not get angry at me, when I ask for just one more sign. Please allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make only the fleece dry, while the ground around it is covered with dew.” That night God did as he asked. Only the fleece was dry and the ground around it was covered with dew” (Judges 6:36-40).

There was nothing wrong with this. What else could he do? Either totally and completely trust the Lord OR ask for confirmation to guide as a checking in that it is the right thing (like Mary did – Luke 1:34). It ISN’T a refusal to believe because of circumstances (like Zechariah – Luke 1:18). Or simply a choice to have things PROVED to you (like Thomas – John 20:25). This wasn’t the case with Gideon who simply wanted to make SURE this was God before he did anything he’d regret. Gideon didn’t have the Holy Spirit with him because he was part of the Old Covenant. They weren’t in-dwelt. The Spirit rested on them, but did not stay – with very few exceptions. We, however, are in a very different situation.

“I tell you the truth, among those born of women, no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is!” (Matthew 11:11). “But now Jesus has obtained a superior ministry, since the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6). What is it that makes this covenant better? What is it that made John so great? The in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit. It rested on our forefathers, but it lives WITHIN us.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness. Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you” (Romans 8:1-11).

First and foremost, the Holy Spirit was used by the Father to raise Christ Jesus from the dead. That is HUGE because if the Holy Spirit lives in us, the Father gives life to our bodies THROUGH that Spirit which lives IN US (Romans 8:11). That means we are getting renewed at the cellular level day by day. We are full of LIFE. Resurrection life. We can stand on that.

What else? We have His VOICE. We have His WORD (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Those two things instruct us and teach us and enable us to be equipped for EVERY good work. Being sick, isn’t that good. Wholeness is important and GOOD. It is our original state. Jesus got that back for us. We can stand on that too.
We can TRUST Him. If we trust Him, we’ll be able to walk by the FAITH He gives us (Romans 1:17). Those who use their faith in humble obedience will PLEASE the Lord (Hebrews 11:6). If we please the Lord, we can become friends of God (James 2:23). Abraham did it and he was in an inferior covenant. We can TRUST our friend’s word. “The Lord strengthens and protects me; I trust in him with all my heart. I am rescued and my heart is full of joy; I will sing to him in gratitude” (Psalm 28:7).

Why is it that we still accept sickness? How can we look at what is ‘real’ more than those things which are not visible, but sing in our spirit their truth and reality? “because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). We don’t have to plead to the Lord and beg Him for healing. We don’t need to put out a fleece to see if indeed He is going to save us. We don’t even need to ask for a sign to see if we can believe the promises of the Lord.

All WE need to do is use the faith that He GAVE us (Ephesians 2:8). We have the Holy Spirit living within us. We can simply ASK HIM. “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but will speak whatever he hears and will tell you what is to come” (John 16:13). He isn’t going to keep things from us. No, He won’t tell us the secrets of the Father. But He WILL remind us of all the promises that the Father made. He WILL show us in the Word all the wonderful things that the Father has for us. All that we can TRUST and STAND on. The RELATIONSHIP we have with the Father through Jesus and bolstered by the Spirit will tell us of the security we can have with God. A sincere knowledge of the truth that He WANTS US WELL.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Genesis 12:7

“The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.”” So Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. The promise made to Abraham’s seed came to fruition in Jesus. Jesus is the overcomer who redeems us AND the land we are on (John 16:25-33). Jesus is the seed – the descendant – that will claim and rule the world FOREVER. “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. Scripture does not say, “and to the descendants,” referring to many, but “and to your descendant,” referring to one, who is Christ” (Galatians 3:16). Jesus, King of the Jews, Saviour of the World, will reign in Jerusalem and all the nations will come and bow down to Him (Revelation 20:1-4). He started down that path to glory when He laid aside Himself and sacrificed His life for us. Because Jesus yielded and submitted and laid Himself down, the Father raised Him up and glorified Him for all time. Jesus IS Messiah.

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

Yeshua is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Matthew 16:16b