Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

Fruit is delicious and nutritious. It is also a great metaphor. Fruit here is the Greek word karpos (kar-pos’), it is used to describe the results or outcomes of actions, particularly in a spiritual or moral context (according to Strong’s). Fruit, then, is the visible expression of power that is working inwardly and invisibly. Which means the character of the fruit that is being produced is the evidence showing the true character of the power producing it. So, regardless of which individual fruit is ‘consumed’, all the fruit have the same character. This means that since we have Ruach HaKodesh dwelling within us, that character is within us, so we have full access to all the fruit that blooms from that character. Ruach HaKodesh equips us.

If we have access to all the fruit, we don’t need to develop our character in order to use it. Don’t mistake me. We NEED our character to develop. We NEED our mind to be renewed. We had broken thinking when we were sinners, so we need to make sure we’re letting Jesus repair each and every synaptic link in our brains. Every memory, every thought, and every impulse. But while that process is going on – and it will only ever complete when we are face to face with Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18) – we have access to these perfect characteristics of Ruach HaKodesh. We don’t have to wait until our feelings are reformed, renewed, and we have patience. We can use His. We don’t have to wait until we are seeing other people the way the Father does, reflecting on the them-in-Jesus that they can be. We can use His love. This is the HUGE advantage that the believer has over every other human being on the face of the earth. We can ALWAYS have perfect love, perfect peace, perfect joy, perfect faithfulness, etc. We will ALWAYS be able to perform above and beyond the best non-believer out there, because we’re not relying on ourselves or our skill set. We’re using His. We can always know what we need to use because He is always instructing, leading, and correcting us.

Of course, the reverse side of this is that we have zero excuse NOT to always be best. Uncomfortable thought, because we are NOT always best. Now, we’re not directly commanded to always use the Fruit of Ruach HaKodesh, but we are given a command that covers it. “Therefore, to the one who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). That is quite the statement. James was restating what Jesus said. “Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and will take up residence with him” (John 14:23). Obeying the Word is right and good. Not obeying the Word is rebellion and sin. We’re free from being under the Law, but we don’t do whatever we want. Rather, we respond to Adonai’s love for us with our own love. Our love physically arrives as a demonstration. That demonstration is obedience. We know that we are truly loving Adonai when we’re obeying Him. Whenever we aren’t – in small or large ways – those are areas of our lives where we aren’t loving Him. Those are areas we are not giving Him Lordship. Those are areas we are keeping in rebellion. Which is sin (Romans 14:23).

But how can we do that, you say. Simple. Use the Fruit. Using the equipment He gives us is how we stay in a place where we use the equipment. You find this throughout the Kingdom of Elohim. When we are told to do a thing, we are equipped to do that thing. “Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with every good thing to do his will, carrying out in us what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21). Whenever you’re told to do something or not do something, look for the equipment He’s given you to accomplish it. Remember, we’re not doing ANY of this in our own strength (John 15:5). We’re doing this through HIS strength which is flowing through us like electrical current waiting for an outlet (Philippians 4:13). We engage the Fruit – whichever one(s) we need at the moment – and be the thing that He’s called us to be. The patient one. The kind one. The gentle one. All of which is so foreign to the world that we shine like a beacon, drawing others to the Kingdom by the visible expression of Jesus’ unseen character that we are inhabiting.

This is our mission. This is our calling. We point to Jesus. This is one of the reasons the Fruit functions so well with us. Ruach HaKodesh is always pointing to Jesus too. For us to point to Jesus, we need to be as He was. “Think this in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). To be like He was, we need His character. That has been granted to us in our spirit (2 Corinthians 5:21). To bring it from our spirit to our soul, we need to engage it. We do that resting in Jesus. We do that through Ruach HaKodesh. Why? Because He IS the character we’re trying to access. We use the access to the Fruit that we’ve been given to help us focus on Jesus and what He is in that moment, so we can bring the Kingdom, the unseen realm, into its physical arrival in our behaviour, words, and thinking. In Jesus, through Ruach HaKodesh, because we believe the Word and trust in Jesus, we become His Righteousness and His Fruit becomes a witness to the world of who He is and what is possible through Him. We’re equipped to be a light. A bright one.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Psalm 34:8

“Taste and see that Yahweh is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” Have you ever had a REALLY GOOD piece of fruit? Doesn’t matter if it is a grape, an apple, passionfruit, pomelo, durian, mangosteen, physalis, kiwano, loquat, or cranberry. There is a burst of intense flavour. It’s refreshing and strengthening. There’s nothing quite like it. Yahweh is the same way. When we take our trust in hand, believe the Word, and step out into something He says we can have, there is a BURST of experience quite separate from our feelings but just as real. A taste explosion in our spirit that cannot be matched or rivalled. A refreshing and strengthening realness that defies proper description. But it lingers in our minds until we crave it above all else. Quenched only by getting into the Word and trusting in Jesus, we can really SEE His goodness. We truly are blessed when we make that spot, that burst, our resting place. Never dry, never drained. We can ever rest in an Oasis – no matter how dry the desert of our experiential situation is. We can ever be resting on the tops of the palms – no matter how flat the plateau we’re walking across. Deeper than a feeling. More consistent than a physical experience. The fortress of Yah is a High Tower and a Deep Well. May we find it and never seek to leave.

Your Daily Confession of Elohim’s Goodness:

I taste and see that Yahweh is good; I am blessed because I take refuge in Him.

Psalm 34:8