Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“Only don’t rebel against Yahweh, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us. Their defence is removed from over them, and Yahweh is with us. Don’t fear them.”
Numbers 14:9 (emphasis added)

This is a sad passage. Not because of the passage itself, but because of what came after. Here are two men (Joshua and Caleb) who are declaring that the people living in the land the Lord was calling the Israelites into were NO BIG DEAL. Not because of the proficiency of the Israelites OR the ineffectiveness of the people in the land. Because of the Lord. Because of what the Lord was doing and would do and PROMISED that He would do. Because of the LORD they had no reason to fear. They were pleading and trying to get it across so hard they mentioned it TWICE.

And the Israelites talked about stoning them. The Israelites refused to listen. They HEARD, but they did not LISTEN. The Israelites did NOT move into the land God had given them.

You have to ask here, why they didn’t. Why didn’t they listen to these two men who reverenced God and trusted in Him? “But the men who went up with him said, “We aren’t able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” They brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the Nephilim (or giants), the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight”” (Numbers 13:31-33). Twelve men went out. Ten said no way. Two said way. They listened to the ten.

The ten were full of fear. Because of how they saw themselves versus how they saw the inhabitants of the land. Then the inhabitants of the land saw them as they saw themselves. Now, they all twelve agreed it was a great land. Full of lushness and sustenance. But ten balked at the inhabitants. Not Caleb. When the report first starts (Numbers 13:26) they talk about the land. The fruit of the land. Then they say ‘but’. But they’re big. But they’re intimidating. But their cities are strong. But some of them are REALLY big. Caleb immediately jumps in (verse 30) saying “Let’s go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it!” The ten immediately respond (verse 31) with “We aren’t able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” One group decrees ‘we can enter’ and one group decrees ‘we cannot enter’.

The book of Job says in 22:28 “You will also decree a thing, and it will be established to you. Light will shine on your ways.” That verse doesn’t lie. Both groups decreed something. Both groups got what they decreed. The ten who said nope did NOT enter the promised land. The two who said oh yeah DID enter the promised land. Both got what they decreed with their mouths and believed in their hearts. EVERY word is a seed. Every seed brings a harvest. And what is in the heart of man is what comes out of our mouths (Luke 6:45). One side rejected the Word of the Lord in their hearts. One side embraced the Word of the Lord in their hearts. Then they spoke their belief. This process is so powerful, so full of creative power from the Father, that it is the way in which we are saved. “that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

What it comes down to is trust. Belief and expectation. Do you believe the Lord God can do what the Lord God says He can do? Do you believe He can wash away your sin? Then He will. Do you believe that He can do that impossible thing He said He would do? Then He will. When we believe, then we speak. When we speak, we give permission for Him to enter our circumstances. This is important because we were given dominion by Yahweh God and He won’t move until and unless a human being says that He may.

Note: this is not US telling God HOW to move or WHEN to move or RESTRICTING His movement in ANY way. This is us saying ‘Yes, Lord. Do the thing You want, how You want, when You want, where You want, and according to Your plans and ways.’ His ways are above ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). His plans for us are not our plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11). We are to walk in obedience to Him doing what He says and saying what He gives us to say (John 5:19). We loose the authority so that God can work or we refuse to let the Lord work (Matthew 18:18-20). This is free will. This is why the promises of God are given. He is giving us a hint. If you let Me do it My way and obey, this will happen and it will be good. All we need to do is believe Him.

When God makes a promise, don’t rebel. Obey the Lord. Do not fear your enemies. There are thousands of promises in the Bible. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). What He gives to us (all of us) is the same: same Spirit, same gifts – though activated differently at different times by that same Spirit (2 Corinthians 12:4-11). He makes provision for us (Matthew 6:33). He has a design for us (Jeremiah 29:11). And all He is asking is for us to obey so He can do the stuff. To bring Him praise and honour and glory, because it’s the truth. He deserves it. We are the altar of praise (Hebrews 13:10-16). Altars are heavenly landing strips where the spiritual and the physical meet. Where Heaven is invited down and into our lives. Don’t neglect your praise time with the Lord. It will help us to obey. Obedience is so simple.

Which begs the question why don’t we obey? The answer is fear. Whatever isn’t of faith is fear. We start looking at what we see instead of what He sees. We’re seeing foes. He’s seeing bread. How hard is it to defeat bread? We see the cancer and feel the effects. He’s looking at a bagel. He sees us whole and healthy. Perhaps a croissant. Nothing missing. Nothing broken. AND Jesus suffered so that we can step into healing by Grace through Faith and be 100% whole. We have been invited to enter a glorious manifestation of His goodness (2 Peter 1:3). Don’t let fear stop you from entering.

Now I know that some scholars look at the verses in 1 Peter that deal with this and say they don’t refer to physical healing, but our spiritual state. 1 Peter 2:24 says “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds (or stripes).” That certainly sounds like our spiritual state of being all right, though the words also sound like physical healing. So let’s look at where Peter got the quote. He got it from Isaiah 53:4-5 “Surely he has borne our sickness and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed.” This is also a spiritual state set of verses. Isaiah is a prophetic HE WILL, Peter is a fulfilment HE DID. And they both talk about the righteousness and eternal state of our spirits. This is really important because in Mathew 5:11-12 Jesus tells us that as His disciples we will be persecuted for His sake. Spiritual reward, Spiritual wholeness, Spiritual prosperity, and sometimes in this life persecution. He is whole package truth here.

But what about the physical? The natural? Is it all just spiritual? Do either of them talk about physical healing? Well, head over to Matthew 8:16-17. “When evening came, they brought to him many possessed with demons. He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.”” This is BEFORE the cross. This is before Jesus did what was required to give us a change of our spiritual state. This is purely physical healing and the breaking of demonic bondage. AND it says that Jesus by doing this fulfilled the prophesy of Isaiah. PLUS 1 Peter 2:24 is clear we are DEAD to sin. SEPARATED from SIN. If I am separate from sin, I am separate from its effects. Sickness and disease have NO PART in me.

We ARE changed spiritually. Our sin IS taken away (prophesied by Isaiah and confirmed accomplished by Peter). We are new creations with Jesus’ Righteous Spirit within us (2 Corinthians 5:16-17). But according to Matthew, it ALSO means Jesus bore our physical infirmities and sickness. Jesus broke the hold of ill-health. Jesus broke demonic bondage. AND we have a RIGHT to be whole and healthy, with nothing missing and nothing broken. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). From our spirit to our flesh. John echoes this in 3 John 1:2. Don’t let fear or religious thinking prevent you from walking in ALL that Jesus has for us. 2 Peter 1:4-8 says:
“by which he has granted to us his precious and exceedingly great promises; that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Yes, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge; and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control, perseverance; and in perseverance, godliness; and in godliness, brotherly affection; and in brotherly affection, love. For if these things are yours and abound, they make you to not be idle or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.“

Your enemies are as bread to the Lord. They can be as bread to you. Physical enemies, spiritual enemies, people enemies, things of the flesh enemies, or things of the mind enemies. Any enemy. ALL ENEMIES. In Jesus we HAVE victory. In Jesus we HAVE authority. In Jesus we have it ALL because He does the work, the Father has the power, and we give them permission to do what they want, how they want, and when they want. And the Spirit by which they do it lives IN US. Don’t look at problems and situations AS problems and situations. Look at them as toast. Don’t fear toast. It can be defeated with DROOL. Babies do it the world over. Instead, shout for joy and decree that in Jesus, by Jesus, and through Jesus you are well able to overcome it!

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Lamentations 3:22-24, 57

Everyone who has ever felt love of ANY kind in ANY way to ANY degree has been born of God (1 John 4:7-13). God IS love. Everything God creates was made WITH love. Inside of every sentient thing God has created the capacity TO love. We love because He loved us first. He loved us BEFORE we loved Him and gifted us His only son BEFORE anything was made. He was – and is – ready to answer our calls to His ears. It was and IS the plan. That’s love that we cannot comprehend. We can understand the words, but not the thing. Not only that, but through His Spirit He lives in us and perfects our love in us for Him and each other because He is love and gives us His nature. Why? Because He loves us. Dwell in Him and let Him dwell in you, and feel the resonance of love echo. Back and forth. In your life and in the atmosphere around you. Until you vibrate with love. His Love. It’ll change you, revolutionise your world, and change the very atoms of your body. God’s love is a POWERFUL thing.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.