Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the NET, netbible.org, all rights reserved)

The Lord will strike Egypt, striking and then healing them. They will turn to the Lord, and he will listen to their prayers and heal them.
Isaiah 19:22 (emphasis added)

We’ve always been spankers, we’re always gonna be spankers. So goes the cry of conservative parent everywhere. It certainly was our cry for a few years. Then our son came to us and said that spanking was unfair. He wasn’t allowed to hit. He saw spanking as hitting. He was young, but it was how he felt. We talked about it. We prayed about it. And the Lord has led us step by step along a different path of discipline. More of a New Covenant example path. There were consequences for actions. There was mercy. There was grace. But there was correction. There was discipline.

“The one who spares his rod hates his child, but the one who loves his child is diligent in disciplining him” (Proverbs 13:24). Discipline and correction are a part of our walk with the Lord whether we like it or not, because we are not righteous in the flesh. Only in the spirit. Our flesh is still as selfish as it ever was. The difference is, that because of Christ’s Spirit within us (Romans 8:9), we have something that we can use to guide the flesh. To correct the flesh. To crucify it so that it does what we want instead of what it FEELS like. “We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. (For someone who has died has been freed from sin.)” (Romans 6:6-7).

To be honest, spanking was easier. It is an ENORMOUS amount of work to model Jesus to my kids. To be merciful and gracious, while also providing discipline and correction based on the Word. Which was a HUGE red flag to ME that I am NOT working with the fruit of the spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, being jealous of one another” (Galatians 5:22-26).

I should be able to pick up any one (or more) of those WHENEVER I am dealing with my children. Let’s face it, I would need to if I am going to hold them to a disciplinary line WITHOUT corporal punishment – which is quick, easy, and yes, can send mixed signals. Jesus doesn’t send mixed signals. “The one who believes and is baptized will be saved, but the one who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). “Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). “Enter through the narrow gate because the gate is wide and the way is spacious that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it!” (Matthew 7:13-14). Jesus is pretty clear. His way, or the highway. Or to put it another way, we are on the highway that leads to destruction and if we don’t choose His off-ramp we’re toast.

But for us? It’s HARD to be that way. To model that. More than once I have had to apologise for my temper. I have had to give myself what amounted to a time out because I broke the family rule about something (we only have about five). I have had to come and ask for forgiveness because I wasn’t modelling the Father to them. It’s hard, but I don’t feel I could do anything else and maintain my role. Because we all have sinned, right? (Romans 3:23). I cannot claim to be perfect to my kids or to myself (1 John 1:8). What exactly is this all about?

In the Old Covenant, if you sinned you were punished. That’s how it went. That was the point of the Law. To draw out from you the realisation that you need the Lord. The knowledge that wrong-doing was so serious it needed BLOOD to cover it – but it only worked temporarily because at its purest the blood was still fallen too. If you haven’t performed a sacrifice to cover it, when you’re disobedient, you WILL receive punishment. But if you repent and give sacrifice for that sin, then you get restored relationship. Restoration possible because of the sincerity and depth of your feelings – evidenced by your behaviour – and the price paid so that the mercy can flow.

But we aren’t under the Old Covenant. “And so he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance he has promised, since he died to set them free from the violations committed under the first covenant” (Hebrews 9:15). Do we accept what He did? Do we accept payment? If not, we’re still responsible for all the violations committed under the first covenant – or if you don’t know the covenant, responsible for not accepting the Lord as THE LORD (John 16:8). That is literally the ONLY sin an unbeliever is convicted for by the Holy Spirit. But if we DO accept Jesus as Lord, the the Holy Spirit CORRECTS us. We are FREE from sin. Why then are we sinning? Why aren’t we operating in the fruit He has offered to us? Why don’t we use the mind of Christ that we have ALREADY been given (1 Corinthians 2:16)? If we can pick up the fruit, what else does He have that we can – and should – pick up?

The cycle of the New Covenant isn’t wrongdoing & punishment. The cycle of the New Covenant is repentance and faithful mercy and grace. If we SEEK Him, then with one thing after another we will take the mind of Christ on an issue. We’ll repent of that issue because we will think the same thing about it that Jesus and the Father do, and we will repent of it. Repent and take steps to not do that thing again. We will gain restored relationship as we enjoy His Grace and we can work on the next thing. “But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

It is the same basic principle that existed in the Old Covenant, it’s just better (Hebrews 8:6). It’s based on better promises. But from beginning to end, old to new, the Lord desires healing for the people of the earth. Yes, there are consequences to actions. But even as He is doling out a consequence that WE chose, He is eagerly awaiting the moment when we turn back and He can heal us. Heal us and set us on the path of right thinking, right action, right emoting, and right worship. He IS the God who heals (Exodus 15:26).

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Genesis 22:18

“Because you have obeyed me, all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.” May the Lord Richly bless you. Jesus bless you. Jesus guide your steps. The compassion of the son be the love by which you walk. I could go on. Those are all blessings surrounding the name of Jesus that Christians use to greet each other. Jesus is a name known like no other. The world tries to ignore it. They even us it as an exclamation or curse (when was the last time you heard someone say Buddha, Ganesha, or Allah in the same way?). There is something about the NAME of Jesus that transcends our understanding and makes it an almost universal word (though the usage varies). Truly, hundreds of thousands of people EVERY DAY are blessed in Jesus’ name. The offspring of Abraham is blessing the world over. Jesus IS Messiah.

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

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

Matthew 16:16b