Fear No Fear

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

Yahweh said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid, and don’t be dismayed. Take all the warriors with you, and arise, go up to Ai. Behold, I have given into your hands the king of Ai, with his people, his city, and his land.
Joshua 8:1 (emphasis added)

Seems like a very Old Testament-y reference, doesn’t it? Go kill a bunch of people because I said so. And on the surface and in context it’s true. The Old Covenant was all about judgment – do this or die. All about a Law to give the framework for that judgment – showing us that we CANNOT hold to the Law without help. Sin had a PRICE and it NEEDED to be paid.

Remember that all the people who were in the land God gave the Israelites were descended from people who knew Yahweh as God. Some of them were brought there by God, taking them out of negative places of their own (Amos 9:7). They had many chances to obey and worship God, but they hardened their hearts and turned away. On purpose. And in the Old Covenant, if you DO NOT then you pay the price. That price that NEEDED to be paid.

Thankfully, we are not under the OLD Covenant, but the NEW. We were SAVED from it by Jesus. We are under Grace. The judgment for sin has ALREADY occurred. Jesus PAID THE PRICE on the cross. He is not telling us to go and physically take people out. Why? “For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). We are in a SPIRITUAL war. And our marching orders are no less clear than they were in Joshua’s day. Our instructions NOT TO FEAR are no less firm.

Jesus said to his disciples, “As you go, preach, saying, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons. Freely you have received, so freely give” (Matthew 10:7-8). He had already told them “Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’” in Matthew 6:31. In fact Jesus stressed the love God has for us over and over again. He stressed the might, power, and magnificence of that love as well. God’s love is perfect, as He is. Perfect love casts out fear. All fear. Always. If you let Him.

There is also no reason to fear someone stronger than you — either physically or in perceived power. Jesus said, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). Worried about the enemy out there ready to stop you? Psalm 97:7 “Let them all be shamed who serve engraved images, who boast in their idols. Worship him, all you angels!” This is telling us that every spirit once worshipped the Lord God. Every supernatural power of ANY kind. Every thing that a human calls a god or and enlightened being or whatever. They ALL bowed before our God. They still do. They are below and inferior to God, no matter what they claim on the sly – because they are not true gods, but only deceiving spirits. In addition, Jesus has specifically been placed above them all in authority and righteousness.

If Jesus has all the authority, and He has told us to operate in His name to do what He wants, then we are operating in that authority. He has given power of attorney to us and given us a new nature in Him so that we can use it. That means we don’t need to beg Him for anything. We don’t need to ask Him if it is His will as long as we are grounding ourselves in Him through His Word. The Word IS the will of God. He told us what to do with His name. We’re tasked with healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing the lepers (which covers a multitude of skin disease and disease period), and casting out demons.
We have the authority to do all these things. It’s been given to us. And the enemy we strive against can’t stop us. Oh, they can yell a lot and put on a good show, but if we believe. If we stand on our faith, given to us by Grace, and we operate in the Word – dwelling in the presence of God – then they can’t stop us. Nothing God tells us to do will be impossible for us because Jesus is with us. Whenever God tells you to do something, He has already empowered and equipped you to do that thing. He is a Just and a GOOD God.

This means we can do anything He wants us to. If we can do anything God sets before us by the power of Jesus’ name which resides within us, then bring it on! By faith we participate in the will of God and we give Him permission to operate in our life, and there is nothing we can’t do when we do it WITH God (Mark 10:27). That means we are not going out there to wrestle with the demons and spirits and powers directly. Our struggle is with them, but we are not the ones who do the struggling. We are the permission givers because of free will. We are the tools. We are not the weapons.

Paul tells us that our struggle isn’t with the physical but the spiritual. That the battle is in our souls (mind, personality, and emotions). He then immediately tells us to put on the Armour of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). God’s Truth, God’s Righteousness, God’s Faith, and God’s Good News. All of which enable us to stand and endure what is coming against us because we are wrapped up in the Lord. Then we are told to pray in all things and to watchful that we remain praying in all things for all believers. God does all the weaponry part. We do all the praying part. We are there, but He is doing. We are inviting Him to work, letting Him work His will His way, and we are praising Him and praying what He asks us to at all times about all believers.

James 4:7 tells us to be subject to God — that’s allowing Him to do what He wants, when He wants, and how He wants. Letting God call the shots. Acknowledging that we are not the bee’s knees. We are not the brightest bulbs. We are not the best of the best of the best. No matter what we can do and how great we are, He is infinitely greater and must be honoured and worshipped for that. We may have been given free will and authority and dominion down here, but He is Sovereign God. We choose regarding us (single individuals). He chooses regarding everything else. We need to submit to Him. Who are we compared to Him? The blessing is that if we submit to God, if we place ourselves in Him, if we keep our focus on Him and His ways and His statutes and His will, the devil flees from us.

The devil patiently waits and stalks and prowls waiting for one of us to leave the protective embrace of our fellow believers and God’s guiding principles (1 Peter 5:8). He can’t touch us when we are focused on the Lord (2 Timothy 2:26). We are to resist the devil with our faith — faith that the Lord gives us. Jesus came to give us life, not to see us continue in death. But it is Jesus who does it all. It is the Lord who does it all. Jesus told us the greatest commandment was to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and souls and minds (Mark 12:30). If we are totally, absolutely, and completely focused on Yahweh God, there is no room for the devil. When we are submitted to Him, the devil will flee. He cannot stand obedience. He cannot stand praise. He cannot stand the presence of the Lord. That is how we fight him. That is how we struggle against the powers: submission to the Lord and total worship of Him. Acknowledging Him as the source of all things, the one who fights for us, and the one who is in total control.

That isn’t easy. Bearing a cross isn’t easy. Being broken and not getting full of yourself isn’t easy. Pride is such a small thing that it can get in anywhere to infect us. The cure is looking to the Lord. Looking on Him as He is. Seeing His majesty and awe and wonder. Seeing His righteousness. In the face of that, we can do nothing but bow down before Him. When we are in the presence of the Lord we are in an attitude of worship because He is Holy. He IS. But it takes us walking in there. It takes us coming before Him. It takes us leaving this other stuff. The world. Our pleasures. Leaving all of that and coming to Him. Letting Him be who He IS. When we do, we are in true worship. When we worship, we are in Jesus. When we are in Jesus, we are protected and sheltered under His wings. We are in refuge. We are where we were created to be: penitent and worshipful before the Father.

When we are before our Good Father in all things, why fear or be anxious or dismayed? Ever? We have this situation in hand because Jesus has this. Jesus is doing this. Jesus is victorious. Spread the Word. Tell the Good News. Teach the message of faith. Let Him heal the sick and make everyone whole. Let Jesus set them free. You got free with no strings. Give them the same freedom with no strings. Spread His love. God has given them into your hands because He is ready to catch them, lift them, and redeem them. Teach the Word unvarnished. Make disciples of Jesus out of those you minister to. Don’t fear, just do. Show them the path forward is on our knees before God. Able to stand in His presence as precious children, but choosing to be subject to Him. Do that, and watch the dust that will be the passage of the devil’s feet fleeing. Not from you as you, but from Jesus in you, the Armour on you, and the Father whose shadow you dwell underneath.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Psalm 57

God always loves us. Our Father cares for us constantly and with total Grace. Which is awesome! God in all His shining glory, soaring through the heavens, still comes to us and spoils us rotten. What a great Father we have in God. What a great friend in Jesus. What a companion and teacher in the Holy Spirit. “For your great loving kindness reaches to the heavens, and your truth to the skies” (vs 10). That’s some kind of love! Even more, He allows us to take refuge in Him. That doesn’t come without cost. Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24-28). Following Jesus into the throne-room of His Father is our right. We can go boldly. But we cannot go as we are. We must take refuge in Jesus. We must sit under the shadow of His wings. So that His righteousness covers us. So that we are in Him and He is in us, and we are therefore, in Jesus, worthy and righteous enough to stand before the Father and experience His love for us. It is total Grace. It is a total gift. A gift to us of Jesus. A gift of Jesus to His Father of us. Without Jesus, it cannot be done. Father God sends out his loving kindness and His Truth. Jesus, the Truth, gathers us in to the Father. But we must be broken before Him. Aware of our own unworthiness and so striving daily to remain in Christ, who makes us worthy in Himself. To walk His paths. To worship in spirit and truth. To acknowledge the goodness of God. His mercy. His love. That’s the gift of salvation. Jesus gifting us to the Father. It is the love of the Father for us that lets us in. Think of that. He lets us in. It would have been easier for everyone involved to not let us in. But He loves us too much to leave us with no way to get in. Thank Him every day that Jesus was there to wrap us up and present us to His Father, the Almighty Yahweh God. The love of the Son. The love of the Father. Double love poured out on us. That is Grace. That is Love. For you.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.