Fear No Fear

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

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for her;“

Ephesians 5:25

If anyone doubts the love Messiah had for us, should read Hebrews 12:2 “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the originator and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God“. Jesus was so desperate for us, so focused on getting His family back, that He wasn’t even LOOKING at the horror of the cross. His eyes were on His prize: us. We are His BRIDE. And as everyone has heard, with every marriage comes a honeymoon period.

The honeymoon period is the time that you’re new in the full relationship (traditionally after marriage) where you’re living together and being intimate in every way. You’re not focused on your partner’s faults, but on the adventure of discovering each other. There may be ‘quirks’ or differences in how you were raised, but they’re ‘cute’, ‘interesting’, and NEW. Essentially, whether at home or going around on fun dates, 90% or more of your time is GOOD times. Enjoyable, smiles all around, and NO complaints of real depth.

The honeymoon period ends when those rough edges start to get your attention. When you can’t ignore the clothes on the floor next to the hamper anymore. When the snoring makes you want to punch them with a pillow (it won’t help, don’t do it). It’s when disagreements are about more than who loves who most. It’s when the quirks become irritations and irritations become issues and issues become fights. The world will tell you love is fading and you need to really buckle down and fight for it. That you need therapy and date nights and babysitters and to rekindle your passion. Not all of that is bad advice. But love isn’t passion. It is a decision. And all you need in order to return to a honeymoon period is to remember your choice. It isn’t like the negatives disappear – they were always there, after all. But you will no longer be FOCUSING on them. You’ll again be focused on the fact you love them. AND that conscious decision to love gets you BOTH into a place where you’re able to grow and develop together toward a future that contains sanded corners, kinder words, and mutual understanding.

We are – as New Covenant believers – the Bride of Messiah Jesus (Revelation 21:9; Ephesians 5:27-29). Ruach HaKodesh is the honeymoon period. Kindness. Gentleness. Patience. Love as an emotion (passion and that feeling of closeness – we can love while not feeling close, after all). Total open communication. A spirit to spirit understanding with the possibility of a mind to mind understanding (1 Corinthians 2:16). All the things that make a relationship fun, sparkly, and new. All the things that keep rough edges and quirks from becoming issues. All the things that make for adulting decisions in the relationship. All the things that help us to strengthen, partner, and build a relationship that LASTS.

We are NOT exempt from relationship building exercises with Adonai Elohim. How can we hope to be the Righteous Bride we are meant to be if we don’t let Ruach HaKodesh work with us to renew us into the image the Father sees when He looks at us. We need the Fruit He has, the correction, the instruction, the guidance, and the constant reminders of everything the Word has said to us (with intentful reading, listening, and meditating). He IS the honeymoon experience that we can enjoy even NOW because we ARE the Bride of Messiah Jesus and have been made BRAND NEW in Him. If that doesn’t make our life in Jesus here on this Earth a honeymoon period, I don’t know what would.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: 2 Timothy 1:7

“For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power and love and self-discipline.” We are NOT powerless. We have His power offered to us. All the things we need to succeed, He gives us. We don’t need to give into fears and anxieties because we have His LOVE in us – perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). We have self-control inside of us. It is more than the Fruit that Ruach HaKodesh offers. It is personal self-control, married to His Love and residing in our spirit. When we get saved and undergo renewal, that spirit we have comes alive and we are – in His strength – are able to exercise it and stand against our flesh which wants us to give into previous habit, previous thoughts, and previous decisions. The first stop in any battle is your mind, and Elohim equipped us with two of His biggest hitters right there. They are the first thing that rises up – unless we choose to ignore them or push them down – and the last thing that gets said as we march to war. He has made us ready to stand and succeed in our standing.  He is such a GOOD God.

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