Fear No Fear

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

Yahweh said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid because of them; for tomorrow at this time, I will deliver up all slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.”
Joshua 11:6 (emphasis added)

When God gives a victory, He REALLY gives a victory. Chariots were the tanks of Joshua’s day. Not only was the Lord going to destroy the fighting force coming against them, they were also going to destroy the ability of these people to effectively wage war later. THAT is total victory. That said, right about now you may be wondering (as many have) about all the death killing. It’s a major criticism of the book of Joshua. Full of violence. The sheer bloodshed at odds with the beginning of the book that deals with promised lands and bounty and happy feelgoodedness.

God didn’t pick the land of Canaan out of a hat and decide to eliminate them. These were all peoples descended directly from Noah. The righteous man saved from the flood. One of his sons – Ham – had sons who eventually settled in areas and turned into nations. The Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Amorites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Philistines, and the Canaanites. All these nations (and several more) got their start in Ham, son of Noah. Their roots were in the worship of God. They knew about Him. And they turned from Him. In fact, God tells to the Israelites that these were losing the land because of their wickedness (Deuteronomy 9:4-6) and not to feel prideful about the conquest because the Israelites weren’t always the sweetest dates in the basket either. Amos 9:7 shows us that the Lord had DIRECT interactions with the Philistines and the Syrians. These people being driven out of Canaan had hundreds, maybe thousands of years to get right with God. They did not. They chose to forget their reverence for the Lord. They chose to walk away. They lost.

The same thing happens to the Amorites. In Genesis 15:16 Yahweh tells Abram that the iniquity (sin) of the Amorite is not yet full. In Leviticus 18:24-29 Yahweh explains that He is serious about these things and that the people in the land got vomited out BY THE LAND ITSELF for their wickedness. In Deuteronomy 20:16-18 Yahweh tells the Israelites what they need to accomplish with these people who defiled the land and became land vomit. But not until Joshua 24:8 is it fully accomplished. Between Genesis 15 and Joshua 24 is about FOUR HUNDRED years.

For all of those four hundred years God was talking to the Amorites. Trying to get them to change their ways. How do we know? First, God desires all people to be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4). Second, God is MERCIFUL and full of loving kindness (Psalm 136:1-3 & Exodus 34:6-7) and He does NOT impute sin where there is no knowledge of it (Romans 5:13).Third, the Israelites sought to avoid them all together until one of their kings forced their hand in a piece of the Amorite lands (Numbers 21:21-25). Fourth, using the Israelites as a guide, God warns of consequences over and over and gives chances over and over (Books of Judges, Kings, and Chronicles to start). These peoples had chance after chance. Even when King Sidon was killed (for attacking the Israelites who asked to peacefully pass through – staying on the main road and not even drinking their water), the rest of the Amorite nation did not turn back to Yahweh. God gave ALL of the people a chance to repent. They did not take it. They paid the price of disobedience and rebellion.

Fast forward to today. We’re dealing now purely with the spiritual since Jesus was victorious over death (the price of sin) on the cross (Romans 8:1-4). What does God say to us today? Do not fear because I HAVE HANDED them to you. Jesus did it all on the cross 2,000+ years ago. Are you sick? He healed you by his bruises (Matthew 8:16-17; 1 Peter 2:24). Believe it. Read it in the Word until it gets inside you and you explode with knowledge and revelation from Holy Spirit. BELIEVE and be healed. Our FAITH heals us (Matthew 9:22; Mark 10:52; Luke 7:50 & 17:19) when we BELIEVE. Trust and be totally convinced that the Lord heals and then eagerly expect that healing He provides to manifest – that’s belief and faith.

When Jesus died on the cross He paid the price of sin and defeated all sickness and disease for all of time. It’s done and gone. The Lord doesn’t deal with the done and gone. He cannot and will not put it on you, keep it on you, want it for you, or teach you with it. He doesn’t put sickness on us to teach us ANYTHING. Like EVERYTHING in life, He teaches us things where we are – that doesn’t mean He sent it. He doesn’t need to SEND anything to teach. That’s why we have the WORD.

That Word says we can be healed of our sickness if we have faith to believe and do not allow unbelief to get a hold on us (Genesis 15:6). Are you struggling with unbelief? Jesus says in Matthew 17:21 that unbelief doesn’t go out except by prayer and fasting. Look at the whole section (vs 20-21) for the whole lesson on faith and the spiritual truth that you only need a little of it – provided your unbelief is not blocking you. And if you have faith in the words of Jesus, then you can dwell in Him (John 15:4-11). If you’re dwelling in Him (and fellowshipping with Him daily, investigating Him in the Word) you can also walk in supernatural health unable to get sick (Psalm 91).

That’s one example. Of PRESENT-DAY victory. Not only of a thing (sickness) but of robbing that thing’s ability to wage war against us in the future (supernatural health). I know you might not believe me. That’s okay. I’m not saying it. I’m only saying what God said about it. Look it up. Study it. It’s in the Word. It IS possible. Do A, qualify for B. Simple. We just need to choose to believe, have faith by grace (that’s easy), kill our unbelief, and dwell in Him. Takes dedication, but it is doable. 100%. PROVISION: We are healed by FAITH. Faith comes from being in the Word. By HEARING it. Reading, memorising, meditating on it. Unbelief is killed by being with the Lord (praying and fasting) and trusting what He says. That takes time. This is all truth. You know what else is truth? Doctors aren’t evil. Vaccines are not evil. In fact, they can be morally responsible to your community. However, they can also be abused. They can be negative. They can be harmful in our worldly, carnal enthusiasm to do it ourselves. Be led by the Lord in every action. EVERY action.

There is nothing wrong with going to the doctor and getting help. Why? Building faith & shrinking unbelief takes time – BUT IT WORKS. Sometimes a doctor can help you while you build your faith – BUT FAITH WORKS (Hebrews 11:8-19). Sometimes we just can’t believe for a miraculous healing, but we can believe for a successful operation. Unbelief can hinder God’s best because we have free will (Proverbs 18:21). But you know what? We don’t understand everything and it is also truth that God has used doctors and not healing. Why? Why not? One thing doesn’t have anything to do with the other. You CAN live in supernatural health. A doctor CAN help you. They are NOT mutually exclusive. Maybe that doctor got saved later because of something you said during your time with him. Who knows? And what does it matter?

The things is, doctors only push back sickness and disease. A cure in the natural is only a cure until something else happens. It’s like how the Old Covenant dealt with sin. Sacrifice pushed it back. It took a sacrifice of innocent, righteous, sinless blood (Jesus) to pay for sin. It takes acceptance of Jesus’ same sacrifice to end sickness. Seek God, listen, and go to the doctor if He doesn’t tell you not to. It won’t hurt to be helped in the natural if you can’t believe for the supernatural. Thank the doctor and thank God for giving the Doctor their ability to help. Best case? The doctor helps. Worst case? You’ll have the name of the sickness you’re coming against. Doctors helping doesn’t mean God doesn’t heal miraculously, instantly, and continuously all over the world today. Where is your unbelief at? That is going to be the biggest marker of what method your health travels. And never EVER criticise anyone else for which path they choose to trod.

Don’t stop building your faith or seeking the crucifixion of your unbelief (Hebrews 11:6). Choose to believe God. Stay in the Word. It’s a wonderful place to be. Abiding in the Word, abiding in God will give you benefits that are supernatural (Exodus 15:26). You will experience the Blessings of God – and the Lord doesn’t have to operate in OUR understanding. TRUST that He can do it. ALL of it. The Word says He can. Expend the effort. Meditate day and night on it. Day after day. As long as it takes. And then do it because it’s better than anything else. Don’t give up. Victory is ABIDING in God. Jesus has already achieved it. He did it on the cross. He extends us His spirit of righteousness so that we can achieve it too.

Now a lot of people don’t like hearing this. They think it is a bunch of false promises. But it isn’t. They are God’s promises and He always keeps His promises (Joshua 23:14). The thing is though, that God doesn’t promise just to bless us. God promises because we are in Covenant with Him. We enter into it daily as we chose Him over the world. We enter into it through Communion. We enter into it when we believe He is Lord and confess it. We enter into it when we are baptised into His death and resurrection to life again. We enter into Covenant with Him. Remember in Deuteronomy where Moses told the Israelites not to be full of themselves? That they weren’t getting the land because of their righteousness? It is therefore implied that they were getting the land because of the inhabitants LACK of righteousness. But God doesn’t leave us confused. He loves clarity.

“Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, to keep the LORD’s commandments and statutes, which I command you today for your good? Behold, to the LORD your God belongs heaven, the heaven of heavens, and the earth, with all that is therein” (Deuteronomy 10:12-14). It gets clearer in a few verses when in verse 20-21 he says “You shall fear the LORD your God. You shall serve him. You shall cling to him, and you shall swear by his name. He is your praise, and he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen.”

You want total victory? You want to walk in all that the Lord has promised? Great! Walk in obedience. Walk in reverence. Walk praising Him. This isn’t scary because Jesus said “Come to me, all you who labour and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). But Jesus also referred to it as taking up our cross (Luke 9:23). This means this is not an easy process. Jesus went through the same thing. People wanted to make Him a king and He went away to pray (John 6:15). That would have been tempting for anyone, much less the man who had come to be a king. Why not be a king without the hassle of suffering? But Jesus TURNED from the temptation and entered prayer. He praised His Father. He did NOT succumb to temptation. He sought to walk in obedience and achieved it.

We can achieve the same obedience and the same victory if we do the same thing. It is easy to understand. It is simple. But it takes effort. Not works. Not earning it. Being broken. Admitting that it is only by and through Jesus that we can do it. Taking all our baggage and all the pleasures of this world that are not in line with the Word and nailing them to the cross. Seeking Him and His will every day. All day. First and before all else. Letting nothing get in the way. Walking from temptation by entering into praise and prayer to the Father.

Can we do it? In Jesus, we CAN. That’s why He came to restore us. To mediate for us. To lead us. To shepherd us. To get us to where God wants us. In Him we move and have our being. In Him we have victory. In Him we have all that we have been promised. But it takes obedience. Narrow is the door that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14). But it is ABUNDANT life through that door. It is worth the effort of staying dead to the flesh. It is worth the effort of abiding in Jesus. It is worth the effort and the choice of obedience.

Yahweh Elohim will give us the victory because Yeshua won the war. He will prevent the enemy from waging war against us again – that’s His idea of a victory (Nahum 1:9). Total. Absolute. And for all time (Hebrews 13:8). Here we are and there we will be. Obedient children, abiding in Jesus, and walking in His ways. Start today and don’t you ever stop. Embrace obedience. Gain total victory through Christ who does and is all things. Amen.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Psalm 139:1-18

(really, the whole Psalm is good). God loves us. You might say that He could never love you. Not with who you are, how you are, or what you’ve done. Listen to me: He was beside you the whole time. NOT there as a vengeful God. NOT there helpless. NOT there letting you go through it. There WEEPING for you. BROKEN for you. HURTING for you. Jesus is ALWAYS there calling out to us. DESPERATE to save us. To lead us to His pasture. His place. Where we can have rest, restoration, wholeness, and peace. He NEVER leaves us. He is aware of EVERYTHING that we do. EVERY moment. EVERY day. You can’t get away from God and you can’t get away from His love. He knows you better than YOU know you and He STILL loves you. Completely, totally, and without judgment on YOU – judgment is on SIN, which Jesus paid for. He doesn’t want you wandering. He doesn’t want you lost. He wants you in a love covenant with Him. He wants to CORRECT you and lead you to where you do NOT sin. Where you despise sin like HE does and FLEE from it. A covenant where loving each other is the most important thing. A covenant where because of our love, we find ourselves not only obeying but STRIVING to obey. Choosing what pleases Him because of our LOVE. Which lets Him love on us in a BLESSING way. To use His eager love to unleash His creative power over us. To make us into Him. To sanctify us and lead us and love on us in ways we can hardly comprehend. Go see Him. You’ll get a hug, not a lecture. A feast, not a list of don’ts. Submit to Him in humble obedience. It will change your life. It will bring you the abundant spiritual life that is your inheritance. He is life and He is love. Make your covenant with Him today and renew it every day. It’s a blessing.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.