Fear No Fear

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

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.
Matthew 10:8 (emphasis added)

Yeshua (Jesus) doesn’t charge us anything. The Father does NOT have a price tag on anything in Heaven. There is no commodities market. There is no secondary market. Everything of Yahweh is freely given to those who qualify by seeking Him in ALL their ways. Submit. Obey. Seek. Believe. Receive. That’s the process. That’s the totality of what is “done” by us. All the prices of the Kingdom were satisfied in Jesus. All the costs were already extracted by Him. We were FREELY given ALL things.

This is NOT limited to healing and miracles. “But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). “The God who made the world and everything in it, who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives life and breath and everything to everyone” (Acts 17:24-25). “Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). That pretty much covers it, doesn’t it? Is there ANYTHING left out? “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (Ephesians 4:7).

By GRACE through FAITH we are saved. As we just saw, Grace was GIVEN to us freely. Faith was ALSO given. We were GIVEN God’s faith (Mark 11:22) – each of us getting the EXACT same amount (Romans 12:3). We did NOT deserve it. “But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). This was arranged before the foundation of the WORLD (1 Peter 1:20). Before the world that you were eventually born in was born. THAT is Grace. “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

If we got salvation from Yahweh for FREE when we did NOT deserve it, how can we hold it back from ANYONE for ANY price? To be clear here, I am not talking about a book you wrote or a teaching tape you manufactured. There is nothing wrong with giving material away for free. There is also nothing wrong with covering your costs. The bible is clear that money is not evil, but the LOVE of money. When God is our source, He will direct us in what we should be doing with the products we make.

I am specifically talking about MINISTERING to people. DISCIPLING people. WITNESSING to people. These things are the meat of the Kingdom. How can we charge for these things when we were not charged? If someone asks you to pray, pray. Don’t charge five bucks, right? Notice, though, that none of these verses speak about money. They’re talking about something more than that. They are talking about religiosity. Why are we making people jump through hoops that the Lord didn’t require US to? “They tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them” (Matthew 23:4).

Jesus was talking about the religious leaders. The scribes who decided that the Law needed to be embellished in order for people to keep it. Don’t work on the Sabbath, right? That’s Exodus 20:8-11. But what EXACTLY does ‘not work’ mean? What does ‘rest’ MEAN? Does it mean you can pass your neighbour an object through your window? Does extending your hand mean you’re working. What if you walk more than half a mile? Quarter of a mile? Making food? Heating up food? Instead of going before the Lord and asking, over time they had built up a list of ordinances and commands about EVERY aspect of the Law to make SURE by ACTION that you did not violate any of the 613 commands found in the Law – 365 negative commands and 248 positive laws. Rabbinic tradition interpreted those prohibitions, filling in operative details and setting up further restrictions to provide greater assurance that the Torah’s bans were not violated. Over centuries of application and interpretation, these restrictions were extended and refined.

This Oral Law was meant to fence in the written Torah and keep both it and those who follow it safe. They believed it was also given at Mt. Sinai, but passed down word-of-mouth instead of written down. In Jesus’ day there were over fifteen hundred of these – some small and some large. Even though no one successfully kept the Law in their words, actions, and heart (Ecclesiastes 7:20), they added these rules to it to ‘help’. What are the chances that it did? Further rule jockeying never helps you keep the rules. This is another reason Jesus came. To make sure that we learned that we’d strayed from the Law. From it’s purpose to show us the sinfulness of man and the NEED to get right with the Lord (Romans 3:20). Jesus came to show us that what is in the HEART is even MORE important than what we do with our words and actions (Matthew 5:17-30).

Instead of sticking to rules of legalistic points, we can look to the heart and will of the Father and see what is right. Was healing on a day of rest correct? Yes, it is ALWAYS the Father’s will to heal (Hosea 4:6). Is it okay to rescue and animal or a person on a day of rest even though it would mean you are working? Yes, it is ALWAYS the Father’s will to save (1 Timothy 2:3-6). We need to FREELY give the things of Yahweh WITHOUT withholding from ANYONE. Freely we received. Freely we give.

This is the essence of the Abrahamic Covenant between Yahweh and the Jews that we – as Gentiles – have been grafted into (Romans 11:17-24). We are blessed in order to bless. It doesn’t matter if it is spiritually, emotionally, physically, or financially. If YOU received, YOU give. Led by Adonai, healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, casting out demons, and everything else Jesus did here on Earth is possible. Since WE can do it in order to show proof to the world that the Lord is God and the Word doesn’t lie, why would you GATEKEEP the thing you’re supposed to be SPREADING?

The evidence of our belief and faith is the miracles, wonders, and signs the Lord uses to confirm to the world that a great thing is happening. That HE is moving. That human agency CANNOT accomplish the same thing. That the Lord IS God and should be listened to. The world is eager for something solid to believe in. To stop the shifting sand beneath their feet from shaking their life. Don’t deny them the Lord That Saves. Don’t keep them from the Lord Who Heals. Don’t keep back His glory with YOUR unbelief. Freely you were given to believe for healing and more. Freely give what you were given. Spread the message. Spread His love. Be the BLESSING you were created to be (Ephesians 2:10).

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Exodus 12:46

“It must be eaten in one house; you must not bring any of the meat outside the house, and you must not break a bone of it.” Jesus suffered hematohidrosis in the Garden, sweating blood. He was force-marched almost three miles, without sleep, and then mocked and beaten. He was flogged from His shoulders to His upper legs. He was robed and had thorns shoved into His head, causing damage to the nerve that supplies the face – and then the robe was ripped off, which re-opened the wounds of flogging. He was spit on. He was nailed wrists (hands) and ankles (feet) to wood. His wrists, shoulders, and elbows dislocated. His lungs were compressed. His diaphragm had to work overtime to breathe. There was tissue damage, leaking fluids into lungs, dehydration, a failing heart, watery fluid leaking into His tissue from the bloodstream, and a high-level of carbonic acid in the blood. Yet not ONE bone was BROKEN (John 19:31-36). Not a bone of the Passover Lamb was to be broken. Not one Jesus’ bones were broken. Not one. Jesus WAS our Passover Lamb. Jesus IS Messiah.

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

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

Matthew 16:16b