Fear No Fear

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

They watched Jesus closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they could accuse him.
Mark 3:2 (emphasis added)

Watching the Lord Jesus is a great thing to do. Looking carefully at what He did and said in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts is extremely profitable. Examining how He talked and did things provides a good model. Investigating why He said things the way He said things is instructive. There is a LOT to learn from the Lord Jesus. The Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, and teachers of the Law – the religious thinkers – spent much of their time watching Jesus closely, looking at all He did and listening to everything He said. But it profited them NOTHING.

They were looking for the wrong things. They were seeing from the wrong perspective. They were SO CLOSE to true wisdom and instruction, but their hearts and their minds held them back. They were convinced they were right. They were looking from a place of rules and punishment and seeking to put that on Him, instead of re-evaluating their philosophies and ideas in the light of what He taught. They were firm in their ways and would not consider His. They thought ABOUT the Word, but they did not think about the Word in the CORRECT way. Bondage begets bondage. Fear begets fear. There was no love and no faith in how they thought and how they investigated.

They sent spies to trap Jesus into speaking against Rome (Matthew 22:15-22). They demanded He show them signs (Matthew 12:38-42). They argued with Him about points of the Law that were in contention or had aspects that were debated (Matthew 19:3-9; 22:23-33). They judged Him for who He associated with (Luke 7:39-40). They set traps to catch Him on points of the Law – setting up unwitting people to fall (John 8:3-4). They challenged His piety and adherence to the Law (Mark 3:1-6). They teamed up with each other and essentially made a practise of nagging Jesus to find fault (Luke 11:53-54). None of these are the actions of open-minded seekers of Truth.

Yahweh is NOT close-minded. Don’t let religious thinking convince you otherwise. Adonai ENCOURAGES free thinking. He does NOT want mindless adherents to a set of strictures. “Do not extinguish the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt. But examine all things; hold fast to what is good. Stay away from every form of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22). How can we stay away from evil if we keep our ears closed and eyes down? Does this mean we should go experience all the bad so we can identify it and know how to fight it? NO! That’s religious permissiveness. We are to be open-minded challengers of everything, wrestling with thoughts and ideas, weighing them against the Word, praying about it, and accepting all the good we find. We are to stay away from evil. We don’t need to see a bad film to know it’s bad. We don’t need to do things to know what the Word says about them. We don’t need to gossip about our friends and co-workers to know that we shouldn’t. We follow the Word and behave according to it (Proverbs is a great set of guidelines). When something challenges our beliefs, investigate it, pray about it, and seek the Word on it. Keep anything good. Continue to flee from evil!

The teachers who came against Jesus weren’t even doing THAT. All they wanted was to prove Him wrong, shut Him up, and make Him – and His message – go away. THIS is the dangerous attitude that we have to watch for in ourselves. When we hear that healing is for today. When we hear that the Lord prophesied over our nation. When we hear that we can prosper in what we do. When we hear things that are either new or not what we have heard in the past. What do you do THEN? HOW are you thinking about these things?

The Word is clear. Do not hear them, read them, or think on them in order to prove them WRONG. No. Investigate them against the light of the Word. Check out the scriptures. Read commentary. Pray it out. Seek for yourself to see if what you heard is, in fact, in the Word. Jesus was constantly re-aligning the disciples’ thinking to what the Word REALLY said. Look at the Sermon on the Mount. Here is a good example. ““You have heard that it was said to an older generation, ‘Do not murder,’ and ‘whoever murders will be subjected to judgment.’ But I say to you that anyone who is angry with a brother will be subjected to judgment. And whoever insults a brother will be brought before the council, and whoever says ‘Fool’ will be sent to fiery hell” (Matthew 5:21-22).

Jesus quoted the Law (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17). Everyone in His hearing knew the Law. It was taught to them and adhered to and monitored by the teachers of the Law. Jesus then pointed not to what the Law said, but the INTENT of the Law. At the WAY they should look at the principle of murder and killing. That the heart intent of our interactions with one another is JUST as important as how we PHYSICALLY deal with one another. I cannot count the number of times something has come out of my mouth and I feel a tingle inside because my spirit is balking at what I just said and/or how I said it. That I have NOT been kind. That I have NOT been gentle. That I have NOT been merciful. That I have NOT been loving. That I have NOT accessed the Fruit of the Spirit that is inside me and ready each and every time I open my mouth (Galatians 5:22-23).

How is it that the religious thinkers looked at Jesus? Jealousy. Even Pilate saw that (Matthew 27:18). That is the OPPOSITE of how we should be looking at things. “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 5:24-26). Do NOT provoke yourself or provoke others with a bad attitude. Do NOT kick against what might just be a move of the Lord God Himself (Acts 5:39). Do NOT try and trap fellow believers (or Jesus) in legalities or doctrinal faults.

Test what you hear. Investigate the moves of Adonai with an OPEN mind and an OPEN heart. Hear with more than your ears. Set what you hear against the Word. Take it to Holy Spirit and pray it out. LISTEN for an answer. Be willing to be wrong. Be willing to accept NEW thoughts about ESTABLISHED doctrine. The Holy Spirit will NEVER EVER EVER contradict the Word. If the WORD says it, then it is SO. We can trust that. Healing has NOT passed away and the Word proves it. Other things religious thinkers believe may just be wrong too. Check them out and listen to the guidance of Holy Spirit. Jesus came to bring ABUNDANT LIFE, not nitpicking and told-you-so-ism (John 10:10). Don’t miss your healing and the healing of those around you because of un-sound teaching. Live in TRUTH. Walk in KINDNESS. Rely on JESUS.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Leviticus 1:2-9

““Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When someone among you presents an offering to the Lord, you must present your offering from the domesticated animals, either from the herd or from the flock. ‘If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he must present it as a flawless male; he must present it at the entrance of the Meeting Tent for its acceptance before the Lord. He must lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf. Then the one presenting the offering must slaughter the bull before the Lord, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must present the blood and splash the blood against the sides of the altar, which is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. Next, the one presenting the offering must skin the burnt offering and cut it into parts, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. Then the sons of Aaron, the priests, must arrange the parts with the head and the suet on the wood that is in the fire on the altar. Finally, the one presenting the offering must wash its entrails and its legs in water, and the priest must offer all of it up in smoke on the altar—it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.”” Yahweh does not demand perfection from us, but He IS perfection. He IS total Righteousness. He has a standard that He has set because of His NATURE, not His desire for rules to be followed. Humankind was PERFECT and chose to rebel. In order to atone for that, PERFECTION is required. To get that through to us, there were RULES for sacrificial animals. ANYTHING that fell short stank of our shortcomings and was NOT acceptable. ONLY perfect animals and practices were acceptable. For atonement, only perfection can accomplish it. Yahweh demands perfection in that atonement. Only MESSIAH could be that perfect. Yeshua was a PERFECT man. He NEVER gave into temptation to sin – no matter HOW tempting. He struggled and strove and passed through FIRE for us. He gave Himself even though HE didn’t deserve punishment. He provided the perfection atonement demands. His sacrifice was a sweet smelling savour to the Father. Jesus IS Messiah.

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

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

Matthew 16:16b