Fear No Fear

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

The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid! What do you see?” The woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.”
1 Samuel 28:13 (emphasis added)

This verse shows Saul in a ‘should have known better’ situation. He KNEW God wasn’t happy with him. He KNEW God was against witchcraft and mediums (Leviticus 20:6, 27; 29:26,31). In fact, just before this in 1 Samuel 28:3 it says Saul himself had expelled the mediums and wizards from Israel. He also didn’t go to the medium in an upright or forthright manner. He disguised himself and went at night. She herself knew she was doing wrong. She was terrified when she realised who Saul was — so you know that he knew that it was bad. The whole thing was deceit and lies and rebellion against God.

Why include this verse when we’re talking about rejecting fear? Because of what it says a little later in verse 19: “Moreover Yahweh will deliver Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines; and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. Yahweh will deliver the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines”. Did you get that? Even through all of this, Samuel assured Saul that he would be with God the following day. He was in disobedience. He was in disgrace. He was in the middle of being punished. But the next day he would be with God. That is an amazing thing. Even before the fulfilment of the Law and the enactment of Grace, God was merciful.

When exactly, why, or how Saul was forgiven, I don’t know. But the Rabbis teach that Saul was forgiven based on the phrase tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. Did Saul deserve forgiveness? Do any of us? God is merciful. And Saul knew of God, guilt sacrifices, and all of the package. He’d been told it his whole life. Who knows what happened between this medium’s hut and his death the next day? If nothing else, this story is a shadow of the Grace that was coming in Jesus and His resurrection. Thank you, Father, that you are a GOOD God and Your mercies endure forever.

God loved us so much that even when we were in sin and disobedience and rebellion and anything else that you can think of, He sent His son to die for us. Even before we even tried to do anything – because we can do nothing to deserve it – He was merciful. Before our birth, before the universe was created, before time was time, He was merciful. Knowing what we would do. Knowing what our heart would be. He was merciful. He died for us. He died for you. He is so desperate for everyone to know Him and enter into His Grace. Because it is by Grace that we are saved. Believe that message even if you believe nothing else in your entire life. Believe it and have faith in Jesus.

Jesus broke His body for us. Why? To get at the blood. You can’t get blood out of a body without breaking it in some way. Even a needle breaks the skin. Jesus gave up His body to be broken so that He would lose His blood. All of it. That blood is the new contract. The new covenant. The one without guilt. Without death. Without everything that was part of the first contract — as the penalties of sin. This covenant with Jesus isn’t a religion. It’s a reconciliation and restoration between heaven and earth. Between citizen and king. Between father and child. God didn’t have to save us. He chose to. God provided a lamb (John 1:29-31). The lamb was a guilt offering. Only the guilty bring lambs. But God HAS no guilt. He took our guilt with His own lamb, and satisfied His own penalty for disobedience (Genesis 2:17). When Adam ate of the fruit, mankind was doomed to die. They were condemned. God knew this would happen and provided the sacrifice so that the price of sin was paid once and in full. No death anymore, only life. No trappings of death, only the rewards of life.

If you believe that Jesus died for your sins and was raised again to life by the resurrection power of God; if you have faith in Jesus and believe on Him; if you confess Jesus as Lord and submit to Him, then you’re in. Sins gone. Pass to heaven received. And also a ton of other stuff, but the most important thing of all is: You’re righteous. No matter what you feel or see in the mirror, God will give you a new nature – Jesus’ righteousness – and welcome you in as a child of His kingdom. It’s over. Battle won. No more war. No conflict. On the spiritual plane, everything is done. All that’s left is to accept it. To be persuaded of it. In full. The more you’re persuaded of, the more of that reality you’ll experience. Why? We believe, then we see (2 Corinthians 4:18). It is the foundation of faith (Hebrews 11:1, Romans 8:24, Hebrews 10:39). “Therefore we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord; for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are courageous, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well pleasing to him” (2 Corinthians 5:6-9). Faith is our part. What is God’s?

“Because he has set his love on me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him on high, because he has known my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and honor him. I will satisfy him with long life, and show him my salvation.” (Psalm 91:14-16). When we walk in faith, in the full persuasion that what God has said is true, when we honour God, love God, and declare Him to be God; we enable God to move in our lives. We invite Him in, knowing He can do it all. What level of victory will we walk in? The level we’re persuaded we can. That’s what faith is about. That is what dominion is about. He gave it to us (Genesis 1:26, 28; 9:1-2). When we use it to let God in to do mightily in our lives, there is nothing that cannot be done (Luke 18:27). Because when we do things with God, God does the heavy lifting. We do what we see the Father doing and say what the Father wants us to say – and how to say it – and we have no issues (John 5:19 and 12:49-50).

It’s so easy you have to get it wrong on purpose. It’s so simple people can think it’s too good to be true. But it isn’t. Just believe in what He did. Believe what the Word says. That’s all. Believe it. Receive it. Walk in it. It will change your life.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Psalm 148

It’s easy to proclaim love for God when we think of everything He has done for us. What about the overwhelming awe in love that we feel when we look at everything else? The Lord made everything. Jesus – the Word – spoke it all into being. Creatures, trees, grass, mosquitoes, planets, suns, and things we have yet to discover. It all proclaims God’s glory. Look at all the wonder He has created and love Him all the more for it. The creativity, diversity, and splendour of it. Look at the creatures within it. Our companions and the ones we see in the wild. That they are capable of intelligence, feelings, decent behaviour, and love? Isn’t that crazy? There is such a current of good that runs through everything — even the bad. Don’t believe me? Look at the figures of horror in world history. The men and women responsible for some truly terrible things. Even they were capable of love and kindness. Goodness toward their families. Toward those who they loved. In fact, that makes their horrific deeds all the more horrible. But that’s sin for you. It has polluted this whole creation. In spite of that pollution, God still works. Why? Because it cannot change God. It cannot inhibit God. It cannot do any of those things. God will not be mocked, not be stopped, not be hindered. It is easy to look at the terrible majesty of God and get lost. But the flip side is that God, that being of unimaginable power and authority and control, THAT God loves you. You personally. He is looking out for you, has a solution for you, demonstrates Himself to you, corrects you, guides you, rules you, and all because He loves you. That is amazing. But that is God. Worthy of all our adoration. All our praise. Think on His creation. Thank Him that you can share it. Think on His majesty. Thank Him that you can witness it. Praise Him. Every one. Amen.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.