Fear No Fear

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

David said to him, “Don’t be afraid, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your father. You will eat bread at my table continually.”
2 Samuel 9:7 (emphasis added)

Here is a beautiful piece of Messianic scripture. Mephibosheth was the only member of Saul’s family left alive. David had made a covenant with Jonathan that he (David) would always take care of him (Jonathan) and show both him and his line kindness. Time had passed, Saul and his sons had been killed in battle and the line of Saul was basically non-existent. But covenant promises are not idle promises. They’re to be taken seriously. And David took it seriously. David looked around desperate to find someone to whom he could “show the kindness of God” (vs 3). When he heard about a crippled, impoverished son of Jonathan, he was overjoyed and lost no time in bringing him to the palace, restoring to him family property, appointing caretakers to work his property, and making sure he always had a place of honour at the table of the king.
This is a great picture of God’s relationship to us. Jesus died for us. He determined to die for us before the world was made (John 17:24, Acts 4:28). He loved us before we were able to do wrong or right. He sought us out. He looked for us, desperate to show us the goodness and graciousness of God. In fact, it was by that Grace that Jesus was able to save us and deliver us from ourselves and the world around us. We’ve been released from the curse (Galatians 3:13). His body was broken for us (1 Corinthians 11:23). That shed His blood. And that is something special.

Blood does a lot. All life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:10-11 & 14). All healing is in the blood. It carries carbon dioxide and other waste materials to the lungs, kidneys, and digestive system. All nutrients are in the blood. Our food is turned into fuel and the blood takes it throughout our bodies. All protection is in the blood. Wounds clot and bruises are sectioned off (that’s the discolouration you see). The immune system is blood-based. All sustenance is in the blood. It carries oxygen to your body. All life is in the blood. If you have blood, you’re alive. How you die is the flow being interrupted or the blood leaking out. As long as it’s moving, you’re golden.

What about sickness? Disease is also carried in the blood. All disease is in the blood. From minor things to cancers to chronic disease. It is almost you name it and it has a connection to the blood. That’s one of the reasons sicknesses and disease can be so hard to fight medically. They’re in the thing (the blood) that is the repair system for the body. When your tool is broken, it’s hard to fix anything. That’s not how it used to be. There used to be a supernatural protective flow in our blood. There was no disease there, only life. When Adam rebelled, his blood changed. It lost it’s protective flow. And it is passed on down the bloodline to all humanity. Adam’s blood was so powerful, the sin within it is still killing people.

Jesus died, shedding His blood for us. Salvation is a transfusion of Jesus’ blood for Adam’s blood. The first Adam had bad blood. But Jesus? The Last Adam has perfect blood. He shed it for you. He breaks the cycle. He broke disease on the cross. The Father broke decay with Jesus’ resurrection. What did Jesus say? Eat of my flesh, drink of my blood?

Jesus is in truth the Bread of Life (John 6:35) and He offers it to us by Grace. We can’t earn it, don’t have to work to keep it, it costs us nothing. Whoever eats that bread (accepts His sacrifice, confess Him as Lord, and believes that He was raised from the dead to life eternal) will never go hungry again. We get to eat at His table always. Literally. He is our Living Water (John 7:37-39). What does He say? “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water”. Bread and water. A full meal. Unearned. Freely given. Out of love. To me. To you. To us all.

It’s so simple, isn’t it? We replace our blood with His blood. Or really, the part of His blood that we are missing mingles with ours. Giving us new life. Restoring us to where we should have been. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). If we have Jesus’ protective spiritual flow in our blood, then why are we accepting any sickness? Why do we let disease take root? Our blood has no disease anymore. Our blood carries the repair and restoration factors of the cross within it. There is every reason for us to put faith in that. To believe it and receive it. Jesus lives within us. His blood is our blood. His blood — with every pump of our hearts — is circulating in our systems bringing life-giving restoration to every cell we have.

“Praise the LORD, my soul, and don’t forget all his benefits, who forgives all your sins, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your desire with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103:2-5). These are foundational promises. This is the nature of God. This is the attitude of God. This is something for all of us. It doesn’t depend on anything but God. The Lord forgives our sins and heals all our diseases. He has redeemed our life from destruction. He renews us to our youth. Eliminating the so-called natural decay that robs us of the ability to move, speak, hear, and think the way that we should. The men and women of faith in the bible died in old age, but they did not die infirm. They were energetic as they aged. Capable. If we have the blood of Jesus in us, there is no reason for us to accept the aging process as the world sees it. We can age with full capacity. Yes, we need to be good stewards of our bodies. No, we can’t just lie around and never exercise while we eat junk. But why accept Alzheimer’s? Why accept immotility? Why accept fading eyesight? We don’t have to. According to Psalm 103:2-5 keeping our minds clear and active, our bodies mobile, and our eyesight clear is part of our right as believers. We got saved, didn’t we? Redeemed into eternal life, right? So we can also be healed. We can also have the capabilities of our youth restored. God is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). That means we can have the same as other men and women of God who walked with Him — Moses, Abraham, etc. If we are willing to walk with God, if we are willing to live the righteous life that they did, if we are willing to be sanctified as they were, if we are willing to be restricted as they were (none of this is ever a license to do whatever we want, but a process of learning to want what pleases God), if we are willing to do all that then we can have the same rewards and benefits that they did.

God is a God of life. He is not a God of decay. He is a redeemer. A restorer. A renewer. If we accept Jesus and everything that He did on the cross, we must learn to accept that renewal and health is part of the package. We can live it and receive it. Eagles moult from the head to the tail. When we accept that we can be renewed, it has to start with our minds. The Word renews our minds (Romans 12:2). The rest of us can follow. There is no reason why it won’t. We’ll still need completely new heavenly bodies at the resurrection, but while we are here on earth we can live in bodies that age but don’t decay. We can get old without getting infirm. We can keep our faculties. Instead of rotting away locked into a care home, we can spend our time walking, talking, and witnessing Jesus to this world. Our ‘diet’ can be the secret to draw others nearer to God. After all, who doesn’t want to know the secret of aging well?
Do you know it? In your heart of hearts? Have you had that chance? Have you taken it? You have it again. Now. If you want to never be hungry or thirsty again. If you want salvation, call on the Lord and be saved (Acts 2:21). Pray this prayer:

Lord Jesus, I have heard your word. Create in me a new beginning. I declare that you are my Lord, you are my Saviour, you are my King. I declare that the power of sin, Satan, hell, and the grave is broken over my life. From now and forever, I declare that I am a child of God. In the Name of Jesus.

You have received a transfusion. Life for death. Health for sickness. Spiritually, and from there to every corner of your life through the power of Jesus. His blood is flowing and it will reach every cell of your being. It is finished. It is done. By Jesus, by Grace, through Faith. Living with Jesus in your heart and in fellowship with the Holy Spirit on a daily basis is the best life imaginable. In fact, it’s so great and full of life and blessing that it is unimaginable in the human mind. It can only be believed and received! The Lord has done all the heavy lifting. All we need to do is accept His Grace. It’s awesome!! Welcome to the family. Praise God today and start the next step. Salvation is not the end point, but the beginning. We all must be disciples of Jesus. Studiers of the Word. Worshippers of the Father. And listeners of the Holy Spirit. We must die to our Selves every day and strive to learn the ways of God. It can seem daunting, but we can do it. We are new creatures. We’re allowed to act like it.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Psalm 149

God is a good God. His mercy to us is steadfast and lasts forever. We enjoy – or at least we have permission and are encouraged to enjoy – Him. To sing, praise, dance, and make noise before Him and toward Him. He takes pleasure in us. But He is righteous and we are called to be righteous as well. This isn’t celebrating our faults. This is celebrating who we can be in Him. He has a double-edged sword which we are told can get to the root of every issue in order to put it out of our lives (Hebrews 4:12). This isn’t a painless experience. But it is not to be dreaded. Rather, it is to be celebrated. We have the opportunity to be humble and to let Him remove all those things that aren’t compatible with His nature. To break our chains and fetters. To release us into new life in Jesus. In Jesus we can experience the victory that He won for us. In Jesus we have new life. In Jesus we have freedom. In Jesus we are refined. In Jesus we are perfected. Everything is in Jesus, by Jesus, through Jesus, and for Jesus. Because of that we can come boldly into God’s presence, singing and dancing. Eager for a chance to worship the God of all creation. Our Father. Our Groom. Our all.

Read this psalm. And then read it again. It will make your heart sing – if you let it.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.