Fear No Fear

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

Surely then you will lift up your face without spot. Yes, you will be steadfast, and will not fear, for you will forget your misery. You will remember it like waters that have passed away.
Job 11:15-16 (emphasis added)

What is the path to guilt-free living? Grace. Abiding in His Grace. Hands down. It was by grace, through faith, that we were saved. It’s through grace, because we can’t earn it, we enjoy God’s love and presence. It is through grace that we are able to praise Him and get close to Him and live in Him and enjoy ALL the benefits of righteous living – because we have Jesus’ righteous nature by… you guessed it: His grace, through faith.

We are called to abide in Christ by Christ (John 15:4). In John 14:21 Jesus said “One who has my commandments and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him.”” And in vs 26: “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you“. That’s Jesus all over. He tells us to abide in Him and to keep His commandments. Then sends us His Spirit so we can accomplish it. Holy Spirit to teach us everything we need to know and remind us of anything we forget. That’s grace right there.

It isn’t complex. Get the Word in you on a regular basis by reading it with the intention of seeing Jesus revealed. Praise God, and obey the Lord. That’s about it. That’s the process. Your flesh gets less and Jesus gets more of your thought time. You think about Him, talk to Him, thank Him, praise Him, ask Him, and listen to Him. We don’t have to follow the Old Testament Law. No one could ever keep every one of those rules. That wasn’t their purpose. One thing they were purposed for was to show us the heart of God. The total 100% righteousness He inhabits. The righteousness He calls us to live out. Jesus managed it. So that we can as well, He gave us His nature. We get to be the way He was. Carbon copies. We get to stay that way by abiding in Him – focus on the flesh, end up sinning; focus on God, return to sin less and less and less.

Return to sin? That’s right. You see, I am not a sinner. You heard me. I am NOT a sinner. But what about Romans 3:23, you say. “for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;“. I agree with that. I’m still not a sinner. Well, you say, what about 1 John 1:8-10? “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we haven’t sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” I agree with that to. I have sinned. I will in all probability sin again. But I am not a sinner.

It’s true. It shouldn’t shock you or ruffle your feathers. Not if you’re a Believer. Because then you’re not a sinner either. We were redeemed by Jesus’ sacrifice (Ephesians 1:7). He paid the price for sin. All sin (Revelation 5:9-14). He died, so no one has to (1 John 2:2). He went to Hell, so I don’t have to (1 Peter 4:6 and Ephesians 4:9). The Father raised Jesus to life, so I could also live (Romans 4:25). I accepted that. I believed it. I received it. I declared Jesus to be Lord. I confessed it. I was baptised. That’s all Romans 10:9. I was reborn (John 3:3). Given a new nature as I was made a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17). I have Jesus’ nature. His righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). A child of God (Galatians 3:26). A co-heir with the Anointed One (Romans 8:17). I am not a sinner (1 Peter 2:24).

I was a sinner. And it is possible for me to sin again (“But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because it isn’t of faith; and whatever is not of faith is sin.” Romans 14:23). But I am not a sinner. I am a Child of God who has to force myself to go against my nature in order to sin. When I abide in Jesus, I’m reading the Word to hear His voice, meditating on it, walking in His way, and praying throughout my day. It’s hard to sin. It doesn’t feel right. I don’t like it. And the fact is, that if I only do what I see my Father doing and say only what my Father says — and how He says it — then I can’t sin. The problem is, my flesh has habits. Sinful habits. And when I listen to it, when I take my eyes off Jesus, when I stop meditating on the Word, listening to His voice, and watching what path I am setting my feet on… well, then it’s easy to sin. “Jesus answered, “Aren’t there twelve hours of daylight? If a man walks in the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if a man walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light isn’t in him.”” (John 11:9-10).

It’s all about habit. Sin is a habit of the flesh. Righteousness is a habit of my spirit. Where I choose to spend my time is where my actions will be (Matthew 12:34 and Luke 6:45). Right or wrong. Kingdom of Light or Kingdom of Dark. Knowledge or ignorance. There is no grey here. When I do wrong, Holy Spirit is there to correct me. To shine light on where Jesus is and ask why I didn’t trust Jesus enough in that situation to walk where He is. To show what the Father is doing and saying. To remind me to be mindful. To repent. Truly repent, and to step back to faith — the full persuasion that enables me to lay my trust in the Lord and DO.

We all must take up our cross daily. To deny the flesh habit. To indulge the spirit habit. I am not a sinner, but I can sin. I thank the Father for His Grace when I do, because once I realise what I have done and see what Holy Spirit is showing me, I have the opportunity to repent. That’s not a quick I’m sorry and on with life. That’s a studied decision to stop what I am doing, apologise, make things right, turn around, and walk where the Father is instead of where my flesh might like to, want to, or feel like. I choose to acknowledge that what I feel isn’t real. I thank Jesus for His sacrifice so I do not have to live with sin — any sin. I thank the Holy Spirit for lighting the path for my feet so I can clearly see and choose to step that way. I thank God that I am a new creature. A mindful spirit habit making creature covered by Grace every step of the way.

God will change you, you’ll lose your taste for sin, and every day in every way you’ll get better and better. Not through your own efforts but through the renewing of your mind through the Word. You’ll get relationship with the Lord if you’ll pursue it. That’s huge. And it gives back more than you can imagine. Why? God is a God of increase and blessing, yes and amen.

Abiding in the Lord brings: security, peace, misery so far gone from you that you barely remember it at all, brightness, confidence, hope, protection, and rest. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Read Job 11:13-20. You’ll see every one. Read Galatians 5:22-25. You’ll see more. Read Psalm 91 and you’ll see even more. We are by Grace, through Faith, brought into the family of Jesus. We are joint heirs of Christ. Jesus was a Jew. We’re adopted into that bloodline in the spirit through Christ. We’re heirs and descendants of Abraham. We are heirs and recipients of every promise ever written in the Word from the first page to the last page. Through Grace, by Faith. Not just the Blessing, but also the responsibility of Abraham: to bless those around us. We cannot bless if we are not blessed ourselves.

Again, I am not talking a problem-free life. Jesus said we would have problems. But I have problems, the problems don’t have me. I see them, I acknowledge their reality, but I give them to Jesus and put them on the cross. After that, they cannot affect me. If they want to stress someone out, cause anxiety, fear, or disturbance; I direct them to the cross. That’s where they live. Me? I am in the boat with Jesus. Secure in my victory in Him. I don’t care about them because the Lord has my cares (1 Peter 5:7). No matter what happens to my flesh or where it finds itself, I am full of Blessing, prosperity, health, Joy, and Peace. I am praising the Lord. Are you?

You can believe it and receive it. It’s yours if you want it. Abide in Jesus and then surely you’ll lift up your face without a blemish. You’ll be secure. Wrapped in the perfect love of God, you will feel no fear. And no fear will be near. Amen.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Ezekiel 16:8-14

We were nothing. No one. Just people. But God saw something else. Something special. Something no one else did: you. God saw you. And He set His heart on you. He covered us, bathed us, clothed us, adorned us, fed us, and showed us the beauty in us that He saw from the very first moment. He did not wait for us to come around before He loved us. He didn’t let anything we did or didn’t do get in the way of His loving us. He doesn’t love us because we’re good. He loves us even if we’re bad. He loves us if we love Him. He loves us if we don’t. He loves us. He loves us. He loves us. Period. And He will do anything and everything for us. Just because. Honest. Read the Word and see. He loves you. But that means that He doesn’t let you stay like you are. He wants you to do what is best for you. He wants you obedient. He will correct you. He will guide you. He is God. Not a man. Not an equal. Not just a parent figure. He is GOD ALMIGHTY. Never forget that. We are not coercing Him. We are not conning Him. We are walking before Him. We are subject to Him. He loves us no matter what. But if He wasn’t God, then we would never get changed. Not really. We need to honour His love by giving Him what He is due. Our obedience. Our selves. Our all. It is more than important. It is the meaning of life.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.