Fear No Fear

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

O Lord my God, I cried out to you and you healed me.
Psalm 30:2 (emphasis added)

The most comforting, peace-inducing, calming, restoring thought we can have is the foundational truth that Adonai HEARS us. We all have a need to have assistance. We get it throughout our whole lives. From family, friends, teachers, co-workers, governments, organisations, and the list goes on and on and on. We are a social people. We look to each other to help and assist us. But there are times when there is no human help available. There are times when we find ourselves physically alone and stranded. We know in those times that we can call out to Yahweh and He HEARS us. There is NOTHING as comforting as knowing He hears.

There is, however, a provision to this. A single provision. It is often overlooked because of Isaiah 55:6-7. “Seek the Lord while he makes himself available; call to him while he is nearby! The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle and sinful people their plans. They should return to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, and to their God, for he will freely forgive them.” It is TRUTH that Yahweh hears the cries of the sinner as they turn to Him for salvation and rescue from the mire of unrighteousness they were stuck in up to that point. If Adonai did not hear the cry of the sinner seeking to be saved we would ALL be in trouble. We can trust that the cry for salvation is ALWAYS heard. After we are saved, however, we move into different territory.

“We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is devout and does his will, God listens to him” (John 9:31). “The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous” (Proverbs 15:29). “If I had harbored sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (Psalm 66:18). “But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God; your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers” (Isaiah 59:2). “You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask; you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions” (James 4:2-3).

There are more. If you are trying to worship Him in ways that He says are not acceptable – He wants us to worship in humble submission, in spirit and truth, from a place of love and not fear (John 4:23-24; Psalm 63:1-4; Psalm 100:1-2; Malachi 1:6-14). If you are forsaking Him (Jeremiah 14:10-12). If you are refusing to listen to Him (Proverbs 1:24-25, 28). If you are ignoring the commands He gives us in the Word, reading but not applying what He brings to your heart (Proverbs 28:9; Zechariah 7:11-13). If we are ignoring the poor and not helping our fellow humans (Proverbs 21:13). If we are violent and lovers of violence (Isaiah 1:15, 59:2-3). If we are worshippers of idols (Jeremiah 11:11-14; Ezekiel 8:15-18). If we are living in hypocrisy (Luke 12:1). If we are proud in our hearts (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). If we are self-righteous (Luke 18:11-14). If we are mistreating Adonai’s people (Psalm 18:40-41; Micah 3:2-4).

It’s a daunting list. Thankfully, we serve a merciful God and He does not leave us floundering about. He works with us CONSTANTLY to address everything we do, say, and think that turns us from His path. “I will instruct and teach you about how you should live. I will advise you as I look you in the eye” (Psalm 32:8). We MUST pray in FAITH, however, or He will NOT hear us. “And whatever you ask in prayer, if you believe, you will receive” (Matthew 21:22). Faith is the air of the Kingdom. We have to fill our spiritual lungs with that air in order to be able to speak prayers that He hears. What is the good news about that? We only need a teeny, tiny amount for it to be faith. “He told them, “It was because of your little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; nothing will be impossible for you”” (Matthew 17:20).

We need to deepen our faith and strengthen it exactly the same way we deepen and strengthen our muscles in order to be fit and functional (Romans 10:17). It doesn’t take much for us to HAVE faith. It needs to be faith that WORKS. We all have the same measure (Romans 12:3). We need to develop it so that it can work. A mustard seed isn’t big. It doesn’t take a lot. When we pray with that faith, we KNOW He hears us. We are in a different position in the New Covenant than everyone in the Old. We can – through Jesus – enter into the presence of Yahweh. We can STAND before the throne of the Father and speak directly to Him in Jesus’ name (John 14:13-14). “Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help” (Hebrews 4:16).

Isn’t that tremendous? Doesn’t that wipe away all the uncertainty of prayer? He HEARS us because we are standing right in front of Him. Standing there in FAITH (even tiny faith). Standing there IN JESUS. Standing there NOT as a sinner, NOT as someone who is refusing Him, NOT as one who hardens his heart, NOT as someone who is placing other things above the Father, NOT as someone who is rejoicing in violence, NOT as someone who is ignoring the poor, NOT as someone who is self-righteous, NOT as someone who is proud and selfish, NOT as someone who is forsaking Him, NOT as someone trying to get from the Father to do whatever we want, NOT as any of that. No. We can stand there in humble submission to what HE wants, asking Him to help us love one another. Asking Him to help us keep Him first. Thanking Him for Holy Spirit, who guides us and corrects us and explains the Word to us. Thanking and praising Yahweh for who He is and ALL He does for us, in us, and through us.

Holy Spirit was sent our way to be a Counsellor. A Teacher. A Guide. A Voice. Every time we get even CLOSE to all the things that will hinder our relationship with Adonai, He tells us. Every time we are praying and praying and realising that nothing we say is going anywhere but our own ears, He is there to get us right with the Father so that we can again hear from Him and talk to Him FREELY. It is a beautiful relationship. It is a wonderful partnership. It is a Merciful and Gracious thing. It is our hope. It is our lifeline. We can speak and Yahweh HEARS. The Holy Spirit guards that. It is so very important to our lives.

It does no good to cry out to Adonai with nothing behind it. Standing on nothing. Doubting there will be a response or help or a solution. Fearing a smitey God who is angry at us. So full of shame for those things we have done. All of those is a carnal attitude. That is our feelings and senses controlling our attitude. We need to realise that we are NOT sinners. We are SAVED. We are the REDEEMED. If we sin, we repent. We seek Him on the issue. We don’t let time pass. We get right with Him. We protect our relationship and conversation of faith between us and Adonai. We put Him first and foremost. We walk in FAITH. We walk in CONFIDENCE. We walk in GRACE. If we humble ourselves and submit to the ways of the Lord. It is so SIMPLE. And it is a HUGE reason why Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit (John 14:26). To empower us to abide in Him.

We can whisper, He hears us. We can talk, He hears us. We can shout, He hears us. Our words only need to go as far as our heart, He hears us. We are not assailing the Gates of Heaven. We are not crying out and up to a God sitting on a Throne far away. “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Jesus the Messiah is IN OUR HEART. We share the same real estate. He HEARS us. No matter where we are, He hears our prayer of faith. Faith that He hears us. Faith that His promises are true. Faith that Jesus heals, the Father heals, and the Holy Spirit heals. Body, Soul, and Mind. Our WHOLE selves.

We pray. He hears us. He heals us. This is TRUTH. This is ABSOLUTE TRUTH. Trust it. Trust the Word. Trust Him. Stand on the Word and speak to Him today. He WILL hear you. He does what we call in faith founded on His Word. He does what He says He will do. Always. Accept it. Pray it. Live it.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: 2 Samuel 7:13

“He will build a house for my name, and I will make his dynasty permanent.” Jesus did a work for us. Jesus died, paying the price for sin. He offered Himself up as the offering on the altar for us. In HIM we are washed clean. In HIM we are righteous. In HIM we are able to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. The eternal kingdom. The never-ending realm. “For thus an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be richly provided for you” (1 Peter 1:11). Jesus is the life of the world we know now, the ʿolam ha-ze (the world now). Messiah is the end of uncertainty, miseries, and strife of this life. Jesus is the doorway to the ʿolam ha-ba (the world to come), the longer than eternal unseen world we can enjoy through Messiah, the Anointed One, Jesus of Nazareth. In Jesus, we are proven worthy of participating in the world to come. Messiah proves us by inhabiting us. In JESUS we are made whole (John 15). Jesus IS Messiah.

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

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

Matthew 16:16b