Fear No Fear

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

In God, I will praise his word. In Yahweh, I will praise his word. I have put my trust in God. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
Psalm 56:10-11(emphasis added)

What makes God get close to us? What can we do to bring Him closer? Nothing. He is as close to you now as He ever was. From Deuteronomy to Hebrews we’re told He will never leave us or forsake us. He’s near to us when we’re hurting (Psalm 34:18). He is always near, whether we realise it or not (Isaiah 55:6). He has His angels always around us as well (Matthew 18:10). We are at the centre of a LOT of heavenly attention (Hebrews 12:1-2). Like with many, many, many other things, God has already done everything He’s going to do about this. He is resting in this. Work done. He’s there. End of story.

The problem is us. We are the ones who move. And we’re moving in the wrong direction most of the time. Because we’re not resting in the Lord, we’re following the paths of the flesh. The habits of our mind as it was. It doesn’t need to be sin as we think of it. The truth is that anything not done in faith — the full persuasion that God’s way is the right way and we should be doing according to His Word — is sin (Romans 14:23). Because we operate in a black and white scenario. Everything we do is of the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Darkness. Period. There are no other paths. We are either mindfully thinking of the Lord and applying His Word to all we do, or we are mindfully NOT thinking of the Lord and applying His Word to all we do. You see? This is the challenge of the believer. We believe, so we need to walk the walk.

How? How can we leave behind all the patterns we’ve spent a lifetime building? Jesus. Without Him we can do NOTHING (John 15:5). If we’re not using our faith, we’re not pleasing God (Hebrews 11:6). Everything is about the Lord when we’re thinking, speaking, and doing faith. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that faith is only walking with folded hands quoting scripture and nodding piously when you see someone else. Faith is laughing. Faith is doing dishes. Faith is playing with your kids. Faith is washing your car. Faith is mowing the lawn. Faith is being passionate. Faith is being faithful in employment. The Lord gave us a whole world. The Lord enabled us to have a wide range of emotions. The Lord gave us everything that is good (James 1:17). We can have the Lord in mind in every single aspect of human existence. Period. It will save us from so many missteps and so much heartache if we’ll only practice the presence of the Lord at all times and in all things.

But again, how? It’s hard to force our mind to think a certain way. It’s why habit is such a strong thing. Path of least resistance. We’ve already done a thing, so we keep doing that thing because there’s no effort involved. The ball rolls along the groove and we don’t bother to carve a new one. We need to build the Lord into our minds. To carve a groove of Jesus mindfulness. The best and easiest way to do that is praise. We all have — or can have — songs in our heads. Simple ditties. Sonorous hymns. Exuberant choruses. Catchy children’s tunes. The human mind is built for music. You’ll find snippets of songs floating through your head when you don’t expect it. Ever have a jingle stuck in your head? This is the same principle. Reading the Word can take some work. Concentration. Thinking. But songs? Those float through without conscious thought. We can let praise constantly float through our minds and help us think about the Lord in everything we do. Actively sing inside your head and with your lips. Praise Him. You won’t forget to think of Him when you’re always singing a song to Him.

Praise is a marvellous thing. The more you praise, the closer YOU get to HIM. It isn’t God coming your way, it’s you going God’s way. It’s standing and looking in His direction instead of leaving Him as some kind of divine shadow — always there, but almost never in sight. When we focus on Him, we can hear Him. How often do you get lost in a conversation because you turned away to pick up a coffee, grab an item, or because something else made a sound and caught your attention? It works exactly the same way with God. Reading the Word and praising the Lord are excellent ways to make Him real to you in ways that otherwise would never happen. And it is important to do. It is one of the most important things you can ever do. It keeps your eyes on Him. It opens your ears to His voice. If you want the glory, bring the praise.

This world is a place full of things that are not nice. We have to navigate these places and spaces. We have to deal with the way we’re treated by others. Today’s verse shows us the best way to do that. Trust in the Word of God, praise the Lord, and then there is nothing to fear. It will seem foolish to fear. What is death? It’s stepping through a doorway into a wonderful eternity — at least it is if you’re a believer. We don’t die. Our flesh falls off. For us, death has no sting (1 Corinthians 15:55-58). The Lord can get us through anything. Financial pressure, emotional pressure, physical pressure, sickness, wellness, abuse, bondage, traffic, energetic children, and every kind of thing that we can encounter. But the Lord speaks to us through the Word more than any other way. We hear the presence of the Lord when we’re praising more clearly than at any other time. Why? They get us to realise that we are close to Him. That in fact, the Lord is near and the Lord is here.

Standing next to the Lord while realising that you’re standing next to the Lord is the best place to stand. We can’t do it alone. We need Him to help us. We need Jesus. To be in Him and to have Him actively in us (2 Corinthians 13:5). And thank God for His Grace. It’s so beautiful. Read the bible as a way to hear Jesus’ voice. Think about what you’ve read. Listen for His voice. Praise Him. By word or song. Just tell Him what you think of Him — which will hopefully be nice things, lol. As you do, worry and fear melt away. This does not mean that the circumstances you are in melt away. But the fear of it does. It becomes easy to trust in what God says and to do what God wants us to do. We can fight and win our battles in our praises. We can finish our songs, and as the notes fade into the air realise that we no longer have a problem.

When God is for us, who can be against us? No one can do anything to you. Things might happen to you, but your focus will be on the Lord and your experience in this world will be completely different than people standing right next to you. It will change how you see the world. It will change how the world sees you. I promise.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Exodus 20:6; 34:1-9

Thank God for His Grace and Faith. Thank Him that Jesus came, died, and rose again – paying for our sins and freeing us from the curse of the Law. It is so great to be able to revel in the steadfast love of God without having to follow the Law. It is so freeing to have been given the righteousness of Jesus and let His Spirit guide us through life. To be able — through Him and by Him — to live free and full in the presence of the Father. It is a BLESSING to be separated from sin and the curse it brings (1 Peter 2:24). To be able to leave the things of the curse behind. To know that sickness, lack, weakness, sinful behaviour, and negative emotions are things we NO LONGER have tied to our ankles. That we are FREE from all of that. That we can walk and live and move and BE all of the BLESSING that the Father planned for us to have. It’s an amazing gift. What amazing Grace. Thank Him today.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.