Fear No Fear

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

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; just as you believed, it will be done for you.” And the servant was healed at that hour.
Matthew 8:13 (emphasis added)

Faith is the power of us taking hold of what Jesus did for us. It is our appropriation of what has already been accomplished. It is the eager expectation of what the Word has promised us. Belief is the level of our TRUST in that faith. Unbelief is the level of our DISTRUST in that faith. We will get what we believe for. Believe in the good, get the good. Believe in the negative, get the negative. This is NOT a new statement or a NEW teaching. Yahweh has been consistent since the beginning.

“Then the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die”” (Genesis 2:16-17). Eat freely from all the fruit from every tree – except two. That is a LOT of varieties of fruit. And they could eat ALL they wanted. Fill themselves to the brim. This is in ADDITION to all the seed-bearing plants (regardless of colour) that humanity was told they could eat (Genesis 1:29). The two major groups of seed-bearing plants are gymnosperms ( 1 , 079 species ) and angiosperms ( 295 , 383 species ) and other smaller groups comprise the rest of the species (up to about 300,000). That is a LOT of food. And they could have ALL of it. Yahweh provided them everything that they needed. There was NO natural reason for them to eat of that tree. But with a few well-chosen words, the devil – using the snake – chipped away at their TRUST that Yahweh had all their NEEDS provided for. It was the same tactic that he used against Jesus in the desert.

“The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread” (Matthew 4:3). At this point, Jesus had been fasting from food forty days. His body was beginning to starve to death. Jesus NEEDED food. He was filled with the Holy Spirit, had no sin, and was able to do ANYTHING that He chose because He was in perfect communion with the Father. There is nothing that says turning stones into bread is a sin. There was no reason that Jesus couldn’t have turned them into bread. But Jesus had come here to be fully man as well as a sinless being. He chose to become poor in flesh. To humble Himself and submit to the way this world works. When challenged to rely on Himself, Jesus chose to TRUST that His Father would take care of Him. Maybe the Father would tell Him to make bread. Maybe He would be told to leave the desert and return to civilisation. Maybe someone would bring something. Or a bird. Who knows? Jesus didn’t. He chose to TRUST, believing that His Father would meet His needs. He chose spiritual food over physical food. “But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”” (Matthew 4:4). Jesus stood on the Word, fully trusted, and later in verse 11 angels came and ministered to His needs. He got what He believed for.

Adam and Eve chose to stop trusting Yahweh. They chose to believe that there was something being kept from them. Something they were missing out on. And they chose to DISTRUST that Yahweh had the best in mind for them. They got what they believed for too. They got the consequence of their distrust – they learned what evil was. Since Yahweh could not trust them not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, He could not trust them not to eat of the Tree of Life. Which would have doomed them to live with evil and sin eternally. They lost their access to the Kingdom because of their choice. They went with natural food and not the spiritual. Adam had a DIRECT instruction from Yahweh. He COULD have stood on that Word, but He didn’t. They ended up outside the Garden, but Yahweh is merciful and they were NOT alone.

Cain also had a choice. Yahweh spoke directly to him and told him the situation. “Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast? Is it not true that if you do what is right, you will be fine? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.”” (Genesis 4:6-7). Cain did not trust that he could subdue it. Cain trusted in his feelings, in his flesh. In the very next verse he takes his brother and kills him. He got what he believed for. He was sent away. He lost his family and all that he had known.

Moses led the Israelites after Yahweh toward the Promised Land. Yahweh stopped right at the entrance. The Israelites were RIGHT THERE. Spies were sent in to determine the best routes and plans (Numbers 13 & 14). Mixed messages returned. Ten said the Israelites could not go in. Two said the Israelites could. Ten distrusted. Two trusted. “Your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness—all those of you who were numbered, according to your full number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me. You will by no means enter into the land where I swore to settle you. The only exceptions are Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. But I will bring in your little ones, whom you said would become victims of war, and they will enjoy the land that you have despised.” (Numbers 14:29-31). The ten got what they believed for: they did NOT enter the Promised Land. The two got what THEY believed for: they DID enter the Promised Land (Numbers 14:24; Joshua 3; Joshua 14:6-15).

The same was true with the centurion. He BELIEVED in what he had heard about Jesus. He wanted his servant healed and he believed that Jesus had the authority to do it. He put his faith in it and proved that he trusted Jesus in NOT making Jesus come in person. Just His WORD would be enough. The centurion believed and GOT what he believed for. Within the hour the servant was healed. It is the SAME principle of TRUST that has been here on this earth since Creation. It hasn’t passed away.

We are not under some special rules. Yahweh was clear from the beginning. He gave us free will in order for us to either choose to trust or choose not to trust. It is the same kind of decision for us. “And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong concerning sin and righteousness and judgment— concerning sin because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; and concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been condemned” (John 16:8-11). The believer is convicted by the Holy Spirit of not trusting in Jesus. That is it. THAT is our issue, our decision, our moment, and our victory. Right there. We can be victorious over the world in every way, every time – just like Jesus was – if we trust in Him and let Him lead us where we should go, what we should say, and how we should say it. If we put Him FIRST.

If we believe in what He says in His Word and we use the faith He gave us to appropriate it by Grace, we WILL receive it. Healing? Check. Wisdom? Check. Redemption? Check. Prosperity? Check. It is ALL about TRUST. Kick doubt and unbelief to the curb and TRUST in JESUS. You will get what you believe for. So believe HIM and NOTHING ELSE.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Psalm 2:6

““I myself have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill.”” You cannot stand on a holy place unless you are holy. You can be cleansed and prepared so that you can SEE holiness, but if you STAND in a holy place without being holy, you WILL die (Exodus 19:10-13). Jesus’ nature is HOLINESS. JESUS is the king who can be set up on the holy hill. “Who among you can prove me guilty of any sin? If I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me?” (John 8:46). ““To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write the following: “This is the solemn pronouncement of the Holy One, the True One, who holds the key of David, who opens doors no one can shut, and shuts doors no one can open:” (Revelation 3:7). Jesus is the Holy One (Mark 1:24). Jesus is the True One (John 14:6). Jesus IS Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

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

Matthew 16:16b