Fear No Fear

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

So he healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons. But he would not permit the demons to speak because they knew him.
Matthew 21:14 (emphasis added)

Demons have no say in salvation. They have no say in the state of your soul. They have no real information that is important in ANY way. Jesus did not speak with them. Jesus did not permit them to speak. They were useless. Jesus had no interest in how they saw Him. He was VERY interested in how people around Him saw Him.

“When Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven! And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:13-18). The revelation of Jesus as Messiah, the Son of the living God was the revelation upon which the church was built. It is the Rock of our Salvation. It is the fundamental truth that we have to accept to move forward. Without it, we are sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36-38). Jesus is ALWAYS asking us this question, because it is this question that everything hangs on.

Jesus was our substitute. He paid the price we owed. He did the work we could not do. He took sin on Himself WITHOUT deserving it. Without sinning, He became sin. All we can do is be sinners. He WAS sin for us. Never having done ANY wrong, He was killed to pay the price and offer us redemption. Like money in the bank, we have access to all the blessings of Heaven. Jesus is the bank machine. We are walking around poor an impoverished unless we go to Jesus and take a withdrawal of what is ours by right.

“No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed; you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you. This is what the Lord will do for his servants—I will vindicate them,” says the Lord” (Isaiah 54:17). Our legal right of inheritance is total and absolute victory in the exact same way Jesus had it. “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble and suffering, but take courage—I have conquered the world” (John 16:33). We have this access because IN JESUS we are the Righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). In Him, we are joint heirs of the Kingdom (Romans 8:16-17), sons and daughters of God (2 Corinthians 6:18).

Was Jesus sick? Was Jesus lacking for money and needing to beg at the roadside or work overtime every other day? Was Jesus lacking in food? Was Jesus taken by surprise by demands of people trying to bring Him down? Was Jesus confused or unable to say the right prayer for the right situation? No. Not even ONCE. The reason is that He had Holy Spirit indwelling Him AND HE LISTENED. He worked hard at keeping the communication lines open between His spirit and His Father in heaven. He fasted. He prayed. He spent time alone with Yahweh. He worked so hard at it and was so focused on it, that He NEVER said or did ANYTHING that He wasn’t directed to do.

We can do the same and be the same. We can be carbon copies of Jesus. Our spirits already are (Romans 6:10-11). Our minds already are on the spiritual level (1 Corinthians 2:16). If we have the same spirit and we have the same mind spiritually, then all we need to do is renew our PHYSICAL mind so that it matches our SPIRITUAL one. That is what Yahweh accomplishes through the Word (Romans 12:2). That is our journey. The accessing of our spirit through our Christ-mind in order to receive what our Christ-mind knows has been given to us. Sounds complex, but it isn’t. Not really. It is relying on the Word to tell us what is ours, what is available, and what is required in order to receive it.

Humble submission to what we find in the Word is how we do it. If the Word says we need to do something, we need to do it. If the Word says we need to keep something away from us, we need to go in the other direction and not pick it up. If we do what He says, we can have what He gives. If we do NOT do what He says, then we will NOT be walking with Him or abiding in Him, and we will not be able to reach the outstretched hand. It can be a challenge to get our physical mind to perceive spiritual things, but that is why we keep the Word around us all the time.

We read it daily, seeking to meet Him. We think about what we have read or heard, mulling it over and seeking revelation from Holy Spirit. We work to understand it, and then apply it. We have it around our thoughts all day long. The more we put it before our eyes, the more of it we will truly SEE. What we SEE we can grasp. We can move in it. He shows us how. But if we don’t put anything in, there is nothing He can draw out to show us. Why settle for a grainy monochromatic analog version of the Kingdom when Adonai is offering us an Ultra 4K 3D digital version?

If you know who you are in Jesus, you will know what is available to you – if you submit. It isn’t about feels, thrills, or chills. It is about HIS point of view. What is right, from Yahweh’s point of view? It comes up again and again throughout the Old Covenant. The ones who did right from His point of view were blessed and lived in peace. Those who sinned from His point of view were troubled, at war often, and frequently under the thumb of their enemies.

As you approach life and health, which side do you want to be on? Who do YOU say that Jesus is? Since we only have identity in Jesus, your vision of who He is determines the depth of your identity. YOU have an opinion. What YOU have to say matters. He doesn’t want anyone or anything to get in the way. He doesn’t want you parroting anyone else’s ideas. He wants to know who YOU say He is, and then act accordingly. Is He Messiah, Son of the living God? Then worship Him, submit to Him, and remain humble before Him. Accept correction when you need to. Accept the Blessing and wholeness that is yours by right as an obedient child of Yahweh. Know Him in the way He WANTS and SEEKS to be known: Loving Bridegroom to loving Bride. Loving Father to loving Child. Head of Messiah to Body of Messiah. And if we are truly connected to Him, how could anything but total victory be floating through the Blood we share?

Who do YOU say that HE is?

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Psalm 18:2-3

“The Lord is my high ridge, my stronghold, my deliverer. My God is my rocky summit where I take shelter, my shield, the horn that saves me, and my refuge. I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I was delivered from my enemies.” The shofar (ram’s horn blown to produce trumpet sounds) symbolises many things. It is reminiscent of the coronation of a king. It is the herald of the conscience – especially during the ten days of repentance leading up to the Day of Atonement. It is a reminder of God’s revelation at Sinai, which was accompanied by the sounding of a shofar. It is like the exhortations of the prophets whose voices rang out calling Israel. It is a reminder of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. It is a reminder of the ram that Abraham offered as a sacrifice. It is a reminder of the feeling of humility before God’s majesty and might we should have. It is a reminder of the Day of the Final Judgment. It foreshadows the jubilant proclamation of freedom, when Israel’s exiled and homeless are to return to the Holy Land. It foreshadows the end of the present world order and the inauguration of God’s reign of righteousness throughout the world. Messiah is THE horn of salvation, the DIVINE shofar that blows and inaugurates everything we have been promised will be. “For he has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from long ago, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us” (Luke 1:69-71). Jesus is this Horn. Jesus is OUR Horn. Jesus IS the Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

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

Matthew 16:16b