Fear No Fear

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

You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Don’t be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold, your God!” Behold, the Lord Yahweh will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.
Isaiah 40:9-11 (emphasis added)

What a great picture. And yes, get up on a high mountain. A rooftop isn’t high enough for this news. Can you see Him? Can you see Jesus coming in this picture? There is a duality to the Lord that is sometimes hard to reconcile. On the one hand He is full of might and power and glory that makes nations crumble and continents tremble. On the other hand He is full of love and compassion and a gentle touch enabling us to rest and sleep in His arms. Here we see both sides. We also see another side of the Lord (and face it, He has more sides than we can count. He always will – Isaiah 6:1-3). We get to see a side of growth, justice, and restoration.

God wants you to be whole. Inside and out. Spiritually, emotionally, and physically. The whole picture. Healing is good, but it isn’t good enough. It says right here that He brings His restitution with Him. Recompense is returning in kind, giving something by way of compensation, or to pay for. That is not only the restoration of something lost or stolen. It is also recompense for injury and loss. More than both of those, however, is that restitution—by definition— is the restoration of something to its original state. The Lord comes wanting to restore us to the original plan. His original plan. The one where we are perfect. Able to walk and talk with Him face to face. The Lord is merciful and His mercy endures forever. What Grace He extends to us.

This is the project of the Church. Church services have a purpose to teach us how to operate and walk in the Kingdom of God. They are meant to be an agency of the Kingdom. The Kingdom is our inheritance. “We were also assigned an inheritance in him (Jesus), having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who does all things after the counsel of his will, to the end that we should be to the praise of his glory we who had before hoped in Christ” (Ephesians 1:11-12). Kingdom is the governing influence that a king has over his territory, impacting it with his personal will, purpose, and intent; producing a culture (that is shared values, morals, and lifestyle) that reflects the king’s desires and nature for his citizens. When the principles of God’s Kingdom is taught to us and discipled in us, we gain dominion. Dominion is the spiritual system for enthroning Christ above systems and structures.

Who are you? Who are you in Christ? What are your rights in Christ? Do you have the ability to operate in His cosmos? Having dominion is not having domination. It is an atmosphere where we operate in the Kingdom. Not on Sunday mornings or at Wednesday bible study. Christ needs to be revealed and enthroned. In all of our life and BY all of our life. Everything. We co-ordinate all the resources we are given to ensure Christ gets revealed and enthroned. This is being an agent of the Kingdom. This is the project of the Church. As a corporate body (1 Corinthians 12:28). Beyond denomination. Beyond theological points and pickiness. This is what we are to do: #1 preach salvation & try to ensure the saving of souls. #2 Disciple. By teaching, pastoring, mentoring, and by example in the community. We can and should be pillars of our community. No government of any level should regret our presence. They should be thankful that we are and that we operate in our communities. That we have position, opinion, influence, and a message. That we glorify Christ in all we do (from laundry to litigation to leading). That we set Him above all things, all systems, and all structures. To lift up voices loud and proud proclaiming ‘THIS IS YOUR GOD!’

And as those around us — individually and whole communities — come to the knowledge and revelation of who Jesus is, He is there to shepherd us. With might. With reward. With recompense. To feed us. Carry us. Be with us. He doesn’t just throw health and restoration at us either. He stays beside us (James 4:8). To guide us and care for us (John 16:13). To direct our steps (Isaiah 30:21). To lead us to where we need to go as well as taking care of our every need (Psalm 23). He protects us, gathers us into His arms, and keeps us close (2 Thessalonians 3:3, Psalm 3:3, Deuteronomy 31:6). He takes especial care with those who are mothers and nursing their young (Psalm 22:9, Isaiah 66:10-13). He doesn’t just protect us, but He also protects those we are protecting. That is mind boggling when you really think about it. This is GOD. And He is right there with us in the dirt, on the grass, and by the stream. The world has no problem imagining a vengeful God. But an omnipotent, mighty being who also cares for each and every one of us here in the vastness of the universe? They mock the idea. They discount it. And try their hardest to disprove it.

But the Bible can’t be mocked or explained away (Galatians 6:7). It is a living record of God’s journey to both give us the capacity for freely loving and worshipping Him and rescuing us from our own folly and spite. The number of chances He gives His chosen people, The lengths He went for all of us. It is staggering. Honestly, it is beyond our comprehension. Which is why we get these beautiful word pictures. So that we can breathe easy. Put away fear. And worship Him. While He carries us safely and surely to where we need to be. So that we can rise up and proclaim His Goodness to the world: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”” (Isaiah 52:7, Romans 10:14-15). So that we can take those who answer His call, that receive the revelation of the Mercy of the Lord providing us salvation, and help them to grow: “He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ, from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:11-16).

Our. God. Reigns. In Mercy, Love, Power, Joy, Faith, Goodness, Thankfulness, Glory, and Honour. And we get to proclaim it. We get to live it. We get to walk hand in hand with Him. We get our spirits renewed and filled. Filled and overflowed. Filled and overflowed so much that the fruits of the spirit and health and prosperity and every promise of the Covenant from our Covenant Keeping God spills out from our spirits into our souls and into our bodies and into our homes and into our neighbourhoods and into our communities and into our cities and into our countries and into our world. Do not fear. Lift Jesus, the Anointed One up, enthrone Him, and give Him the glory for every good thing that is in your life. And see what can happen. See the care and love that will be showered on you. See the God of Glory move, and move mightily. Bring the praise, experience the Glory.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Psalm 23

“Yahweh is my shepherd (John 10); I shall lack nothing (Philippians 4:19). He makes me lie down in green pastures (John 6:10). He leads me beside still waters (John 7:38). He restores my soul (1 Peter 5:10). He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (John 10 again). Isn’t that a beautiful picture? Jesus said my sheep follow me. And we’re following Him — even when we’re in bad circumstances — to all good places. God loves us so much and seeks real fellowship with us. Every moment of the day. Everything we say and do. He wants to be a part of it. Is there something so big thoughts of it make it hard to breathe? He wants to know and help. Is there something so small and inconsequential you’d feel silly talking to your partner about? He wants to know and help. If it is on your mind, it is important to Jesus. If you’re a believer. You know His voice. You know He’s talking to you. You know He’s asking you about everything. Just to hear your thoughts. Why? He loves us. We were created to be like Him, and in Christ we can be. More of Him, less of us (John 3:30). Becoming peace in God (Romans 5:1-11). Simple as that.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.