Fear No Fear

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

“Don’t be afraid, for you will not be ashamed. Don’t be confounded, for you will not be disappointed. For you will forget the shame of your youth. You will remember the reproach of your widowhood no more.
Isaiah 54:4 (emphasis added)

One of the greatest weapons in the arsenal of the enemy is memory. How much mental time is spent re-hashing something that is in the past? It helps us to be and stay bitter, angry, frustrated, embarrassed, guilty, sad, fearful, lost, and a thousand other negative feelings. The more we’re looking in and back, the more we’re not looking up and forward. This isn’t to mean that the past has no value. I’m not saying introspection and remembrance don’t have value. The problem isn’t the mind. The problem is sin.

Everything not done in faith is done without faith. Since faith is how God does things, anything not done in and with faith is done without God. Because we are to rely on God in everything we do from laundry to prayer to prophesy, anything we don’t rely on God about is doing it without God. Relying in God means to be mindful of Him and His principles. His morals. His righteousness. Does that mean that if I go mow the lawn without consulting God it’s a sin? Of course not. But anything we can’t do with a clear conscience IS (Romans 14:23).

Holy Spirit indwells us. If we are keeping our faith muscles in shape by spending time with Him, reading the Word with intent, praising, and praying, we know that He speaks to us. We know from the Word the kinds of things that are good and bad. We know if something is permissible or not. And if we’re not sure, we can seek the Lord over it. We know when we shouldn’t be doing something. We know when we’re being disobedient, dishonest, or even semi-shady. And in the areas that we might not have that knowledge, Holy Spirit is there to nudge, teach, and grow us. Everything we do should be in a clear conscience with full knowledge of no wrong-doing. That is righteous conduct. That is faith living. Anything else is a sin. And we’ve got a lot of that baggage accumulated over our lives.

The problem with sin is that it’s sin. It is wrong against God. There is something deeply ingrained in us that makes us want to please God. When we don’t, that deeply ingrained piece of us cries out. That is normal, natural, and useful. It helps us deal with stuff. It helps us not to have unconfessed sin in our lives. It helps us deal with our baggage and cleanse our souls. After all: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). That should be it, right? I mean, part of confession is repentance. It isn’t a confession if you go out and do it again right away. Repentance is being honest that you need it. You need the help of the Lord to get clean. It’s acknowledging the wrongness of sin and the damage that it does to us. It’s fully confessing action and emotion or thought behind that action. It’s taking it to God and leaving it at the cross. It’s embracing the freeness of forgiveness. And it’s making changes to your life to not repeat that sin or pattern that led to sin. It’s turning around and walking the other way — toward the Lord. If we do all that, it should be easy street.

But it isn’t. Because the devil is a talker. “Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). He’s a thief. “The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10a). And we all know the adage: misery loves company. The devil has no power in and of himself. He’s fallen. Stripped of all that he had. He is a miserable, twisted soul yelling and whining in the darkness. And out of sheer bitterness and pique, he wants you there too. So he talks. He talks his way into getting power from us by usurping our authority. That’s what happened in the Garden. He’s still doing it. He robs us of the Word when we let him (Matthew 13:1-23). Whenever we are NOT into the Word, praising the Lord, and focused on Him, the devil has an opportunity to do his thing. And one of the biggest ways he does that is shame.

What is shame? It’s a painful emotion. It is caused by a consciousness of guilt. Or of something that brought censure or reproach. Or of an impropriety or shortcoming. Shame is the memory of sin. But wait. If we confess, God forgives, right? What does that mean? What happens to our sin? “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19). “Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins” (Isaiah 43:25). ““I will remember their sins and their iniquities no more”” (Hebrews 10:17). “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). If these verses — and many others like them — are true, then once forgiven our sins are gone. Done. Finished.

Shame is a sham. It’s the devil bringing things up that are dealt with. It’s trying to get us to take it off the cross and pack it around again. To give up our freedom for wallowing in the emotions and thoughts of the devil. Of the kingdom of darkness instead of rejoicing in the freedom of the Kingdom of God. And it all comes down to belief. What do you exactly and honestly believe? Remember 1 John 1:9? The faithful and just God who forgives? Well, do you believe that He is faithful and just? That’s the crux of it. If you believe the Lord is faithful and just, then once a sin is dealt with it’s gone. More than that, God can deal with things that aren’t sin, but are negative. What about trauma that you’ve experienced? Loss? Terrible things that came on you that you had nothing to do with? God can heal you of all of that. God wants us whole and healthy in every way (Jeremiah 33:6-9). All triggers, trauma, and trash gone and dealt with. We will be able to remember things, but have all the negative emotions and thoughts removed from them — though to be honest I believe God can take the memory away too (Revelation 21:4).

If we believe the Lord God Almighty, then satan has no ground to stand on. Why? Because we can do what Jesus did. Throw the Word in his face. Every time the devil tempted Jesus, Jesus responded with the Word. No commentary. No shouting and screaming. No wailing. Just the Word. Firm and believed Word. We can do the same: “Be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). If we have truly repented, then every time a reminder comes up, we can slap it with the Word. Because here is the thing: there is nothing so bad that God will turn from you. When you confess your sin is not when He becomes aware of it. He is with us always (Deuteronomy 31:6). He loved us before we existed (Ephesians 1:4). He loved you before you did anything wrong. He knew what you were going to do (Isaiah 46:10). He loved you regardless. His Son volunteered to die for us (Romans 5:8). No sin is so bad that God won’t kiss it better when we are repentant. And once kissed, dealt with, and on the cross? It isn’t coming back. God doesn’t even remember it (Jeremiah 31:34). If God doesn’t remember it, why would we want to dwell on it?

Every time the memory of a sin or shame comes up, speak the Word to it. Tell it no thank you and leave it in God’s hands. By abiding in Jesus who IS the Word, we can gain total victory over everything. Especially our mental landscape. The Lord is faithful and just. It is His nature. It is our hope and our promise. When shame comes calling, remember the Word. Stand on it. And send shame packing.

“For you are my rock and my fortress, therefore for your name’s sake lead me and guide me. Pluck me out of the net that they have laid secretly for me, for you are my stronghold. Into your hand I commend my spirit. You redeem me, Yahweh, God of truth” (Psalm 31:3-5)

“I always thank my God concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in him, in all speech and all knowledge—even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you— so that you come behind in no gift, waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you until the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:4-9).

“May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)
Learn these verses. Arm yourself with them. Use them to defeat bad memories. Of every kind. Every time. Once it is in the hands of the Lord Jesus, there is nothing that can take it back. It is gone, done, dealt with, finished, and complete. Stand on the Word. Stand in Jesus and tell shame to hit the road.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Matthew 25:34

The Lord has a place for us. An inheritance of all the promises of the Word. A place of Blessing. He made it special just for you. No one else can stand in that spot. No one else can inhabit your inheritance. It is yours. God made it before He made the universe. He made it while thinking of you. Of your smile. Of your happiness. Of your joy. He made it, giggling and looking forward to the look on your face. He made it to fit you and only you. The Lord is Faithful. The Lord is Just. Jesus told us of this place of loving that the Lord has made. Don’t wait. Run to the lap of your Father in Heaven, jump into it, and dwell there. He is your Father. He is a GOOD Father. Enjoy Him. Because He loves you. He wants to be Love to you. Let Him. It’s lovely. Trust Jesus. He can’t lie.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.