Fear No Fear

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

Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan swore to them and to their men saying, “Don’t be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.
Jeremiah 40:9 (emphasis added)

The Lord always shows mercy. His mercy endures forever (Luke 1:50, 78; Romans 11:30-32) as does His Loving Kindness (Psalm 136). This is very, very true today as He indwells us through the Holy Spirit, guiding our steps (Psalm 23:3). We can speak with Him and hear from Him and Jesus has given us His nature to succeed. But even under the Old Testament, even under the Law, the Lord was merciful and provided a way forward.

The King of Babylon had been sent to punish Israel and carry away God’s people into bondage for their sins (which they had been repeatedly warned of almost right to the day that Babylon invaded). A remnant was left behind. A remnant which could keep the Promised Land warm, as it were. Ready to take up worship again. Not everyone was sure this would happen. They feared a return of the Chaldeans to punish/destroy the rest of them. But the man the King of Babylon appointed governor assured them that this wouldn’t happen. That they could serve their conqueror in peace and without fear of destruction.
God was willing to let a disobedient, defiant, and rebellious people keep a remnant behind to preserve their ancestral lands. Let’s you know that the keeping of that land was important. The fulfilment of all the rules of stewardship was important. The Law wasn’t willy-nilly. It was there for a reason and it was a requirement. So that remnant was left and the Lord said, if they were faithful He would care for them. How much more will He care for us today? We aren’t under the Law (Luke 16:16, Romans 6:14). We’re inside a relationship, the fulfilment of the Law (Matthew 5:17-18, Romans 7:4). Not only did the Lord leave a remnant, He made certain that they could live in the land in peace. He was clear on this. Not only in the above verse but later His prophet Jeremiah made it clear when telling a group of the (dissatisfied) people not to leave but to stay.

The Lord has very clear ideas about where He wants us. This might be a particular geographic spot (like the Promised Land), or an employment situation, a church home, a task that needs doing, or even in an emotional/mental landscape. In each and every instance, He will guide us and make His will clearly known to us. Don’t believe me? Skim through the books of the Law (Genesis through Deuteronomy). Again and again, the Lord is clear about what He wants, what He expects, and what will happen (good and bad) to the Israelites. Then look through the rest of the Old Testament. It happened EXACTLY as God said it would hundreds of years before. Those that took His lifeline, succeeded. Those that didn’t, did not have a happy ending.

Today the Lord is the same — He never changes (Hebrews 13:8). Yes, we are under the New Covenant. Sin is paid for. We do not stand condemned of sin. We do, however, stand convicted of our love and trust in Jesus Christ: have we been gentle, kind, forgiving, loving, patient, etc. Read through the gospels in a bible with red ink when Jesus speaks. Only read the red text. Some of it will be confusing (the black parts give the context for His words), but again and again Jesus tells us what He expects of us. The same principles as in the Law EXCEPT in the New Covenant, sin has been paid for. It isn’t about dealing with sin. It’s about getting close to the Father. Using the righteous nature of Jesus — which He gives us by Faith through Grace because of His sacrifice and resurrection — to renew our minds to get our minds & bodies in line with our spirit and by that, to enter into the Courts of Heaven with praise and thanksgiving. It’s almost as if Jesus was teaching us to function as if the curse didn’t exist anymore.

What does that look like? “It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you today, that Yahweh your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you, and overtake you, if you listen to Yahweh your God’s voice. You shall be blessed in the city, and you shall be blessed in the field. You shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock. Your basket and your kneading trough shall be blessed. You shall be blessed when you come in, and you shall be blessed when you go out. Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you. They will come out against you one way, and will flee before you seven ways. Yahweh will command the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to. He will bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. Yahweh will establish you for a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and walk in his ways. All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by Yahweh’s name, and they will be afraid of you. Yahweh will grant you abundant prosperity in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you. Yahweh will open to you his good treasure in the sky, to give the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You will lend to many nations, and you will not borrow. Yahweh will make you the head, and not the tail. You will be above only, and you will not be beneath, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you today, to observe and to do, and shall not turn away from any of the words which I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them” (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). Now stop there. Everything after that is the horrible stuff you endure when you DON’T follow God’s commandments. And it is presented as the penalty of Law because it was. But we’re not UNDER the Law. For us it works like this: stay in God’s yard, get the Blessing. Leave the yard? Don’t. Don’t get the Blessing. Is that so bad? Yes. It is.

You see, we think of the Blessing as an extra. That we get to dah-da-dum-da-a-dah-da-dee our way through life and everything is copacetic. And if we get really holy, we’ll get more stuff. If we pad the offering basket, we’ll get above and beyond return. If we show up to every service, listen attentively to every sermon (or at least not yawn), volunteer for Sunday School once a month, do the pancake breakfast, and help old ladies across the street we’ll get blessed because we’re going above and beyond. But God doesn’t work like that. If you’re out of God’s yard, you’re exposed to everything that is out there. You’re under the rain of the curse, not the rain of the Blessing. It doesn’t mean that everything will immediately go wrong. Or that they will appear terrible. They may not. They may look tickety boo because when you operate by the world’s system the world’s system can reward you. That’s what systems do. But you’ll be saturated by the curse. You’re eating the best out there, but it has no nutrition and its production is poisoning the ground you get your water from. You’re living in the nicest places, but there’s mould in the walls. You’re wearing the best clothes, but they beat a factory of children half to death to make it. Everything comes with a price — whether you see it or not. And nothing returns love. It does return a cheap version of it. But it is emotionally based, so it can change at a moment’s notice. Nothing is stable. Everything is shaky. Everything can be taken from you. There is fear everywhere, especially when there’s security because then you’re a target for everyone who doesn’t have security and wants it. The rain of the curse is cold and thin.

The Blessing isn’t designed to be an extra. It’s designed to be a lifestyle. It’s designed to be an atmosphere. Of faith. What does that mean? It means you don’t talk trash. You don’t say things like ‘if I can afford it’ or ‘it would be nice to do that’ as if you couldn’t. In the Blessing it is NEVER a question of whether you can or if you can afford. The questions are always ‘is it a need’ and ‘did you tell God your want’? God provides ALL our needs (Philippians 4:19). God likes to hear your wants because He likes to give you what you want (Psalm 20:4). So we can talk like we can afford anything — because we can. We can talk like we can do anything at all — because we can. We can talk like we have perfect health, complete energy and ability — because we can. So why don’t we? Why don’t we have everything we want and loads of cash and no colds ever? Could be a lot of reasons. Two foundational ones are intent and belief.

Belief is simple. You have to believe. Be fully persuaded. Simple. It’s almost a ‘you have belief, you get the things’. Almost. But that step of full persuasion? It takes effort. It takes time. It isn’t easy. Do you want an example? Abraham. Huge man of faith. One of the founding fathers of the Kingdom of God. But he worked at it. He was given a single promise. He thought about it and thought about it. Meditated. Mulled it over. Remember, God doesn’t work on earth in things having to do with dominion and man without the permission of a man who holds that dominion. So the promise came to pass when Abraham was fully persuaded in the promise. That was 25 years after the promise. That’s right. One promise. A simple one. An impossible one. And it took twenty-five years for Abraham to be totally persuaded and his wife to be fully persuaded (because they BOTH had to faith this one). We have a lot more promises. Some are simple. Some not. Almost all of them are impossible (the best ones are double impossible). How much thought are you putting toward them? Not thinking of them, but thinking of them fulfilled. Thinking of them having come to pass. Thinking and meditating and mulling? Belief is simple. But it takes effort. Daily effort. Until it is no longer mental belief but heart truth.

Intent is another foundational biggie. Because here is the thing. What do you want your wants for? What is the benefit to you? Because if you’re going to spend all your time in front of that new TV and neglect all the discipline that got it for you, then it is a negative thing. God doesn’t give negative things. Do you want food that will damage you? Do you want activities that will hurt you? Do you want stuff and things that will take time away from the Word? Now this needs to be clear. God is NOT against stuff and things. But the world is active 24/7 and we are God’s instruments in it. He calls us to be ready. That’s the armour of God thing (Ephesians 6:10-18). If God comes calling in the middle of your game or your program or your meal or your vacation or your whatever, will you drop what you’re doing and answer? If the answer is no, then it is higher than God in your life. And that’s idolatry. And that’s negative. And God doesn’t give negative things. “You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:3). If we want our wants every time we ask for them, we need our wants to line up with God’s wants. He wants us to have good things. We want those things to never, ever get in the way of what He wants. Whether that is attention or fellowship — sometimes God just wants to talk with us.

This reveals a third foundational biggie and takes us back to where we started: obedience. Faithfulness. To do what God requests, how He requests, and when He requests. So it will go well with us. Again, staying in the yard of the Lord. Where He wants us. So we can enjoy the Blessing that falls there without ceasing. We listen to the Word of the Lord, letting it transform our minds, and attune ourselves to the will of the Lord. The Word reveals the heart of the Father. Get close to that heart. Treasure it. Abide in it. Make it your own. His words becoming your words. His atmosphere becoming your atmosphere: no fear, no lack, no negativity, no strife, no selfishness. Purity. The fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Not letting a word escape into your atmosphere by anyone that isn’t of the Lord without challenging it. Not to be rude or confrontational. Just to reset the atmosphere. Simply to echo what the Word says. Because the atmosphere of the yard of the Lord is saturated in the Word. We need to be so VERY careful of what is in our atmosphere.

The best way to program your atmosphere is with praise and worship. “Don’t be drunken with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always concerning all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; subjecting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ” (Ephesians 5:18-21). Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are a game changer. They are the best way to bring the glory down around your ears. Doesn’t even matter if they’re in tune or well done. God doesn’t care about SOUND like He cares about HEART. He wants to see our heart. He wants to hear our heart. And He wants His heart and our heart to align. In every way.

Don’t be afraid to do what the Lord asks of you. To stay in a job, in a living situation, leave a situation of any kind, do a task, say something, keep your mouth shut, open your mouth, or whatever the Lord says. If we want to be close to the Father it isn’t just about obeying. It is obeying with a joyful heart. Mindfully. In accordance with the Word. In an atmosphere of His possibilities. Praising and thanking Him for His mercy and love — they remain forever (Psalm 136). Serve the Lord and deepen your relationship with Him. Dwell in the place the Lord has for you at this time. It will be well with you, so don’t be afraid.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: 2 John 1 (especially vs 3)

The Lord is Love and He wants us to not only experience it, but to walk in it. For Love to become such a part of us and such a habit for us that we cannot be separated from it — or Him. He wants to shower us with His gifts. Gifts that get us into His Kingdom. Gifts that save us. Because He doesn’t want to lose anyone. No one. Everyone has value and worth and is precious beyond all belief. He loves you. Enter that Love and walk in it. Walk with Him.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.