Fear No Fear

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

Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Don’t be afraid of him,’ says Yahweh, ‘for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.
Jeremiah 42:11-12 (emphasis added)

The Lord knows what we’re thinking. He knows what we’re doing. He knows our needs. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:32 that “your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” He was referring specifically to clothes to wear, food to eat, and fluid to drink, but He also talks about the things we’re anxious about which covers a larger sphere. Our bills. Where our food is going to come from. Whether we can find a job or a safe place to live. In the end, the point is that the Lord knows everything that we need. We can assume He knows our WANTS too, because He sees inside our hearts — even though He likes to talk with us about them. He knows when we are worrying, scared, anxious, and losing sleep over the problems in our lives. A few verses earlier, Jesus asks a question for the ages: “Which of you by being anxious, can add one moment to your lifespan?” (6:27) Jesus knows that anxiety and fear serve no good purpose for the believer. They are nothing but negative.

But the world has a different opinion. They believe that those who are anxious are more intelligent. That anxiety is an adaptation of fear, which is often thought of as being designed to keep you safe and therefore is a vital and a fundamental human response. Their belief is that anxiety points to what your mind is saying needs your attention and what values are your deepest. That the anxious are chronic over-achievers and therefore more prone to success. That it can teach you balance in life — whatever that balance might mean to you (because the world hates to tell anyone that something is THE thing to do). Sounds logical and scientific. But it is based on an absolute lie.

Fear is not something the human species was meant to have. In fact, nothing in this universe was meant to have fear. It is not a fundamental human response. It is a parasite on the spirit of humankind. It is the carrier of the curse. It was not in the plan. It is a product of disobedience like everything else that is negative. It is the lifeblood of sin. Anxiety is a mind killer. It keeps us in chains. It is not a positive thing on its own. We can LOOK at it as a positive. The human mind was designed to be a powerful thing. Our words can change the atmosphere around us. We can bring anything to heel in a worldly way by the power of positive thinking. That doesn’t mean it is positive. It means we decide that this thing that is bad is actually good. Like smearing yourself with faeces and convincing yourself it’s a mud treatment. It’s having been horrifically scarred and telling yourself it was a growing experience. It’s being sick and telling yourself God is teaching you something with it. There is a billion dollar industry out there designed to get you to look on the bright side of life — and sell you the idea that this is how the human experience works.

The power of positive thinking is a weak use of the Law of Sowing and Reaping (Luke 12:29-34). We can look at anything and tell us it is a positive thing and if we sow into that enough, we WILL believe it. But anxiety is a choice. Most people who have it or who have had it don’t want to hear that. They’ll tell me I am wrong. But it is the truth. Not ‘my truth’ but Universal Truth. We can choose to leave it behind. Anxiety, fear, and trouble are choices we make (sometimes unconsciously) whether knowingly or by default — not choosing their opposites we choose them. We don’t have to accept anything negative as the human experience. It isn’t. It is the FALLEN human experience. The believer is above that. Jesus raised us up out of that when we agreed to abide in Him. We don’t need to settle for managing anything — be it our symptoms, mental landscape, or triggers. We have the God-given legal right to be healed. To have the scars smoothed. To have the pain removed. To have the sickness flee. We have the LEGAL RIGHT to be free from all pain, anxiety, depression, sickness, disease, or negative things. To be safe, whole, and secure in the boat while the storm storms away around us. To be delivered and safe in the hand of the Lord.

It starts with language. When you really start focusing on it, it is humbling how much negativity is part of our lives. How many things we label as a non-positive just in passing. Words matter. But words are like texting or an email. There is no inflection to texts. No nuance. If all we send are words, the recipient doesn’t know we’re saying it with a smile. As a joke. Or that we’re using sarcasm. Or that we’re not being passive-aggressive. They can’t hear our honesty or sincerity. The recipient can only go by the words we say. I can’t tell you the trouble I have had in life because I tend to say exactly what I mean. It isn’t always the case, I am as guilty as anyone about joking or unconsciously saying a negative I don’t mean. But when I talk, text, or email, I tend to say what I mean. No hyperbole. So many people blow things up or minimise things those around me assume I do too. There has been a lot of confusion over the years and a lot of surprise when someone realises that the black and white I said was just what I said. That’s why this unconscious negativity hits me so hard. I’m all about words having meaning and using just those words to convey exactly what I mean. Everyone around us can only go by what we type, they cannot rely on what they know about us or our situation. They can’t rely on ‘social cues’.

Our words work the same way with our atmosphere and the spirit world around us. God can see into our hearts and knows exactly what we mean. Nothing else does or can. What you say is what you mean — or it is assumed that you mean it. We can invite a lot of negativity into our lives by our joking. We can stop the Spirit moving by our statements of doubt — whether we mean it like that or not. Words are words are words. The best way to start rejecting fear, depression, negativity, anxiety, is to change the words we say. The way we do that is to get better words inside our minds and mouths. His Word.

As the crucifixion approached, Jesus knew His disciples were going to be facing a bad time. They would see Him taken, tortured, hung on a tree, killed, dead, and buried. They were going to be facing the loss of hope, peace, joy, peace of mind, and possible arrest and their own deaths. He knew what they would grasp in the natural. He knew how much of His teaching they didn’t get yet. I honestly believe that the source of the Last Supper preaching was His burden that they still grasped so little. That whole night was Jesus telling them the most important of the most important things. Anything Jesus spoke that night is three times as weightier as what He said the rest of the time because this was the foundational change your world stuff He was desperate for them to know. Anything said this night was really, really, really, REALLY important to us. Among a LOT of other gems, what did He say about our subject?

“Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me” (Luke 14:1). Don’t let. Don’t permit it to enter or pass through. Don’t give it an opportunity. Don’t adjust your thinking in that direction. They could — in their hearts and minds — choose NOT to be troubled. To be IN a storm, but not LET the storm affect them. He didn’t leave it there. He blessed them with peace and then told them again “Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful” (14:27). Anxiety is a CHOICE. Fear is a CHOICE. Why can I say this? Because the Word says this. Because Jesus said this. Because we can choose to BELIEVE GOD. We can choose to BELIEVE JESUS. We can choose to operate in HIS PEACE and LOVE. That’s it. Black and white. Period. Done.

This is TRUTH. God’s truth. The only truth that is worth anything. The only truth that remains true no matter what new information or facts come to light. In fact, if the facts are worth anything they’ll conform to God’s truth. If they don’t, we don’t understand what’s happening. Truth is true. Period. Believe it. Receive it. Choose GOD. Praise the Lord and walk in His love. It’s the only way to get lasting, real, spreadable, permanent relief from anxiety and strife. To leave worry behind and start walking in faith. With our words and then with our feet.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: John 14:23-31

Jesus walks in the Love of the Father. The Father wants us to walk in it too. Love and Peace. They are gifts that He gives us. Daily. All the time. Always. Why? Because God is Love and we are made in His image (Genesis 1:27-28). Everything the Lord does is motivated by true love. Unlimited love for us. He made us this earth and gave it to us to subdue and fill. He made us all the animals within it and gave them to us. He gave us all the food we could ever want. No animal was against us. We weren’t against them. We weren’t menu items to each other. There was NO FEAR AT ALL. Why? Because it was an atmosphere of Love and Grace. God loves us so much, He wanted to give us true paradise. Real heaven on this real earth. He did it even knowing that we would rebel, mock, avoid, and turn away from Him. And He still wants us. Each and every one. That’s how much He values our choice. That’s how much He seeks our hearts. That’s love.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.