Fear No Fear

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

Don’t be afraid, O Jacob my servant,” says Yahweh, “for I am with you; for I will make a full end of the nations where I have driven you, but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.”
Jeremiah 46:28 (emphasis added)

I thank the Lord every day that He is a merciful God and that His Mercy remains forever. Why? Because without it, we will receive what we deserve. No one wants to receive what they deserve. But the Lord God Almighty is merciful and His steadfast love endures forever. Jesus said “I am the vine, and my Father is the farmer. Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:1-3). The Lord is a God of righteousness. Because He loves us, He will correct us. Because He is a just God, He corrects us in measure that we need correction. It is almost impossible to always walk in perfect tune with the Lord. The greatest figures of the Bible, people called friends of God, people who are referred to as being after God’s own heart, people called righteous, people called mighty, people called wise, and people called loved of God; they all fell short. We all fall short (Romans 3:23) and God knows that we will (Psalm 103:14). That’s why Jesus came. To pay the price for us and enable us to receive by Grace through Faith His own righteous Spirit. God isn’t, hasn’t and won’t seek to use pain to teach us anything. God uses Love. God uses His sacrifice, not ours. God uses Grace. What Jesus did transformed us from ordinary dirt to glorious stuff indeed. Not because of what we have done, but because of what Jesus has done. Because of His gifts. Because of His love. Because of His sacrifice. All God, God, God, God.

Why be afraid when we serve a God who does that much for us? Why be afraid — even of His correction — when we know He will only correct us just exactly as much as we need? That He only corrects us so that we can get back in His yard? (Hebrews 12:7-10) Why be afraid, if He won’t forget any one of us in His correction? It’s a thing to be happy about! He won’t forget any one of us. He won’t leave us behind. He will correct each and every one of us so that we are able to rise on the wings of His glory, His righteousness, His kingdom. Without pride or ego, realising it is NOT us but JESUS through us and the FATHER through Him that does the work. Even Jesus pointed the finger of attention on His Father (John 14: 10-11). The Father has plans for each one of us. He has plans for you (Jeremiah 29:11). He wants you to do His work (Ephesians 2:10). As He has spoken to you about it. He wants you to be obedient to Him (John 14:15). If you’re not, or if you miss something, He will be right there to correct you. Why? Because He wants you right with Him all the time. Right and under His wing where His healing lives, where His Blessings live, where His protection begins (Malachi 4:2).

Disobedience is one of the worst things we can do (1 Samuel 15:23). It is right up there with witchcraft — the usurping of God’s power for selfish ends (like using a mirror to reflect the light of the sun). It lost Saul the kingship. It got Israel and Judah broken up as kingdoms and the people carted off to slavery, dispersed throughout the known world. It got Judas to a place where he despaired of God and committed suicide. It got Jonah dead in the belly of a fish. Selfishness is at the core of all disobedience. Putting ourselves in front of what God wants. Proverbs 16:25: “There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” Doesn’t sound appealing when we look at it this way. But there is — as there always is with the Lord — hope. God doesn’t leave us in darkness, especially when we deserve it.

The Lord pulls us out of darkness (Colossians 1:13). The Lord pulls us together when we are scattered (Psalm 50:5 & Mark 13:27). The Lord raises us from the dead — spiritually, but also physically in many cases (2 Corinthians 1:9 & Matthew 12:41). It was one of the core reasons Jesus came. John 8:12: “Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”” We were not designed to flounder in the dark. We were not designed to be in ignorance. We were designed to be beings of light as God is Light (1 John 1:5-9). We were designed to be intelligent, with wisdom and understanding as God is Knowledge (1 Corinthians 2:10-12). Above all, we were designed to praise God and give Him Glory for these states that He designed us to have and be. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). We will not have a full end made of us, no matter what mess we have made or how far we have fled from the Lord. Quite the opposite.

The best part of today’s verse is the promise that no wonder what is happening in the nations around us, we are with Him. He will not let a full end come to His people. No matter what. Instead, those nations around us who do not obey the Lord. Those nations who do not choose to seek Him. Those nations who choose to be selfish in their ways. They are the ones who will receive punishment. Not correction, but punishment. The penalty for the wrongs that we are spared from (Psalm 103:10 & Hebrews 10:29).

And that was in the old covenant. How much more does that promise operate with the Spirit living within us as we walk with and in the authority of Jesus’ name (2 Corinthians 6:16)? The name above all names, the name under which every knee bows. God’s victory is striding across the face of the globe and we can be a part of that march. But to be part of it, to not miss it, we need to be right with God. Accept His correction wherever and whenever it occurs. Stop whatever you are doing, listen, receive, believe, and walk in it. Right away. Don’t worry about what other people think. Only care about what the Lord thinks. To Him we sacrifice our Selves. Why? Because He deserves it, He is worthy of it, and because we love Him (Romans 12:1). Love doesn’t hold back anything (1 Corinthians 13:5). Love gives. Period.

Don’t be afraid. The Lord wants the very best for you. Listen closely, and do what He asks. He is with us. He won’t let you fall.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: John 17

Jesus loves you SO MUCH. The Father loves us SO MUCH. The Spirit loves us SO MUCH. Jesus has NEVER stopped praying for you. Ever. He constantly talks to His Father about it. He talks us up, rejoices in us, and they laugh with us at every opportunity. Jesus is all about Joy. Joy for us and Joy for His Father. This chapter is a powerful and beautiful prayer by Jesus for us. It shows His heart. His heart for YOU. He wants you to connect to the Father. He wants you to walk in ALL the righteousness that the Father created you to walk in – which takes HIM sanctifying US through the WORD. This is a prayer of thanksgiving, but it is also a prayer to re-affirm things Jesus had been teaching His disciples (and us). It is a prayer of release to you. A release to walk in the ways of the Father in the authority of the Son through the power of the Holy Spirit. We are His and He is guarding His obedient children closely. Never forget how precious you and your relationship with Him really are.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.