Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

and weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling down before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!”

Matthew 27:29

The mocking Jesus endured for us was physical as well as emotional/mental. “And they put a purple cloak on him, and after weaving a crown of thorns they placed it on him” (Mark 15:17). It was designed to be humiliating. “And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and placed it on his head, and put a purple robe on him, and were coming up to him and saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” and were giving him slaps in the face” (John 19:2-3). This was a condemned prisoner. Going to die. As long as He was alive enough to die on a stake, it didn’t matter what they did. So just like in Berlin after its fall and Nanjing when it was overrun, humans were let loose to release anything they wanted on Him. We THINK we know what it was like. We’ve seen the picture and the movies. But in every depiction of it, you recognise the model or actor as human. In real life, they had to take the word of the power that be about it. Jesus did not even look HUMAN anymore. He took the FULL curse. He took the FULL wrath of Adonai against sin. He BECAME sin. He did it for you. And for me. For us all.

Genesis 3:17-18 says “And to Adam he said, “Because you listened to the voice of your wife and you ate from the tree from which I forbade you to eat, the ground shall be cursed on your account. In pain you shall eat from it all the days of your life. And thorns and thistles shall sprout for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field.” You see it includes thorns and thistles. He knew even then He would take a crown of them, pushed deep into His brow. The bounty in all areas of life that Adam should have enjoyed as the fruits of his WORK was replaced by the poverty of thorns and thistles as he TOILED. Jesus took that poverty on Himself physically and He removed it from us. It enables us to work and see that work prosper. It can mean being fruitful in offspring. Fruitful in our relationships. Fruitful in our thinking. Fruitful in our interpersonal relationships with everyone we encounter. Fruitful in our workplaces. Fruitful in ideas. Fruitful in physical labour. Fruitful in household management. Fruitful in health. Fruitful in our stored goods. Fruitful in finances. Fruitful in EVERY area of our lives. That is ABUNDANCE. And that is why Jesus came to take the thorns (John 10:10).

In the savannah, hunters made (and still make) fences of thorny bushes around their camps to help keep out meat eating beasties who prowled, attracted by the light. Jesus put on a crown so that in Him, we are surrounded by LIGHT to keep out the thorns. They may push and prod at us, but they can’t come in. They can’t touch us. Through it all we have a voice inside telling us what we can accomplish. What we can have. What we can walk in. What we can enjoy as we work according to what Jesus laid down for us before anything was anything (Ephesians 2:10). Abraham’s blessing included the blessing of others. THAT is what FRUITFUL means. Without it, you just have stuff. When you have so much you give so much and still don’t know what to do with what’s left over (whether it is financial, emotional, physical, verbal, or something else) and MUST rely on Him to find an outlet? THAT is fruitful. Pressed down and running over fruitful (Luke 6:38). We sometimes make the mistake of thinking only in terms of money. But this is abundance in ALL areas of our lives. Spiritually FIRST, and THEN in the other areas UNTIL all areas are OVERFLOWING. Adonai is MORE THAN ENOUGH so He does not stop until it is MORE THAN ENOUGH Blessing – no matter what rate of flow we are trusting in and believing for. No matter HOW LONG it takes.

What comfort is there in NOT having enough? In barely getting by? In ALMOST making that connection? ALMOST agreeing on something? ALMOST getting your work done? ALMOST passing that test? ALMOST firing on all cylinders when you’re with your covenant partner? Psalm 23 tells us that if we abide in Jesus we will NOT decrease. The only way to do that is to tread water and HOLD or to INCREASE. Which do you want? Whichever it is, you’ll get it. Like the ten spies who said we can’t go in and did not go in. Like the two spies who said we can go in and did go in. You will have whichever one you believe for and put your trust in. Both are options. Which option do you want to walk in? You have a counsellor who will give you advice for the best way (increase), but will meet you whichever way you want to be in (holding pattern). With Adonai ALL things are possible, so what do you WANT?

Jesus took a crown to give you options. Neither of them include ANY of the curse. If you have ANY of the curse in your life, you need more light on this verse. You need to agree with HIM about what YOU have available to you. If He says you can believe for it, you can believe for it. He’ll take care of the details. You don’t have to worry about that. You just listen and obey. Some of it might seem crazy, but your God is bigger than crazy. Humble yourself and obey. With JOY. This is FUN. This is JOYFUL. This is ABUNDANCE IN ACTION. What could be more fun than that? We can produce because Jesus made us productful. We KNOW it because Ruach HaKodesh won’t stop talking about it. What a comfort to know that He wants us to NOT decrease. That we NEVER have to think ‘I guess this is it’ about ANYTHING. We can take JOY in what we have and WORK to PRODUCE all that HE says we can. That’s amazing to me. What a GOOD GOD!

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Psalm 68:19

“Blessed be the Lord. Daily he loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation. Selah” To load up on something is to gather or buy a large amount of something. To store a lot of something to create a large stock or supply. To get a lot of something so that you are sure you will have enough. To get an excess. To have MORE THAN ENOUGH. Adonai does this DAILY. Why don’t we open the door? Why don’t we let it IN? Why don’t we ACCEPT the package? It’s at the door. Right there. Your name is on it. Delivery man Ruach HaKodesh holding out the device. All you need to do is SIGN YOUR NAME to accept delivery. Won’t you? DAILY it is there. A new supply EVERY SINGLE DAY. That means you CAN’T use it up. You CAN’T ever run out. You CAN’T be without. It is ALWAYS there. ALWAYS. You think about that. You will NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER be without. Hand delivered from HIM to YOU. All you need to do is engage it. Open it. Unwrap it. Sign your name. Accept it. It’s ALREADY yours. What a GOOD God!

Your Daily Confession of Elohim’s Goodness:

I taste and see that Yahweh is good; I am blessed because I take refuge in Him.

Psalm 34:8