Fear No Fear

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

And Yahweh passed over before him, and he proclaimed, “Yahweh, Yahweh, God, who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding with loyal love and faithfulness, keeping loyal love to the thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and he does not leave utterly unpunished, punishing the guilt of fathers on sons and on sons of sons on third and fourth generations.”

Exodus 34:6-7

The words of Isaiah 9:6 are a list of names of Yahweh as they relate to various functions that He embodies: “For a child has been born for us; a son has been given to us. And the dominion will be on his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” El is THE eternal. This is also part of the character of Adonai. It is part of what makes Him ‘Him’. It is a word that speaks of forever, perpetualness, continuity, until, and eternity as a period of time (a terminus, a duration, advancement through time, and perpetuity).

There is another translation for ‘everlasting father’ and that is ‘father of perpetuity’ or ‘father of eternity’. Adonai Elohim, the Great I AM, Yahweh, is so ever-lasting that He cannot explain it to our minds. Instead, He created eternity in order for us to get an idea of what He is. Of how LONG He is. He is greater than eternity, because he fathered the epoch of time without time unto no ending. He IS that He IS that He WAS that He WILL BE. His eternality is constant. It is a sameness without fluctuation that never pulls back what is offered to those who choose to accept the conditions. A sameness that doesn’t dull. A sameness that gives birth to the comforting faithfulness that we can ALWAYS count on. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), because He is the same before, during, after, inside, and outside of eternity itself.

It runs throughout everything that He is. And Ruach HaKodesh reminds us of that. Not only so that we will give worship and honour where it is due. Also so that we recognise the coherence to the Word. That the values of the Old Testament are still Adonai’s values. By Grace Jesus took the wrath so that WE could live in the victory – as long as we stay submitted to Him. If we aren’t working to trust Him in every single area of our lives, we have a problem. The righteousness requirement hasn’t ended in ANY way. But we can’t reach it without Him. We can’t achieve it without Him. We can’t produce anything of lasting value without Him (John 15:5).

Adonai is a God of motion. Of movement. Of going forward. But it is His firm security that moves forward. It is Jesus’ embodiment of His Victory over all that rebels that moves forward. And it is us, His body, who move forward with Him. Always getting better. Always reducing our broken ways and thinking. Always increasing His renewal of our ways and thinking. It will take an eternity for us to get from where we are to where He is – and He’ll have moved on into deeper places by then, praise Yah! Think about it. We get to be more than forever curious about Him and He gets to be more than forever teacher to us. That sheer unimaginable scale of BEING – Him and us in Him – should dwarf all of our situations, concerns, and problems. All that we are dealing with is BUT A MOMENT compared to all of that which is coming (2 Corinthians 4:17).

One of the BEST things about Ruach HaKodesh is His consistent reminders and teaching about how temporary this fallen creation is and how constant and more-than-forever abundant life in Jesus is. We will see the end of all darkness and the renewal to perfection (on His scale and standard) of ALL THINGS and then… explore, maintain, and tend it for longer than forever as we worship, fellowship, and learn more about Him. What a great promise of our existence. AND we get to start it RIGHT NOW WITHOUT ANY WAITING: “By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as that one is, so also are we in this world” (1 John 4:17).

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Psalm 118:6-7

“Yahweh is for me; I do not fear. What can mere humans do to me? Yahweh is for me as my helper, and so I will look in triumph on those who hate me.” ‘My big brother/Daddy will show you!’ Oh the trouble and hassle those words have made for the big brothers and Daddies of the world. Roped into conflicts they didn’t want. To defend, protect, and prove that their brother/son has a protector. Someone who will look out for them. Advocate for them. And if necessary physically remove bullies. How much MORE will our Father in heaven defend us? How much MORE will He protect us? And who can stand against the Living One who made the planet? I mean, really? You can get beaten up, tormented, and even tortured. But they have to deal with the person who literally held stars in their hands. Who can defy our perception of physics. Who can bring spiritual things into physical reality at a WORD. How exactly are they supposed to stand against that? How exactly are they supposed to defeat that? What do they think they’re getting away with?!? We are protected, nurtured, and defended in ways they can’t even CONCEIVE of. We are LOVED. It’s awesome! 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