Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the NET, netbible.org, all rights reserved)

A crowd of people from the towns around Jerusalem also came together, bringing the sick and those troubled by unclean spirits. They were all being healed.
Acts 5:16 (emphasis added)

Jesus’ ministry was marked by (at least) two VERY distinct things. Authoritative teaching and healing. Those two things marked EVERY encounter that Jesus had while on earth. He taught EVERYONE who came to Him. He healed everyone who came with expectation (trust, or faith). He never deviated. He never turned down. He spoke TRUTH. He HEALED. His disciples were taught that THEY could operate in the same way because ALL disciples of Jesus are given the right to use His authority and speak His Word. As long as you abide in Jesus, you have the right to use His authority according to His Word. As today’s verse shows, disciples of Jesus were able to do that very thing.

There is very little that differentiates us from those first disciples. Foremost, we were not students sitting under Jesus’ direct teaching. Only the TWELVE caught all that He taught. There were SEVENTY more who sat directly under His teaching, but not ALL the teaching. Those are special people that have NO replacements. They are UNIQUE. That will never change. Those Twelve disciples were made into Twelve Apostles, sent by the Holy Spirit out to preach and heal. They also contributed Scripture. While other apostles contributed scripture (Paul and James, for example), none since that time have been granted that privilege. The Word is sealed. We get further revelation about what is written – deeper meanings and commentary – but no NEW revelation. Everything goes back to that sealed Word. That will not change either.

Other than that, there is nothing they did that we cannot do if we are doing it by the same Spirit that they did. Holy Spirit will work through us at the direction of the Father no matter who the ‘us’ is (Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Are you willing to do what they did? Are you willing to submit to what they did? Are you willing to TRUST with the level and sphere that they did? If you are, there is nothing they accomplished that you cannot accomplish. Remember it is Yahweh who works THROUGH us. It is not US who do the work. Adonai does not operate independent of humanity. Adonai ALWAYS seeks a human (male or female) to work THROUGH. It is how He set things up and He sticks to it.

Looking back to today’s verse, we see people coming from the towns around Jerusalem. According to the maps I have access to that is between six and ten settlements big enough to have a name on the maps. Who knows how many that DIDN’T have a name on our maps – the tiny hamlets or the places we don’t have a record of today. People from all these places came to get healing from the apostles. Not just the Twelve, but from all the apostles of the early church who were in Jerusalem. There WERE the special set-apart Twelve who were the leaders in this, but there were ALSO the OTHER disciples. The unnamed (and named) others who had followed Jesus and ALSO received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This included Jesus’ mother Mary. There were also women. There were also Jesus’ brothers. They were ALL anointed ministers of the Good News and spreaders of the message. We can only assume by the Word that they also could perform signs and miracles since we know that laypeople did (Acts 6:8). We know that this (today’s verse) gathering happened in Solomon’s Porch which was in an area of the Temple that both Gentiles and women could access. There were no restrictions or limitations to this healing. They freely gathered to give what they had to whomever came for it (Matthew 10:8).

There is NO REASON for us to be any different. Don’t you think people will come for healing if we were offering it? Come hear us speak and then be healed. Anyone will sit through anything to get what they want. That’s how they get you with scams. You go listen to their speech, you get caught up in the speech, and then you get convinced to buy something or do something that you wouldn’t normally do. Because of the passion of the MOMENT. With the Word though, there is no pressure. No timeshares. No pyramid schemes. No scams. No lies. No partial truths. We proclaim TRUTH. We offer healing. That’s it. You don’t have to be a member. You don’t have to be baptised. You don’t have to say the Sinner’s Prayer. We simply tell them HOW healing was given to humanity. We tell them WHO gave the healing. We tell them WHEN healing was released for us. We tell them WHAT to expect based on the Word. We ask them whether or not they can TRUST that WHEN the healing comes, it was Jesus who did it. We ask them whether or not they can BELIEVE that WHEN the healing comes, they can believe that it happened for real. That’s it. There is nothing else to it.

This is why they (the believers) could gather at Solomon’s Porch and heal whomever came for healing. It is THAT simple. Nothing has changed. NOTHING. It is STILL that simple. Yet we DON’T all believe. There is NOT a unity of belief among disciples of Messiah Jesus. It isn’t that it is impossible. Don’t tell me you’re too small of a group or too big of a church. About three thousand people got saved in Acts 2:41 and around five thousand people got saved in Acts 4:4. That’s adding to all those who were ALREADY disciples of Jesus. That is THOUSANDS of people who ALL agreed that they could be used by Holy Spirit to perform signs and miracles. They believed because Jesus TOLD them they could (Matthew 10:8).

Ephesians 2:8 tells us that by GRACE we were all SAVED – the word covers forgiveness of sins, healing, prosperity, and deliverance in every area of our lives. It is a perfect tense word, which means that it was something ALREADY achieved and finished (John 19:30), but continues to have PRESENT results. We have ALL the spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3) when we are abiding in Messiah Jesus, connected to Him which connects us to the Father as our source just like a vine and its branches (John 15). When we TRUST Jesus about this, we have access through that trust into the Grace where He calls us to stand (Romans 5:2). Which is why the early church AGREED, STOOD on that promise, and REJOICED, praising Adonai for both the promise AND the fulfilment. It was simple. It was agreed. They believed TOGETHER and they were able to be used by Adonai to heal EVERYONE who came with such SUCCESS that people came from settlements all around Jerusalem. We hum and haw over driving an hour for groceries. Imagine how much people truly believed in these results to WALK for HOURS to get their turn.

We need to get together and agree that these things are possible. The RESULT is Yahweh’s department. TRUSTING is our department. We can choose to trust what He says. Believe it, refuse to doubt it no matter what we see, and do what He says we can do. We aren’t asked to pray to Him for healing. We are told to teach and then heal. Period. The time is coming when the world will be DESPERATE to hear about healing. That Adonai DOES heal, that Adonai WILL heal, and that they CAN believe the healing that WILL come upon them IS from Adonai. This is the simple of the simple. We have been given the Name of Jesus to use according to the Word – ultimate authority in accordance with the Father’s will. We have been given the anointing of the Blood – complete and TOTAL restoration according to the Word.

This is simple stuff. Don’t let anyone help you get it wrong. Don’t let anyone convince you that you do not have it. Take the Word literally. Take the Word AT its word. Messiah Jesus DOES NOT LIE. Messiah Jesus WILL respond to our TRUST. He ALWAYS has, He ALWAYS will. Teach and then heal. It is the ministry of EVERY believer and it will be just as effective for US and those who come to our gatherings as it was for the believers in today’s verse. YOU got restoration freely, so freely give it to others. According to the WORD, it is our legal right of inheritance. Don’t sign that way to ANYONE. USE it.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Psalm 38:11

“Because of my condition, even my friends and acquaintances keep their distance; my neighbors stand far away.” Messiah would be a suffering servant. Because of that suffering, Messiah would end up alone. Scorned by even friends and acquaintances. Everyone stepping back, away from His condition. “And all those who knew Jesus stood at a distance, and the women who had followed him from Galilee saw these things” (Luke 23:49). Jesus was abandoned as He hung on the cross. Whipped, broken, and beaten, He was passed through the crowd and raised for all to see. Those He knew stood apart. Even the women – at the beginning – seemed unable to approach the abject suffering that was manifested in Jesus’ flesh. Jesus suffered alone. Jesus IS the Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

Yeshua is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Matthew 16:16b