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

Abundance means more than enough. More than required. An over-sufficiency. Where other people have enough, where other people have supply, the abundant have a greater supply than they can use. It is something that occurs in GREAT amounts. This is the GOODNESS of Adonai. Not only that, it is so PURE that it is the objective standard of all OTHER goodness. It is the FOUNDATION of goodness. If HE didn’t have it, neither would we (Mark 10:19; Matthew 7:11). This goodness is so good, that it is a PROTECTIVE goodness and not just an inherent part of His personality. “Yahweh is good—a refuge in the day of distress; he knows those who take refuge in him” (Nahum 1:7).

We’ve been looking all year at the goodness of Adonai. He is SUCH a GOOD God, He really is. It is impossible to overstate it. It is impossible to use too much hyperbole. Read through the Psalms. Even the most INCREDIBLE things are just… the truth. No other book in the world deals with a ‘god’ like the Bible, because the Bible is the ONLY book in the whole world that is written BY Adonai ABOUT Adonai. It shows an interesting thing. We love, because He loved first (1 John 4:19). We sing, because He sang first (Zephaniah 3:17). We breathe, because He gave us His breath (Genesis 2:7). We worship, however, NOT because He did. We worship because of who He IS.

The Hebrew term “I am” (‘ehyeh’, from the root ‘hayah’) is not simply a statement of existence as it appears in English. The verb ‘hayah’ also conveys BEING in not just an existence way (I am a singer), but in a physical arrival of that thing. It’s appearance. It’s presence. It’s standing in the order of all things. I AM is the expression of being and the being active presently and futurely – in fact unable to NOT be because it is the beginning AND the ending (Alpha-Omega, Revelation 22:13). Just as light came into a physically manifested presence (without a physical or central source, such as the sun), so too did Adonai declare that He WAS and IS and WILL BE with His people, His children (Exodus 3:14-15).

What an UNBELIEVABLE comfort. Not having to go it alone. EVER! He is ALWAYS with us (Joshua 1:9). He not only goes WITH us, but He won’t LEAVE us (Deuteronomy 31:6). Ruach HaKodesh is the fulfillment of those promises. He dwells INSIDE us (1 Corinthians 6:19), so the furthest our voices EVER need to reach to get to Adonai’s ears is our chest (Ephesians 3:17). We can be content BECAUSE He is with us (Hebrews 13:5). We are fed, led, corrected, saved, protected, and given freedom (Psalm 23). No matter the territory, path, or destination. When we are operating at His leading, we are TOTALLY safe and secure – not that we won’t be persecuted and not that people don’t lay down their meat suits, but what is THAT? (It isn’t life because life is ETERNAL).

We have the goodness of Adonai WITH US. And with us in such abundance that it is almost too good to be believed. Except we have the Word that proves it to us. Again and again. And again. And again one more time. Adonai is FAITHFUL in His goodness. He isn’t angry at US. He was angry at SIN. He LOVES us. He always has. Even when we were wallowing in our ignorance and smearing ourselves with sin in the darkness. His goodness is so manifest to us because He CARES for us. “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the right time, casting all your cares on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7). We could spend all day singing praises to Him and say nothing more than “you are a GOOD God” and “you are MERCIFUL” and we would be both telling the truth and operating in DEEP worship. These are true statements that physically manifest in His care of us. It never wavers. We are so VERY precious to Him.

You may not believe this. Your self image might be different than this. You might have been taught poorly or flat out wrong in this area. Adonai LOVES you. Adonai CARES for you. And if you’ll put Him first and lean into the worship of Jesus, you will be completely and totally taken care of even if a third of the world’s population disappeared overnight (and I’m not talking about the rapture, but a Day of Shaking – Matthew 24:37-41). There you would be standing. At peace. Able to love on and comfort others. Having that spare love to share because you have an ABUNDANT life in Him (John 10:10). Because YOU were safe. YOU were secure. YOU were CARED FOR. By whom? By a God of ABUNDANT GOODNESS. Ruach HaKodesh IS goodness. And He is in us so that we can learn what to do with that abundance inside us. The abundance of His goodness that we can share.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Psalm 103:10

“He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us according to our iniquities.” Other than salvation, I don’t think that there IS anything that declares Adonai’s goodness quite like this. Why does He care for us? Because He is dealing with us like we ARE Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). It’s how He rolls. It’s what He sees. He is too GOOD to give us what we deserve. He is to GOOD not to bless us. He is too GOOD not to share His all-encompassing abundance with us – so that we can share that abundance with everyone we come across. So that like any other child, they look at us and ask where we got it. So that THEY can get it too. They like blessing, why can’t THEY have blessing? And we have the privilege of helping them learn about it, pick it up, and submit their lives so that they are in the position to fully receive it too! What an awesome way to live life. 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