Fear No Fear

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

It shall come to pass that, as you were a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you shall be a blessing. Don’t be afraid. Let your hands be strong.”
Zechariah 8:13 (emphasis added)

What is the saying? It is darkest before dawn? Thomas Fuller used the proverb. The world loves that one. Stands on it all the time to make it through tough times. We like the idea that the troubles we’re struggling through are helping to get us to where things will be wonderful. That is a fine thing, but there is a better thing. How about getting from bad times to good times without the struggle? How about killing the struggling part off? The Lord’s way is a promise. It’s being calm in a storm and then no storm. It’s being in such a bad place everyone around you uses you as an object lesson for failure and then being a success. With no struggle, but peace. It doesn’t mean there isn’t going to be a process, but it does mean that the process doesn’t bother you. Isn’t that better than struggling until dawn? I certainly think so.

How do we live in that promise? How do we get into it? Obedience. Simple as that. Obedience is an act of obeying, and a sphere of jurisdiction. But it is also the quality or state of being obedient (submissive to the command of authority, willing to obey – to conform to or comply with, to follow the commands or guidance of). Start talking about obedience and people get their back up. They start talking about freedom and rights, and you can’t tell them, and how they’re not a sheep (being a sheep is not an insult, learn about them), etc etc. But what does Jesus say about His commands and His Father’s commands? ““Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”” (Matthew 11:28-30).

What is it that He wants us to cut off from ourselves? What is it He wants us to be obedient about? For starters, the Lord wants us to put away the things that bring God’s wrath on the children of disobedience like sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry (Colossians 3:5-11). Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking also need to go. It is all part of the old us. In Christ Jesus we have become new. New spirit and we are being renewed in knowledge after the image of God. You might ask how giving up so much can be a light yoke.

Firstly, all that is negative and bad stuff. We should be happy to be rid of it. In addition, God wants us to replace it with other things (Colossians 3:12-17): “Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do. Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Out with all bad things, in with all good things. That sounds good.

Secondly, we don’t ‘give anything up’. We don’t have to walk away from our favourite of favourite things. What changes is us. Not what we are able to do. I’m doing all the drinking I want to do. I drink all the alcohol I want to. But that amount is zero. Because I don’t want to. I haven’t had to stop doing it. I haven’t had to deprive myself. I haven’t had to use willpower. My social life didn’t end. My ability to relax didn’t disappear. I don’t have to sweat my way through the day, dreaming of having a cold one, and then feel the horror when I realise I can’t. Nope. I changed. I stopped drinking because I stopped drinking. It wasn’t overnight. It also wasn’t a struggle. As I changed, my wants changed. As my wants were changing, God changed me to align with them. Because as I change and open myself to receive, I let the Lord work in me a new work. After all, I’m a new creation. Why shouldn’t everything change? And change organically. Not a series of DO NOTs. Behaviour I no longer do. Things I no longer participate in. Stuff that isn’t fun anymore.

As we abide in the Lord, we get close to Him. Getting close to Him puts us in a position to be blessed. Getting under His wings enables us to change from who we are to who He wants us to be. If we seek the Lord first, all the good things will follow (Matthew 6:33). When we seek the good things, we often forget to include the Lord on our ride. But by seeking Him with intent, we align ourselves with the place of Blessing in the Lord. That’s a great place. That’s the place where the promises live. That’s where we get saved. That’s where our spirits are sealed and begin to inform our souls and then our bodies of what is what. That’s where we get to be a blessing to others as well as receive from the Lord Himself. Because in the Lord we are all servants (John 13:10-17). We bless and get blessed in a wonderful cycle where we work together to build each other up in area after area of life. If we don’t have, we can’t give of it. And we are called to give: first to God in our tithe, and then as He directs. It’s wonderful. This isn’t just money. This is everything.

It is a total change of our lives. Inside and out. What we read, what we watch, what we listen to. Who we are and how we live. It is a process. A lifelong process. Moving from where what WE want was the most important to where we want what HE wants. Because we are being renewed, things will change. It can change personality. It can change career. It can change everything. Not by giving up or being a bastion of self-control avoiding that which we really want but can’t do. No. Total desire swap. Seeking the things of the Lord actively changes our insides. It changes our outsides. It changes everything around us. In ways that we notice and in ways that we don’t even realise until someone points it out to us. And as we change, we change those who we influence. Not by beating them over the head with a bible or screaming at them about the evils of that thing they are doing or enjoying. By blessing. By love. By showing all the great things that having a relationship with the Lord brings. By being a Light and an example, they want to get in on the great thing we have going. That’s a witness the world needs.

Don’t be afraid. Choose to keep your hands strong by choosing to stick to the Lord. By reading the Word. Getting close to Jesus in and through praise. It’s the key to so many things. The joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). Honouring God for being God. Thanking Him for everything. Praising Him when things go well, Praising Him when things don’t seem so cheery. Letting your intentions inform your outlook. Not letting your feelings tell you what you should experience. Letting the Word declare what you should experience. Praising the Lord in whatever circumstance you are in. Not for the circumstance, but for the opportunity to let the Lord show His Mercy, Love, Peace, and Grace. The situation will be peaceful (for you) and you’ll have peace in the transfer from troubled times to blessed times. From old you to new you. From what you could (or couldn’t) do to what He can do in and through you. It’s a promise. You can test him and trust him. Receive it. Believe it. Walk in it.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Philemon

We need to believe in everyone. We need to have Faith in everyone. We need to trust the Lord and seek His will about everyone. The ones you like, the ones you dislike, the ones who can do anything, and the ones who can do nothing right at all. The Lord can do amazing things with all of us. The Spirit of God can renew us. It can bring out our best. And the Lord wants to make us the best that we can be – the best that He can make us, which if you think about it is pretty ‘best’. Look at the simple love and appreciation Paul has for this runaway slave who formerly was ‘useless’, who is here referred to as ‘useful’, and in Colossians is called “the faithful and beloved brother” (4:9). That’s some turnaround. And it is the self-same turnaround that God wants for all of us. Because He loves us.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.