Fear No Fear

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

But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take to yourself Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 1:20 (emphasis added)

The Holy Spirit wasn’t a new New Testament idea. It is referenced in the Psalms (“Don’t throw me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.” Psalm 51:11-12) and Isaiah. In Isaiah 63 there are two references. The first discussing how the people of Israel grieved the Holy Spirit and turned away from Him and the second how the Holy Spirit was among them when they came up out of Egypt. The Hebrew word for spirit is ‘Ruach’ and appears 378 times in 348 verses but can mean spirit, spirit of, in-spirit, wind, and wind of. It was often symbolic of a spirit (God’s or ours). It was used for the winds of the world (like East Wind, wind from the North) as well as spirit winds. In the New Testament the Greek word is ‘pneuma’. It appears 348 times in 304 verses and is almost always combined with ‘Hagio’ which means Holy. Pneuma means spirit or spirit of. Looking at the verses, it is rarely symbolic. It is almost always Holy Spirit, a personality, interacting with humanity.

The Holy Spirit wasn’t a new covenant concept, but the new covenant was vastly superior to the old in our relationship with the Holy Spirit. As it says in Hebrews “In that he says, ‘A new covenant”, he has made the first obsolete” (8:13). The old covenant has passed away in that the new covenant is the fulfilment of the old and the perfection of it. Like having a long-distance relationship until the day you move in together and start a daily one face to face. God and His righteousness is the same as ever, but our relationship with Him now is something amazing and in no way dependent on our actions or works.

It was with this new ballgame approaching that Joseph and Mary needed to be faithful and obedient. It must have been so hard. Joseph was motivated by love when he was considering putting Mary aside. If she had been with a man before marriage she would have been stoned. Her life was in danger. Having a virgin birth may have been an idea floating around in some ancient mythologies they may or may not have been aware of, but in every one of them there was intercourse of some kind. This was virgin impregnated, virgin during pregnancy, virgin after the birth virginity. Impossible virginity. They would have seen the proof of that as they went forward in their relationship and had other children in the normal way, but at this point? A girl’s word for something so impossible it stretched credulity?

Nowhere in the Word does it say Joseph didn’t believe her. But all the negatives? All the possible ways for it to go south and for Mary to be punished? He was consumed with worry. It took an angel’s visit to convince Joseph that all his worries didn’t need to be worries. It took an angel saying ‘don’t be afraid’ for Joseph to put aside his fears.

How many times do we face worries and fears that seem world shattering? At least our worlds? We are blessed enough to live in new covenant times. We don’t need to rely on an angelic visitation. We have the Holy Spirit right here speaking to us 24/7. We have Jesus living in our hearts, never leaving and never forsaking. We have the opportunity to enter the Courts of Heaven with praise on our lips and joy in our hearts. To stand before the Father and worship Him. To cast all our cares, worries, and concerns into His hands. We can face impossible situations with the Holy Spirit telling us directly that it will be okay. To let us know what to do. When and how. We can talk with Jesus as a friend and confidant. We have it so easy compared to the way it worked in the old covenant. We have a direct line to the Lord.

Look at the role of Holy Spirit. What is His main job? John 15:26 calls him Counsellor (three times in the New Testament actually). Also the Spirit of Truth (which appears 5 times). Matthew 3:11 says Holy Spirit baptises us, sanctifying us. There are at least 69 different verses referring to the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. In John 3:5 Jesus explains that we need to be born again through Holy Spirit to receive salvation and enter the Kingdom of God — and it is repeated in about 32 verses in the New Testament. In John 14:26 Holy Spirit is our comforter (appearing 9 times in that office). Holy Spirit is the source of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23 and in about eight other places). Holy Spirit is called our Teacher six times (like 1 John 2:27). Romans 8:14 tells us Holy Spirit guides us (and in over twenty other places as well). Luke 12:12 (and five other places) Holy Spirit is our teacher. That is a wide scope of ministry and function. That covers everything we need as people: a source of Truth, comfort, sanctification, salvation, guidance, instruction, counsel, and the source of our fruit (the works born of our faith that we can’t help but produce — James 2:14-26). Everything that made up the ministry of Jesus on earth, but now in us. That’s a powerful connection. That’s world changing. Yours as well as the world around you.

Use your direct line today. Talk to Him. Praise Him. Praise is the key to prayer, the key to requests, and the key to all interactions with the Kingdom. Praise is the language of Faith (Romans 14:23) and Faith pleases the Lord (Hebrews 11:6). It lines up our hearts with heaven: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation; namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19). That again shows us the principle that God is not holding sin against us. It was paid for by Jesus. Sin is not a factor for God.

Praise gets us close to God and Faith puts us under His wings (Psalm 91:4). It puts our hearts into concert with His heart (1 John 3:18-20). And then we pray and interact in accordance to His will (1 John 3:21-24). When we have faith, believe, and ask for things He wants to do for us, there isn’t any reason not to have a yes (Mark 11:22-26 and Hebrews 4:16). Praise Him today. Read the Word. Renew your mind into His thinking. Use your direct line. When we draw near to God, God draws near to us. When we are broken before Him, humble in our justified praise of His Holy Name, the Lord exalts us to be before Him (James 4:5-10). God is our Good Father and the Sustainer of all we have, our Source. Jesus is our Lord, our Saviour, and the Name Above all Names, the authority and power of dominion. But Holy Spirit? He is our companion, friend, and Righteous Spirit. How then can we be afraid? How can we look at what is in our lives or coming at us and fear it? Look who is with us! Look who is in us! Look at what a path illuminating Presence that we have working in us, on us, and around us. Fellowship with Holy Spirit today. He is speaking to you. In fact, He never stops. He is always there. What a comfort. What a promise.

Holy Spirit isn’t a tool in our toolbox. He IS our toolbox. He is the way in which we remain in Jesus. He is the way in which we hear from the Word. He is the Voice speaking to us in our spiritual desert. He is the One calling us Home into the Kingdom of God. He is the framework on which we hang our Faith. He is our constant companion, closer than a brother, sharper than a sword, our fellowship and guide. Twenty-four hours a day, three hundred and sixty-five days a year (three hundred and sixty-six when we’re leaping), all access all the time. We are never ghosted by the Ghost.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: 1 John 2:12-17

Jesus is merciful. God is merciful. And His mercy endures forever – Amen! We don’t deserve it. We’ve done nothing to merit it. But Jesus gives it to us anyway. God extends it to all of us. That’s amazing, if you really think about it. We were all in a state of corruption. Enemies to the cross and to God. But He overlooked that and died for us anyway. While we were still sinners. Before we could do anything but despise Him. That’s amazing to me. What mercy. What love. Hallelujah! And now we know Him. We have – through Him – conquered the devil and all his works. Our sins are forgiven on account of Jesus’ name. Old, young, everyone. That is the greatest gift. Receive it today but do not be deceived. This isn’t a golden ticket. It is NOT a free pass. The Lord God On High is merciful, but He doesn’t change His standards. It is WE who need to change. It is WE who need to alter our thinking to get in line with the Righteous standards of the Lord — which is possible in and through the WORD. We get into the Word to maintain our abiding in Jesus, which enables Him to retrain our minds until we understand what the Lord is saying. What He wants. What we need. And when we change our minds to align with His, we are in a position to fully appreciate the Mercy that got us to this point. We need to understand and rely on continual understanding as we move where He wants, how He wants, and when He wants. Obedient to His moral system because it’s HIS, not because we feel it. This is spiritual truth, not our constantly changing feelings and human ideals. That’s true mercy. That’s true love. That’s the Lord.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.