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

Our personal sins are not iniquity. Iniquity is gross injustice. He removes that from us and gives us freedom. Personal sins are transgressions. That’s the act or process of breaking a law or moral rule. Adonai’s laws and moral rules are objective and do not rely on human thinking or values. They are pure, whereas ours are broken. His can be trusted and relied on as being good for us. Ours are a little sus. And very dependent on personal values, culture values, and societal values. Not dependable. But what do we do about Adonai’s? We might not agree with them. We might choose to break them thinking they’re outdated. Or unwanted. But the truth is, they’re reliable and we’re wrong. As you might be thinking, we have a LOT of transgressions. That’s why we need a Saviour.

Adonai will NOT ignore transgressions. They are real, they happened. There is a cost to them. That’s why we need Jesus. He won’t sweep them under a rug. He won’t temporarily deal with it. That’s what the Old Covenant was all about. Needing to come and get forgiveness once a year. Under THAT system, you couldn’t afford to forget past sins. You needed to be remembering them in order to truly be repentant and get covered for another year. But in the NEW covenant, Jesus DEALS with sin. He TAKES them from us and takes them FAR away to a point where it is IMPOSSIBLE for them to return (Psalm 103:12). That is dealing with it. He Himself bore them there. He didn’t leave it up to others. He didn’t trust in anyone else. He did it Himself so that there would be NO margin of error. That is why He is the ONLY way to Adonai (John 16:33).

Since WE have nothing to do with it, it is easy for us to get convinced that we not only didn’t do anything (true), but that nothing was done (a lie). That WE need to do something to earn it (a lie). That our efforts and ability to stay righteous and godly will affect whether or not we were saved (a lie). That is NOT to say you can do whatever you want, because if you want to do wrong you missed the boat (John 14:15). Human thinking will lead you to think you have to do something to pay for your salvation OR that you have to do something to maintain your salvation. Both are lies and purely religious thinking. If you were born in a country, you are a citizen of that country. Period. It is a state of being. You didn’t deserve it, ask for it, do paperwork for it, or need to maintain it. That’s salvation. By Grace. All we do is accept it.

Ruach HaKodesh is here to remind us of the burden Jesus took NOT so that we feel guilty, but so that we’ll stop trying to earn it. If we don’t understand that salvation principle, how can we manage to keep from trying to earn healing? Or any of the other blessings that we inherited when we joined His family? We might start believing that negative experiences are direct from Adonai to teach us things – a total lie because that’s what the Word is for (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Who knows where it will end? We’ll try coping with anxiety and depression instead of choosing to Fruit it out (Galatians 5:22-23). We’ll start thinking that we need to beg Adonai, pound on heaven’s doors, or try and force a move of Elohim with our devotions and prayers – instead of realising that Jesus already did it ALL and He’s enjoying rest from His labours (Ephesians 1:20). Ruach HaKodesh helps remind us of all these truths in the scriptures. All these things that we bend out of shape instead of believing them as written – and HE is the author!

The comfort that it was borne by Jesus and dealt with by Jesus and finished by Jesus is IMMENSE. I don’t have to do anything except accept and engage what HE did. Like eating a cake someone else baked. Using a vehicle someone else built. Living in a house someone else constructed. I have responsibilities and stewardship, sure. But I didn’t go the lion’s share of the work. I really didn’t do ANY of the work. I’m on upkeep, not development and construction. That’s a WONDERFUL blessing. That is AMAZING grace and mercy. And I am thankful for it. So VERY thankful. When I get to thinking about performance, Ruach HaKodesh is right there to tell me where I am going wrong because it was Jesus who made it right. He’ll do the same and DOES the same for all of us. We just need to be listening.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Hebrews 12:2

“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the originator and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” When Al Pacino played a blind veteran in Scent of a Woman, he achieved ‘blindness’ by never letting his eyes focus. He was so incapable of seeing what was really around him that he at one point walked into a trash can and fell over – for real! They kept it in the film because it WAS real and lent realism to the performance. We are the opposite. Our eyes are in a state of unfocused seeing UNLESS we focus them. And WHAT we focus them ON makes a HUGE difference. When we focus on Jesus and the fact that He is SITTING at the right hand of the throne of Adonai, we can SEE that He has done it. It is finished. It’s complete. He isn’t resting temporarily and then going to get back to it. He’s done. If He’s done, we can enjoy the thing He did. Sure, it won’t be in total perfection until we get the body He’s prepared for us, but we can enjoy more than we usually imagine right now. We don’t usually imagine it because we have our eyes on the wrong place. Wipe off the picture you have of you out of your mind. Wipe it clear and clean. Then use the Word and what Adonai says about you to draw a NEW picture. A TRUE picture. A picture WITHOUT sickness, WITHOUT disease, WITHOUT lack, WITHOUT bondage. Start walking in what Jesus HAS ALREADY COMPLETED instead of always looking for another touch-up. Jesus took care of it ALL and WE get to live in it. 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