Fear No Fear

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

Speaking recklessly is like the thrusts of a sword, but the words of the wise bring healing.
Proverbs 12:18 (emphasis added)

Wisdom is something we can all have. “But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a double-minded individual, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:5-8). If we want it, we have been told how to get it. We have NO excuse. Other than simply helping us to understand things (natural and spiritual), it enables us to live a life of healing on EVERY level.

Wisdom brings healing because wisdom helps us to choose the best of what is offered to us. It is living a lifestyle of choosing life instead of choosing death. We are all choosing one or the other. It is a binary choice. Choosing nothing is choosing death. Choosing ANYTHING except life is choosing death. This choice was laid down through Moses by Yahweh Himself in the Law. While we have been redeemed from the CURSE of the Law (Galatians 3:13), we have NOT been redeemed from the PRINCIPLES or the CHOICES of the Law. The moral code that is the foundation of the Law will NEVER pass away (Matthew 5:17-18). “Today I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set life and death, blessing and curse, before you. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live!” (Deuteronomy 30:19). We have a choice.

Rashi – a Jewish Rabbi and well-known commentator on the Torah – spoke about this choice. ‘THEREFORE CHOOSE THE LIFE – I show you these (“I set life and death before thee“) in order that you may choose the portion of life. It is like a man who says to his son, ‘Choose for yourself a good portion of my real estate’, and sets him in the best portion saying to him, ‘Choose this!’ And concerning this it states, (Psalm 16:5) ‘The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup, i.e. ‘You place my hand on the good lot, saying, ‘Choose this” So it is incumbent upon us to choose life. Life is to love and to truly love is to embrace life. In light of this, why would ANYONE choose anything else? The truth is because they are deceived.

“For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24). Deception is a key aspect of the kingdom of darkness. It is all they have. They HAVE to be deceived because without it, they would give up. The only thing keeping them going is their belief in the idea that maybe they can in fact win. Deception is part of their nature. It is also the ONLY way that they can get any power. The powers and principalities of the kingdom of darkness are like lice. Like worms. They have no power. They have no authority. They are loud, but they have nothing else. They are the opposite of how they have been portrayed in the world’s entertainment (especially Hollywood and Anime), myths, and legends. No one in their right mind would consume any material that gives them glory of ANY kind. They are NOTHING. Because of that, they have to DECEIVE us. They have to CON us. They have to convince US to give THEM what WE have. They get authority because we choose to listen and obey them. They get power because we choose to hand it over. Everything they have and everything they have been empowered to do is because of a human being choosing to empower them.

We get deceived into thinking that things of death are good. We get deceived into thinking that words of death aren’t bad. That words don’t even have power. That what we say and think and give attention to doesn’t matter. That we can talk negatively and have it just be ‘the way things are’. To expect the worst because that is how the world works and it is crazy to expect anything else. To put our focus on what is happening in and around us physically and double-down on the idea that it is expected, normal, and the only thing we can have. People point to science and say that it is the baseline for what we can expect. But true science will point to the INVISIBLE and say that it affects us (like gravitation, magnetism, tiny particles, solar radiation, and cosmic rays).

Today’s verse is not talking about trying to put a positive spin on everything that happens. This isn’t being ‘cheerful’. This is not us being those kind of false-happy people who are desperate to maintain an attitude in the face of horror that will help them make it through another day. This is about a choice to FOCUS on life and WALK in life, without IGNORING the rest. This isn’t positive thinking as the world teaches it. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love its use will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21). The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein has this verse as: “Life and death are in the power of the tongue; those who love [to use] it [in the study of Torah] will eat its fruit [in the world to come].” Choosing life is about choosing the WORD. Not just for a ten minute devotional. Not just for a service once a week. But every day, all day long. Thinking about it, applying it, living according to what we discover in it (Deuteronomy 6:6-8).

When we approach life from a position OF life, we will seek to help each other. To speak words that build up, not break down. Seeking the best for everyone around us. To help them prosper by helping them have the best opportunities to have the best things and to encourage them to achieve it. It isn’t just about TELLING someone they can achieve their best. It is SHOWING them HOW they can achieve their best. Jesus. JESUS. He is the way we get all we can be. He is the way we live in the freedom to have. He is the reason we can have LIFE (John 10:10).

Our words have a SIGNIFICANT impact on our lives. Strife is defined as bitter sometimes violent conflict or dissension and an act of holding a point advanced or maintained in a debate or argument. Wordy, I know. Strife is argument. It is one person saying A and demanding that A is the way it is and that anyone who doesn’t agree with A is wrong, should be told what’s what, and convinced that A is the absolute and complete and concrete truth. Strife is the atmosphere of the kingdom of darkness. The enemy lives to argue. The enemy lives to contend. And the entire army of the enemy, every one of them and every ally they have wants YOU to do the very same. Because it keeps your eyes off the Word. It keeps your eyes off of Love. It keeps you focused on the DIRT and not the GLORY.

We’re dirt (Psalm 103:14). But we have the BREATH OF GOD in us (Genesis 2:7). Nothing else created has that. Other things were formed of the earth just like our bodies. But NOTHING ELSE got the BREATH. We have the material inside of us that was used to SPEAK the WORDS that created Creation (Genesis 1:3). Are you going to walk through life using that material to speak LIFE or are you going to go through life REFUSING life. True wisdom is heaven born, not earth born. If we ask, He will give it to us. Adonai will help us accept, revel in, and speak LIFE. Speak words that HELP, ENCOURAGE, SUPPORT, ASSIST, BUILD UP, and LOVE everyone we meet. No matter who we are with. No matter where we are. And no matter what is happening around us. When we are dedicated to life, dedicated to the Word to teach ourselves about life, and dedicated to the wisdom of Adonai which IS life, then we are speaking life about the situations we are in – instead of talking about problems. Every problem becomes a mere situation when you’re in the boat with Jesus (Matthew 8:23-27).

It takes wisdom to know what to say. It takes wisdom to know when to look for something to say. It takes wisdom to truly know that we need to rely on the Holy Spirit (the Ruach Hakodesh) to be directed in the way we need to go. It takes wisdom to know that you need to turn to the Word which IS the path that is the Will of the Father (Psalm 119:105). It takes the wisdom that is FREELY given to us by the Father. We are meant to walk in, think on, speak of, and promote LIFE. The Word is full of it. Adonai is all about it. We are creatures of LIFE and were NEVER meant to experience or even KNOW about death.

If you need it, ask for wisdom. When you get it, apply it to your heart, your mind, and your tongue. Become a person who is known for championing life and health in every aspect of your life and environment. It is a direct offshoot of love, which we are commanded to walk in so that we can be known by it. Let’s choose LIFE. We can’t expect to walk in or share healing (health) if we aren’t devoted to life.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Psalm 41:9

“Even my close friend whom I trusted, he who shared meals with me, has turned against me.” Messiah would end up standing alone. He would have enemies seeking His life. He would have foes plotting against Him. But He would also be betrayed by a close friend. Even one who was intimate enough to share meal after meal with Him would give Him up and turn Him over to those seeking to destroy Messiah. ““What I am saying does not refer to all of you. I know the ones I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the scripture, ‘The one who eats my bread has turned against me.’” (John 13:18). One of the Twelve Disciples turned against Him. One of the closest people in Jesus’ life turned Him over to the religious leaders of the day. Jesus was betrayed by His close friend Judas Iscariot. 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