Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you—not as the world gives, I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

John 14:27

It does NOT matter what pressure you feel. It does NOT matter what the government says to you. It does NOT matter what your family says. It does NOT matter what your friends say. Or your school. Or your employer. Or your prospective employer. Or your teachers, professors, mentors, and elders. It does NOT matter. None of them. NONE OF THEM have a bigger voice than Yahweh Most High. NONE OF THEM have more to say to you about how you are ABLE to live life than Adonai. Everything else is made by humanity. But Adonai made EVERYTHING. He is the ONLY one who knows how life can be.

One of the biggest things is the reminder – direct from Jesus – that we can CHOOSE what we think and how we emote. We cannot choose our feelings. We get to choose what we DO with them. Feelings are mental/personality nerve endings reporting a sensation. Like other nerves report cold and hot. Or how our eyes detect light and dark. It is information that we then need to process and choose to do something with. Everything we do is a choice. It may be a choice made by what we have programmed ourselves with – something happening subconsciously or in the background. But if we don’t choose to do things we’d sit in a loose lump on the floor simply breathing and blinking. Choice is an inherent part of our makeup.

What choices do we have? To be intimately affected by the world around us or to be in the world, but not connected to its ebb and flow. To be in the boat while the storm is going on, but being in no danger of capsizing or sinking. To be stable amidst instability. It is counter intuitive to what we’ve always been told. We’re supposed to be seeking coping mechanisms, not choosing not to engage. We’re supposed to be navigating and meshing into the world. Finding ourselves and then finding our place. In the modern world, that more and more means choosing what it is you want to BE, and then using technology to get you there – with varying degrees of success and acceptance. The sad truth is, no matter what you’re feeling, satisfaction only comes when you’re doing the right thing in the right place with the right people. That never happens by accident. It takes someone outside the jigsaw puzzle to recognise your size and shape AND where you fit in the puzzle – regardless of how YOU perceive things. It takes an OBJECTIVE point of view. Humanity’s point of view – and the point of view of everything we create – is ALWAYS subjective. We cannot disassociate from the universe in order to see it all clearly.

We were NOT left to fend for ourselves. We’re told not be afraid 15 times. We’re told Don’t be afraid 96 times. Don’t be grieved – 3 times. Don’t be dismayed – 10 times. To be without fear – 7 times. Don’t be anxious – 7 times. Don’t let your heart be troubled – 2 times. Neither let it be fearful – 1 time. Neither be anxious – 1 time. In nothing be anxious – 1 time. See that you aren’t troubled – 1 time. Don’t be troubled – 2 times. Don’t be terrified – 2 times. To have no fear – 3 times. To be and do without fear – 7 times. In nothing frightened – 1 time. Not to be shaken in our mind or troubled – 1 time. To live while not fearing – 1 time. Told we shall not fear – 6 times. That we will not fear – 5 times. Don’t fear – 14 times. Neither be troubled – 1 time. Not to put ourselves in fear – 1 time. That we will not be afraid – 10 times. That we won’t be afraid – 1 time. That believers were not afraid and we can be like them – 2 times. Don’t you be afraid – 2 times. Told we will not be dismayed – 1 time. Told that neither shall our face grow pale – 1 time. Told neither be afraid – 2 times. Told that no one will make us afraid – 4 times. Don’t let your heart faint – 2 times. Neither be scared – 1 time. Nor tremble – 1 time. To be free from cares – 1 time. Don’t be discouraged – 1 time. That enemies will not make us afraid – 1 time. That we can mock at fear – 1 time. That we can be safe from fear – 1 time. Free of worry – 1 time. Don’t fret – 4 times. No longer be afraid – 1 time. We are also told to be at peace – 6 times. Have peace – 1 time. Peace be to you – 13 times. Peace I leave with you – 1 time. Peace I give to you – 1 time. Go in peace – 13 times. To hope in God – 5 times. There are more. Can you see the predominant theme? We can HAVE this. We can LIVE like this. WITHOUT fear, anxiety, dread, depression, negative thinking, or worry. WITH peace, hope, safety, and encouragement. We CAN live like this. We’re told that over 366 times in the Word. Not to fear. To be at peace. They’re two sides to the same kind of living. Living that is ONLY possible when Yahweh Elohim Almighty is your source.

If we can choose NOT to fear and can choose TO have peace, then the opposite is true. You see it all around yourself. People CHOOSING to live with fear and its babies. People CHOOSING to reject peace. People CHOOSING to live in ways that eventually lead to such negative ends that suicides are at an all-time high globally. It rose 16% from 2011 and 2022. It has not gone down as far as I can find. Life away from the Source of life is always a negative experience. Too much negative, and people give up. They snap. They figure ending it is better than continuing it. They’re so broken that they break.

This is not what life was meant to be. Ruach HaKodesh brings to our minds the Word that we have put in (John 14:16). Sprinkled throughout the Word in VERY GLARING VERSES are the instructions to choose LIFE. To choose PEACE. To CHOOSE not to fear. Again and again and again. These are key principles of life in Jesus. Of life with Yahweh. He is our constant cheerleader. He is the one who makes sure we know not only that we HAVE a choice, but how GOOD of a choice it is. Of the freedom that Adonai built into us. Of how restful the rest in Jesus is. The only true Sabbath rest (Hebrews 4:9-11). No despair. No depression. No worry. No troubled mental patterns waking us up. No sickness creeping across our cortex to deny us something that makes life that little bit better.

The keys to living like this is to listen. To listen for Ruach’s voice. And then to look up His reminders in the Word so that you can see them. Hear them. Stand on them. The Word is the will of the Father. No matter what dreams He gives us, revelation He shows us, or commentary and teaching we receive from Him, it will ALWAYS agree with the WORD. It will NEVER contradict it. That isn’t how He works. That’s comforting. Consistency so faithful it NEVER fails. Reminders of how we can CHOOSE to live that are ALWAYS current and ALWAYS true. While it is important never to forget that, Ruach HaKodesh is right here inside us telling us every day in every way that He can: the WORD is dependable. The WORD never fails. Trust the WORD. And that Word has it written that we can have PEACE through and through with NO shadow, NO deviation, and NO doom or gloom AND… we can CHOOSE it in, by, and through Jesus. Amen.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Lamentations 3:57

“You came near on a day when I called you, you said, “Do not fear!”” He comes EVERY day that we call, because He is ALREADY here. He lives inside us. We’re not trying to get through Heaven’s (open) doors. We’re talking to the One inside us. The One beside us. The One a whisper could reach. He ALWAYS answers. He is NEVER silent. He is ALWAYS saying DO NOT FEAR. He is always reminding us of our choices. He isn’t slow to correct us – never leaving us to wander around off course. He is SUCH a merciful and ATTENTIVE Father. 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