Fear No Fear

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

But Jesus, when he heard the message spoken, immediately said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.”
Mark 5:36 (emphasis added)

This guy came to Jesus to have his daughter healed. He was just told his daughter was dead. Many people witnessed it. She was back at his home, dead. What was Jesus’ response? An exhortation to believe. Jesus didn’t deny she had died. He didn’t say the messengers were lying. He told the man to believe. Not to stop believing. He responded to fear with faith. And why not? Sure, Jesus might have been a crackpot. He may have been a practitioner of positive thinking. It may not have worked. But the man had to ask himself, what if it does?

There is a lot about positive thinking out there. People saying the universe has it for them if they only manifest it. People claiming money, success, and all kinds of good things. They either throw it out to the universe to manifest, say they are sending their own energy out to manifest, or they say that God will do it if they only believe. But what does God say? What does the Word say? One person I know of who practised positive thinking declarations got cancer and immediately stopped the positive thinking. Why? Because they knew that no amount of positive thinking was going to shrink a cancerous tumour (their words). Is that true? Yes, in the natural. But the Word doesn’t tell us to do things in the natural. The Word tells us to trust in God, to have faith, and to believe. In us? Nope. In the power of positive thinking? Nope. In the Lord. In God. In Jesus. In the Word.

The bible tells us that there is a spiritual law of sowing and reaping (Genesis 8:22). In Mark chapter 4 Jesus taught about the sowing of seed. The seed that was sown was the Word (Mark 4:1-32). If we sow the Word into our lives, we can reap the fruit of the Word. Take healing. If you looked up a list of healing scriptures and read them to yourself. Out loud. Every day. And thought about them throughout the day. How long would it be before they got inside you? Before you could quote them? Before you were almost dreaming of them they were in your mind so much. If a sickness tried to grab hold of you, those verses would come to mind. You could speak them out. You could claim the promises that the Lord spoke in His Word. You would have faith to believe. Why? Because faith comes by hearing the Word of God. You would have faith that God heals and you could believe for healing. Or to prevent sickness (like in Psalm 91:10 where it says plagues won’t come near your dwelling). There is power in the Word and the Word has power. But it can’t be bent to our will. It works according to the Will of the Father (Luke 22:42). When we speak according to what the Word teaches, there is power in those words.

You might be thinking that this doesn’t happen. But why couldn’t it? In Acts 5:15 it tells us that people so believed in the ability of the apostles to heal that they brought sick people out for the chance of Peter’s shadow to fall on them so they could get healed. By Peter’s shadow. Or really, by the power of the Lord that rested on Peter. A’s it rests on us. So why not? Why can’t we deny sickness a foothold? Psalm 103:1-5 says “Praise Yahweh, my soul! All that is within me, praise his holy name! Praise Yahweh, my soul, and don’t forget all his benefits, who forgives all your sins, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your desire with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” And Jesus tells us in Mark 9:23 that anything is possible for those who believe. Does that sound familiar? That sounds a lot like what Jesus said in Matthew 6:25-34: seek first the kingdom (spiritual health and blessing) and all these things (what we need in the natural) will be added. That sounds like spiritual prosperity leads to physical prosperity — like a healthy body (3 John 1:2).

Does this mean we have a blank cheque for anything we want? Nope. Jesus Himself only did what He saw the Father do. We’re told in Psalm 91 that if we draw near the Lord, He will protect us. He will save us, because we acknowledge His name. When we abide in the Lord, stay focused on His Word, and work to act according to His will, then why can’t we believe for anything? We need to act according to God’s will. And if we ask according to His Word it will be granted to us. Jesus tell us that in John 15:16 and 16:23. And the warning in James 4:3 says “You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” But if we ask in accordance with the Word, to the will of the Lord — which we only learn by getting close to Him and abiding in Him — then we will receive.

There are those who say healing is not for today. But Matthew 8:16-17 has Jesus physically healing people in direct fulfillment of one of the greatest verses on spiritual healing in the Word (Isaiah 53:4). So physical healing was part of the overall healing that Jesus came to give us. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). If Jesus healed then, Jesus heals today. Why? Because healing was accomplished. Past tense. Through His journey through the cross. Jesus was scourged and that scourging opened His body for the blood to flow. He bled so we can reclaim our health by Grace from His outstretched hands. Jesus broke and removed the altar of sickness. Earlier in this chapter of Mark 5 Jesus said to the woman who had an issue of blood: “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be cured of your disease” (vs 34). Many times Jesus said the faith of those seeking Him for healing was the vehicle by which they received their healing.

Their faith didn’t do the healing. The Father through Jesus did the healing (John 5:19). The power came from heaven. Jesus said He only did what the Father told Him to (John 12:49). Later, His disciples said the same thing (Acts 3:12-13). The power is in heaven and moves by the will of the Father. But the Father is merciful (Luke 6:36). Jesus came so that we could through Him have access to the full Blessing of the Father. But we get it through belief in Him. We get it by being fully persuaded that He is giving it to us. We get it by submitting to the Will of the Lord. We get it by our faith, and that faith strengthened — and we only strengthen our faith through the Word. Again and again Jesus said your FAITH has made you well, be it done to you according to your FAITH, and so on. Matthew 9:22, Luke 17:19, Mark 5:34, Matthew 15:28 among others. And the opposite was true. “He didn’t do many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 15:38).

We need the faith capacity to believe. That comes by hearing the Word of God in our hearts, not just in our ears or minds. We need to have believed our belief. In Jesus’ lifetime He healed the servant of a Roman by a word. Across town. Without anything other than faith being involved (Matthew 8:13). Other times a physical action was involved, perhaps as a demonstration of the underlying belief (John 9:6). This tells us healing was to do with faith. The faith to believe and the faith to do. Jesus may not put mud in your eye. There may be something else. Doctors may be involved. God gave them their intelligence and talent, after all. They may not be. When it comes to faith, we are told to have it. To have it, build it, and exercise it. We are also told to be obedient. To take up our mats, to cross town and wash our eyes, to go and do according to the directions. If we have the Word in us, that will take care of faith. Because it is an always now, build and exercise it on a daily basis. If we are grounded in the Word and abiding in Jesus, we will be listening for the words of the Spirit. And then we will need to submit to those words and do what He says. No matter how simple or complex those instructions are. Believe. Be obedient. Don’t second guess. Just believe. Our faith in His power, His faithfulness, and His ability to bring to pass what He says He can bring to pass is our assignment. To tell Him by HIS will, we want Him to work. To allow Him to move in our lives how He wants, when He wants, and where He wants.

Ah, but I can hear it now. People saying, ‘I know that God CAN, but only IF He wills it’. The Lord is a God of Blessing, Growth, and Love. He always wills us to be free, healthy, and prosperous. Why not believe for it? There are dozens of scriptures about it. The Word proclaims it and teaches it. Look at it this way. You can get into the verses about these things, say them, study them, dwell on them, and build your faith in the Lord through them. You can choose to believe. You can choose to be obedient to whatever He tells you to do. And what is the worst that can happen? You’ve missed it and when you get to heaven you’ve spent time believing in and obeying the Lord. That doesn’t sound bad. That sounds like good and faithful servant stuff to me (Matthew 25:23). On the other hand, what is the best that can happen? You receive. You get blessed and healed and delivered. That sounds great. That sounds victorious. When you or people around you say ‘what if this doesn’t work?’ Why not stop and say the opposite. Why not choose to believe and respond, ‘what if it does?’ Why not let Him have the room to work? Healing is a process. Instant or long haul. God has it for you. Reach out and let Him give it to you. His Victory, His power, and His freedom. By Grace, through His completed work on the cross. No fear. Faith. His in us. Ours in Him. Don’t be afraid. Only believe.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Psalm 107

How do we know the Lord God loves us? He sends us His Word. He heals us. He delivers us. He does wondrous deeds for us. He really is magnificent and worthy of our praise! His loving kindness is almost unbelievable, but thank the Lord His Grace enables us to believe! The Lord is a balm on our minds, our hearts, and our soul. Let Him soothe you today. Soothe away your anxiety. Let Him heal you. The World will say that anxiety is something you can only learn to manage. That it is with you forever. That with medication, self-care, and therapy, you’ll get through. In the natural that is true. But how about we get free? How about we let the Love of the Lord God Almighty wash that away from us? Don’t let doubt stop you. Read about the Love of God in His Word. Perfect Love casts out all fear. Anxiety is a form of fearfulness. Don’t let doubt stop you. What if it does, in fact, work? God is merciful and His mercy endures forever. Why settle for less when we can let Him bring us through all that into freedom? Let Him love you free today!

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.