Fear No Fear

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

But he said to them, “I AM. Don’t be afraid.” They were willing therefore to receive him into the boat. Immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.
John 6:20-21 (emphasis added)

Verse 19 tells us that the disciples had rowed about twenty-five to thirty stadia. That’s a distance of about five to six kilometres. For those foreign to the metric system, that’s about three to four miles. A long way to walk on water, but that is how far Jesus walked before the disciples saw him (verse 19) — assuming He didn’t get translated right to the spot where they needed Him (Acts 8:39-40 shows it’s possible). Regardless, the disciples were about six kilometres from shore. They were headed to Capernaum. The Sea of Galilee or Gennesaret, is approximately thirteen kilometres across. At best, the disciples were halfway across. The wind was blowing strong (verse 18 of John 6) and they were lost halfway across the Sea. Isn’t that often the way it works? We start out okay, we do well for a while, and then the wind picks up and we start to flounder halfway to where we know we were headed. But we, fellow believers, do not have to be lost.

1 Peter 1:13-16 tells us “Therefore prepare your minds for action [literally “put on the belt of the waist on your mind” – think about the Armour of God here, Ephesians 6:14]. Be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ — as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance, but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behaviour, because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (that’s Leviticus 11:44-45).” When we are about our lives, we need to be prepared and obedient. By being ready to do what God asks us to do, and then doing it when He asks, we’ll be kept ready and ABLE to carry it out. To pull toward the shore in spite of the wind and waves trying to block our way. We’ll be walking as DOERS not TRIERS.

In this boat of ours, we are not alone. We are here with other believers. Other followers who are ready and obedient to God’s leading. There are a lot of negatives that can crop up when people get together in groups. Moreso when a system of any kind is present (political parties, office bureaucracy, or a religion). But the positives of believers in Jesus being together far outweigh the negatives of peopling when we think of church as a religion of doctrine (Mark 7:7), not a connected body (1 Corinthians 12:27).

Hebrews tell us in Chapter 3 verses 12-15: “Beware, brothers and sisters, lest perhaps there might be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God; but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called “today”, lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence firm to the end, while it is said, “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.” (that’s Psalm 95:7-8).” We have the Holy Spirit dwelling in each of us and He speaks to us, but our human minds can get in the way. We can decide that we want this or that. Or that God really means ‘B’ without checking in with Him about what He said. It’s amazing that when we see a good opportunity how suddenly we become the Holy Ghost and start prophesying it as the direction of the Lord. To help us, God has given us other believers to help us (Galatians 6:2). To remind us that God and God alone has the wisdom of the Ages (James 1:5-6). He can guide us (Psalm 32:8). His actions don’t need to make sense to us (Isaiah 55:8-9). We need to obey no matter what (1 Samuel 15:22). To run the race. To strive for the prize. To help each other along, picking our brothers and sisters up when they fall and being picked up in our turn (Ecclesiastes 9:9-12). To work together following the Lord. To row in the same direction.

We also have God who is with us all the time. There for us when we call on Him. Answering us when we speak to Him and talking to us even when we aren’t talking to Him. Romans 8:9-11 says “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” The Spirit of Jesus inside us and the guarantee that if Christ was raised, we too will be raised. From death to life. From failure to victory. With the Spirit of God dwelling in us, and with our brothers and sisters helping us to stay focused on God’s voice, how can we fail?

Well, we can fail by losing sight of what God has. By ignoring the voice of God. We can get lost. We can flounder. None of us are perfect, though we have the ability to be perfect through Jesus who is in us. What we can do is make up our minds. When the disciples were lost and scared, they were willing therefore to receive him into the boat. Nothing has changed. Are you willing to receive Him into your boat? To let the Lord be the Lord of your life when things are going great, the Lord of your life when things are not, and to be the Lord of your life when you are lost and paddling in circles out of alignment with the will of God? Are you willing to accept a course correction?

Jesus said in Matthew 18:18 “Most certainly I tell you, whatever things you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever things you release on earth will have been released in heaven.” This isn’t talking about Heaven the Home of the Lord God Almighty, but the heavens around us. The spiritual landscape that surrounds the earth (creation). It is where the prince of the power of the air operates (Ephesians 2:2). Not a physical location as much as a spiritual one, but it is where the demonic contests with the angelic as they both go about their missions (Daniel 10:12-13). It is in the spiritual atmospheres and landscapes that our struggle occurs (Ephesians 6:12). But OUR part of it is our battle ground: the mind. Our mind which chooses either to listen to the spirit and speak words of life or to listen to the flesh and speak words of death. Every word that comes out of our mouths with intent or in idle jest is a seed (Matthew 12:36). By our obedience we loose the Lord to work in our lives because we have invited Him in with that obedience. We have dominion. We have free will. The Lord won’t force us to do anything. He wants to do in our lives, but we need to give permission.

Nothing pertaining to man is done by the Lord God Almighty without Him being given permission to act. That is free will. Note: God reserves the right to do anything and everything He wants in every area in all of creation and beyond that doesn’t touch on free will. But where free will exists, nothing at all in the spirit realm from the lowliest of demon spirits to the Throne of Almighty God can touch us or operate in or on us without having been given permission by a mind of a created male or female human being — that’s created by God through natural process, not chosen by man and surgically formed (Genesis 1:26-28). I know that’s a hot button issue, but we’re dealing with the Word here, not doctrines, thoughts, and feelings of men. Any issues that statement kicks up, take it to God He knows what He’s talking about and it is His purview, not mine.

By the same token that we obey and loose the Lord to work on our behalf as He desires to, we also can bind the Lord in the sense that we can stop Him from working in our life. We can say no. We can disobey. We can reject Him. It doesn’t mean that He stops loving us, being with us, talking to us, and trying to bless us. It does mean that we can prevent things from happening to us that He wants for us. When Jesus walked this earth, the people of Nazareth bound Him and prevented Him from doing miracles with them (Matthew 13:58). Mark 6:5-6 says “He could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. He marveled because of their unbelief.” We can stop the work of God in our lives. It’s just like a child refusing to reach out and take the present or treat you are offering with an open hand — and if you have or have had a toddler, you know what I mean. We aren’t binding God literally. We are binding ourselves by refusing to accept what He is or wants to do. We can choose not to believe. But when we choose to obey and to believe, and to accept Him and His works in our lives, amazing things can happen.

You can see what happened next to the disciples in John 6: “Immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.” The Lord moved the boat six kilometres and into the docks of Capernaum from the middle of the lake, in the blink of an eye. That’s something. That’s an amazing thing. It is the only time it happened too. When Jesus calmed the storm in Luke 8 they had to keep rowing their way across. Sometimes when we allow God to work, the result is instantaneous. Other times, we have some more rowing to do. The important thing is that we are willing to humble ourselves, admit our inability to succeed, repent of bad rowing, and obey the words and instructions of the Lord.

God wants us to succeed. God doesn’t want us lost. God doesn’t want us chained to fear. He doesn’t want us anxious, depressed, sick, lacking, unhappy, unfed, or alone. He wants us at peace — His peace. He wants us with Him. He wants us blessed with all His spiritual blessings that He freely offers through Grace (Ephesians 1:3-23). In John 14:27 Jesus says to us “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, I give to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.” If we will walk in His ways, supporting our brothers and sisters, in obedience and humility — just as Jesus walked — giving all glory to our Father in heaven who does the work, signs, and wonders; we will arrive at our destination: His glorious Kingdom where we will hear “well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23). Don’t stay lost in circles. Be willing to let Jesus into the boat.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: 1 Peter 1:3-12

What mercy the Father shows us. What mercy Jesus shows us. To give us a living hope IN Jesus through the resurrection OF Jesus from the dead to life again. Reserving for us a spot in heaven. Reserved. For you. For me. A place with our name on it. Something for us and for no one else. That means no matter how many others go there, we have a spot. We are guarded in our faith, sealed by Holy Spirit, and a fascination to angels who wonder at this beautiful relationship we have with our Father, the Almighty God. It is a precious gift and it is for each and every one of us.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.