Fear No Fear

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

Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
Proverbs 16:24 (emphasis added)

Strife is the atmosphere of hell. It is the atmosphere of rebellion. It is the atmosphere of selfishness. It is the antithesis of love. Elohim IS love. Everything else includes strife. If we walk as we have been directed to walk (John 13:34-35), then we will be spreading the Fruit of His Spirit, which are a balm to the soul. If we consciously choose to reject strife, we will be consciously choosing to walk in love. Since Elohim IS love, it makes sense that that is where we find our health. In Him.

Everything in the world has degrees. Degrees of misery. It’s never I’m doing well, it’s always not too bad or could be worse. It is rare to find someone who talks positively all the time. Even their positive comments can be said from a place of negativity. Instead of being supportive, nurturing, or encouraging, we’re told to be vulnerable. It is all so pessimistic. This has everything to do with strife. It has everything to do with our words.

We are being of SPEECH. We have a good model. We are built in the image of Elohim (Genesis 1:27). He is a being of SPEECH. He created by Word. “By faith we understand that the worlds were set in order at God’s command, so that the visible has its origin in the invisible” (Hebrews 11:3). When Jesus told us to go and evangelise the world (Matthew 10:8; Luke 10:9), He said, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.” He did not tell us to pray for healing. He told us TO heal. Peter followed that example in Acts 3:6. He commanded healing. Peter did what Jesus did. He used WORDS. It is obvious from that words are POWERFUL.

What should we do with them? The world tells us to be positive. That if we don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all. But it also says we have freedom of speech. That we should be able to say ANYTHING we want ANYTIME we want. Well… except racist things or hateful things or discriminatory things or grammar things or obscene things – although the definitions of those things change. There are people out there fighting to say the most horrible things and to expose children (and other people) to them. Words are powerful, which is why the wicked spend so much time and energy on trying to control them.

The media is not a trusted source of information. Everything is spun and it is spun by a small group of people. It has always been like that, but with its growth we see it more. You can look back at the legendary newspeople over the decades. Those trusted names and faces that we all looked to for our information. But if you look at it objectively, it isn’t that the information was more trustworthy. It was that because those people were giving it, we chose to believe it was trustworthy. The world has being moved along a path for a very long time now and media is one of the biggest ways that it is accomplished. It is always interesting when you notice that award shows and post-game interviews where the hero of the day takes the credit go through with no problems, but the ones who give Jesus credit suffer ‘technical difficulties’. Words have power.

Our tongues are untrustworthy creatures. They never sit still. They always have something to interject. Every. Single. Time. “For every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and sea creature is subdued and has been subdued by humankind. But no human being can subdue the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse people made in God’s image. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. These things should not be so, my brothers and sisters. A spring does not pour out fresh water and bitter water from the same opening, does it? Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers and sisters, or a vine produce figs? Neither can a salt water spring produce fresh water” (James 3:7-12).

That is a SCARY verse. Especially when paired with Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love its use will eat its fruit.” But right there in the passage from James is information that makes it a WONDERFUL verse. If we speak out of ourselves, we have a nasty time ahead of us. Our tongues are full of poison and evil and it can KILL us and those around us. James 3:12 asks whether a vine can make figs or a fig tree make olives. That is WONDERFUL. Because of Galatians 5:22-23. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” If we have the Fruit of the Spirit inside us, from out of THAT we will speak. From out of LIFE we will speak. Words of DEATH won’t be found near us.

If the words of the Spirit are what is coming out of us, how can we fail to have an atmosphere of PEACE and HEALING around us? Healing is part of who Ruach Hakodesh IS. He is the SPIRIT which brings LIFE to us. “Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you” (Romans 8:11).

Words that come from love will help in every situation. Not human love. We can be misguided. We can wound without meaning to. But words of HIS love? They are perfect for EVERY situation. Just as the tongue can cut down, it can build up. Just as we can be positive or negative, we can also be RIGHTEOUS in our speech – saying NOTHING that we are not commanded to speak (John 12:49). We should be talking Jesus. We should be talking the Word. We should never let it out of our mouths. Even as it is renewing us and how we think, it can be renewing those around us. Even as it is helping us, it can be helping others through us.

If you don’t believe anything I am saying today, think of how one person saying very little can bring a whole room down. The opposite is also true. A single person saying very little can bring a whole room up. Words are powerful. Use them as the Father intended and spread both PEACE and HEALTH.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Psalm 72:17

“May there be an abundance of grain in the earth; on the tops of the mountains may it sway. May its fruit trees flourish like the forests of Lebanon. May its crops be as abundant as the grass of the earth. May his fame endure. May his dynasty last as long as the sun remains in the sky. May they use his name when they formulate their blessings. May all nations consider him to be favored by God.” Belief in the name of Messiah will produce offspring. The Messiah is the instrument through which salvation of every kind comes to humanity. If we put our TRUST (faith) in that name, there is no end to the blessings of the Father which will be ours. NOT by our effort, but by Grace through Faith (trust) in the Name of Messiah. It is how we receive EVERYTHING from Elohim. “But to all who have received him—those who believe in his name—he has given the right to become God’s children— children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband’s decision, but by God” (John 1:12-13). Jesus is the NAME above ALL names (Philippians 2:9-11). Jesus is the NAME by which we are saved (Acts 4:12). Jesus is the NAME by which we gain the right to wield His authority according to the Word, which is the Will of Elohim (John 14:13-14). 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