Fear No Fear

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

When you hear of wars and disturbances, don’t be terrified, for these things must happen first, but the end won’t come immediately.
Luke 21:9 (emphasis added)

Jesus said He was coming soon. Three times. Revelation 22 verse 7, verse 12, and then in verse 20. ““Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, to repay to each man according to his work” (verse 12). ‘Behold’ means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is used as an injunction, which is a formal command or admonition — which in turn is cautionary advice, usually about imminent danger. Like when you’re driving along a mountain highway and you see a ‘sharp turn ahead’ sign. It doesn’t happen immediately after the sign. It takes a little — especially if you consider the speed at which you’re going. But pretty soon.. BAM. Sharp turn. So whatever has a ‘behold’ in front of it is important. Important enough you’d better be beholding it. Verse seven says “Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” Verse 12 we just read. Verse 20 is near the end of this long speech. It says “He who testifies these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”” All three are statements by Jesus, in His closing plea of the Revelation to John. They weren’t the only time it was mentioned. There are thirteen other times scripture talks about the imminent return of Jesus — such as Matthew 24:44, 2 Peter 3:10, Revelation 3:11, and 1 Peter 4:7.

But that was two thousand years ago and we’re still talking about it soon. I mean, James 5:7 tells us to be patient until the Lord comes. Like a farmer waiting for his crop to ripen. How realistic is this ‘soon’? The world is rife with war and disturbances. The more years that happen, the more problems emerge. We seem at times to be spiralling into chaos. Jesus said this was inevitable and that the end won’t be immediate. Soon means the ‘near future’. But things have been spiralling for two thousand years. They could spiral for two thousand more. There is something about these times though. Don’t you feel a speed to things? When things go bad, they go bad fast. When things happen that we like, they seem to flash in the pan and be over. Things are mounting one on top of the other until we’re not sure about everything and the word ‘conspiracy’ is being uttered by toddlers in daycare. There seems to be a sooner than you think soon-ness to our current soon.

We’re moving toward the future that will be the end. No one knows when it will be (Matthew 24:36-42). It should be enough for us that it is soon. If we rush to the end, people won’t get the full chance they deserve to hear the Good News and choose to change their course. They are the carbon copy of fallen Adam. They are going to hell. Because of their very nature of unrighteousness, of sin. They can’t change it. They can’t force their way off that path. There is no human effort that is good enough in any way, shape, or form. No human-made god can save them — because any of those spirits or entities that are real are also unrighteous and headed to the same place. The most they can do is hold your hand while you both jump in. Hell is real. Hell is absence from God. Hell is aloneness. Hell is horrific. And Hell is where we are all going. Period. Unless we change our course. Unless we take the hand that Jesus is holding out to us. All of us.

God desires that everyone be saved and no one is lost (2 Peter 3:9). The urgency you feel and see in the spirit as Holy Spirit moves and talks and calls out to the world should be the greatest proof. This isn’t a call to save because people are about to perish. This is a 2am, last call, pick your go-home partner urgency. We are in the last of the last days. And yes, there might be a last of the last of the last days. Or even a last of the last of the last of the last days. But the end is in sight. The light at the end of the tunnel is the Glory of God and only the righteous in Christ will be able to stand in its presence (Luke 21:34-36). We are being given the warning that everyone since the Resurrection has been given: It will be soon. When you see the troubles kick up, prepare yourself and step things up. Because Jesus said wars and disturbances would happen and then the end, but not immediately.

We live in that ‘not immediately’. That’s good. We have some time. Often we feel there is more we could be doing — for people and for the Lord. Maybe we haven’t been good stewards of what we’ve been given. Maybe we’re not being the employee we should be. Maybe we aren’t talking and showing love to those around us — whether neighbours, friend, co-worker, or stranger we chat up in the coffee line. Maybe we haven’t been serious enough about our walk with the Lord. Enoch walked with God and then stayed walking, disappearing from the earth. That would be great. But there have been days I wonder if I’ve walked so poorly that I’m going to get a ‘Wish You Were Here’ card from Heaven. That’s my flesh talking, not God’s perspective — and I thank Him daily for being merciful in all things. There is still a list of things I want to be doing on a daily basis, a list of things I want to accomplish for Him, and I am glad ‘not immediately’ means I get some time to continue to work, study, and learn about Him. But we also live in ‘soon’. We have some time, but we don’t know how much ‘some’ is in that time.

Soon means soon. Defined as without undue time lapse and in a prompt manner or speedily. It means we all have to get serious about Jesus and the only future that matters. Jesus is coming. When we do not expect (Matthew 24:44), on a day we don’t know (Matthew 24:42), and as lightning He will appear (Matthew 24:26-27). That all seems quite nerve-wrackingly ‘oh what a lovely day this is, I think I’ll take a walk before I get to the shopping or—HERE I AM IT’S OVER!’. The more you think on it, the more anxious you can become. A recent survey from the American Bible Society found that those who were engaged with scripture multiple times a week reported more stress and trauma than those that didn’t. But it wasn’t because the Word caused it. Rather, they found those believers experiencing more stress and trying times tended to turn to the Word more than others. Across America one quarter of people experience stress and ten percent at high levels. Forty-four have trouble sleeping. Forty-four were lonely and cut-off. Thirty-seven were numb about life.

If believers in the Word are scoring higher in those negative categories, why do they bother with the Word? Because anxiety is fear and not of the Kingdom. What IS of the Kingdom? Hope. Those in the Word scored seventy-one out of one hundred in a hope agency test. Those not in the Word? A full fourteen points lower. Those believers experiencing stress were turning to the Word because it gave them hope. It engaged their belief that everything was going to be okay. Because you can’t actively and intentionally read the Word without walking away with a ‘God’s got this’ viewpoint. It is so very obvious He does. He has a plan. He’s following it.

How then should we take this ‘soon’ business? Well, in confidence. Not communication made in confidence, but in certitude. One hundred percent certain that what Jesus began in us Jesus will complete in us (Philippians 1:6). In alertness, because the times of frivolity are over (1 Peter 4:7). We need to hold onto what Jesus has given to our care (Revelation 3:11). With open eyes, testing the Word of the Lord and all teaching so that we stay the course (Matthew 7:5). In love (John 13:34-35). Encouraging each other and supporting each other, for none of us race alone (Hebrews 10:24-25). With total assurance that whatever comes, Jesus will be able to handle it (John 1:3). That the victory has already been won through the cross and resurrection (Revelation 1:8). Finally, abiding in Him (1 John 2:28) because when we abide in Jesus, we know we are listening and ready to be obedient to the smallest thing. We won’t be ashamed when He comes, but proud that we have done our best in all things. Jesus enables us to do these things and have this attitude.

The abiding part is the most important part. We were made in the very image of God (Genesis 1:27). Looking back from that to the very beginning of this history in Genesis 1:2 we find that the Spirit of God “was hovering over the surface of the waters.” Hovering is defined as fluttering in the air or moving to and fro near a place. To fluctuate around a given point. Other translations than the World English Bible translate the word hovering as moving. The Hebrew word is ‘rāḥap̄’ (raw-khaf). It’s a primitive root of things like fluttering, hovering, moving, and shaking. Like a bird hovering over its young. These are all movement words. Movement concepts. That means that we — as images and reproductions of God — are movement beings.

When Jews pray, they rock back and forth. They call it shuckling. They do it for several reasons. When the Torah was first given, it is written that the people saw and trembled (Exodus 20:15). We’re called to pray with our whole being (Psalm 35:10). Mind, spirit, and soul do that through speech. The body through movement. In the Zohar (a foundational book of Jewish mystical thought) they say that the soul of man is the candle of God, so they rock back and forth like the flame of a candle. The Baal Shem Tov says that just as when a person is drowning, no one would scoff at him if he were floundering about to save himself, so too, one should not scoff when observing a person making movements while praying, for he is trying to concentrate and stave off foreign thoughts. But my favourite was a comment I heard by a Rabbi (I’m sorry, but I forget which one) that simply God is a God of movement, so we move in honour of who He is.

What does all that have to do with abiding? We as beings move. Spiritually, we move. Physically, we move. We are movers. If we are not abiding in Jesus. If we are not anchored in the Word, do you know what happens? We move. We move away from the Lord. We move away from what we have been told. We move away from daily declarations, daily devotions, and a constant, purposeful, intentional meditation on the Lord. Does that mean we should seek to stay put? No. God is a God of movement. A God of growth. A God of let’s go over there. What we should do is emulate the angelic and move around God. We see in Isaiah 6:2-3 that angels circle the Throne of God crying “Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies! The whole earth is full of his glory!” If we too circle the Lord. If we too move around Him, keeping God at the centre of our lives, keeping Jesus in the middle of our sight, thoughts, and mind, we will abide in Him and be able to navigate this world moving always toward the Lord and not away from Him.

The world can be scary. But Holy Spirit sealed you for the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). When you were saved you were moved from the camp of the wilderness into the pasture of the Shepherd (Colossians 1:9-14). Jesus is coming soon. All the groanings and trials of this life proclaim it. He is coming SOON! Maybe not today, maybe not next year, but soon and in the blink of an eye. Like a flash of lightning. He will come and all will see Him (Revelation 1:7). Don’t be terrified of the world around you or of the imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t LET your heart be troubled. Pray, praise, and be confident. Jesus has you and He’s not letting go!

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Proverbs 3:3-4

Love is the greatest gift humans were ever given. It is truly a piece of the divine, because scripture tells us that God is love (1 John 4:8 & 16). Love can do more than any single force outside of the Name of Jesus. Because God is love. Love can cross racial lines, political lines, denominational lines, religious lines, cultural lines, and gender lines. Selfless love. Pure love. Love just to love each other. Not emotional, sexual, or selfish. Just love. We decide to love. We choose to love. We’re commanded to love one another thirteen times in the New Testament (at least). We’re commanded to love our neighbour about nine times. Choosing to lay aside strife, bitterness, jealousy, hatred, and choosing to love is an important thing. It is the gift God gave us first. We’re not commanded to like people, only to love them. Not to agree, but to love. It’s a decision. It isn’t a feeling. It’s a lifestyle. It’s saying ‘I don’t like anything about what you stand for, but I love you and honestly want the best for you. Have you met my friend, Jesus? Because He loves you too.’ And then praying for them (or with them) and never wishing for them any harm. Never mocking. Never talking down to them or at them. Loving them. Blessing them. Every time. All the time. Repenting of all grudges or bitterness. Forgiving them each and every time it’s needed. Not placing ourselves in danger, but listening to the guiding of Holy Spirit as we love them. Faithfully and with purpose. Because God is love and imitation is the best compliment we can pay Him. Praise Him today. Choose to love.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.