Fear No Fear

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

“Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many homes. If it weren’t so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.
John 14:1-2 (emphasis added)

Jesus tells the truth. Jesus’ very nature is truth. He couldn’t lie if He wanted to. This means that anything Jesus said is Truth. That reason alone is a good one for getting a bible that includes red text. The red being anything that Jesus says. There is a lot that He says. Like telling us that if it was not the truth, He wouldn’t have said it. He tells us five things here, not including the reminder that He doesn’t lie.

Jesus reminds us that being troubled in our hearts, having depression, having anxiety, and worry are all choices. Not in the natural, of course. But we can choose to reject them because of the Holy Spirit within us which is the spirit of Jesus that we abide in as believers (Romans 8:2). Troubled thoughts, worry, anxiety, and depression are all of the curse. Weapons of the enemy. Not of God, not of the Kingdom, and never, ever sent by the Lord to any believer for any reason whatsoever. If they aren’t part of God, and we are new creations in God, then they are part of the old thing we were and not the new (2 Corinthians 5:17). We can reject them. We can tell them that they cannot affect us, that they are part of the old man, so they can go to the cross and dwell there because that is where we left them (Galatians 3:26-27).

An infirmity is defined as a physical or mental weakness or sickness. Matthew chapter 8 has Jesus coming to Peter’s house. He heals Peter’s mother-in-law. That evening, the residents of the town came and Jesus cast out spirits and healed all who were sick “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.”” (Matthew 8:17; Isaiah 53:4). 1 Peter 2:24 also says “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds (or stripes).” If Jesus heals us and bore our infirmities, diseases, and sins on the cross; and if He also by dying and being resurrected has given our spirits to live in His righteous spirit, why would we ever choose to stay anxious, depressed, worried, or troubled? Our spirits are pure and clean. Why not demand that our body comply with it? We’re connected aren’t we? We’re a new creation aren’t we? It is a process, it isn’t always immediate but it can be, and Jesus in us can accomplish it (1 John 4:4). Can renew us. Can help us accept our healing. All it takes is faith. All it takes is belief that what God promises, He can deliver.

That’s what Jesus tells us next. He tells us to believe in God the Father. Then He tells us to believe in Himself. All the things that God did throughout the bible and everything that Jesus did and told us we could do. He wants us to believe it. Take it on faith as fact — regardless of whether we intellectually understand it. The thing is that the highest, greatest, most brilliant human minds are far, far below what God thinks and understands (Isaiah 55:9). What else did Jesus say about us believing? Well, He said to Martha “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see God’s glory?” (John 11:40) right before He raised Lazarus from the dead. He healed the sick by asking if they believed He could do it (Matthew 9:28). He told the ruler of the synagogue not to fear, but to believe (Mark 5:36) before He raised his daughter from the dead. Look up the word ‘believe’ and ‘believed’ and there are dozens and dozens of instances of Jesus saying it, stressing it, and telling us that it can achieve amazing things. Because belief is a decision. It’s a choice. Faith can grow from belief. Faith can be needed for belief, but belief is a choice. We can strengthen faith by meditating on the Word of God, but we can’t build belief. We have to choose it. State it. Repeat it. And keep repeating it until we see what we believe comes to pass — whether it is a short time, a long time, or a ‘when we’re in heaven’ time. It doesn’t matter to the belief. The choice stands eternal when we choose. That kind of standing can move mountains because we are telling God we believe Him no matter what anyone else says, what we see, or what happens. It opens the door to God working through us like nothing else can. The catch is that it needs to be a real, honest belief. Not empty words said while hoping that something happens or manifests.

Next, Jesus tells us that His Father’s house has many homes. Many is an amount that is large but indefinite. It has no exact limits. It’s a big place. A place big enough for anyone and everyone who chooses to be there. We aren’t being forced in. We don’t have to go. But if we want to? We can because it is big enough for all of us. God is a God of growth. Of expansion. Not in a gluttonous or greedy way, but righteously, honestly, and with pure intent. Growth to see what can come about. To move forward into more and more beauty, glory, honour, and Righteousness. We are being offered a vast vista to inhabit with Him.

Finally, Jesus tells us that those homes are for us. You and me and everyone else. He’s going to prepare a place there for us. And it should be good because first, He’s perfect; second, He’s a trained carpenter; and third, He was the instrument through which all of creation was created. This is an individual with building experience. 1 Timothy 2:3 says “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth.” Jesus wants every human being that is and has been to get into the Father’s Kingdom. Every. Single. One. Not everyone will, because not everyone chooses to believe. But as many as choose to believe in their heart that Jesus died for their sins and was resurrected again to life, and confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord and are baptised as the outward symbol of that confession WILL be saved (Romans 10:9, Acts 2:38-39). We don’t know how many that will be. A large number, and one that we can help grow by spreading the Good News. God loves you, has a place waiting for you, and Jesus is making sure that you can get there! What better news is there?

The question is: is it trustworthy? Jesus told us Himself. “If it were not so, I would have told you.” Trust Jesus. In John 14:6 Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.” In John 17:17 Jesus affirms that God’s Word is truth. We know from John 1:14 that the Word became flesh (Jesus). Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus and He is called the Spirit of Truth. Ephesians 4:25 reminds us we are all part of the body of Christ and should be putting falsehood away from us. In fact, one of the pieces of the Armour of God is the Belt of Truth (Ephesians 6:14). Jesus’ truthfulness was noticeable and acknowledged by those around Him: “They sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are honest, and teach the way of God in truth, no matter whom you teach; for you aren’t partial to anyone” (Matthew 22:16). If Jesus says it, it is so. If you believe nothing else, believe the words Jesus said.

Jesus tells us to choose not to be troubled — which includes anything troubling be it depression, anxiety, or any other fear thing. Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). What we speak affects what we experience. We do not have to accept fear. “For God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7). Jesus told us to believe in the Father in heaven above and also in Himself. “As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will also live because of me” (John 6:57). They are the Living God. What they say they can do, they can do and we need to believe that (Romans 4:21). God wants us with Him. He desperately wants us to choose life. To choose fellowship. Jesus so wants us that He is making for us a place in His Kingdom. With the Father. With Jesus. So that we can be close and together forever as He planned from the beginning (Ephesians 1:11-12). Jesus speaks the truth, and is the Truth. If He says it, we can trust it. And He tells us everything that the Father tells Him. No secrets. All Truth. All Knowledge. We are part of the family (Romans 8:1-39).
Today and always we have the ability to abide with Jesus. In Jesus. And He in us. There’s a place for us all. You don’t have to have troubled thoughts. Believe. In God. In Jesus. Believe. The Word can’t lie. Believe. Do it today. Do it always. Never stop.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: John 13:34-35

The Father in heaven loves us. He loves us for us. He made us. He loves us because Jesus, the Anointed One, our Saviour the Christ loves us. And we love Him in return. We believe Jesus came from God. We believe Jesus died for our sins. We believe that Jesus was resurrected again to life by the Father. The Father loves us so much for that. For that belief. That trust in His Word. That simple faith that is the basis of the whole Kingdom. Faith in love. Love in faith. It’s all connected. And it is designed to connect us to the Father. The Righteous One. The Merciful One. The One with Everlasting Love. We couldn’t get there without Jesus. Without His sacrifice and resurrection. Without His righteousness. It’s all part of His plan. We don’t have to do without God. We don’t have to go to outer darkness. He made a plan for us before creation was created. So that we can be in His presence where we can be loved and love Him in return face to face. It’s beautiful. It’s simple. It’s ours if we believe, want, and confess it.God loves us. He loved us before He made us, He loves us still. And He doesn’t want to hide that love. Everyone deserves to hear that they are worth loving. Everyone deserves to know that the Lord loves them. The best tool God has to spread that message is us. You and me. The disciples of Jesus. He isn’t looking at official and formal groups. He isn’t expecting books, movies, and magazines. He is looking at you and me. People. Ordinary people. He wants us to love other ordinary people how He loves us. Without condition. Just because they exist. Period. It is the number one way people will know that we follow Jesus. That we love people in spite of their behaviour or circumstances, race, creed, lifestyle, or religion. We don’t have to agree with them, their lifestyle, what they think, how they act, what they profess, or let them hurt or take advantage of us. But we are to love them. Period. Total acceptance on the love level. We’ve been given the Spirit of God to accomplish it with, too. Make use of it.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.