Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

And we all, with unveiled face, reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory into glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18

How do you transform something? How do you take something and turn it into something else completely? Artists have studied that problem and attacked it head on for as long as people have been artists. Stone turned to statues. Wood turned to sculptures. Metals shaped or melted and poured into moulds. Clay formed by hands. Pigments put to surfaces (woods, stones, and paper). There is almost nothing that hasn’t had the hands on an artist on it, transmuting it into something so much more than it started out as. Taking something ‘normal’ or ‘regular’ and turning into a treasure. There have even been times when something considered to be worthless has become valuable. An artist who pressed parts of his body (like face and torso) against a rotating cylinder of mud in order to paint it sold for 8.2 million dollars. Humans can make ANYTHING into art and then claim it has value.

Where did we get this idea? It is pervasive in every culture on earth that ever was. We make art. We turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. We don’t always put a price tag value on the things we make, but they are so prevalent in our day to day lives it is obvious that they have value. We have an innate idea that the touch of CREATIVITY onto an object makes that object WORTH having. It brings enjoyment. It brings a feeling of fulfillment. It brings a smile to our face. It was created into us in a way for us to understand spiritual reality – like almost everything else. Almost every single thing in reality is a shadow and type of a spiritual reality. It is so pervasive that if we find something that isn’t a type and shadow, we probably just don’t understand what its nature really is. What is the shadow of the idea of art? The transformational reality of the Word.

“And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may approve what is the good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2). “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name—that one will teach you all things, and will remind you of everything that I said to you” (John 14:26). The Word transforms. Ruach HaKodesh teaches and reminds us of the Word. What does that show? Among other things, it shows that Ruach HaKodesh is THE artist of our transformation. He is eager to paint (Ecclesiastes 3:11) and to sculpt (Isaiah 64:8). To use the Word to bring to our consciousness that which needs renewal, that which needs to be broken, that which needs to be understood, in order to turn us from what we ARE to what we are in the EYES OF ADONAI. We are an ARTWORK that He is making. WE aren’t doing the work. We are to INHABIT the work.

It is one of the SIMPLE things of the Gospel Message that Adonai does it all. Anything of significance, Adonai did. Jesus paid the price. Jesus opened the Way. Jesus gave us His Ruach to guide us. Jesus empowers us. Jesus gives us the right to use His authority. Jesus overcame and lets us walk in that overcoming. Jesus gives us access to His mind and His character. Our work is prepared for us, the guidelines, signposts, and finish line are all established by Adonai. From new birth to standing before the Throne, it is all made ready for us. All we have to do is humbly submit. That’s it! How simple is that! We humbly submit and it ALL opens for us. We’ll know what to do, where to go, what to say, have the tools to achieve it, emote what He says, have what He says, refuse lack, embrace spiritual, emotional, mental, relational, physical, and financial bounty (not in greed but in Blessing – to us and toward others). There is nothing that will be kept from us when we are walking in the centre of His will. This is so simple you have to work hard to misunderstand it. But it isn’t easy.

The goal of the world and the enemy is to block the entrance to our eyes, our ears, and our mouths. To cram them full with all the glittery, distracty, and burdensome information that fly around with the strength of a hurricane. If the entrance to your soul (your mental and emotional seat) is blocked with worries, events, entertainment, concerns, information, and skills which have nothing to to with the Kingdom, then the Kingdom principles are either not getting into you or are not getting nourished. If you don’t have a harvest or if your harvest is wilted, you have lost out. “The thief comes only so that he can steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). We can have our lives stolen without being killed. We can be killed without being destroyed. But the destruction of the believer is the goal of the world and the devil. Why? We are the artwork of Adonai.

Ruach HaKodesh is painting us. Sculpting us. Turning us from the ordinary things we have devolved into because of sin (Genesis 3), into the glorious instruments of His vision, power, mercy, grace, and love (2 Corinthians 5:21). Have you ever heard of the stereotype of the starving artist? Of how they are never appreciated in their time? Of how there are many more hours and much more effort put into their work than they get compensated for? It is not because the world dislikes beauty. It is because beauty speaks of the Glory of Adonai. Human created beauty speaks to the reality of the beauty created by Ruach Hakodesh in all of us. The enemy always wants to put down beauty. If that’s not possible, they want to control it. Monetize it. Turn it into something it was never intended to be. When we resist Ruach HaKodesh, we are doing the same thing.

The process of becoming art is transformational. Transformation is not always pleasant. It is not always a nice feeling. It can hurt. Pieces are taken away. You get shifted, moulded, made into something new. The end result will ALWAYS be worth it. But the PROCESS makes us balk. Makes us hang back. We want the reward, but we don’t want the uncomfortable in between. But we have the promise of the Most High. His promises NEVER fail or falter. If we will embrace them and humbly submit to them, they WILL be. He is the MASTER ARTIST and we are His canvas. Submit to the process, let the Word do its work. Let Ruach HaKodesh apply it where and how He wants. He is performing the Will of Adonai. We are being made into NEW things. That will NEVER be bad. It will be VERY GOOD. Trust the Artist. Trust the Word. Endure the process with thanksgiving – not for the discomfort, but for the end result that we trust in Jesus will be everything He says it will be. Be the art He says you are. Let Him paint.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Ephesians 2:10

“For we are his creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that we may walk in them.” Can you imagine the hardship a stone would have to go through to make itself into a statue? How would you even go about that? Throw yourself in a river and let the water wear you away? Throw yourself down a mountain and let the impacts of each part of the journey break off pieces? What would that look like? It would certainly be different from the original shape, but it would hardly be intricate or what it could have been. We are NOT given the burden of figuring out what to do. We have NOT been tasked with climbing mountains. We have NOT been tasked with building from the foundation up. We have NOT been tasked with hiking across nations. We have NOT been tasked with creating the equipment that we need to function, strive, feed, and survive. We HAVE been asked to walk. That’s it. Walk. To place our feet one after the other and travel forward. It is simple. Babies manage it with practise. Every human being with legs manages it. Many humans who have been bodily injured manage it with the right tools. Almost every human on this planet CAN and EVERY human was MEANT to. That is how easy and ubiquitous walking is. The hard part is laying down the path to walk. Making sure it is level. That it is made from substances that will endure, but not injure the walkers. That it goes somewhere. That it won’t make the walkers lost. Adonai has done all that. He made the Way. He lights the path. He guides, corrects, leads, and sustains. He made it all before He made creation. He had the route laid down before He made anything at all. Imagine that. Before we were even in existence, He had it all ready for us. All we need to do is to trust in Him and walk. Just walk. Walk in the Way He made for us to walk. What a relief. What a restful way to live. What a joy. What a GOOD God!

Your Daily Confession of Elohim’s Goodness:

I taste and see that Yahweh is good; I am blessed because I take refuge in Him.

Psalm 34:8