Fear No Fear

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

And the priests were not able to stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of Yahweh filled the house of God.

2 Chronicles 5:14

The glory of Adonai descended and it was so intense, these humans could not enter. The glory was pure righteousness and they were not righteous, being under the system of sacrifice to cover sin – the Old Covenant. When the glory descended in the New Covenant, it manifested in its completeness. It was FIRE and it descended on and resided in those men who were righteous IN JESUS (2 Corinthians 5:21). In BOTH cases, there was preparation on the part of those men and women to make the atmosphere ready to receive the glory. There was a setting apart of things for Adonai’s use. There was praise. There was music. Their hearts were open and they were willing to receive. They spent TIME readying themselves and where they were. The atmosphere was conducive to Adonai’s glory. Adonai WANTED to come, but it was the responsibility of the human beings to prepare themselves and their atmosphere. Nothing has changed (Hebrews 13:8).

In the tabernacle and later the Temple, they came up for feasts. They sacrificed animals. They praised and worshipped. And the glory cloud descended so thickly they couldn’t minister until it released a bit. When the Law was given they assembled and spent time preparing themselves, keeping themselves ceremonially clean and separated – even to the washing of their clothes. And the presence of Adonai descended on the mountain. In Jerusalem, they were gathering DAILY in the Temple worshipping and praising Adonai, meeting for group prayer and praise sessions in the upper room. And Ruach HaKodesh descended upon them. When we praise Adonai, we prepare ourselves for interaction with Him. When we worship and pray, we are preparing ourselves and opening ourselves to hear Him, receive from Him, and ‘see’ Him – this does not mean a physical apparition unless Adonai feels like it (John 20:29). Preparation time is NECESSARY and NEVER wasted.

Why does Adonai tell us to gather together? Yes, there is a benefit to corporate prayer and praise (Ephesians 5:19; 1 Timothy 4:13). Yes, Jesus went to church and we ARE supposed to model Jesus (Luke 4:16). But why else would He tell us to? Because we PREPARE ourselves. There is nothing wrong with attending church remotely – BUT YOU WILL MISS OUT on all the benefits of corporate worship AND we are encouraged to assemble together (Hebrews 10:25). Those who attend remotely, do you get dressed for it? Just like you would in person? Are you fed, dressed, and groomed? Or are you eating snacks, drinking coffee (or whatever), and sitting in your pyjamas. Yes, you sing the songs, but then are you watching like it’s a TV show and not THERE in mind/heart like in church? Even in church, are you THERE in mind/heart or are you drinking your coffee as you sit in a pew being ‘entertained’ by the message? Are we gathered together in our HEARTS, PREPARED, and creating the right ATMOSPHERE for Ruach HaKodesh to Bless us? The atmosphere is NOT His responsibility, it is ours. WE must prepare ourselves. And if we are not worshipping in spirit and TRUTH (John 4:24), He has no desire to come and ‘descend’ on us. He is inside all of us, but as a corporate group, does He have any motivation to attend? Not if we haven’t PREPARED.

“And while he was with them, he commanded them, “Do not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for what was promised by the Father, which you heard about from me” (Acts 1:4). Jesus told them to go and wait. He told them to go and prepare. Which they did. They gathered together. They sought Adonai. They prayed. They praised. They were creating an atmosphere of expectation where Adonai could do what He wanted in HIS TIME. They knew it WOULD happen and did not put a clock on it. They were willing to wait as long as they needed to. When Jesus was walking on the Earth, He needed to hear from the Father REGULARLY. He didn’t know any more than WE do in Himself (Luke 8:45; Mark 9:21). He did that by keeping Himself constantly prepared. “But he himself was withdrawing in the wilderness and praying” (Luke 5:16). “Now it happened that when all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized, and while he was praying, heaven was opened” (Luke 3:21). “And after he sent away the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. So when evening came, he was there alone” (Matthew 14:23). Jesus did NOT neglect prayer and at times prayed right through meals. He did NO major decision without prayer. “One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names:” (Luke 6:12-13).

Jesus often received words from Ruach HaKodesh. He received because He was listening. He was listening because He had prepared Himself. He prepared because He was a human male and NEEDED to prepare Himself. Jesus came to show us that a man COULD do it. A man COULD live according to the righteous standards of Adonai. Adam did NOT. But Jesus showed Adam COULD have. The first Adam failed. The Last Adam succeeded (1 Corinthians 15:45). It was possible because He kept Himself in a CONSTANT and CONSISTENT state of PREPARATION. We are called to abide in Jesus (John 15:5). We cannot achieve that without being in CONSTANT and CONSISTENT preparation. We cannot do THAT without Ruach HaKodesh. We have to rely on the patterns that Jesus established when He lived here in humanity. We have to rely on His thinking. We have to rely on His decision making. We have to rely on His behaviour choices. The only one here who truly knows what that all entails is Ruach HaKodesh. Without listening to what Ruach HaKodesh has to say about life in Jesus, we won’t know the steps to make. Or how to make them. In order to listen to Ruach HaKodesh, we need to make our atmosphere consistent with His presence. Our atmosphere must be inviting to His presence. We need to ENCOURAGE His presence. We do that by PREPARING and it is OUR responsibility.

We do not praise Adonai enough. That’s a fact. David knew the secret: “But as for me, I will sing of your strength, and I will hail your loyal love in the morning, because you have been my high stronghold and a refuge in my time of trouble” (Psalm 59:16). In the MORNING, we rise and praise Him. FIRST THING. Singing praise to Him should be the very first thing that we ever do. There’s an old Maranatha song that goes ‘O Lord in the morning/Will I direct my prayer/Unto Thee and will look up/Give ear to my words O Lord/Consider my meditation/Harken unto the voice of my cry/My King and my God’. It’s taken from Psalm 5. This is what we should be doing. Every. Day. He DESERVES it. And WE need to focus our EYES and our HEARTS on Him. We need to know the deal. He IS the deal. The ONLY deal. Everything else is treading water. Face it. How much does it matter to the rest of forever and beyond whether we get that new thing? Do that paper pushing at work? That’s good stewardship and it is the work of this world. But it doesn’t matter in the same way as WORSHIP and FOCUS. He will show us the best way to push that paper. The most effective way to get that thing without any strings or owing any money so that it is available for us to bless someone with (Romans 13:8).

Every day, starting right at the first time you open your eyes, direct praise to Adonai. Do it all day long. Thank Him for that parking spot. That food. That great conversation. That glass of water. That laugh of your child. That smile from your spouse. That spark of sunlight. That raindrop. That flower. That pet. That opportunity to serve. To bless. To fellowship. Anything and everything. It doesn’t need to be WORDY or LONG. It needs to be HONEST, TRUE, and CONSISTENT. Praise. Adonai. Get your atmosphere all about glorifying Him for ALL things. Every day our family takes communion together. Before we do, we say a communal two things that Adonai has done for us. Anyone can suggest a thing. Only rule: no repetitions. Every day there MUST be at LEAST two things that we thank Him for. That we REMEMBER Him for (Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:18-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25). It is a consistent thing we choose to do to keep our eyes – as a family – on Him. Everyone needs to find the way they are going to do something like that. A daily, consistent, and near-constant way to remind yourself to thank Adonai for what He does. It is OUR responsibility to create the atmosphere of trust in Jesus and worship of Adonai that Ruach HaKodesh CANNOT resist. Then we will be ready to hear. We will be ready to be guided. We will be ready to be corrected. We will be ready to SEE JESUS.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Psalm 121:1-2

“I lift up my eyes to the mountains; whence will my help come? My help is from Yahweh, maker of heaven and earth” We need to lift our eyes. Up off of our carnal, physical existence. Up off of our selfish attitude and mindset. Up off of that which captures and poisons our attention spans. Up to where Adonai dwells. It isn’t high in heaven, but the mountain of righteousness which He placed in our hearts. It is a symbolic and spiritual lifting of our eyes from OUR level to HIS level. He is right there with us. He is right there beside us. He doesn’t leave us. He doesn’t flee. He doesn’t stay away. He doesn’t turn sullenly until we prove ourselves. No. He puts His hand under our chin. He encourages. He loves. He tells us we CAN. He tells us we CAN. He helps us, lifting our chin as we lift our chin, raising our eyes WITH US until our eyes meet HIS eyes. Until we see eye to eye. Smile to smile. Tear to tear. Until we have again connected. Who helps us do this? The MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. THE I AM. That’s who. Who can stop Him? Who can prevent Him? Who can keep Him from it? No one and nothing. No matter how sad we are. How anxious. How lost. How sorry. How ashamed. Jesus BREAKS ALL OF THAT. He did it THOUSANDS of years ago. He isn’t here to JUDGE US, but to LOVE US. To help us realize that WE CAN DO IT! We CAN connect to Him. We CAN keep our eyes on Him. He HELPS us. He does it WITH US (Matthew 19:26). The Great I AM. The MAKER. The REDEEMER. The SHEPHERD. The FATHER. The SON. RUACH HAKODESH. He DOES IT WITH US. He HELPS. He makes sure that if we are willing NOTHING CAN STOP IT HAPPENING. 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