Fear No Fear

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

When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, “Don’t be afraid. I am the first and the last, and the Living One. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades
Revelation 1:17-18 (emphasis added)

Jesus said He had the keys of Death and Hades. We all know what death is. But in Hebrew, the word the Greeks translated as Hades means The Unseen World. Jesus has the keys to the unseen world. That is significant because in the book of Hebrews, chapter eleven, it says “Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen. For by this, the elders obtained approval. By faith we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.” This is further scriptural proof that Jesus is Lord of All. He has been given authority over every realm. Of every thing in every realm. No matter what we as humans discover, be it macroscopic or microscopic, be it wormhole, black hole, or dimensional; Jesus has authority over it. All the physical realms and all the spiritual realms. Jesus is Lord over the Unseen World and everything within it. Jesus is Lord over the created world and everything within it. Jesus holds the keys to it all. The unspoken question is this: do you believe it? Do you have a firm conviction as to the goodness, efficacy, and ability of Jesus to hold this authority?

All the great patriarchs of the Bible were approved by the Lord because they chose to operate in faith. Faith that the world was made out of unseen things and we can have total, one hundred percent trust in the unseen world. Faith that what God said WAS. That the Lord was trustworthy. It sometimes took them some time to get there, but when they got there? They stood on it and did not waiver. That is what made them faithful. That is why it was imparted to Abraham as righteousness. He BELIEVED. To believe is to hold something as true. To accept it as genuine and real. To consider it honest. To accept the evidence and words about something. To have wholehearted conviction about it. This wasn’t a head nod. This wasn’t head knowledge. This was deeper. This was total and absolute conviction. No one could sway them. Nothing could convince them otherwise. Nothing they saw or experienced. Nothing anyone said. It wasn’t overnight faith. It wasn’t belief that happened immediately. Look at Abraham and his having a child.

Abraham (then Abram) was told that he would father a biological child through his wife Sarai. He was around seventy-five to eighty years old when he was first told by the Lord that he would father a child. When he was eighty-six, they tried to force the prophecy to come true through Sarai’s maid. When Abraham was ninety-nine the Lord told him again that he would father a child by Sarai (now Sarah). When he was a hundred years old, his son by Sarah was born. It took them at least twenty years to fully believe that God would give them a biological son. But once they got there, they stood. Abraham stood so firm that when God asked him to sacrifice his son (a common practise of the pagans in the land of Abraham’s youth), Abraham assumed that God was going to raise Issac from the dead even though that had (to his knowledge) never happened or could happen (Hebrews 11:19). That is some faith.

Jesus holds the keys to everything that He as the Word of God made through the will of the Father whether in the physical realm or the spiritual (John 1:3 and Colossians 1:16). The existence of all creation is held together by the will of Jesus (Colossians 1:17). By Grace through Faith, we have access to all that blessing and all that promise and all that righteousness (Ephesians 1:3). Not on our own, but because we are IN Christ (John 14:20). Christ Jesus holds all the cards. All the access. All the authority to wield the power which emanates from the Father. Jesus started out by creating the universe. He has ended by holding the keys to the universe. He is THE bookend of all creation and we can have trust in Him, faith in Him, and absolute confidence in Him. In HIM we are sons and daughters of God. In HIM we are made perfect. In HIM we have everything we need to succeed. He IS alpha. He IS omega. He IS beginning, He IS ending, and He IS the Living One of God Almighty.

If that doesn’t give you shivers and make you want to worship Him, let go of your fear and embrace His faith. We are spirit beings. And the spirit is a binary setting. It is either on one or the other. It is either on or off. You are choosing to use it or you are choosing to stay away. Ignoring it is a choice to stay away. Disbelieving it is a choice to stay away. Anything but turning it on is a choice to stay away. One side is faith (ON) and the other is fear (OFF). Every day. In every word and with every action we have to decide what we are going to do. Are we going to walk in faith or walk in fear? Are we going to speak words of faith or words of fear? Science can’t help you, society can’t help you, school can’t help you, government can’t help you, rebellion can’t help you, going good can’t help you, acts of charity and kindness can’t help you. Nothing can help you. You either speak faith or you are speaking fear. You either choose to put your words and eyes on God or you are being selfish and fearful. Period. There is no other option. On or Off. Light or Darkness.

Jesus said “Don’t be afraid”. Those words mean we are to choose not to yield to fear. We are to NOT give way to arguments, demands, or pressure. We are to choose faith. And that we cannot do if we are not abiding in Christ. We are human beings. Male and female have been given total and absolute authority over this planet earth (Genesis 1:26). We have been given complete and absolute free will over our own selves. But all the power is in the spirit realm. All power comes from the Father alone (Matthew 6:13). Jesus is the only one with authority to wield it. God looks to us to have faith and tell Him that He can move on earth through us. We give Him legal permission to be the miraculous God that He is — at His timing, in His way, according to His will and Word. We have dominion, but we are nothing without Him. We only have it IN Him. We only use it according to HIS will.

We are in the image of Him. We are to work to do things. To be in the right place. To minister and help and bless and receive and be all that He made us to be. We can obey. We can act. We can let Him in. We can’t DO anything without power. The Son can do everything because the Father has all the power. He gets to keep it too. But our Father lets us exist in a place where we can open ourselves to Him by abiding in Christ Jesus. We can say ‘Yes Lord, use me’. We can work together where we are the vessel or conduit and He is the work and the power (Matthew 19:26). We can walk where His light shines (Psalm 119:105-112), be obedient, let Him teach us, and let Him work through us. We can lend our faith to His work. We can say, ‘Yes, Lord. Use me’. He exercises the power because we submitted our will to be where He wanted, doing what He showed us, and saying what He said to say (John 5:19-20; 12:49-50).

God can do miraculous things beyond our comprehension. IF we will let Him. If we will obey Him. If we’ll use our authority of dominion that He gave us and give Him permission to work with us and for us. Jesus did it 100% during His earthly ministry and look what the Father did through Him! Jesus gave us His Spirit when He made us new creatures. And what did He say to us? “Most certainly I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these, because I am going to my Father” (John 14:12). Jesus went to heaven and sent us the Holy Spirit. In Jesus, by His Spirit, the Father can do much with us and through us. Why not let Him? Why not give Him permission to do something with you and through you? What do you have to lose, except your fear?

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Colossians 1:16-17

Jesus made everything and holds everything together. Do you realise the implications of that? The proof of His love for us? By the will of Jesus, we exist. By the will of Jesus, we continue to exist. If He decided to, He could end us in a moment. With a thought. He keeps us alive moment by moment with His thoughts about us. That means that He is thinking positively about everything. Every human being is treasured in the thoughts of Jesus. The people who were tormenting Him during His crucifixion were being held together by the will of the man whom they were torturing. While we are in sin, His thoughts are keeping us alive and breathing. He holds us alive to the very last moment He can because He loves us. He wants us to have all the opportunities we need to choose life. To choose Him. Of course, because we have free will there comes a point where we can refuse life and choose death. But until that choice is made, He is holding us together and holding us up. The Lord God loves us more than we can understand without His help. He has his thoughts on us all the time. He loves us so much. Praise Him for it today. And love Him back. He deserves it.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.