Fear No Fear

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

“Only don’t do two things to me, then I will not hide myself from your face: withdraw your hand far from me, and don’t let your terror make me afraid.
Job 13:20-21 (emphasis added)

Job wanted to stay under the hand of Yahweh God, but he also didn’t want the terror of the Lord to overcome him. What terror? Not fearful of Him. Not scared, though God IS far above us when we’re not in Jesus (Isaiah 55:8-9). He is totally one hundred percent Righteous. He is Pure in a way we really don’t understand. When we get around that level of holiness, we start to sweat, fall down repentant, and quiver. The flesh — which is very much NOT pure or righteous — starts to feel its condition. It starts to realise how much dirt it really is (Psalm 103:14). How low. How it has indulged in sin. And what it deserves in and of itself based on past actions. The flesh remembers the Word of God from Genesis 2:16-17 The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.” The flesh remembers it did eat and it remembers the penalty that was prescribed for that act and it starts to sweat. “Won’t his majesty make you afraid and his dread fall on you?” (Job 13:11). We may not remember everything we’ve done, but the flesh does and falsely tries to get us to remember.

But take heart. Yahweh God is NOT mankind. He is NOT an image from our subconscious. He is NOT something we have made up for our own advantage. He IS. As such, He declares what is acceptable to Him and what is not. He made us dirt for a REASON. We’re not dirt because we are unworthy. We are dirt so that we can bring things forth. It isn’t the SEED that brings forth, but the SOIL. Yahweh made us SOIL and then breathed into us to give us life. We are seed-bearing, harvest bringers, full of the Breath of God Himself. In Jesus, we can stand proud in the Righteousness of God that we ARE in Him. That is so much MORE than what WE think when we walk according to the flesh. The flesh can’t see the spirit. It sees dirt. Baked. Dried out. Good for nothing. The Spirit sees a fertile, lush valley just itching to spread the Garden all over again (Genesis 2:15). But the flesh (body) can’t see it and kicks up, resisting the new US (mind and spirit). One third resisting two thirds.

If our flesh kicks up every time God is around, why do we want to get around God? Because we’re spirit beings, not flesh. Our flesh may quaver, but our spirits rejoice. “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD! My soul will be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels” (Isaiah 61:10). We love to be with God and be around God and bask in His presence. To worship Him and receive from Him. Even as our flesh fears, we are full of love. We were made in His image (Genesis 1:26-27). We were made to fellowship with Him (Genesis 3:8) and because of what Jesus did for us at the cross, our spirits are eager to be with God again. Full of reverential awe, free of all fear, our spirits are looking to get in front of the Father and never leave.

That duality is one side of Job’s request. The other is about what the Lord can do. “God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth”” (Genesis 1:27-28). God made us and then blessed us. It was the first thing He did. He did it before He told us to do anything. His blessing is not dependent on our actions. Our first moments of consciousness were spent being blessed by Yahweh God. When it comes to blessing, the hand of God is open to us.

“There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God” (Ecclesiastes 2:24). “You open your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing” (Psalm 145:16). “Both riches and honour come from you, and you rule over all! In your hand is power and might! It is in your hand to make great, and to give strength to all!” (1 Chronicles 29:12). The hand of God blesses us and also assists us in what we are to do: “Also the hand of God came on Judah to give them one heart, to do the commandment of the king and of the princes by the LORD’s word” (2 Chronicles 30:12). “The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:21). The Lord keeps us in His hand: “I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand“ (John 10:28-29). The problem is that while no one can snatch us away, we are able to walk off. We can choose to listen to our flesh INSTEAD of our spirit.

We don’t have to though. We can stay there in Jesus. If we stay obedient. We abide by being obedient because obedience is the outward expression of our inward love of Jesus. We can and need to rely on Him (John 15). We are enabled to succeed through the Holy Spirit if we keep our selves in check: “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7). This wasn’t Job’s worry though. Job felt that he was safe under God’s hand. Job felt he was innocent and blameless and wanted to justify himself before God. He was just scared. Because of God’s majesty. Because God was GOD. He knew God was amazing and mighty and generous and he did not want to lose out on the benefits of being under the hand of the Most High. This was his plea: Let me stay under your hand of blessing and might, but don’t let my flesh get the better of me and leave me here quivering in fear. Remember, Job was under a different covenant. He was OUTSIDE of Grace. He had no mediator. He wasn’t indwelt by the Holy Spirit. He was a man who wasn’t even under the Law yet. He was out there alone – or so it could seem. Which is why he sought God.

He wanted to be with God, but not fearful. Reverent, but not terrified. The next verse tells us why: “Then call, and I will answer, or let me speak, and you answer me.” He wanted to justify himself. He wanted to place his case before the Lord God Almighty. Thank the Lord we don’t have this problem. We don’t need to be begging the Lord not to let our flesh get the best of us. First of all, we are new creations in Christ and can come boldly before the throne of our Father in heaven (Hebrews 4:16). We’re warned in Hebrews 10:35 “Therefore don’t throw away your boldness, which has a great reward” This is a great privilege. This is a great honour. This is the benefit of being a son or daughter of Yahweh God. But if we did forget. If we did focus on us more than on God. If we did fall prey to sin. What then? That’s number two: “But now he (Jesus) has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which on better promises has been given as law” (Hebrews 8:6). That’s right. We have Jesus. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:5).

In Jesus, we have the answer to Job’s plea. Jesus redeems us so that we can boldly stand before the throne and speak to the Father. Jesus is also our mediator in times of trouble, reminding the Father of our redemption and making sure that no whisper of the enemy gets between us and our rightful place which we have through Jesus. It is a MUCH better covenant we have than any that have come before us (Hebrews 8:7-13). “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death. For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace; because the mind of the flesh is hostile towards God, for it is not subject to God’s law, neither indeed can it be. Those who are in the flesh can’t please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:1-11).

If we focus on the flesh side of our existence, not only are we going to have a lot of problems but we are going to be in the exact self-same place as Job was. The same issue. He wanted to justify himself before God, but couldn’t. He wanted to stand before God, but couldn’t. He wanted to be restored to a relationship with God, but couldn’t. He wanted to stay under God’s blessing, but was at the mercy of what he perceived to be the whim of the Lord. That doesn’t sound like a good deal. That sounds like a sinner’s deal (Job wasn’t in the wrong, God called him righteous in Job 1:1). For us – in Jesus – we are sanctified and continue to be sanctified every day (1 Corinthians 6:11). In Jesus, we are beloved children of God (1 John 3:1-3). In Jesus, we are justified (Romans 5:1-2). In Jesus, we can stand before God without fear (Jude 1:24-25). We need to keep our focus on the spirit side of things. If we do, we have life in abundance (John 10:10). If we do not, we will wither because the flesh is steeped in everything that separates us from God.

“The next day, when they had come out from Bethany, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came to see if perhaps he might find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. Jesus told it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” and his disciples heard it” (Mark 11:12-14). This seems like Jesus is operating on a whim. But he wasn’t. Fig trees don’t have fruit all the year round. When they have fruit, they have bright leaves. Jesus saw bright leaves, which signified the tree had fruit. This tree had none. It had all the appearance of having fruit and being vibrant. It was a pleasant surprise because it wasn’t the season for figs. The tree was screaming loud and clear that it had fruit, that it was better than all the other fig trees, that it had what everyone both needed and wanted. But it was a false voice. Jesus answered it the way He answers all false voices: He gave it what it was asking for. It was being unnatural. It paid the price. It was and is a powerful lesson.

““I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burnt” (John 15:1-6). Job wanted to justify himself. He wanted to say ‘I am righteous in my actions so I don’t deserve this’ as if this life is about deserving things. While Job did not sin against God, he did start to get bitter about his situation. Job started to question God. He did NOT sin, but he lost his focus on God. He let questions consume him. In Jesus’ day the religious leaders weren’t even questioning. They were no longer concerned with the Lord’s hand and were being false in attitude and in service. Jesus drove them out (Mark 11:15-17). The fig tree was being false — this is the only tree Jesus had issue with and He was around trees a whole lot. We are also not to be false. We are to abide in Jesus and produce. If not… we will receive what it is we are asking for.

None of us want bad things to happen to us, but we live in a fallen world. All of us want blessing and positive experiences, but we don’t always believe they are the Lord’s will. None of us want to think of ourselves as false, but we aren’t always as honest as we could be. All of us want to enjoy the presence of the Lord, but not always on His timetable. All of us want to FEEL the love of God toward us, but God’s love isn’t a FEELING It is a fact. We have been given free will (Genesis 2:16-17). Will we stay in God’s hand or walk off of it? Will we abide in Jesus, staying connected to the source of our life and produce fruit? Will we be posturing believers, saying all the right things and doing all the right things but producing no fruit of the Kingdom? Will we grovel before God or let Jesus sanctify us day by day? Will we beg for a mediator or let Jesus do a work in us? Will we fun on feelings and poor me questions, or will we rely on the Word and choose to trust His TRUTH?

We can’t do it alone. We can’t go it alone. We can’t produce anything alone. We can’t stand alone. We can’t pray alone. We can’t accomplish anything alone. It needs to be Jesus in us. Jesus through us. We need to stay connected to Him. Through the Word. Through prayer as conversation. Through prayer as listening to His voice. Through obedience to what He tells us. We need Jesus. We need to be in Him and have Him in us. When we focus on that. When Jesus is first, last, and everything in between we are right where we should be. We’re where we were created to be. We’re the being we were always meant to be. The victory will be ours. The blessing will be ours. Our spirits will rejoice and start to transform the rest of us as we let Jesus sanctify and perfect us.

Never forget we are branches of Jesus Himself. We are co-heirs and children of God through Him. We get to stand before the throne, climb into God’s lap, and enjoy the smiles of our Father through Jesus. Jesus is the reason. Jesus is the season of harvest. Jesus is the redeemer of our souls. Jesus is the renewal of our mind. Jesus is the sanctification of our spirit. Praise Him today as you seek His face. Thank Him today as you listen to His voice. Rejoice today because Jesus is our Lord, Saviour, and brother. Amen.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Genesis 48:15-16

This is the first reference of God as our shepherd. Jacob called God his shepherd. One who led his fathers (Abraham and Issac). One who fed him his whole life. One who redeemed him from all evil. One who blesses. That’s a great list. God guides, feeds, saves, and blesses. Not for a period. Not when He feels like it. But for our entire lives. God’s shepherding of us is not the past. It is always present. It is always now. There is no sense in wondering if God loves us. If God wants good things for us. If God is with us. God has been doing everything He can to ensure our well-being from before there was a creation in which to place us. Because He loves us. He wants to care for us, bless us, save us, feed us, and lead us. He wants to bring us to the best rest, the best food, the best water, and the best everything. He operates as a shepherd. He loves like a Father. We have the best of both worlds. Appreciate that He appreciates us. It is the basis of our fellowship with Him: love. Real, honest, deep, and meaningful love. It is the connecting point, the first snap of all that we build with Him. It is the centre of our walk with Him. God IS love and it will transform your life if you’ll let it. If you’ll let Him. No matter where you are with your walk with the Lord, His love is always our rest. Always our salvation. Always our blessing. The love of God toward us has perfect peace. Fully satisfying relationship. Take a chance today. Let Him love you. You won’t regret it.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.