Fear No Fear

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

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the originator and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider the one who endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you will not grow weary in your souls and give up.

Hebrews 12:2-3

Don’t you hate it when someone disregards your opinions? We all do. We all also disregard people’s opinions because we feel OUR opinion is the more valid (or ONLY valid) one. To disregard something is to not allow it to influence you – you have a choice about it. It is also the act of treating someone or something as unworthy of regard or notice. They (or it) are so far below you that you literally don’t notice them. We are curious creatures and tend toward being observant. So if we are disregarding something, it is LEARNED and CONSCIOUS behaviour. We had to train ourselves not to notice them/it. We can also choose to notice them/it at any point. We can pick up our regard and lay it down again. It is OUR choice.

Jesus was not a disregarding person. Everyone had worth in His eyes. He spent time with those that ‘proper’ society chose to ignore and disregard (Matthew 9:11; Luke 7:39). Jesus was very intentful with His thinking, speaking, and actions. He did nothing by chance. Everything was thought out. I think Jesus was the type to pause before speaking to you. Not a long time. Not in a rude way. But in a thoughtful, considering your words, respectful way. Even when it came to religious thinking and doctrine that was clearly straying from the Word, He still listened to the men’s opinions before speaking truth kindly and gently – and sometimes forcefully to make a point (never for shock value or in rudeness). He did it in good situations (Matthew 14:19). He did it in trying situations (John 11:41). And He did it while facing the worst possible situation as well.

“And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw and knelt down and began to pray, saying, “Father, if you are willing, take away this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.” [[And an angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him. And being in anguish, he began praying more fervently and his sweat became like drops of blood falling down to the ground.]]” (Luke 22:41-44). Jesus was facing an ordeal that would leave Him in a condition that wouldn’t appear human (Isaiah 52:14). It was going to be CONSIDERABLE torture and anguish (Isaiah 53:4). And that was only in the physical. He was ALSO spiritually afflicted (Isaiah 53:7). He BECAME Sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). He took BOTH on. It was HORRIFIC and frankly UNIMAGINABLE. No matter HOW much revelation we have on it, we will NEVER fully understand what He went through for us. How did He do it? The cop out answer is ‘He was God’. It is a truth, but not a true answer to the question.

Jesus did it because He DESPISED the experience of the cross. That was how He was able to cry out the first lines of a Messianic Victory Psalm in the midst of that agony, shame, and horror (Matthew 27:46). In the ancient world, quoting the opening lines of a thing meant you were referencing the ENTIRE thing. If you read Psalm 22 it goes from being forsaken (because He was sin) to being the salvation that people not yet born will come and talk about. It is an overcoming Psalm. It is a FANTASTIC Psalm. Jesus could ONLY hold to it through the experience of the cross by despising the physical and spiritual experience of payment for Sin and focusing on the JOY and VICTORY and SALVATION that experience would bring. Jesus chose to focus on the RESULT not the process that BROUGHT the result about. THAT is how He could do it. That is the same thing He told His disciples to do. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me” (John 14:1). They were about to see Him taken, beaten, and killed. They were about to see the end of all their (misplaced) hopes and dreams (Luke 22:24-30). They ended up disobeying. Fleeing and hiding in a locked room hoping the Romans or the Jewish leadership wouldn’t find them. They paid attention to the feelings that were coming at them, instead of disregarding them in favour of Jesus’ WORD. That’s the key.

Feelings in and of themselves are not bad. If they were, we wouldn’t be designed to have them. But they are simple information about what is happening in non-physical realms. Our seeing is physical. Our tasting is physical. Our hearing is physical. Our touching is physical. Our smelling is physical. Our feelings are an awareness like balance. They are reporting to us what is happening around us in regards to emotions, and non-physical sensations (fear, anger, anxiety, depression, happiness, passion, cheerfulness, etc). We can give them weight and consider them and turn them into emotions that we experience. Or we can disregard them and instead base our emotions on Ruach HaKodesh (Galatians 5:22-23). We can base our emotions, our thoughts, our actions, and our words on THE Word – which is what Jesus DID and encouraged His disciples TO DO. They didn’t at that time, but we have their lesson to learn from so that we CAN.

Circumstances and situations do NOT dictate ANYTHING to us. We have to CHOOSE to accept them. We can reject ANY fact and ANY opinion IF they go against what Adonai says, because His word is THE TRUTH. It is higher than ANYTHING we can observe, measure, and reproduce (2 Corinthians 4:18; Colossians 3:2). Jesus didn’t say this stuff as a joke. He meant it. He believed it. He trusted in it. And He walked it out so that WE could walk it out (1 Peter 2:21). It is suffering to go against the flesh. Our flesh is selfish and wants what it wants because it wants it. It’s like the (false) stereotype of the ‘terrible twos’. Your flesh is a terrible two. And it does NOT want to obey. It does NOT want to be reigned in. It does NOT want for anything except its appetites to control or have majority say in ANYTHING. And when persecution gets added because we are modelling and witnessing Jesus? Forget about it! The flesh is OUT. But Jesus said that we could stand on the WORD. Jesus said we could CHOOSE to listen to something more than the dirt we were made from. Jesus said we could OVERCOME because HE had overcome. We could do it because HE did it. We could experience it IN and THROUGH HIM.

Ruach HaKodesh operates in reminders and light. We hear the whispered voice inside us. The inner witness about what Jesus has said to us. The bringing up of scriptures we have studied and the lessons we learned from them. But Ruach HaKodesh ALSO has a ministry of light (1 Corinthians 2:10; Psalm 18:28). He is like those people with safety vests and light sticks who direct aircraft and other vehicles into their places. He shines His light on the things of Adonai. He directs our steps. He makes sure we are looking to where JESUS is, not where the situation is. He continually brings to our minds Jesus’ words to DISREGARD what is happening and to REGARD the Trust of Adonai which has been given to us so that we can hold to the WORD and not to our SENSES and/or FEELINGS. One of the KEY ways we can understand that is through GRATITUDE. Because we are thankful, because we acknowledge Adonai, because we are consistently reminding Him and ourselves that we RECEIVED His trust, we can hold to it. It is like when you see something cool, get excited, and then remember you already have one. Ruach HaKodesh is our reminder that because of what Jesus SAID, we CAN DO just EXACTLY as He said.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Mark 9:23

“ But Jesus said to him, “If you are able! All things are possible for the one who believes!”” It was true then. It is STILL true TODAY. It will ALWAYS be true! Adonai is more than eternal, because He is the FATHER of eternity (Isaiah 9:6). That is why He never changes. His character is ABOVE change. It is so stable it is MORE THAN stable. The Word is part of that. If we trust that Adonai CAN do what He SAYS He CAN do, then we can believe He CAN do it. This would be impossible without trust, but He gives us HIS trust (Mark 11:22) in the same way He gave us His Ruach (2 Corinthians 1:22). Because we have the ability to trust and because we have His Ruach to REMIND us to trust, we are 100% able to believe. Not based on our reasoning. Not based on our opinions. Not based on our performance. Not based on our experience. Not based on our past, present, or perceived future. Based COMPLETELY and TOTALLY on the CHARACTER OF ADONAI WHICH HE GAVE TO US TO USE. We do NOT have to rely on ANYTHING of ours. We can rely on the One who is trustworthy. On the One who delivers on promises. On the One who is faithful and changeless in His dependability. It makes believing so simple! 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