Fear No Fear

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

But whoever listens to me will dwell securely, and will be at ease, without fear of harm.”
Proverbs 1:33 (emphasis added)

Jesus is your pal. Your buddy. He wants the best for you. Blessing on blessing on blessing. But He doesn’t promise you things. He doesn’t promise you smooth sailing. He doesn’t promise you a pain-free life. He DOES promise you will not fear and you will have peace. He promises you the things of the Kingdom. He promises you prosperity that comes from your spirit and inhabits the rest of who you are. Our lives can include many things. Success, financial solvency, possessions, property, stable employment, healthy food options, high quality clothes, many avenues to quality entertainment, educational opportunities, and a lot of options for recreation. Those are things. We also can have family relationships, social relationships, mental health, communication, and widespread connections. A good and prosperous life is the quintessential dream of the west. It’s a free society of independent citizens living in social harmony, economic equality, and democratically limited political and legal rights. Sounds to me like secure dwelling while at ease without fear of harm.

Does that mean that the western dream is the will of the Lord? No. It means that the will of the Lord is a concept we are familiar enough with that they could be cousins. Or even siblings. Things that at least are recognisable. But the world — and large portions of the church — lose their minds and froth at the mouth at the idea of a christian enjoying just that at the guidance of the Lord. We’re fine with reaching that level of ease on our own. Within the capitalistic system of free enterprise anyway. I don’t know if it makes them feel better about their wealth or what it is. But the idea that God might not only approve of wealth but encourage it as a state of being for most of His followers just seems to scare them. And I have smiled more than once to hear conservative preaching state the same points as so-called prosperity preachers from the same verses. I smile even wider when you look at net worth and see that there is not a big gap between the two groups. It’s all so much denominational and doctrinal silliness. The only difference? The language. You know what? Prosperity is biblical. But it isn’t a dollar amount. It’s a lifestyle.

3 John 1:2 states it as: “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be healthy, even as your soul prospers. Jesus stated it as: But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.” James 5:8 says You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. John was the Lord’s beloved, close friend. James was His brother. And Jesus IS the Word. What do they all say? Your circumstances don’t matter. Your heart matters. Your spirit matters. How you seek God matters. Jesus is saying if you seek God first, the rest will follow — no matter what and how much that ‘rest’ is. John was saying without a prospering spirit you’re not equipped to handle prosperity as the world thinks about it. James was expounding about the evils of ill-based wealth, the heavenly rewards of enduring suffering, and how we need to look to the heart more than anything since the end is coming probably sooner than later.

Paul wrote most of the New Testament. He saw earthly suffering (and the flip-side which is prosperity) as a “light affliction” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). Something temporary. That it was over so quickly it was barely something worth thinking about. This from a man who gives his resume of sufferings in 2 Corinthians 11:24-27 “Five times I received forty stripes minus one from the Jews. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I suffered shipwreck. I have been a night and a day in the deep. I have been in travels often, perils of rivers, perils of robbers, perils from my countrymen, perils from the Gentiles, perils in the city, perils in the wilderness, perils in the sea, perils amongst false brothers; in labour and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, and in cold and nakedness.” That’s more than most of us see — depending on where you live.

North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Eritrea, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan and India top the list for places of persecution against Christians. Between 2021 and 2022 Christians were martyred by the tens to the hundreds to the thousands in Nigeria, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Myanmar, Columbia, India, Mexico, Honduras, and Pakistan. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom identifies Russia as one of the worst violators of religious freedom (any religion, not just followers of Christ). The Russians claim it is because of security issues, but it is worsening as time goes on and seems non-proportionate to other groups, so is it really? The larger question is how soon before we see this in the west? The bible warns us about it. Jesus promised we’d face persecution because of following Him. It is only a matter of time.

It won’t matter if it is in small ways — like closing churches in lockdown but allowing bars and restaurants to have limited seating — or big ways of locking you up if you profess faith. When it is happening to you, persecution is persecution. Being stuck in a home can feel the same as stuck in a cell — especially if you haven’t experienced both to compare them. What about the name of Jesus? When celebrities, athletes, or other achievers start to give Jesus credit and glory in news reports there is ‘signal loss’ within moments. A minute at most. When content providers start challenging things in regards to the Word vs the world, there are often ‘website issues’ that prevent some of the content from being disseminated. What will be next? Already saying Merry Christmas is frowned on as being un-inclusive. Will saying the name of Jesus be next? Religious books? The bible?

I’m not being doom and gloom. I am not trying to paint a picture of Nazi-esque techniques to keep the cross carriers down. I am saying that Paul suffered these things. And he did not fear them. He did not shy away from them. They were a light affliction in comparison to (1) what Jesus suffered, (2) rewards in heaven gained by following Christ in spite of what is happening around us or to us, and (3) eternity. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking the average population death of 60-85 yrs or a blue-zone average of 90-100+. This is less than a blink of a blink of a blink of an eye in a timeless environment. Forever is a long time. The modern world is trying to discount long-term decisions. Things like sexuality, gender-expression, and genetics are all being shifted into a fluid model following your feelings and not reality. But there are things we as people and the animal kingdom have chosen for life. Is eternity any different? We can think on that scale. We can experience life at that scale. But not naturally. It takes Jesus.

In Jesus, all our priorities shift. They shift from humankind-centric to God-centric. God is eternal. Always was. Always will be. If you are shifting your thinking from a created being to a non-created being you’d better believe there are seismic shifts of reality. When we live with pleasing God as our goal, nothing else really matters. Everything else is a temporary thing. A light affliction. Because there is only so much that can be done to our flesh. Only so much that can be done to us. Then limits are hit and we’re gone. Poof. Into the rest of our lives. Remember that if you’re a believer you died and got resurrected into Jesus (John 11:25-26). “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4).

We’ve already died. We have done all the dying we are going to do. We literally cannot die. Oh sure, we’ll drop the meat sack. But what is that? Like taking off a coat. And then BOOM, instant shaking hands with Jesus. Because we’ll be perfected in His righteousness at that point we can be buddy-buddy with our brother and fellow child of the Father. We can hug Him. See the Father’s face. Have all that we have been promised and probably more. So why worry? Why fear? Anything that happens here is quick. Fast. Over in a moment. Might not always seem like it, but that is because we look at it with human eyes. Human thinking. Look at it with heaven’s eyes. Heaven thinking. You will realise one important thing: it has all been done.

Since it is done, accomplished, and over. There is no pressure. We don’t have to do anything to achieve what we’ve been given. We can’t earn it. We didn’t deserve it. But we got it anyway by the Grace and Mercy of Yahweh God. Never take that for granted. Never underestimate the miracle of that gift. We can praise Him. We can worship Him. We can love Him and through loving Him find ourselves following His commands because we love to please Him. We can lose our fear of this world. Whether that is fear of not having stuff, fear of losing stuff, or fear of suffering. We can be at ease, resting in the promises of the Word, trusting the Lord, and taking what He gives as He gives. He won’t let us be tempted by the enemy beyond our means (1 Corinthians 10:13). He won’t give us things that will make us stumble (James 4:3). He will guard us as precious children (Philippians 4:7).

When you realise that God can be trusted, it is the first step to knowing that He can be trusted. When you know He can be trusted, it is the first step to strengthening your faith that He can be trusted. What will you end up with? You’ll end up trusting Him. When you do that? You’ll have peace. It won’t matter what comes against you. It won’t matter where you find yourself. It won’t matter what you have or what you don’t have. You will be completely content with whatever you have, eager to bless those around you because you are fully satisfied and taken care of, and the fear that the world is always slinging around hoping you’ll pick some up will blow away like chaff in a tornado. It is a secure place to stand. It is a safe place to stand. It is a peaceful place to stand. And there is no fear because nothing can move you when you stand in Jesus.

You are the one in control of your feet. The only one. God can’t move you because He chose to restrict Himself through our free will. The enemy can’t move you because he’s a powerless braggart. Demons can’t do it — they’re powerless little whiners. Evil spirits can’t do it — they’re hyped up infants with an inflated sense of self-worth. No one can move your feet but you. You choose to abide in Jesus or you choose to step away. You choose to live by faith or you choose to indulge in sin — not the fun indulgence of a chocolate dessert, but the indulgence of smearing yourself with septic waste. It is your choice how you want to live. At ease, secure, and without fear? Or the way the world does. I highly recommend what the Word highly recommends: God’s way. He is RIGHTEOUS and we MUST be too – which we can ONLY do in Jesus. Live in Jesus, through Jesus, and by Jesus. With HIM we can do all things. With HIM all things are possible. With HIM is peace and ease. Choose Jesus and enter eternal peace.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Psalm 27:1-4

Inheritance is the reception of genetic qualities by transmission from parent to offspring or the acquisition of a possession, condition, or trait from past generations. We have inheritance all around us. Genetic inheritance being the largest one. But we also have a divine inheritance. A declaration by Yahweh that as His children we have His righteousness and we have the right to call out and call down those who come against us in His name (Isaiah 54:14-17). Where do we have this inheritance? In Him. He is our strength. He is our light. He is our salvation. He is our secure base. He fights for us. He protects us. He does it all. We seek Him. We seek His face. We work to get to know Him. To learn His ways. To walk in them like a toddler in their parent’s shoes. And just like that toddler those shoes will start to fit better and better. We will grow larger and larger. Our stride will improve, our balance will centre, and before you know it we will be walking in those shoes as if they were made for us — which they were. We are the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). We are in Jesus and He in us (John 14:20). We have been put into Jesus’ righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30-31). That is our inheritance. That is our genetic history. Our DNA of the spirit. We are the children of Yahweh God. By Grace, through Faith. We abide in Jesus and He in us. Nothing can stand against us. Nothing can successfully come at us. The Lord God Almighty gives us total and absolute peace while He takes care of the rest. He loves us too much to do anything else. Love Him back. Seek His face. Seek to be pleasing to Him. Walk in His ways. His ways are perfect love and never-ending mercy. It’s a beautiful place to be.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.