Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the NET, netbible.org, all rights reserved)

The rain and snow fall from the sky and do not return, but instead water the earth and make it produce and yield crops, and provide seed for the planter and food for those who must eat. In the same way, the promise that I make does not return to me, having accomplished nothing. No, it is realized as I desire and is fulfilled as I intend.”
Isaiah 55:10-11 (emphasis added)

This world was founded on seedtime and harvest. Ebb and flow. The ebb isn’t the flow. The flow isn’t the ebb. They are different things, intimately joined. Rain and snow come down but do not return the same way. They go through the water cycle. They do their job, change forms, go through things like evaporation, and end up back in the sky ready to do it all over again for as long as it is required. The promises of Adonai work the same way. They go out, they perform their function, and they return in a different form than they went out – pregnant with the yield of the promise. The promises cannot be stopped by humanity, though an individual man or woman could reject them. They would still be accomplished, but through ANOTHER individual who answered the call (Isaiah 6:8).

A promise is not the same as a prophetic word. A promise is a legally binding declaration that gives the person to whom it is made a right to expect or to claim the performance or forbearance of a specified act. A prophetic word is when Elohim gives a glimpse into the future or the here and now to call you into your destiny. A prophetic word is EITHER a prophetic PROMISE (it is definitely going to happen) or a prophetic WARNING (if you don’t change something it is definitely going to happen). Prophetic words are meant to be encouraging. They encourage you to do things, keep doing things, or avoid doing things. The destiny Elohim sees for us is positive. He wants us Blessed, whole, and healthy – body, soul, and spirit. It is not that He is going to judge you if you ignore it, but if you walk in disobedience how can you expect to be Blessed? If He warns of a negative thing heading your way, He isn’t saying ‘Ha-ha-ha-ha gotcha!’ He is saying ‘Look out! Change course!’ or ‘Watch out! Not meant for you! You’ll be taken care of! Don’t be discouraged!’. Whether the prophetic word is a warning or a promise is always determined by how we react to it. Obedience or rebellion. His way or our way. Positive, or negative.

A promise then, is a promise. It is a thing that will happen. It is never left undone. It is never false. It cannot be avoided. It cannot be run from. It cannot be abandoned. It WILL take place. Now, whether YOU are involved or whether YOU are NOT if up to you. You can reject a promise. It isn’t wise, but you can do it. If we want to experience the most that Adonai has to offer, we need to cultivate a YES attitude. Think of this very simple truth. If we ALWAYS did what Adonai told us to, no matter what, then we would NEVER sin. We can ONLY sin when we ignore Him and listen to ourselves. When we do what WE think is right instead of what HE thinks is right. When we obey, we are exhibiting trust in Him. When we disobey, we are exhibiting rebellion. Everything we do that ISN’T founded on trust in Adonai is sin (Romans 14:23). It’s a hard truth, but it IS truth.

When Adonai speaks a promise is goes out pregnant with the harvest of that promise. “Then Job answered the Lord: “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:1-2). We like to think that we’re important. But let’s be serious. We have freewill, but who are we compared to Adonai? “Now to him who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21). How do we think that we can stop a being that is able to do FAR BEYOND all that we can even THINK? With all human ingenuity throughout all the ages, we don’t have a chance of even matching Adonai much less beat Him. Can dirt beat the farmer? Can dirt defeat the harvesting machines? Can dirt even beat the WORM? No, no, and decidedly no. Adonai doesn’t use us because we’re so great. Adonai uses us because He loves us. Plain and simple.

I cannot count the number of times I get an idea in my head and think so many great things about it. I plan. I plot. I gather resources. In the end, Adonai will show me some simple answer that I completely missed. It isn’t even that ‘maybe I would have thought of it’. No, I was so far off the map – sometimes in really clever and good ways – that I never would have seen HIS solution. That’s the key to an easy life. Not a life without struggle or hardships (John 16:33). Not a life where no one persecutes us for what we believe (John 15:19–20). A life where we always have an answer (Isaiah 65:24), always have a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13), and always overcome (1 John 5:4). We as believers encounter SITUATIONS, but they are never PROBLEMS. Don’t look at them as problems. They are ONLY situations and Adonai has the answer. He knows the correct move. Not only for you, but the best move for everyone involved. When we focus on our TRUST in Him, and obey what we hear Him tell us (through the Spirit and through the Word), the solutions to the situations that prevent them from becoming problems flows right into our lap.

The angels understand the pregnancy of Adonai’s Word. So did Mary. An IMPOSSIBLE thing (for human beings) was proclaimed to her. As evidence of it, another EXTREMELY unlikely thing was given as proof. Elizabeth was past childbearing years. It seems to indicate post-menopause. If you have a menstrual cycle over forty you have a 5% chance of getting pregnant (versus 44% in your 20s and 30s). If you are post-menopausal you can’t get pregnant naturally because you don’t ovulate, which means you’re not releasing any eggs. Elizabeth is called old or ‘advanced in days’ (Luke 1:18). If Elizabeth was in a condition to not have a natural child – and since assisted reproductive technology was a few thousand years away – it would HAVE to have been a supernatural intervention to get pregnant. Science agrees that it could NOT have been natural. It was an indicator that the words spoken by Adonai were coming true for Elizabeth. The angel was giving an opportunity for Mary to demonstrate her trust in Adonai and she did not fail. “So Mary said, “Yes, I am a servant of the Lord; let this happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her” (Luke 1:38). Promises are powerful when they are coming from Adonai. There was a LOT of trouble Mary could have (and did) experience. But she was willing to trust because she believed that the Word of Elohim NEVER failed.

Supposed to enter the Promised Land, begging everyone who heard him that it was possible and right and good. Forced to tramp around in the desert forty years with the naysayers. Forced to fight battles, face insurrections, doubters, idolaters, and the death of the only real leader he knew. Leading hundreds of thousands of men, women, children, animals, and possessions into battle while being betrayed by your own, fooled by some you’re supposed to be destroying, and facing a national habit to lie down and live where you are instead of where you’re supposed to fight for. This was Joshua. This was the man who was leading the fight to cut the cancer of rebellion against Elohim Who Saves (Amos 9:7) out of the land. There were defeats and betrayals. A lack of cutting everyone out. And some poor decisions. What did Joshua have to say about Adonai’s Word? ““Look, today I am about to die. You know with all your heart and being that not even one of all the faithful promises the Lord your God made to you is left unfulfilled; every one was realized—not one promise is unfulfilled!” (Joshua 23:14).

Adonai’s promises NEVER fail. Ever. Adonai makes sure that they come back having planet a FULL harvest. That they come back with the fruit of that harvest. That those who were meant to partake did. It doesn’t matter if it’s outlandish. It doesn’t matter if it is simple. It doesn’t matter if it is impossible or the gate has been bricked up and sealed for centuries. It will happen as Adonai said it would happen, when Adonai said it would happen, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop Him or it. His Word does not return void.

Today ask yourself: what has my Father said about ME? What about ME will never fail? I will tell you some of it. He chose YOU (Ephesians 1:11-12). On purpose. You were NOT a mistake and you were NOT by chance (Psalm 139:15-16). He knows everything about you (Psalm 139). And He loves you so very, very, very much (1 John 4:9-10). Think about that. He certainly thinks about YOU (Psalm 139:17-18). Adonai’s promises never fail. Get into the Word. See what He has promised about YOU. It won’t fail. It will come back full of fruit. Don’t see yourself how you see you. Start to see yourself as your Father sees you. In YOU He sees Jesus.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Isaiah 9:6

“For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us. He shoulders responsibility and is called Wonderful Adviser, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” The Messiah would be the Everlasting Father (Ah’vi’awd) or the Forever Father in perpetuity. The Father who continually supports. The Father who upholds His children forever. An unshakable Father who supports His children no matter how far they’ve strayed. The Father who loved us first (1 John 4:19). The Father who holds nothing back (John 3:16-18). The Father with unyielding, unstoppable, and endless love. “Then they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus was hidden from them and went out from the temple area” (John 8:59). In plain sight. Taken by a crowd intent on His (premature) death, Jesus was hidden from their sight (Psalm 91:11-12). Why were they so intent on killing Him? He spoke of the Father glorifying Him. Jesus told the SOLEMN truth that before Abraham came into existence, I AM (John 8:58). Jesus was identifying with I AM, YWVH (Yahweh), the Eternal Father. He did it again in John 10:30: “The Father and I are one.” Jesus IS the Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

Yeshua is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Matthew 16:16b