Fear No Fear

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

Then an expert in the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
Matthew 8:19 (emphasis added)

Discipleship is serious business. It helps build humility in us. It helps bond us to fellow disciples. It helps grow the number of disciples – every disciple should reach the point where they are a discipler themselves. It helps equip us with and for faithfulness. “Then Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). The true nature of discipleship and discipling others is so that we ourselves and those we disciple become more like Jesus every day.

The Greeks in Antioch first used the term ‘christians’ (Acts 11:26). Their word was Christianos (khris-tee-an-os’). It meant a follower of Christos (khris-tos’) – which was the Anointed One, Messiah, Christ. As Jesus was the Anointed One the disciples of Jesus were the Little Anointed Ones. History is out on whether this was a slur or a compliment in the eyes of those who used it. The early church did NOT use it at this time, only the unbelievers used it. Eventually Peter referred to it in a letter, but it was a letter where he was commiserating on all the persecutions and sufferings being undergone, so he might have meant it was an insult that was thrown at them. It’s unclear. What IS clear is that the world at large was seeing the disciples of Jesus as little carbon copies of Jesus. THAT is being a disciple. Being recognised by your behaviour and words as a follower of someone. For example, the fans of Taylor Swift (known as ‘swifties’) are known for their high levels of participation, creativity, community and fanaticism. They can EASILY be identified. Sadly, so often those who self-identify as ‘christian’ are not known as such outside the small circle of believers that christian associates with. In fact, ‘christian’ is becoming a negative term both inside and outside the church. It is not a moniker to be relished.

That is not to say it is worth rejecting it. It is just that there is a LOT of baggage that comes with it. The majority of that baggage is natural. Jesus told us it was coming. “the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept because it does not see him or know him. But you know him because he resides with you and will be in you” (John 14:17). “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely on account of me” (Matthew 5:11). So did Paul. “The unbeliever does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is understood by no one” (1 Corinthians 2:14-15). The world does not understand us. The world is against Jesus and the morality of the Father which Jesus represents. They will be scornful and persecutey of us for that reason. However, due to the actions of christians over the centuries, there are a lot of hurt and bad feelings. To some, even mentioning the name ‘Jesus’ puts up walls and brings up past trauma at the hands of those claiming to be christians. There are whole ministries (successful ones, too) built around the idea that we can talk about Adonai using OTHER TERMS and OTHER NAMES found in the Word instead of starting with Jesus. Getting people the message of the cross in terms they understand and don’t automatically reject before bringing His name in directly. Thousands of people have learned the name Jesus at the moment of salvation having first responded to the message of the Gospel and the need for a saviour. We’re supposed to be known for our love for one another (John 13:35), yet so often we are known for our actions which have not been as Messiah-like as they should have.

That is also the beauty of discipleship. At any and all times of the process we can lay down our Selves, pick up His teaching, and follow Him. At any time we can continue and press forward into Him. It’s a basic truth of the Kingdom that we get the benefit of what we put into ourselves. If we will connect with Him through study of the Word, meditating on it until it becomes as real to us as anything else, we will find ourselves in a position where no matter WHAT is going on in life, we are not in distress. “Instead he finds pleasure in obeying the Lord’s commands; he meditates on his commands day and night. He is like a tree planted by flowing streams; it yields its fruit at the proper time, and its leaves never fall off. He succeeds in everything he attempts” (Psalm 1:2-3). Imagine being in one of those so-called ‘desert places’ but having deep roots and not finding yourself parched or without fruit. Jesus practiced this: Matthew 14:23; Mark 6:46–47; Luke 6:12; John 6:15. Staying connected to the Father was a major life goal of Jesus. It should be ours as well. We need the same training Jesus did if we are going to be like Him.

According to Educate-me.co, ‘a bootcamp is a specialized, intensive training program designed to rapidly increase or significantly affect a participant’s knowledge, abilities, or both.’ According to the U.S. Military, you will build physical and mental strength, gain confidence and the ability to make informed decisions, acquire critical knowledge of survival skills, and do it all under the care of military and Drill Sergeants who are not there to ‘break’ you but to build you up, help you find your inner strength as they make you into the best you that you can be. Basically, they teach you the art of discipline. You learn the value of taking orders. You become part of the whole. I don’t know about you, but that sounds a LOT like how Jesus talked about discipleship.

The difference is that Jesus didn’t and doesn’t want you to be the best YOU that you can be. He wants you to be the best HIM that you can be. “Jesus replied, “Have I been with you for so long and yet you have not known me, Philip? The person who has seen me has seen the Father! How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father residing in me performs his miraculous deeds. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, but if you do not believe me, believe because of the miraculous deeds themselves. I tell you the solemn truth, the person who believes in me will perform the miraculous deeds that I am doing, and will perform greater deeds than these because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, you will obey my commandments. Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept because it does not see him or know him. But you know him because he resides with you and will be in you” (John 14:9-17).

Jesus is calling us to be one with Him (John 15), connected to the Father through our relationship with the Son. We have been merged on a spiritual level (1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 John 4:13). Spiritually, we ARE Jesus and Jesus IS us. But we don’t have spiritual bodies (yet). We have physical ones and we operate on a physical plane of existence. We need to renew our minds and train them into thinking spiritually. So far all our training has been in the physical realm by the world and its systems. We are woefully unprepared to live a life of discipleship. Seriously. Adonai knew this. He knows who and what we are even when we don’t (Psalm 103:14). It’s why He gives us His strength. “The Lord strengthens and protects me; I trust in him with all my heart. I am rescued and my heart is full of joy; I will sing to him in gratitude. The Lord strengthens his people; he protects and delivers his chosen king” (Psalm 28:7-8). His joy becomes our joy which is the source of our strength: joy in His mercy, joy in His correction, joy in His strength, joy in His abilities, joy in our which are in Him.

Jesus was a joyful man. He longed to see everyone content in Adonai, His Father. He longed for each and every one to enjoy the salvation He bought in His blood. He longed for our restoration. Our renewal. Our total and complete healing. He longs for us to raise the dead. For us to restore the sight of the blind. Mobility to the crippled. Health to the sick and diseased. Hearing to the deaf. Clarity to the confused as we speak His truth. He is desperate for us to love one another. As He did. He is looking for Little Anointed Ones. Carbon copies of Him. Little Jesuses running around full of love and confidence and the Word. Doing what He did: only what the Father shows us, only what the Father tells us to say, only what we hear His will to be. Praying and fasting to stay close to Him as we meditate on the Word in some way, shape, or form through all our waking hours.

We need Him to renew us (Romans 12:2). To write His Word into our hearts and minds (Hebrews 8:10). To be planted by His river (Jeremiah 17:7-8; Revelation 22:1). Ready to talk through EVERY circumstance with Jesus. Ready to weather what comes our way. To persevere no matter what and call it only a moment of discomfort when things come against us for our stand in Him (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

Going where Jesus wants to go is not always easy. It is not always pleasant – both the world and the devil want to stop the spread of the Gospel. But if we are to be true disciples, it is simple. He goes, we go. He doesn’t go, we don’t go. It is that simple. He is calling us to be just as He is. Are we ready to go through what He did? If we do, the blessings of heaven can be ours. What we believe about what He has promised will determine how much of that blessing you walk in.

Wherever He calls. Whenever He calls. However He calls. Resting in Him. Renewed in Him. Victorious in Him. Nothing touching us as we weather what comes (Psalm 91). It is the only path to true health, wealth, and satisfaction (3 John 1:2). Be like Jesus and help others to be like Him too.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Isaiah 11:1

“A shoot will grow out of Jesse’s root stock, a bud will sprout from his roots.” Messiah would be a rod of Jesse – a Son of Jesse, just like He was to be a Son of David. He was going to be of the Line of Jesse. “the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon,” (Luke 3:31-32). “Salmon the father of Boaz (by Rahab), Boaz the father of Obed (by Ruth), Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon (by the wife of Uriah),” (Matthew 1:5-6). Taken two ways (bloodline as counted through His adopted father Joseph and bloodline as counted through His right as King – Nathan and not Solomon), Jesus was (and is) a Rod of Jesse, a root from his house. 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