Fear No Fear

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

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God indeed say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, but from the tree that is in the midst of the garden, God said, ‘You shall not eat from it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die’.” But the serpent said to the woman, “You shall not surely die. For God knows that on the day you both eat from it, then your eyes will be opened and you both shall be like gods, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes, and the tree was desirable to make one wise, then she took from its fruit and she ate. And she gave it also to her husband with her, and he ate.

Genesis 3:1-6

Do we or do we not trust in Adonai. That is the question. That is where Adam failed. They chose to no longer trust in Adonai the moment they chose to question His INTENT. In questioning Adonai’s intent, they ceased to magnify Adonai. Once they were no longer worshipping Him, they were choosing actions from themselves. Once they were doing that, they were easy to trick. The devil needed the help of the snake to get to that point. After that point, he took the lead. Magnifying Adonai through worship is one of the greatest tools we have in our toolboxes to keep the devil at bay. Worship hurts the devil. The Word makes Him flee.

The question the devil asks is not about WHAT Adonai said. It was about Adonai MEANT. Was Adonai keeping something from them? Was Adonai being totally honest with them? Did He really say that? He didn’t mean that did He? The unspoken element was casting doubt on the CHARACTER of Adonai. Adam and Eve KNEW Adonai. Personally. In a way WE don’t. Eve had not known Adonai as long. She had perhaps never been told the restriction Adonai placed on the tree directly. After all, Adam had been told directly and they were partners. Equals. The TWO who were ONE. When Eve fell, nothing happened to Adam or creation. But when Adam – who had heard the command DIRECTLY – chose to fall like Eve, then Sin entered humanity. As soon as Adam chose an action based on doubt in Adonai, the way was paved to rebellion. Adam didn’t need to hear Eve out and then consider the action. Adam could have heard Eve out and then corrected her. That isn’t being overbearing or telling her she is wrong or berating her or any of that. It would be pointing out what Adonai said – word for word – and then choosing that as their viewpoint. If she had eaten anything, it would be that plus repentance. It would be choosing to view Adonai’s intent as what He said. Nothing less. Nothing more.

We do NOT have to UNDERSTAND Adonai’s intent. We are BLESSED with Ruach HaKodesh as our guide, our teacher, our expositor, our commentator, our corrector, and our leader. He does NOT need to explain Adonai’s mind to us. All His actions, lessons, corrections, and teachings are about what WE are to do with the Word of Adonai. Not about us understanding all of the reasons behind them. Yes, we have access to the mind of Messiah; but the reality is that we will never fully understand it with these flesh brains. We need perfected bodies, not renewed bodies. Perfected minds, not renewed minds. Renewed is AWESOME and puts us FAR ABOVE the fallen bodies and minds we had before. We’re not BROKEN anymore. But we are not where we’re GOING to be. Not yet. The challenge then, is knowing that there is more to know, but being okay basing our opinion of Adonai’s intent on His character.

We declare that when we magnify Him. When we acknowledge His place vs our place. When we worship Him for being who He is. When we accept Him for who He is. When we admit we don’t NEED to understand even as we WANT to understand. That we’ll obey ANYWAY. We’ll look at whatever and say ‘If He says it, then we say it too.’ No exceptions. We look to Him as our Source, so we trust Him with His business. We know we’re not going to see the whole picture, so we let HIM see it and we react based on what He tells us and trust Him for the rest. It’s a simple thing because we can know His character through His Word. It’s simple because Ruach HaKodesh confirms with us that character. Since Adonai won’t act contrary to His character, we can be free to magnify Him in obedience to that character. It isn’t blind. It’s CHOOSING trust. THAT is how we please Him (Hebrews 11:6).

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Psalm 40:4

“Blessed is the man who makes Yahweh his trust and does not turn to the proud and to those who fall away to a lie.” Whether or not we are BLESSED is dependent on whether or not we TRUST. When we CHOOSE to stick with Adonai and not our own bright thoughts. When we CHOOSE to stick with Adonai in spite of the best advice of experts. When we CHOOSE to stick with Adonai in the face of everything we’ve learned. When we CHOOSE Him over ourselves, THAT is when we are blessed. Our flesh HATES trust because it has no control over it. Trust means having self-control. Our flesh HATES self-control. Trust means not giving in to whatever selfish desire we have or learn about. Trust means forgoing when we don’t have to. But when we DO, when we declare with our words and actions that Adonai is the One in charge, then we are blessed. It is a natural result of being in obedience. We get hydrated when we drink water. It is a natural result. We are blessed when we trust in Adonai. It is a natural result. 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