Fear No Fear

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

May the path of your foot be balanced and all your ways be sure.

Proverbs 4:26

Gas and steering have nothing to do with each other. I can turn on my vehicle and leave it running, the gas slowly being consumed until there is none left in the tank and the engine dies. The vehicle will not have moved. Alternatively, I can turn my steering any way I want. My tires will respond. It will have NO EFFECT on the level of my gas. The vehicle will also not have moved. It is ONLY when I combine the gas with the steering that my vehicle goes anywhere at all – provided I have released my brakes. Our flesh is ‘the brakes’ of our lives. That is the component not comfortable with godly things and righteous behaviour. Those are the habits that we fight against. The selfish mindset that wants to do whatever, whenever, and however it wants. But even when we release the brakes, put down our broken thinking, and follow Jesus; without the gas and the steering we will never get anywhere.

Intentful thanksgiving is what steers us toward Adonai. “O Yahweh, in the morning you will hear my voice. In the morning I will set forth my case to you and I will watch” (Psalm 5:3). Ruach HaKodesh’s correction is what drives us. “I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go. I will advise you with my eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8). That is the role of Ruach HaKodesh in our lives (John 16:13). Intentful thanksgiving blends with Ruach HaKodesh’s correction and it keeps us walking the Way. It is not the Lord who forces us. It is OURSELVES who CHOOSE to walk the Way. “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). By CHOOSING His values, His opinions, His viewpoint, and His thinking over ours, we join Him in who He is and benefit from it THROUGH Jesus (John 15:5). It is not our broken thinking that will be successful (Proverbs 14:12).

We get balanced in our walk by relying on Him. It doesn’t matter WHAT it looks like on the outside. Jesus told us to take up our cross, but He continued: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life on account of me will find it. For what will a person be benefited if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what will a person give in exchange for his life?” (Matthew 26:25-26). Selfishly keeping a worldly outlook and worldly thinking will NOT benefit us. It is a dark path to dark places. An ignorant path to more ignorance. It is NOT a balanced path, but one of greedy consumerism. All the trash we can handle, and when we get acclimatized to that, MORE! It is the way of Sin. Sin is emotional. Sin is stupid. It has one goal: death of the host. It is like the deadliest viruses on this planet that burn up before they manage to spread wide enough to cause true damage and chaos. Sin’s ONLY goal is to kill you. First, spiritually. Then mentally. Then physically. If it can’t do it in one order, it will do it in another. The devil uses the process as a tool to eliminate us when we don’t do what he wants – John 10:10. Truthfully, he will STILL do it – even if you cooperate with him. He is 100% selfish with not an iota leftover for someone else. When we give into our flesh, we are being JUST like he is (John 8:44). We lie to ourselves, deny what we know to be true deep inside, and indulge in whatever we think will promote us until we die.

To have a balanced walk on a balanced path which leaves us surefooted and true, we NEED to be joined with Ruach HaKodesh as we study the Word and seek Adonai’s face in all things. Everything else is like climbing Everest on a slip-n-slide. It DOES NOT work. We can THINK we’re making progress or that we are handling the adversity, but sooner or later, we’re either frozen or falling. Ruach HaKodesh is more than a guide to point us to the best place for us to expend our efforts. Ruach HaKodesh’s correction is the gravel that gives our feet purchase. It is the sled that pulls us long. It is the yoke that gently turns us in the correct direction. No, correction doesn’t always feel good. No, we can balk when we realize Jesus is doing all the hard work and we are the assistant. It’s a blow to the pride of our flesh. But we are NOT a toddler insisting on dressing ourselves – while doing it backwards and inside out. We are children of Adonai, but not babies. We are capable of cooperating. We are capable of going where He says to go, doing what He says to do, and in exactly the way He says to do it. We CAN listen and we CAN obey. It is easier when we are intentfully thankful.

When we choose to find things in our past that are similar to what we are experiencing now and then give praise and thanksgiving for what Adonai did then, we are conditioning our flesh to expect the same type of deliverance now. When we are lost, we remember and are thankful for past times that Adonai got us back to civilization. When we are hungry, we thank Him for past times that He fed us. When we need a financial miracle, we remember the financial miracles of our past. When we need healing, we remember the beating Jesus took so that we could live in health. We remember times when we accepted His deliverance and got well from what ailed us. We REMEMBER and we THANK HIM. We do it with intent. On purpose. So that we can thank Him proactively for what He is GOING to do. We know He will, because He did before. If He did it then, He can do it again. He doesn’t change (Hebrews 13:8). We do it with intentful thanksgiving. We combine our gas with His steering and ZOOM, ZOOM look at the places He takes us! Look at the victories He won! Look what Adonai has done!

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: 1 Corinthians 13:12

“For now we see through a mirror indirectly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know completely, just as I have also been completely known.” I don’t always know where I’m going to land when Adonai tells me to head over ‘there’. No one ever does. Sometimes I get a glimpse. A slight picture of what’s going on. It always motivates me – even when I don’t truly get it. This doesn’t discourage me. Elijah was looking for wherever the crows were dropping bread and meat (1 Kings 17:4). Phillip was hoping there was something in the desert other than him and scorpions (Acts 8:26). Paul saw a guy in a dream and woke hoping he was real (Acts 16:9). Other times people were in terrible places and had to imagine there was a reason for it. John exiled to Patmos (Revelation 1:9). David heading to battle while commanded NOT to fight until he heard trees marching (2 Samuel 5:24). We don’t always see. But we are not ASKED to see. We are not REQUIRED to see. We are asked to COOPERATE. Little children have NO IDEA what we are about when we give them a job. Sometimes they get it, and sometimes not. But we are seeking cooperation even when they don’t get how simple things help us SO MUCH. Adonai is the same way. He is looking for cooperation even when we can’t see because there is SO MUCH GOOD that is going to happen because of it – even when we can’t see it. He NEVER gives us pointless things to do. They are ALWAYS part of a strategy that (while we can’t SEE it) is VERY effective. 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