Fear No Fear

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

The remnant of Israel will not do iniquity nor speak lies, neither will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth, for they will feed and lie down, and no one will make them afraid.”
Zephaniah 3:13 (emphasis added)

When we stand alone, there is fear. We don’t feel secure. We feel exposed. We feel vulnerable. It is a state outside of the Blessing. It is a state outside of the Lord. When we stand with the Lord, there is peace. We are secure in Him. Covered. Protected. When Jesus died to pay the price for sin and resurrected to life again, He removed the penalty of sin from us. With the removal of sin came the removal of trouble. The cause of fear is removed and so the effect of fear can cease. Happiness follows in the wake of holiness. When we abide in Jesus (John 15:4), we get to leave fear behind. But we also get to walk in holiness. Holiness sets you apart.

It is not our holiness, it is the holiness of Jesus (Ephesians 1:4). We have the privilege through Grace and by Faith to walk in His ways. It’s more than a feel-good statement or a Sunday morning glow. This is something that should impact your whole life. There is a purification of the heart and life that happens on this path. It is the sanctification process that we are all in as believers in Jesus. One of the key aspects that needs renewal and change is our language. This is not something WE do, but something we ALLOW Holy Spirit to do in us by COOPERATING with Him. What WE do is to work at not going back to our habits. Not to pick up sin. Not to disobey. What WE do is walk. One foot after the other. As we do, our lives are changed.

In Hebrew, there are no swear words. No way to curse and swear the way the rest of us do. If a Hebrew person wanted to swear, they would need to switch to another language. English is often a first choice. We have, after all, made a great effort to cultivate swearing as a way of expression. There are even studies showing benefits to swearing from gaining a sense of control over the chaos of life, enduring pain, and creating social connections. But it’s funny. The Hebrew community is all about connection, family, intent, ordering life around an ideal, and supporting one another. And they have certainly endured pain. All without any swear words. There is a purity to their language that few if any other languages have.

In English, although we swear in many, many, many ways, we have historically put a premium on our words. The idea that one’s word is your bond goes back as far as Shakespeare. It is accepted in the business word that a verbal contract is a legally enforceable contract. In modern times, the hip-hop community embraces the word as bond concept and has woven it into culture very effectively. At its core the concept is about trust and honour. That we can be trusted to do what we say and that there is honour in doing that for all parties involved. It is a foundational concept that we’re starting to move away from. But there was a time not long ago that a word and a handshake was good enough for all.

Neither of these concepts is unique to our culture. They are all over the world and over very long periods of time. God has been speaking about them since the book of Genesis. God has done it in a lot of ways because there is a foundational idea that words are seeds. There is power in our tongues and we need to take caution in how we use them (Deuteronomy 8:3 and Proverbs 18:21). But God goes way beyond whether we are swearing or not. God approaches things by His nature. And His nature is Righteousness and Truth.
There is purity in the Hebrew language because there is purity in the Lord. But purity goes beyond whether or not there are swear words in your language. Because as people prove every day, if they want to do something then they will find a way to do it. Purity in words means truth. Plain and simple. You mean what you say and you say what you mean. Honesty and integrity in word as well as in deed. This concept is so ingrained in the Word, that Rabbis for centuries have quoted today’s verse (Zephaniah 3:13) as proof that an individual will do a thing if they say they will do a thing. Because when you are upright before the Lord and pursuing His ways, you will not lie. Why? God doesn’t lie.

We’ve now taken a sharp left from whether or not you should cuss to whether or not anything you say can be believed. Just as the Israelites were called to be separate from the nations around them in what they ate and when they rested, here they are being called to a higher standard of behaviour. To not just not speak a lie, but also not to have within them a tongue that speaks anything other than truth. It’s a hard thing, but you’ll notice in the verse it comes AFTER not doing things of iniquity or wickedness. To the Israelite, this was not an abstract concept.

The Hebrew language is very concrete. Another reflection of God as truth. Things are what they say that they are with very little or any shading — even when the concepts behind them can be pictorial or hard to understand. Iniquity is the Hebrew word avon (ah-von). It means to be crooked or twisted. It is an action. It can also mean to bend or distort. If they aren’t doing these things, they will be honest people. If they are honest people, they won’t tell lies. If they won’t tell lies, then they can be a trusted people doing what they say and only saying what they will do. It was a call to resist the evil inclination. To set their hearts on the Lord and walk in His ways, not in the ways of sin.

“Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear“ (Genesis 4:13). But Cain didn’t talk about His punishment. He actually said “My iniquity is greater than I can bear.” His actions. His deed. The crooked and twisted way of thinking that led to embracing sin. Remember that God told him directly in Genesis 4:7 “If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it.” He was not meant to give into sin. None of us are. But mastering the twisted, bent ways of our hearts is a challenge no human is up to. Oh, if we try really hard and discipline ourselves we can keep a set of rules and regulations. But in our inner persons we have other thoughts. Imaginings of breaking laws, violating rules, and doing whatever we want whenever we want. This is the flaw of humanity. This was the price of disobedience. This selfish nature is the root cause of all our issues and why we fall again and again and again.

God doesn’t leave us there. He told Cain he was to rule over this desire. In the Law He says over and over that if we do these things, righteousness follows. That if we will be set apart and do right, we will be blessed upon our blessings. To be holy is to be sanctified, consecrated, and dedicated. In Leviticus 11:44 God declares “For I am the LORD your God. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy.” But can we sanctify ourselves? The believer doesn’t need to worry about that. The Law was about action: “Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness. Your law is truth” (Psalm 119:142). Not only are we free from the Law (the action of doing to get righteousness), but the Lord does the heavy work. Jesus prayed to His Father that the Father “Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17). The Father sanctifies us. The Father — in and through Jesus, the Word made flesh — enables us to experience righteousness — Jesus’ righteousness — by Grace. We can abide in Jesus.

Abiding in Jesus, though, is a lot like being on a treadmill. If you don’t keep your legs moving, you fall off. You can set the machine for one hour, not move your legs, slide off the back and stand there until the hour is up but you have accomplished nothing. We get sanctified by the Word. We are made righteous in Him. But what about moving our legs to remain in Him? We need to watch our flesh. That selfish mass of protein that bent away from God. We need to be aware of our weakness and brokenness before the Lord. Admitting we are bent. That these bodies lean toward self. To make the choice between life and death, right and wrong, truth or a lie. Our efforts are not earning us anything. Our works are not gaining us brownie points. All we are doing is what we see the Father showing us to do, saying what the Father shows us to say, repenting with truth and honesty when we get it wrong, and staying on the treadmill so that it can do the work in us that we need done.

When an Israelite was identified as an Israelite, the ancient world knew that they could be trusted. It is an image the enemy has spent eons trying to mar. He’s almost succeeded. They’re still portrayed as shifty, oily, and all too ready to fleece the unsuspected. They’re said to ‘control’ many aspects of entertainment and always seeking to be the powers behind the scenes. Why would the enemy shout so loud about that if there wasn’t some value to the Jew being seen as honest and upright. Remember, the Jews are God’s Chosen people. They are the ones who were to lead the rest of us into a relationship with Yahweh God. We were to see how good they have it, how amazing their God really is, and then enter into conversation with them about it. To be led to the truth of the God of the Universe by the way the Jew WAS as an individual and nation. To see the differences between us and want what they have because it is so much better. “Indeed, he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the nations, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth”” (Isaiah 49:6).

As believers, we are called to do the same. “You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden. Neither do you light a lamp and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house. Even so, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). There should be no iniquity found in our actions. We should be pursuing a purification, our sanctification, our move to have pure hearts and minds. The Word can renew us. The Lord can change our hearts. But we need to pick up our cross. We need to put on the new man and work to keep him on by never losing our focus on Jesus and submitting to His will. “They, having become callous, gave themselves up to lust, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you didn’t learn Christ that way, if indeed you heard him and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus: that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth” (Ephesians 4:20-24).

We can stand away from iniquity if we let the Lord loose in our hearts, minds, and emotions. “We know that whoever is born of God doesn’t sin, but he who was born of God keeps himself, and the evil one doesn’t touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. We know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:18-20). Isn’t that incredible? We can choose not to sin. We can be people of integrity. Without iniquity. No lie in our mouths and no deceit found in us. But if these verses are true, why aren’t all born again believers living exactly like this? The next verse tells us. 1 John 5:21 closes his letter with a simple statement and warning with deep implications: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”

If we stay away from idols we won’t sin. Because if we stay away from idols, Yahweh God will never lose His place in our heart. Nothing will ever come before Him. He will always and ever remain our focus. What does Jesus say is the greatest commandment? “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’” (Matthew 22:37). Which is a direct quote from the Law Moses handed down to us from Yahweh God in Deuteronomy 6:5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.” God has to take first place and we have to work to keep Him there. Moses went on to tell us in verses 6-9 just how prevalent the Word of God needs to be in our lives: “These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates.”
This is no joke. This is not a Sunday morning only thing. We are to focus on the Lord God Almighty and the Word of God all the time. To have it in our minds and in our atmosphere and in our homes and all up in our business everywhere, always. That is the ONLY way that we keep God first. Jesus warned us it wasn’t easy. His yoke is light, but the flesh is whiney. We are all born perfect. Righteous. Spotless on the outside. We are not born in sin. The Word never says that. We don’t get the ‘out’ of sin. We can’t look at what we do and say we had no choice because we are sinners. We don’t get to abrogate the responsibility of our thoughts and actions by blaming sin. We cannot pass this buck. We are totally responsible for everything we do. If we are not born in sin, then how are we born? None of us are perfect and all of us sin. So what does the Word say about our inherent condition?

The Word says we are born with the weakness of Adam in our hearts (Genesis 8:21). Our flesh is of this world and it will go with what it feels 100% of the time if it isn’t directed. Feelings aren’t real and sensations are deceitful. Our hearts/minds/emotions, our soul is part of the seed of Adam. It is bent. It leans toward flesh, not spirit. If we do not take it to task, we will not subdue it and we will sin. We can only take it to task by the strength of our spirit. When we are born, we have OUR spirit. The spirit that is devoid of righteousness. It isn’t sinful, but it is NOT righteous (Jeremiah 17:4). Without righteousness we cannot stand before God. Without being able to stand before God, how can we worship Him in truth? We can’t. So our spirit fails to master our soul. Our soul leans toward flesh and flesh does what it feels like. The world is full of evil intent. The Kingdom of Darkness here to offer us everything that isn’t of God. So we choose to sin (Mark 7:21). We choose it before we know what it is. And once infected, it spreads. But even one sin done is sin embraced (Romans 3:10-18). The price of sin is separation from God. It is death (Romans 6:23).

Jesus came and fixed all this. He offered Himself up as the price of sin (John 8:36 and Romans 8:1-2). Sin is paid for and off the table. What about that evil inclination the world is full of? Well, we can choose to not give in if our soul is strong. If it is empty of iniquity. But that can’t happen without righteousness which we don’t have in our spirit. Jesus offers us His spirit (1 Corinthians 2:12). If we have His spirit, we get cleansed by Him (Titus 3:5). Once we are clean, we have the same choice as we did at birth. We have it every waking moment every day. Do we focus on the Lord or do we focus on not the Lord? If we love the Lord with all we have, we will succeed. If we don’t, we will sin. And we do miss it. No one but Jesus is perfect (1 John 1:8). But we can repent, turn around, focus on the Lord, and walk toward Him again (1 John 1:9). He is our Good Shepherd who can lie us down in green pasture beside still waters to sustain us, give us rest, and feed us on what will make us healthy and strong in Him (Psalm 23).

If we take up our cross and love the Lord with all our heart and mind and soul. If we praise and worship Him in spirit and truth. If we walk from the world and its feelings and toward God and His righteousness, we will not commit iniquity. If we don’t do evil, we won’t speak evil. If we don’t speak evil, we’re not likely to do evil. They are two sides of the yoke of Jesus. Obedient in deed and obedient in word. He is there to help us. By Grace, through Faith, in and by Jesus we can do it. We can’t do it any other way (John 15). But in Him, we are overcomers for He overcame for us. Don’t lose sight of Him. Put Him first. Be separate and leave deceit behind. Those who do have no fear. Those who do walk in peace. Nothing can make them afraid because they know that they cannot be touched by it. If calamity cannot hurt you, it won’t terrify you (Psalm 91). Put the Lord your God first. He is unique. He is merciful. He is GOOD. And He loves you. Love Him back with all you have. You’ll never have a regret.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Ephesians 5:26-27

Spotless sacrifices were the only acceptable sacrifices. We are to be sacrifices. We are to offer ourselves up to God. But how can we? We are far from spotless. From birth we lean toward Self. Our minds do not dwell on niceness. We do not succeed in word and deed in all we do. We do NOT walk as He asks us to. We would be lost and irredeemable, but Jesus came after us. Remember that Jesus created everything. The Father told Him what to say, He said it, and through Him all was made. They could have started again. God thought about it a couple of times in our bible alone. Start again. But Jesus came after us. Jesus recognised the love the Father had for us and offered Himself up as the only acceptable way to cleanse us, renew us, repair us, restore us, resurrect us, and cleanse us. So that we can be a gift for His Father. The Father in turn recognised the love Jesus had for us and let Him sacrifice Himself so the Father could raise us out of death, keep us with Him, adopt us as children, and sanctify us. So that we can be a bride for His Son and a vessel for His spirit. Temples holy unto Him. That’s love. Loving something so much that when it gets bent and twisted you take the time to totally renew it from the inside out instead of getting a new one. Especially when the new one has a lower price tag. But to take on the project of total restoration? That is love. Next time you look in the mirror see the person God is making you to be, and thank Him for the love it takes for Him to want to. He loves you so much. It’s about time you realised it, isn’t it?

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.