Fear No Fear

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

But he said to me, “My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” So then, I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in me.
2 Corinthians 12:9 (emphasis added)

The word here for weakness means more than a physical infirmity. It CAN mean sickness, frailty, and feebleness of health. It can also mean weakness of human nature. The lack of strength or capacity to understand something. It can mean the lack of the ability to manage people (no skill in speaking). It can sometimes refer to the mental state in which the weaknesses manifest themselves. The King James version uses infirmity, not weakness. Infirmity can mean sickness. But also undecided, irresolute, inconstancy, and of two-minds. These words can refer to an ailment depriving someone of enjoying or accomplishing what they want to do, but also the influences of something causing the person to become overly dependant on something. It was used in Romans 8:26 when it talked about us not knowing how to pray properly. It was used in James 1:8 when talking about a double-minded person being unstable in their ways. To assume this verse refers only to sickness is to miss the larger point Paul was making.

What was the point Paul was making? It wasn’t that Adonai doesn’t deliver us from sickness. Adonai ALWAYS wants to make us whole. That is ALWAYS His best. We prevent it, but He never stops offering it. We KNOW Paul couldn’t have been talking only about healing because in context he was speaking of his ‘thorn in the flesh’ (vs 7). Paul was given this thorn so that he would not be ‘exalted’ or ‘arrogant’. This exaltedness is the same that is in 1 Peter 5:6 where Elohim exalts those who humble themselves. It is the same exaltedness that Elohim promises to lay on His true believers (Psalm 92:10; Matthew 23:12). It is the same exaltedness that Joshua experienced in the eyes of the Israelites when Elohim exalted him (Joshua 3:7; 4:14). This isn’t Paul having a pride problem.

Paul had received a LOT of revelation and they were of extraordinary character (vs 7). So, a thorn in the flesh – a messenger of Satan (vs 7) – was sent to harass him so that Paul would not become exalted in the eyes of the people. If this had been disease, sickness, or infirmity of the body such as poor eyesight, Paul could have been healed. We’re redeemed from the curse. This was demonically inspired persecution. Attacks to belittle him. Attacks to prevent him from speaking out his revelations. Attacks to cut at the authority Paul had. It was persecution. Moses warned the Israelites of a similar persecution. Moses said that if they didn’t get rid of the Canaanites Adonai wanted out of the land, they would become thorns in their sides (Numbers 33:55). Same saying.

Persecution is NOT something we are redeemed from when it is persecution because of the Name of Jesus, the things of Adonai, or being a believer/follower of Jesus. In fact, we are PROMISED persecution. “Now in fact all who want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). “If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you do not belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you. Remember what I told you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed my word, they will obey yours too” (John 15:19-20). “But just as at that time the one born by natural descent persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, so it is now” (Galatians 4:29). We are not to ask for persecution to be lifted. We’re to ask for what we need to endure through the persecution. After all, Adonai loves the persecutors as much as the persecuted (Romans 5:8; Luke 23:34).

What we need in persecution is trust in Adonai. How do we get that trust functional in the face of persecution? Grace. The Grace Adonai gives us to be in Jesus. To rely on Jesus. To KNOW that we can rely on Jesus. Human accomplishment means NOTHING. “But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ. More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things —indeed, I regard them as dung” (Philippians 3:7-8). It is GRACE that enables us to be in Jesus and therefore overcome in spite of persecution. “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:20-21).

When we utilise His Grace, we are relying on HIM for everything. We don’t LOOK for persecution. We do NOT glory in suffering. If it isn’t suffering because of our proclaiming Jesus, we do NOT have to put up with it. Adonai’s strength gives us what we need to overcome our weakness or persecution. Adonai’s strength is superior to ours whether we are looking at physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual. We need HIS strength to get over OUR weakness. “He said to them, “Go and eat delicacies and drink sweet drinks and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”” (Nehemiah 8:10). Adonai’s Joy is our strength. Joy is found in Ruach HaKodesh (Galatians 5:22). It is a Fruit of the Spirit. That means that as believers, we have access to it ALL THE TIME. All we need to do is engage it. We are abiders in Jesus (John 15:4-5). In HIM we have all things because we are abiding in Him – meaning we rely on Him as our source so that we are getting from Him the food and drink we need to survive. We are looking to HIM for patience. HIM for joy. HIM for love. HIM for patience. HIM for gentleness. We can GET from Him EVERYTHING we need WHENEVER we need it. It is a CHOICE to take what He is offering because we Trust in His offer.

We can CHOOSE Joy at ANY moment we choose. It is something we CAN do. Jesus says we can choose not to be discouraged (John 14:1). We can CHOOSE to be joyful (Philippians 4:4). It is all about looking to Him for everything. “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive it, so that your joy may be complete” (John 16:24). The Kingdom of God, which we became a part of the moment we became saved, has JOY as one of the foundations of functionality. It is one of the things we can EXPECT in our lives. Joy isn’t an emotion. It isn’t a passing feeling like happiness. It is a state of being. A way of living. It is also a gift of Adonai. “For the kingdom of God does not consist of food and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). Joy is an attitude. One that is possible to have because of our deep connection to Jesus through Ruach HaKodesh. It isn’t something we develop. It is something we choose to receive and then operate as if we have it – because in Him WE DO!

His salvation (Psalm 91:16) becomes ours through our trusting in Him and what He has said. Everything else we receive the same way. We receive Grace. We receive Mercy. We receive Trust. We receive salvation. All through us believing what He says in His Word about what we can have in and through Him. If we believe and trust that He rewards, we can come to Him and receive reward (Hebrews 11:6). If we will rely on Him, we won’t have to do it ourselves. What we lack, He provides. We can use His strength, not ours. Have His peace, not ours. Have His strength, not ours. Through our trust and praise/worship of Him, it can be ours. Paul SANG while suffering (Acts 16:25). Jesus SLEPT while in a storm (Matthew 8:24). “My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance” (James 1:2-3). The devil and the world will always seek to test us hoping that we fail. Adonai allows the testing because He knows He has given us everything we need to succeed.

Unlike a math test, we don’t need to cram info in our heads.We need only to trust and rely on that trust. Through study of the Word we learn how it is SO trustworthy. How it NEVER fails. How it ALWAYS delivers. How it is a BLESSING to us. How Jesus is the source we need for all we’re empowered to do, because it is in Him, through Him, and by Him that anything gets accomplished in our lives. Stay single-minded. Keep your mind on Him. It wipes away all the other nonsense like anxiety, depression, grief, and suffering. In HIM we have Joy. In HIM we have strength. In HIM we have the perfection of HIS character alive and living THROUGH us (Galatians 2:20). Pretty good deal if you ask me.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Isaiah 29:14

“Therefore I will again do an amazing thing for these people—an absolutely extraordinary deed. Wise men will have nothing to say, the sages will have no explanations.”” The wise are confounded by the Word. The Messiah would be confounding to wise people. The religious teachers would be left without words in the face of Messiah’s Righteous Wisdom. “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will thwart the cleverness of the intelligent.” Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic law? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish? For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching. For Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks ask for wisdom, but we preach about a crucified Christ, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. Think about the circumstances of your call, brothers and sisters. Not many were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position. But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, so that no one can boast in his presence. He is the reason you have a relationship with Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:18-31). The Word became flesh (John 1:14). Jesus astounded the teachers when He was young (Luke 2:46-52). Jesus so confounded the religious teachers that they gave up asking Him questions (Matthew 22:46). 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