Fear No Fear

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

who satisfies your life with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Psalm 103:5

Where else do eagles renew in the Word? Isaiah 40:31 “But those who wait for Yahweh shall renew their strength. They shall go up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not grow weary they shall walk and not be faint.” Waiting on Yahweh renews our strength. This is not waiting patiently for whenever it is that Adonai decides to move. This is waiting on Yahweh like He is a customer at your restaurant or a king in whose court you operate. Waiting is serving. One of the best ways we do that is with a grateful heart because it produces thanksgiving, which is what links the two verses. Thanksgiving is His rightful gift. Other gifts are also good, but He truly deserves our thanksgiving. We just don’t always know how to give it because we get clouded by the world around us. But if we WAIT on Him, we WILL be thankful.

When you are serving a king, you seek to maintain a friendly, reverent disposition. You’re not rude. You’re not over-friendly. But you’re pleasant and kind. You maintain a reverence with them because of the differences in your stations in life and your acknowledgement – without bitterness or resentment – of that difference. This is EASY with Adonai because He is SO CLEARLY above us. “Great is Yahweh, and very worthy of praise, and his greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3). Our problem is that we FORGET He is RIGHTEOUS. We lean into the friendship we can have with Jesus and Ruach HaKodesh, and we FORGET He is RIGHTEOUS. Totally and completely RIGHTEOUS. If we stood in the physical presence of their full glory, we would explode (Exodus 33:20). When we are caught up to see Jesus face to face, our flesh is going to explode and leave us in our true and perfected form (1 Corinthians 15:52). THAT is how righteous He is. THAT is how perfect and good. THAT is why we should REVERE Him. Being friendly is ENCOURAGED by Adonai. We are FAMILY. But He is the HEAD, He is the SOURCE, and He IS Elohim. As we worship Him and get to know Him, remember WHO He is. Remember WHAT He is. He IS the I AM. He IS Alpha-Omega. He IS Yahweh. Look in scripture and see how the Earth itself reacts to His presence. Read the visions of the Glory of Adonai in Ezekiel. See how HOLY He is. When we remember that, all our interactions with Him become worshipful. Friendly. Pleasant. Respectful. Reverent. Ruach HaKodesh is the foundation of that attitude in us (Philippians 3:3; John 4:24). It’s like being best friends with the King. You never forget the position, no matter how personal and friendly you are allowed to be. Like a child never forgetting who the parent really is. It isn’t off-putting. It isn’t distance. It’s RESPECT. It’s REVERENCE. And it is the point at which true WISDOM begins (Proverbs 9:10).

When you are serving in the food and beverage industry, your goal is to entertain as many requests as possible from those you are serving. You do this to make them feel like they are special. Like you care about their wants and needs. Like you want to satisfy them and leave them satiated, while having respected their boundaries, concerns, and issues. With Adonai we seek to entertain as many of His requests as possible because we love Him. When you love someone, you want to care for them. You want to know them better to make you feel closer to them. You want to do things for them to make them happy, because when THEY are happy YOU are happy. Jesus told us that was how it was going to work with Him. Jesus told us that when we let ourselves love Him, we would obey Him because being godly with our words, thoughts, and actions pleased Him (John 14:15). The great thing about Adonai is that He NEVER overburdens us (Matthew 11:28-30). We will NEVER have more requests than we can handle and they will ALWAYS be things that He has empowered us to do – through Ruach HaKodesh we have access to His armour and His fruit (Galatians 5:22-23, Ephesians 6:10-18). We’re NEVER asked to do something that will stretch OUR resources (mentally, physically, emotionally, financially, etc) because we are ALWAYS asked to work WITH and THROUGH and IN Jesus (John 15:5). When we let go of the idea of MINE, we clearly see they are all HIS resources. We’re borrowing them or moving them around, but they are all HIS. So it doesn’t tax us to use them, have them, or give them away. We can focus on obedience. We can focus on DOING what He’s asked us to, knowing that HE is giving us the tools AND the supply to achieve them. Best part? His JOY at our obedience supplies us the STRENGTH we need to accomplish what we’ve been asked to do (Nehemiah 8:10).

Being a server in a restaurant can be a mentally taxing position. The customers expect you to be a kind of walking encyclopedia on your restaurant. Knowing everything on the menu, everything about the facility, and intimately acquainted with the many ways that they can customize their experience. The more you know about the restaurant, the better able you’ll be to serve everyone who comes in (especially the menu). The more we know about Jesus, the more Ruach HaKodesh can work in our lives (Ephesians 3:20). The more we know about the Word, the more we know about how we are meant to live, how we are meant to interact with the world, and the values and morals that are both right and good. There is a LOT in the Word. There are over 31,000 verses, 3,000 to 8,000 promises, 613 Laws, over a thousand instructions, and more than 365 verses showing us that we do NOT need to fear, but can have His peace. That’s a LOT. This is why we need to study the Word. Each verse has layers upon layers. If we will take the time and the effort to get it into our heart, Ruach HaKodesh is right there to teach us about it, expound on it, commentate it for us, and bring it to mind whenever we need to apply it (John 14:26). The more we know, the more freedom we can walk in. The more we know, the more we will be able to model it for the world in and through Jesus. The more we know, the more we will be able to help guide and disciple other people who are also seeking Him. There is NO downside to knowing the Word, and knowing as much as we can of it. It is ALWAYS a benefit and should be studied in one way or another on a DAILY basis. It is the manual for abundant life (John 10:10).

Have you ever gone to customer service? Isn’t it impressive the smiles they bring to bear? The cheerfulness? The enthusiastic greeting and invitation to open up your life and give them a better look? It helps to melt away your frustration with your issue, gets you thinking more positively about the company, and births within you hope that your deal can be solved. What about toddlers/babies and dogs? Their sheer unbridled enthusiasm to see you again? Even if it’s only been a few minutes? These are the ways we are to approach Adonai. Giving Him an enthusiastic greeting because we know He is the solution to our situations. That He IS the hope of our overcoming. That He is awesome and great and worthy to be praised and we get to see Him again! “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise. Give thanks to him; bless his name” (Psalm 100:4). “Therefore let us approach with confidence to the throne of grace, in order that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). “And calling a child to himself, he had him stand in their midst and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you turn around and become like young children, you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven!” (Matthew 18:2-3). Approaching Him with singing and dancing and cheerfulness is the way to greet Him. Adonai is ALWAYS about JOY (Zechariah 8:19). Singers were always a key part to entering the Temple (1 Chronicles 25). WE are the Temple of Ruach HaKodesh now (1 Corinthians 3:16). We should be enthusiastically greeting Him all the time. Every time we go before Him, hear from Him, see Him, and think of Him. Yes, that is a LOT of enthusiastic greeting, but He is truly GREAT and worthy of all that joy.

We are to wait on Adonai like we wait on our customers and children – but even more so. We perfect our praise with joy. We change our attitudes about our expectations when we give Him His proper place. We grease the wheels of our thoughts, actions, and words with the thanksgiving that we give to Him. We will be renewed when we wait on Him. He sees our efforts, and replaces our strength with His. Every time.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Exodus 19:4

“‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and I brought you to me.” We are told in Isaiah that we can mount up with eagles wings without being wearied or fainting from the effort. It doesn’t always feel like that, though. Sometimes it feels like an impossible effort. Something FAR beyond our abilities. And we are not wrong. There are times that we are totally and completely unable to affect change. These are the times Adonai takes the lead. He doesn’t ASK us to do it. He asks us to OBEY and be in the place with the right attitude and willingness to cooperate with Him. The things Moses and Aaron did were not all that difficult or complicated. It took courage. It took some effort. But mostly they did simple things that Adonai used to supernaturally perform what they could never do. He protected His children. He drew them out from under oppression. And He brought them into total and complete freedom under His wings. He does the same thing today. Through Jesus we are connected to the Most High (John 15:5). We overcome because we are in the overcomer. We are free because Jesus did the work. It is finished because Jesus finished it. We have what we have because of what HE did, not what WE did or do. 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