Fear No Fear

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

When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, don’t be anxious how or what you will answer or what you will say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that same hour what you must say.”
Luke 12:11-12 (emphasis added)

No matter how you slice it, things are getting interesting. Whether they are interesting good or interesting bad depends on what side of the line you’re on. If you’re a believer, this life is the worst it’s ever going to be. If you aren’t a believer, this is the best it is ever going to get. “But all these things are the beginning of birth pains” (Matthew 24:8). That’s Jesus warning us. He knows a few things about birth pains. He’s been there right from the beginning.

Watching us birth our ideas and our civilisations. Our religions and mysteries. Our questions and sciences. He has seen us enslave one another, dehumanise one another, and all the violence inherent in our systems. But He is not speaking to make us fear. Fear is not one of the tools in the heavenly toolbox.
When the Lord speaks of these things He is speaking for two reasons. First, to warn us. He has always used His prophets to warn us of what is coming. He doesn’t tell us exact dates or exact circumstances, but He gives us enough information to recognise events as they approach and arrive. Oh sure, sometimes we get it wrong. We embellish things or misunderstand just what He is saying, but that is also why He tells us to test everything: “Don’t quench the Spirit. Don’t despise prophecies. Test all things, and hold firmly that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21). There is real value in knowing that something is coming. It helps us prepare. It helps us use common sense. It helps us to filter what we hear from other information streams. And yes, we should test it and not blindly trust the warnings of people who never get it right – take what they say with a grain of salt. Yes, we should use common sense and a sense of blessing those around us. Leave some toilet paper for others as you actively avoid hoarding. Maybe grab a few extra imperishables to share with the neighbours if the time comes. We can lean on His wisdom for what to do, when, and how much. He is really, REALLY good at planning.

The second reason He speaks of the future to us is to provide us with an incredibly valuable resource in times of trouble: confidence. Yes, confidence. Imagine listening to the Lord and taking a completely different way to work. Or doing that thing you’ve been meaning to even though you knew it would make you late. And then you find out a disaster happened at the building where you work. That if you were on time as per usual, you would have been caught up in it. This was the case with many, many people on 9-11. They were held up, did extra things, and went different routes. They didn’t always know why they did it, but there was a prodding and they responded to it. They could have pushed it aside, but they didn’t. And when the planes struck the towers they weren’t at their desks. They were on the outside able to help instead of being trapped or worse on the inside. We can be confident that He will speak. It must be admitted though we are not always as good at listening.

What about non-direct prods? That is what most prophesy is. If you go back to the Lord’s conversations with Abram, God told him that his descendants would be enslaved and rescued by the Lord. So this is not a direct prod but information for far in his future. “He said to Abram, “Know for sure that your offspring will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years. I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth;” (Genesis 15:13-14). The Lord warned him. And Abram passed it on. He had to have. “In the course of those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up to God because of the bondage” (Exodus 2:23). They’d been in bondage for decades and decades. Why would they cry out now just because there was a change of ruler? There had been a change of ruler before. They’d been enslaved a long time. But because it had been passed down to them not only who Yahweh God was, but that He would bring them out of bondage wealthy at a given period, they were able to start looking forward to it. Without the prophesy, they’d have been calling out for the full period of time instead of when it would do them the most good – right before it got fulfilled.

In the time leading up to the birth of Jesus, the people were looking for the Messiah to arrive. Isaiah 9:6 and 61:1 pointed to a man with a spirit of Peace on him. Isaiah 7:14 told them the promised Messiah would be born of a young girl (maybe betrothed, but definitely not married yet). The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). The Messiah would be called out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1). There would be a star to herald the birth of Messiah (Numbers 24:7). Gifts would be given to Him as tribute (Psalm 72:10-11). He would be worshipped by shepherds (Psalm 72:9). Sorrow would accompany His birth. Great sorrow (Jeremiah 31:15). Messiah would be of the lineage of Abraham (Genesis 12:3), Issac (Genesis 17:21), Judah (Genesis 49:8-12), Jesse (Isaiah 11:1), and David (Isaiah 9:7).

Perhaps most important was the timing of Messiah’s birth. “Know therefore and discern that from the going out of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Anointed One, the prince, will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be built again, with street and moat, even in troubled times. After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One will be cut off, and will have nothing. The people of the prince who come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end will be with a flood, and war will be even to the end. Desolations are determined” (Daniel 9:25-26). Messiah would come before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Jesus confirmed this in Matthew 24:2 when He prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem. Hard to prophesy the coming of an event in your past. They were looking for the Messiah everywhere. There is the account of Simeon to confirm this (Luke 2:25-35). He had not only been looking for and praying about Messiah, he had been promised by the Lord that he would see Messiah before his death – which Simeon did. There was also the prophetess Anna who lived in the temple and prayed day and night with fasting. She gave thanks for Jesus and then spoke of him to all those who were looking for redemption in Jerusalem (Luke 2:26-38).

The signs of Jesus’ birth and life meant something to those who were looking for Messiah. Jesus pointed to scripture when John was asking whether or not Jesus was the promised Messiah (Matthew 11:4-6). He made no claims in public, but pointed to prophesy and let people draw their own conclusions. The disciples themselves didn’t see all of it until after the resurrection when they were given Holy Spirit as a teacher and guide. Prophesy is a powerful tool to show us that nothing happening is a surprise to the Lord.

That is significant because we NEED to have an anchor in order to feel comfort. In order to have confidence. When we KNOW that the Lord knew something was coming, we are not fearful of the thing. How can we be? If Almighty God knew it was going to happen and we are seeking Him, then we know He has our back. He will have a plan. We only need to seek Him to find out what it is as far as our part is concerned. Sometimes though we aren’t told. Read 1 Kings 17 and see how Elijah proclaimed a drought and then followed the instructions of the Lord. They did not arrive with all the details. Some didn’t show up before the previous were followed and held to. But because Elijah was obedient, faithful, and promptly did what the Lord said, he was well taken care of.

You may not believe that the world is ever really going to change, but the prophets of the Lord say otherwise. You might not even believe there ARE prophets anymore. But consider this. From the times before the temple to the time of Jesus through the Acts of the Apostles there were prophets and prophetic words. There were even prophecies about prophets and prophetesses that have not yet come to pass. Place that beside the idea that Jesus doesn’t change from yesterday to today to tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8) and it is hard to imagine that the Lord would stop using an extremely effective way to communicate with us. Especially when we are warned not to scorn it (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21). Prophesy is a gift of warning, a gift of assurance, a gift of confidence, and a gift of encouragement. Have you ever read the book of Revelation?

It is true that there are a lot of odd things in Revelation. It is true that not all of it is pleasant and while the Church believes a lot of it won’t be experienced by the believers, we don’t know for sure how it will all play out. But that is okay. Because as you look at the book as a whole, you see a recurring theme. God wins. That’s right. Yahweh Lord God Almighty. The one who created the universe, who made a plan for redemption, is going to walk that plan out. The Righteous God above all who cannot and will not condone sin will deal with every entity, personality, presence, and power who does not accept and receive God’s payment for sin. If they chose not to receive and be obedient to the Loving Creator of All, they will have to pay the price for sin themselves. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). The price of sin is the tomb. For every created spirit, the tomb will be full of Jesus’ empty grave clothes or their own full ones. Either Jesus came out of that tomb or they are going in. There is no middle ground because there is no compromise in Righteousness.

We don’t like hearing that. As human beings, we don’t like hearing that there is no compromise. No grey area. No wiggle room. We like malleable things. We like things that we can bend, shift, and move to match what we feel and what we think. We have just enough ego to think that our thoughts in some way matter. We believe that so much that historically, we call all religions crap because we believe we created the concept of God. But we know the opposite is true. We all exist because we are in the thoughts of God and we are kept alive by the thoughts of God: “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed, and were created!” (Revelation 4:11) and “‘For in him we live, move, and have our being,’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring’” (Acts 17:28). We can have confidence that God is real, God is living, and through Him we all exist because unlike any other religion or man-made deity anywhere at any time, our God tells us what is going to happen and then we witness it happening EXACTLY AS HE SAID IT WOULD. There is no guesswork. There is no cramming circumstance into vague words that may or may not mean what we are now saying that it does (Nostradamus, I’m looking in your direction).

Since we know that God IS, we have a responsibility to respond to that. Since we believe and follow the Lord Jesus, we are able to respond with confidence. We can be confident that since God is our good Father (Isaiah 64:8), He will take good care of us (Luke 11:13). We have been called to be His children (2 Corinthians 6:18). That is some privilege. What love that demonstrates. “See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1). Like all adopted children all over the planet, we can be assured and confident that our Father WANTED us. He went through hoops for us. It cost Him. And He did it without batting an eye. He loves us so.

If we respond to that love confidently by putting Him first (Deuteronomy 6:4), then we should be seeking Him first (Matthew 6:33). If we DO seek Him we should be following His ways (Matthew 10:38-39). We should be seeking His glory in all we do and say (Colossians 3:17). Even in our innermost thoughts He should be first (Exodus 20:3). If we seek Him, He will provide for us. Spiritually and naturally. He will take care of us. We will see the recompense of the wicked, but not feel its storm (Psalm 91). We have no need to cringe every time the world screams a bad report. If we walk His way, our way will be straight and true regardless of where we find ourselves or what is going on in the world around us (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Noah was considered righteous and he was saved along with his family from the worst disaster this creation has ever seen. As we come into the fullness of these troubled times, can’t we trust that God will do at least that much if not more for beloved children? I know we can. Get into the Word and take on some of that confidence. The Word imparts it to you as it strengthens your faith. The Lord loves us. The Lord cares for us. What is there for us to fear? He has us. He already told us so.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Romans 8:1-11

The old covenant is the law of sin and death. In it, we are at the mercy of lawyers. Stuck to the nitty gritty of do it/don’t do it. One of the biggest issues is that all the sacrifices that covered your sin were for unintentional sin (you didn’t know you had sinned) or intentional sin (you realised that you had sinned). These are somewhat misleading words because we think of them in terms of motivation. That is not what they were. They are all either ‘Oops, I didn’t know that was a sin’ or covering you for something no one around you knows is a sin or ‘Wait, that was wrong. I’m not supposed to do that.’ There was no sacrifice that covered your sin if you sinned on purpose with pre-meditation. So if your parent asked you if you did blah and you had but said in the moment nope, that is a sin because lying is a sin. You’d go and sacrifice to cover that. But if you did blah, knew you were going to get caught, and prepared a lie, there was no offering to cover that. You were completely at the mercy of the Lord.

This changes everything about the journey of the Israelites. This explains why an ever-loving all-merciful God could have a cup of wrath fill up. People were sinning on purpose, turning away on purpose, and sin has a price. There is only so much that can be held back before penalty catches up with you. Until Jesus died for us and paid the price of sin as only a spotless, blameless, totally pure individual could; there was no covering for that kind of disobedience. After Jesus paid for sin, we were in a place where sin could be washed away. Where we truly could walk in righteousness and be covered when we fouled up.

In the new covenant we are free from the law of sin and death, for in Christ we are brought into the Kingdom. No longer at the mercy of lawyers, we are redeemed officers of the court designated to bring court business to pass as we are IN Jesus who is Mediator and Judge. We follow principle to keep the law, fulfilling that law through the Grace of Christ in service to the Father’s Court. Impossible without Jesus. Possible whenever we keep our position of abiding in Him. Which we can’t do unless we are constantly meditating on the Word, praising the Lord, and doing our all to keep God in the number one slot of our consciousness. Anytime we don’t consciously have Him in that slot on purpose, we risk sinning. If we repent, we will of course be covered. But since we’ve done it by choice and on purpose, it takes true effort to repent. A ‘sorry’ just doesn’t cut it. Easy? No. But simple. Keep God first. Whenever we turn away, get down on your knees and commit to turning back. In Jesus there is Grace. In anything else? Lack.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.