Fear No Fear

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

As far as east is from west, so he has removed far from us the guilt of our transgressions.

Psalm 103:12

This is another verse where we have the opportunity to be praising and thanking Adonai for it ALL THE TIME. Every day, every time we think of Him or us, we should be grateful. If it wasn’t for Adonai doing this for us, our lives would be VERY different. This action accomplished by Jesus through His sacrifice on the cross, opened the Way for us to be totally changed inside and out in a way that nothing else possibly could. We are so changed, it is like we are standing on one side of the world and our former selves are on the other. They are NO LONGER ABLE to be in the same place. We NO LONGER have what we once had. THAT is something that is worth praising Him about. THAT is something to be grateful for. This is THE foundation of our gratitude: Jesus saved us.

Adonai cleansed us. We are CLEAN. Completely, utterly, and totally. We are NO LONGER sinners. In fact, since we abide in Jesus and Jesus in us we can’t automatically sin anymore EVER. “Everyone who is fathered by God does not practice sin, because his seed resides in him, and he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God” (1 John 3:9). In Jesus, all we have is Him and His new life (Galatians 2:20). The life we used to have, the sinner we were, is dead. “knowing this, that our old man was crucified together with him, in order that the body of sin may be done away with, that we may no longer be enslaved to sin” (Romans 6:6). We are dead to sin. It is OUTSIDE trying to get IN again (Genesis 4:7). We are NOT slaves to sin. We have a CHOICE. We can CHOOSE to NEVER sin again. It is possible IN and THROUGH Jesus (John 15:5).

That’s something to praise Him for! You’re not steeped in sin. You’re not infected by sin. You’re not stuck with sin. You are NOT A SINNER! We are NEW in Jesus. We are LIFE and not DEATH. “So also you, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11). That is praiseworthy. That should make you so grateful every single day that you cannot WAIT to thank Him for it. He is SUCH A GOOD GOD to have done that for us! Praise His Holy Name! But wait, you say. I sinned yesterday. What are you talking about?

It is true that we still perform sin (verb) but we are no longer sinners (noun). We have to CHOOSE to sin. It is NO LONGER automatic. We CAN – through and in JESUS – choose to never sin again. It is POSSIBLE. But it is ONLY possible when we are IN JESUS. Our thinking hasn’t changed. Our patterns of behaviour are fuelled and controlled by our thinking. The more we change our thinking, the more like Jesus we become, and the less sin we choose to do (Romans 12:2). And we DO choose to sin. “If we say that we do not have sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). Sin is anything and everything that is contrary to the will of the Father. Period. HIS point of view, not ours. Period. Our feelings, observations, opinions, ideas, and experiences do NOT matter. His way is THE way. Period. Violation of that is sin. Period.

But we are not under a covenant of JUDGMENT. Jesus PAID the price for Sin. Jesus PAID for our personal sins (iniquities). We can accept His payment, acknowledge Him as Lord, and humbly submit to Adonai’s will in and for our lives. We can be SAVED. We can be WASHED CLEAN. We can be TRANSFORMED. Now we are in Jesus’ covenant. A covenant of Grace and Mercy, not judgment. When we choose to sin, we do wrong. Absolutely. But if we repent, get His idea on it and decide that it will be our idea on it, then we are forgiven. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, so that he will forgive us our sins and will cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). The thing is, as saved believers in Jesus, we do not DESIRE to sin. We sin because we fail to trust in Jesus. We sin because we let our brains follow past patterns of broken thinking. We sin because we despise the point of view of Adonai and selfishly choose our own way. We DO NOT sin AUTOMATICALLY because we are SINNERS. We are NOT sinners. There is ALWAYS a choice.

Now, I don’t always MAKE the right choice – none of us do. But I am so VERY grateful that I HAVE that choice to make. That I was made CLEAN and WHOLE and HIS. That I get to live under His mercy in His GRACE. Ruach HaKodesh is ALWAYS reminding us of that. He is ALWAYS pointing out our opportunities to trust in Jesus. He is ALWAYS reminding us of who we are in Jesus (His Righteousness). He is ALWAYS reminding us it is a CHOICE. He is ALWAYS reminding us of the tools Adonai has put at our disposal. He is ALWAYS reminding us of what we are called to do and to be by Adonai. Every day. All day long. He is our BIGGEST cheerleader. I am SO grateful for His words to me. I am SO grateful for what Jesus did for me. I am SO grateful for the transformation that Adonai made and continues to make in me. I am SO grateful for the fullness and completeness of what He started that WILL come to pass (2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 John 3:2). Praise Him for it today! It is WORTH some thanksgiving!

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: 1 John 3:2

“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever he is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is.” Moses was told that no one could see Adonai and live (Exodus 33:20). It’s true. Unrighteousness CANNOT exist in the presence of Pure Righteousness. That is an AWESOME thing. It means that although we are new creation in Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17), and although we are being changed piece by piece into better copies of Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18), and although we are given new life through Ruach HaKodesh constantly (Romans 8:11), there is always something left to perfect – because we are not in ourselves perfect. But when we see Jesus. When we are standing physically face to face and not in a vision, visitation, or dream. When we are really right there in front of Him, ALL the things that haven’t been perfected will EXPLODE. They will vanish. We will be INSTANTLY transformed in FULL TOTALITY into what we were always meant to be. Just one look. Just one glance. Just Him. And POW we WILL be perfected AND completed. Isn’t that awesome? Isn’t He WONDERFUL? 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