Fear No Fear

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

Bless Yahweh, all his works, in all the places of his dominion. Bless Yahweh, O my soul.

Psalm 103:22

As we come to the close of the anthem of gratitude, we find a final exhortation from Adonai to each and every one of us. Who are to bless Adonai and His UNIQUE, HOLY, and RIGHTEOUS point of view (which motivates all He does and commands)? Everyone who exists under His Lordship. Everyone who gives Him dominion over their lives. Not slaves in the sense of being under dominating dictatorship, but those devoted to remain humbly submitted to His perfect will and viewpoint. The souls of these people (the hearts, minds, and personalities) WILL bless Adonai with worship from gratitude and in thanksgiving. Like the sun gives light and water makes wet, these people make worship from the gratitude they have to BE these people.

This psalm is book-ended by our relationship with Adonai: “Bless Yahweh, O my soul, and all within me, bless his holy name” in verse one at the beginning and “Bless Yahweh, all his works, in all the places of his dominion. Bless Yahweh, O my soul” in verse twenty-two at the end. Among other things, it shows that we need to have ALL of our lives submitted to Adonai in order to worship Him with ALL that is within us. That, of course, is the journey. A journey in desperate need of Ruach HaKodesh and all the guidance, teaching, comfort, and correction that He embodies and has available to us in our lives (John 16:5-15). Every day there will be something new that He brings attention to. As we read the Word and think about what it is saying, we get shown how we can properly apply it to our lives. As we read the Word, Ruach HaKodesh shows us how He is trustworthy and can be believed. As situations come up, Ruach HaKodesh talks to us about how we can trust Jesus in that situation, how Jesus already has a solution, and the place(s) in the Word that the solution is based on. Piece by piece, day by day, this process makes us more and more like Jesus. “And we all, with unveiled face, reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory into glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

This verse is also a call to trust in Adonai when we have no explanation and we do not understand what is happening. We are called to worship Him in gratitude for what He does in ALL HIS WORKS. It does not guarantee an explanation. It does not guarantee understanding in the moment or even afterward. It DOES guarantee that Adonai is working according to His character and His point of view. In that, we can trust. Look at all the signs and wonders He performed in the bible. Read the accounts and recognise how often He did NOT explain Himself. Think about all the myriad ways He had to do any given thing. In every case He chose specific actions in, around, or through specific people. It has been THOUSANDS of years and we are STILL trying to figure out what He meant by what He did. Each and every time, though, we can see that He DID work and He DID bring about what He SAID He was going to bring about. He IS trustworthy – even when we don’t understand. So when we DON’T understand, we can STILL be grateful and STILL praise Adonai with thanksgiving in our hearts.

`Oh my soul, my mind, my heart, and my personality? Be GRATEFUL! Express with thanksgiving the love you have for Adonai. In every corner of all your thoughts, get His Light! In every plan, scheme, idea, and consideration, listen to His revelation knowledge! Rely on the Word to test everything you hear! Use the Word to frame every thought, action, and word. Humbly submit and choose holiness. Yearn after Adonai in total surrender and complete obedience from head to toe. Every cell. Every everything. Bless Adonai in thankful worship for who He is, what He has done, all that He gives, and all that He says, shows us, and speaks into us. His Way is THE Way and soul? We’re going to dance before Him with sure feet and joyful singing every step of it. In, through, and because of Jesus our LORD, we will get to the end of our journey with the same smile on our face that we had at salvation. Amen and Amen. Oh my soul? BLESS ADONAI!

“Bless Yahweh, O my soul, and all within me, bless his holy name. Bless Yahweh, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits: who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with loyal love and mercies, who satisfies your life with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Yahweh does deeds of justice and judgments for all who are oppressed, who made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel. Yahweh is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loyal love. He does not dispute continually, nor keep his anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so his loyal love prevails over those who fear him. As far as east is from west, so he has removed far from us the guilt of our transgressions. As a father pities his children, so Yahweh pities those who fear him. For he knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like the grass. As the flower of the field, so he blossoms. When the wind passes over it, it is no more, and its place knows it no longer. But the loyal love of Yahweh is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to their children’s children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his precepts. Yahweh has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. Bless Yahweh, you his angels, you mighty heroes who do his word by obeying the sound of his word. Bless Yahweh, all you his hosts, you his attendants who do his will. Bless Yahweh, all his works, in all the places of his dominion. Bless Yahweh, O my soul” (Psalm 103).

I hope you join me today and every day in doing just that. Bless Adonai!

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Ezekiel 36:26-27

“And I will give a new heart to you, and a new spirit I will give into your inner parts, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and I will give to you a heart of flesh. And I will give my spirit into your inner parts, and I will make it so that you will go in my rules, and my regulations you will remember, and you will do them” Adonai doesn’t leave us to walk alone. We are not struggling, crawling over broken rocks and shattered glass. We are hand in hand with Him. We are repositories of His goodness. We are temples where Ruach HaKodesh abides. We have the right and the obligation to choose holiness simply because He says we should. Not only to obey Him but also to benefit us. It’s a TRUTH that when we do things Adonai’s Way, things work better. When we stand on what He says, agree with His point of view, and walk how He says to walk, we enjoy relief from poverty. Not poverty as a monetary value, but poverty as the LACK which is the way of this world. No, Adonai is about ABUNDANCE (John 10:10). Not abundance solely interested in your bank book, but abundance as the absolute opposite of a poverty that takes identity, health, role, and in the end life itself (3 John 2). Adonai is a God of LIFE and He wants us right in the middle of it in every way possible. 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