Fear No Fear

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

who has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves,

Colossians 1:13

The Gospel Message is the message of the ministry of Jesus. Jesus came to do a particular set of things, and then we as His believing disciples were empowered by Jesus to continue His ministry. “And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll he found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because of which he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send out in freedom those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were looking intently at him. And he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”” (Luke 4:17-21). All of this ministry is positive results for people who lacked positive results. It was not ONLY a ministry of money to the poor (John 13:29). It was not ONLY a ministry that accepted donations in order to care for the ministers and enable them to do good works (Luke 8:3). It was not ONLY a ministry that used Jesus’ own possessions in good ways (Luke 5:17-26). It was a ministry of the WHOLE person.

Adonai is anti-poverty. He is about WHOLE lives. He is about WHOLE prosperity. He is NOT just looking at dollars and cents. He does look at our dollars, but He also looks at our sense. He deals with whole-life poverty. There are SO MANY areas in which we experience LACK. In fact, they are so prevalent and so ubiquitous that we engage in the poverty without even considering it poverty. Here is a SHORT list of the types of poverty we engage in on a DAILY basis: emotional, personality/mentality, relational, governmental, vision, trust, revelatory, health, sexually, self-image, and sovereignty. All of these and more are areas where we have lack without getting HIS LIGHT on it (Romans 12:2). It is the biggest battle of our existence and the entire thing happens within our THINKING.

Poverty is the absence of God’s light and life on EVERY and ANY level. I first heard that from Barry Bennett (www.barrybennett.org) and it EXPLODED inside me. Jesus came to give us ABUNDANT LIFE. John told us we get it from our SPIRITUAL life first and THEN in our PHYSICAL life (3 John 2). Jesus did NOTHING miraculous in ANY way before being filled with Ruach HaKodesh (Luke 3:21-22). But AFTER that seminal moment, there was LIGHT and ABUNDANT LIFE in EVERY facet of Jesus’ life. Abundance that He shared again and again through the miraculous workings of Ruach HaKodesh within Him. We are called to do exactly as Jesus did (John 14:12) and give glory to Adonai in our every action, word, and thought. It is POSSIBLE, but ONLY in and through Jesus (John 15:5; Matthew 19:26).

Jesus didn’t throw a bucket on us and wash us off but leave us standing there in the muddy field. Jesus picked us up, transported us to a whole other place, cleansed us, clothed us, and is training us for life in this new place. More than that, we get to cooperate with Him in getting other people out of the field and into His Kingdom. This is a COMPLETE CHANGE OF ATMOSPHERE. Yet again and again we will find areas of our lives where we are NOT thinking like Kingdom Kids. We’re busy acting like we are still in a field. We might not think we’re covered in mud, but frequently we think exactly that AND act like it. We either moan and groan about being dirt little peasants, complain that we’re not worthy because we’re dirty, or ignore what’s being placed before us as sons and daughters of the King living in His palace. We embrace LACK and think we’re being realistic. The truth is we have so much more available to us than we THINK.

Ruach HaKodesh is here with us not just to empower us exactly like He empowered Jesus. Ruach HaKodesh is also here to teach us and guide us. He’s the ultimate travel agent. He doesn’t sell you a ticket, but He goes on the trip WITH you. If we really got some revelation in our hearts about the truth that Ruach HaKodesh – Elohim Himself – lives inside us, it would help us to transform our thinking on so many things. Instead of thinking about what Jesus might DO if we was where we are, we can speak to and hear from Ruach HaKodesh who IS with us RIGHT HERE where we are. We have more than a teacher, we have a COMPANION. His ministry is getting Jesus’ LIGHT into every corner of our lives. He doesn’t do it all at once. He doesn’t do it in ways we can’t handle. Bit by bit and piece by piece He challenges our thinking with the Word. He reminds us of what Jesus said about our lives, our character, our abilities, our talents, our skills, our words, our actions, our thoughts, our emotions, and everything in between. He’s not standing over us with a yardstick waiting to rap our knuckles. Instead, He is eagerly pointing out the level paths, the green grass, and the cool waters (Psalm 23).

Adonai designed us to work a certain way – inside and out. Jesus lived exactly that way. We can too. Jesus gave us His authority and His dominion to operate in. He invited us into His covenant with Adonai and paid the price for Sin – period and our personal iniquities (past, present, and future). Ruach HaKodesh is here to remind us of that. To help us renew our thinking and start seeing things the way Adonai sees things (1 Corinthians 2:16). He is our comforter when we miss it. Our teacher when we don’t see it. And our guide when we’re willing to journey away from lack to the Kingdom Living that we have been granted by our Heavenly Father. He won’t stop speaking to us. It’s about time we ALL started to leave lack where it belongs: in the dust.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Psalm 37:23

“The steps of a man are established by Yahweh, and he takes pleasure in his way.” Adonai not only shows us where to go, He takes TRUE and REAL pleasure when we walk it out. He prepares us. He establishes us. He teaches us. He guides us. He does it all for us to ensure that we can go where He says we can go. And we miss it. And we step off the path. And He helps us back up and back on His Way. Through it all, He is smiling and proud. Like a parent watching their child’s first steps, He doesn’t stop cheering, smiling, holding out His arms, and encouraging us. He loves us SO MUCH! It certainly isn’t a joy based on our achievements or capabilities. Our capacity to obey and succeed ONLY exists in Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). Adonai’s joy in us is simply because He LOVES us. He LOVES to watch us walk His Way. 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