Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the NET, netbible.org, all rights reserved)

Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with the Spirit.
Galatians 5:24-25 (emphasis added)

If we haven’t started crucifying our flesh, we haven’t been listening to Jesus. “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). Yes, this can mean crucifying our connection to the world and not participating in it. “But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14). More than that, though, if you look at the pattern of the cross you see individuality and self-will but always in the service of the Father’s Glory through submission and freely chosen obedience in Joy.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry” (Matthew 11:28-30). In Jesus, we get to rest. Rest from turmoil. Rest from sickness. Rest from defeat. Rest from Poverty. Rest from bondage. Rest from all of that. We get rest through obedience to the model Jesus laid out for us. By submitting as He did. It isn’t hard to do. It’s easy to bear, if you have the right mindset. The trouble with submission is that we tend to think of it as forcing ourselves to give something up. Like a slave stolen from their homeland, chained, beaten, broken, and abused until they’re thrown away. Or being forced to obey rules and laws you disagree with – like an unjust government, dictator, or even employer. We think of it like having our freedom removed. Having our pleasures or desires restricted. Like when you’re on a diet. But that is NOT what Jesus was referencing.

The Way is not a forced diet. The Way is not a removal of your ability to enjoy. The Way is not chains, bondage, abuse, or mistreatment. The Way is not a lack of what you want. The Way is not restrictive in the sense of limitations. The Way is a way of THINKING. A mindset. A change of ideas. Submission in the Way is not the act of submitting to the authority or control of another. Rather, it is the condition of being submissive, humble, or compliant to a superior will, person, or authority. It is recognising Adonai’s place and realising that place is the right and just place of Adonai. “After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the one who lives forever. His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal. All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He does as he pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth. No one can stop him or say to him, ‘What do you mean by doing these things?’” (Daniel 4:34-35).

Read Job Chapters 38-41. Look at the list of what Adonai Elohim does and knows. That’s just scratching the surface. Read Daniel 7:1-14. Imagine seeing that. That’s a single piece of the whole picture. And one our minds can comprehend at that. Another piece is in Ezekiel Chapter 1, and another in Chapter 37. What about Revelation Chapter 1? These are all snippets of Adonai. He is Holy. He is Righteous. He is far above where we are (which is why it is a miracle that He also is with us always – Hebrews 13:5). He is beyond our comprehension in many ways. He DESERVES His place. He is the ONLY ONE who deserves that place. We need to recognise that AND acknowledge it on a regular basis – again, the Psalms are great for giving us language where we don’t seem to have the words ourselves.

Once we see where He resides in comparison to where WE reside, once we understand that His interactions with us are because He loves us, is Merciful, and FULL of Grace toward us, then we can understand why it is right and good to submit. This isn’t a power trip or a dictatorship or an ego trip. It is just and right and good. When we truly see that and acknowledge that, we WILL desire to submit to Him. We can’t love Him without wanting to submit to His will because our love will show us the rightness of recognising and accepting His authority. It’s the same thing Jesus had to LEARN to do. Yes, Jesus was sinless (John 8:7-11). But Jesus was tempted (Hebrews 4:15-16). Like we are. He had to CHOOSE to obey. He had to LEARN not to. Like we do. He DID learn and He DID choose and IN HIM we can do the same. “You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had” (Philippians 2:5). It is simple when we change our mindset.

We need to have the same kind of attitude that Jesus did. Jesus had to go to the cross and suffer so badly people were shocked at His non-human appearance (Isaiah 52:13-15). How did He approach that? In His MIND, He was Joyful. “keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). His MINDSET was JOY even though He did NOT want to become sin for even a moment. “He went away from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me. Yet not my will but yours be done.” [Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And in his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.]” (Luke 22:41-44). Jesus didn’t want to be separated from His Father. He didn’t want to become sin. He didn’t want to become a curse. Who would? But in His spirit He saw beyond that to the goal. In His mind He recognised the Father’s Will. His MINDSET was one of obedience and He did NOT shirk His responsibility. He obeyed. We must do the same if we are going to be His disciples.

Now the vast majority of us are not going to be physically crucified or killed for following Jesus – though it still does happen globally in the thousands every year. What is it we need to be crucifying then? Those things that are not of Him. That won’t be a sacrifice since “All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change” (James 1:17). That means nothing that is truly good (good for us without negative agenda or effect) will need to be given up. There are a lot of things in the world done well, but not all of it is good. We need to recognise the difference. “All things are lawful for me—but not everything is beneficial” (1 Corinthians 6:12). When we value Adonai’s viewpoint and work to make it our own – through the consumption of the Word and submitting to what we find there – we will start to value what HE values and reject what HE rejects. Not condemning them, but moving past them to a place where they have no place in us. You’ll find your tastes changing when it comes to what you listen to, watch, and read. It won’t be a bad change, but you will begin to realise there are things you no longer want to be exposed to.

When we crucify the mental map we’ve developed through YEARS of conditioning by this world and start to let His Word open our eyes to the TRUTH of things, there is a seismic shift in our thinking. The possibilities that open to us when our minds are stayed on Him will amaze. He is a GOOD God. A GOOD Father. He is MERCIFUL and LOVING. How COULD a Father send evil to us to ‘teach us’? It’s easier to teach us with good. There’s an old education adage ‘turn good experiences into learning experiences’. It’s true because we almost ALWAYS resent bad circumstances and frequently don’t learn (or want to learn) anything from them. Not that Adonai doesn’t teach us through negative things in our lives, he does. But He doesn’t SEND them. He doesn’t AUTHOR them. He doesn’t DESIRE that we have to deal with them. It is US and our choices alongside natural (fallen) events alongside other humans seeking to indulge the bad things of life that lead to those circumstances. Adonai DELIVERS us from them. He teaches US how to walk in victory. He enables US to live victoriously. But it takes renewal (Romans 12:2).

We need to let Him renew our minds so that we can learn the Truth. When we engage with that truth, meditate on it, think on it, read it, hear teaching on it, and develop our thinking on it, we will change our mindset. As we get more and more of Jesus’ mindset (1 Corinthians 2:16), we walk in more and more victory. When we have a mindset of His Joy, we will have no depression or anxiety. They will be UNABLE to come on us because they will be incompatible with our thinking. The same is true about poverty and sickness. They won’t be part of our landscape anymore because our minds will be stayed on Him and His Way. Not ours, HIS. Not our wishful thinking, His righteous thinking. Not our desires, His Will. When we change our mindset, we will start living according with the Spirit and not this world. We will experience what brings about abundant life: a satisfactorily crucified mind.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Isaiah 49:6

“This is what the Lord, the Protector of Israel, their Holy One, says to the one who is despised and rejected by nations, a servant of rulers: “Kings will see and rise in respect, princes will bow down, because of the faithful Lord, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”” Messiah would be despised of the nations. The Suffering Servant wasn’t coming as a conquering king. He was coming as a servant, here to suffer for us. The nations, loving darkness more than the light (John 3:19), would NOT like Him. NOT accept Him. And ABSOLUTELY despise Him. “The Judeans replied, “Aren’t we correct in saying that you are a Samaritan and are possessed by a demon?” Jesus answered, “I am not possessed by a demon, but I honor my Father—and yet you dishonor me” (John 8:48-49). This was NOT an isolated incident. Jesus was harassed, mocked, ridiculed, and chased from one end of the country to the other. Every time Jesus was there opening His mouth (it seems) there were people there to dissent – even some of His own followers. Jesus was despised by the world. Jesus IS Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

Yeshua is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Matthew 16:16b