Fear No Fear

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

“Remember, my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets that would have put me in fear.”

Nehemiah 6:14 (emphasis added)

The world runs on fear. They don’t do anything without raising the spectre of fear. It’s true. Think about it. You can’t even do something as simple as buy an appliance without fear becoming part of it. What do they do? They offer a warranty. Seems innocent enough. But they are implanting into your mind the idea that your appliance will fail. I know you think that’s silly. You’re going to sit there and tell me that appliances do fail. That nothing lasts forever. That things wear out. In the natural that might be true, but I’m not addressing that. Think. When you went to buy that appliance you needed it. You found one you liked. You thought about how it will work. How it will help. How it will make your life easier. Solve that problem. Or maybe it’s just neat. A new thing to try. You’re being positive. You’re being imaginative about good things. You’re full of faith. Then they say warranty. They are saying it WILL tank and you WILL need protection. And now, you will accept that idea. Your good thoughts are being joined by poor thoughts. Your faith is mixing with fear. You will probably get the warranty to protect yourself. It makes logical sense. But you’ve accepted that your new thing will fail. Your faith in it is not as strong as it was before.

They do it with medical things all the time. From the silly to the serious. Ads will pop up online all the time. ‘If you have ‘blank’, this is the damage that’s really occurring’. Fear. Take sweet potatoes. There’s an ad I see a lot now. A woman is explaining why she threw out her sweet potatoes and doesn’t eat them anymore. She goes on about the sugar content in them and the spike that can occur when that much sugar hits you. She talks about how no one talks about that. And the damage and issues it gives women. You can go through the whole video and it is nothing but fear about sweet potatoes. Never once does she mention fibre. The natural fibre of the sweet potato. The thing that your body has to chew threw and digest in order to gain access to that sugar. The thing that blunts the sugar spike and keeps it from occurring. In fact, sweet potatoes are one of the healthiest things you can eat. But if you watch this video, it will be really easy to pick up fear about them and stop eating something that has some incredible health benefits for you. Fear. Using fear to deprive you of something.

What about accepting something you don’t have? What about hearing about some symptoms you have and deciding you have that bad thing? What about having a particular issue that is more or less innocuous, but hearing about what it ‘really’ is doing and accepting that damage to yourself? Don’t take the idea that it doesn’t happen. Don’t assume that it is all new age mumbo jumbo. Words are seeds. Each and every one. While we do not determine our own reality—it is God that does that, Colossians 1:17. But we have free will. We determine what we accept as our standard of living. Our words have power because words create. It is how God determined things would work. We have been made in His image and we too can use words to transform what is around us as long as we are doing it according to His will because He is the only power source in the universe. God will do what He wants and will not do what He does not want. He is Sovereign. But when it comes to ourselves, He has given us the right to accept or reject things.

Think of a banquet. Everything is laid out. Some you like. Some you don’t. Some you’ve never seen before. You’re handed a plate and told to serve yourself. You might be warned against a dish here and there. Others might be highly recommended. But you are going to decide what goes on your plate. Further, once you’re in your seat you will determine what you eat. If you tell yourself you have a problem. If you put the idea in yourself that it is likely you have or will have the problem. You are opening the door and giving permission to the problem to come in – whether it does or not. Job was fearful. Not for his own life, but for his kids and his possessions. The enemy had chipped away at his wall of faith so much that Job was sacrificing to try and cover the what-if sins of his family. This is NOT to say Job was doing wrong. The Book of Job starts with Adonai telling us that Job was RIGHTEOUS. Job’s fearfulness is NOT why this stuff happened. But it COULD have been – it’s a spiritual principle. Job realises it to some extent as he bemoans his condition: “For the thing which I fear comes on me, that which I am afraid of comes to me. I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither do I have rest; but trouble comes”” (Job 3:25-26). He regrets the time He wasted fearing. We do the same thing. We give ground in our lives for the enemy to work. He won’t come in every time, but when he does it will be walking through doors you have opened.

Does this mean that we can avoid all sickness, all problems, all everything by proclaiming that we don’t have it? No. When you talk about having something and give it permission to operate in your life you are using fear. You are operating in the kingdom of fear to let fear do its thing. If you just say you don’t have these things you’re not operating in anything at all. You’re just speaking. But if you get into the Word you will find things that God says. Things God says about these issues, conditions, ideas, and situations. You can find verses of promise. You can find other verses that support those verses. You can find principles to live by. That if you do A, B is how your life will be ordered. Other times you find God offers C to His faithful, obedient, beloved children. Are you faithful? Are you obedient? Are you a believer? Then you have a right to accept C. It is all about finding out the Will of the Father. Not trying to twist verses to suit your own ends. But to find out what the Father wills and then standing in agreement with that. The Word can order your life. Faith in what God offers and what God promises and what God says gives you something to stand on. Now it isn’t an empty declaration. Now it is in agreement with what the Father wants.

This is how Jesus operated. He went around preaching and teaching. He guided, gave advice, stood up against religious shackles. But He didn’t say everything that crossed His mind. He didn’t lash out with the words His feelings were directing Him to. He stayed focused on the Father. Jesus also healed people, cast out demons, and performed miracles. Each and every instance was at the specific guidance of the Father. Each and every time Jesus was going just as far as the Father wanted Him to and no further. It wasn’t easy. Jesus had to reign in His feelings. He had to choose to not follow His flesh. But He did it. And He told us that if we abide in Him we can do the same things. Yes, every single thing that Jesus did you can do IF the Father tells you to. Does that mean I can walk on water? If He said I could, yes. But what possible reason would I have to do that? There is a river near where I live. I totally and completely believe I could walk across it. But I have never been called to. There’s a bridge. More than one, in fact, depending on where you were travelling. What glory would the Father get if I walked over that water? None. It would be showy and full of ego. Even if I said God let me do it or it was by God’s power I did it. It wouldn’t make a difference. It would still be human foolishness. When Jesus did it, the Father directed Him. Result? They worshipped the Lord (Matthew 14:33). I don’t try to operate outside of the Father’s will.

When I come across the programming of fear, I change the channel. I mute the sound. I turn my eyes away and I declare that No, this is not my thought. I won’t accept that. I am redeemed from the curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13) and I am made a new creature in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). I use the Word to combat the fear of the enemy. I cast those thoughts at Jesus’ feet. I reject those things. That is NOT going to happen to me. I will NOT accept that. I don’t do it on a whim. I don’t wave my hand and say that I will not experience rain today. Could I? If it was the will of the Father, yes. Elijah did it (1 Kings 17:1). He made a proclamation and the Lord honoured it because it was the Father’s will. Elijah hadn’t been commanded to do that. He did that in his office as a prophet. He gave a command of authority. But he gave it because it was God’s will. Magnificent things came from that. I have no authority in that area. I won’t try and wave the rain away because there would be no purpose in that. No glory to God. It would be selfish and consequently nothing would happen. There is no faith in that kind of make-my-will-manifest. It isn’t ABOUT my will, but the Father’s. You want to manifest? Find out what the Lord wants to see happen, then claim that by standing on the Word, and receive what the Lord is offering. We manifest the will of the Father by submitting to Him and obeying what He says. By letting Him do what He wants. Removing ourselves from the equation.

Back to rejecting fear, that means I can reject sickness. I may have a fight on my hands because my flesh and my mind and my heart are convinced I am subject to the ills of this world. They are convinced that they are susceptible the way everyone else is. But my spirit doesn’t think that. My spirit rejects that. The Word is clear that I have the right to walk in health. The Word is clear that I have a right to be whole, healthy, nothing missing and nothing broken. 1 Peter 2:24, Matthew 8:16-17, Matthew 10:1, Luke 10:9, and 3 John 2 all tell us healing is part of our rights in Jesus. Exodus 15:26 tells us that God is the God who heals. Healing is part of His makeup. But I am not doing the healing. Jesus is who has accomplished it and I am nothing outside of Him. In His ministry, people received healing by faith. They had to believe. Jesus doesn’t change, so I have to believe in order to receive what He did on the cross and through His suffering. I have to have faith. I have to believe. I have to have that believing faith based on the Word and the will of the Father. Easy to say, hard to do. But if I do it, I can receive healing for anything. Nothing is impossible if it is done with God (Luke 1:37), but it MUST be done WITH GOD because it is God who does the works, not us (Philippians 2:13 and John 14:10).

Don’t get dejected. It doesn’t matter what area of your life that you want to receive from God. It all comes down to faith, belief, and the will of the Father. The Father wants all good things for us. The Father knows that the world will bring upon us persecutions, but it doesn’t mean that He doesn’t want good things for us. Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison, but they praised the Lord (Acts 16:25-34). They had faith, they believed, and they didn’t let what was happening to them diminish their trust in the Lord. It all comes down to trust, and not to wishing for a bunch of things. If we are sick, we can apply health in our lives through faith. We can choose not to pick up new things. We can deal with what we already have. God has doctors and the medical industry to help us. God has the Word to renew our minds to His ways, His possibilities. We need faith to accomplish any of that, because WE don’t accomplish a thing. Jesus does. In Him, by Him, through Him, and for Him are all things done. We need faith. To truly walk in faith, we need trust.

Nehemiah was called to come and help rebuild Jerusalem. Those opposed to Jerusalem being rebuilt came against him with threats of attacks, attempts to get him by himself, attempts to get him to sin by entering the temple (Nehemiah wasn’t a priest), spreading rumours and false reports, and false prophets prophesying untrue things to the people to keep the status quo. Nehemiah stood against all of that. He didn’t give in to the worry and fear that they tried to stir in him. Because Nehemiah trusted in the Lord. That was what let Nehemiah reject fear. We need to be the same.

We can trust that NO MATTER WHAT IS HAPPENING God will provide for us (Matthew 6:31-33). We can trust that we ARE saved and can abide in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-10). We can trust that because of that, we are being renewed by God (Titus 3:4-7). We should not put our faith in what is around us, but the Lord (Psalm 20:7). We should not trust in people or institutions, but the Lord (Jeremiah 17:5 and Psalm 118:8). Proverbs 3:5-7 says “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Don’t be wise in your own eyes. Fear the LORD, and depart from evil.” Don’t rely on you. Don’t rely on others. Reverence the Lord, honour Him, and put your trust in the one place it deserves to be: on the Lord. Psalm 37:4 tells us that if we delight in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart.

When our hearts delight in the Lord, we are all about Him. His will. His desires. His wants. His needs. We will be seeking to have the things of God. We will NOT be satisfied with our spirits being blessed with all the blessings of the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3). We will delight in the Lord and want those things of the Lord to be in our spirit AND our mind AND our bodies. It is a journey, but it is one that starts with trust and faith. It starts by letting Him order your steps. To follow in His ways. To renew yourself in the Word so that the delights of the Lord will come alive in your heart and set a fire under you to have those things active and vibrant in your life too. It is a laying down of self, a picking up of a cross, and following Jesus. Yoked to Him in humbleness as we joyfully submit in obedience to the Father. To see Him smile. To please Him. You need faith to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). But with that kind of faith? Fear won’t be able to get a hold on you. You’ll be lifting up to God those who would put fear into you instead of giving them place in your life. You’ll be praising, not panicking. Relying, not stressing. Joyful, not anxious.

Trust in the Lord. Give Him all of your heart. Seek Him, and find the peace that passes all understanding. Reject fear, reject the message of fear, and see how faith flourishes. See how the delight of the Lord supersedes feelings. See how being in Jesus is better than anything else you can experience. He is a GOOD God. Trust Him. In everything.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Psalm 37:5-8

It’s easy to fret. It’s easy to fear. It is the entire world system. From the media to the moguls. From the entertainers to the studious. Fear is what makes the world go ‘round because fear is the best prison there is. It keeps you down. It keeps you from dreaming. It is YOU locking YOU up. It puts timelines to things. Oh, you can’t have your healing yet. God is working in you still. Oh, you can’t be free of debt yet. You’ve got lessons to learn. Oh, that doesn’t happen anymore. The age of the apostles is over. Oh, that isn’t possible. Science tells you all of this over here about that. Everyone agrees. Everyone is watching. Blah bleh blah blah blah. There are days it seems we can do nothing without a negative spin on it. We can’t just say don’t touch that, it’s hot. We have to say don’t touch that, you’ll be burned. We can’t just say walking is safe, we have to say don’t run. As a species, we have embraced fear. We have ordered ourselves just above monkeys, but we are firmly placing ourselves in the animal kingdom. In reality, we are just below God and above angels. Yeah. Those beings we portray as uber powerful. They are beneath us—when we are where we are supposed to be, which is dwelling in Jesus who overcame the world and bought back our rightful place. If we are indeed dwelling in Jesus, why are we putting up with the message of the world? If we are right below God—and Hebrews 1:4-14 tells us we are—then why aren’t we walking in it? By declaration of Yahweh God we have a legal right of inheritance (Isaiah 54:17) and it is that NO weapon that is even so much as formed against us can prevail. If that is true and if Jesus completed His work (John 17:4) and if He has redeemed us (Galatians 3:13), then we have it all. Already done. You ARE healed. You ARE overcoming. Because you are in Jesus and Jesus is in you! Why are you choosing to stay sick? Why are you accepting new colds? Why are you letting your body dictate to you when you should be dictating to it? Yes, we have a responsibility to be good stewards of it (that means eating right and exercise and moderation). Yes, we need to treat it as the holy temple that it is and both mindfully and prayerfully considering what goes in it. Those are the natural walking out of the spiritual principle we inhabit: we are all things in Him (Romans 11:36 and Philippians 4:13). Outside Him we are nothing (John 15). But in Him? Commit your ways to the Lord. All of them. And abide in the Word. Abide in Jesus. Let Him renew your mind to the idea that you have it all if you’ll submit and be obedient to His will. Let Him turn your when into right now.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.