Fear No Fear

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

“A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent enriches.”

Proverbs 10:4

Adonai is NOT afraid of work. He created humanity and IMMEDIATELY asked them to WORK (Genesis 2:15). It was only after we despised Adonai as our source that TOIL became part of physical life on Earth (Genesis 3:17-19). WE allowed toil to exist because of SIN. Through Jesus, we are REDEEMED from that curse and NO LONGER have to TOIL – but we still NEED to WORK. We are here to work for His glory and rest in Him for our renewal.

Merriam-Webster defines diligence as ‘steady, earnest, and energetic effort : devoted and painstaking work and application to accomplish an undertaking’. Legally – and remember that Adonai is an Elohim of COVENANTS – diligence is the expected attention and care REQUIRED of each party. Even in covenant, there is a level of WORK required. It may be simple, like the work required in a relationship, but it does take some effort. The level of effort required is determined by the sturdiness of the foundation that we have built. Continuing with relationships, if we have established a pattern of communication and honesty, if we have each prioritized the happiness and encouragement of the other party, if we are approaching everything by touching base with Ruach HaKodesh BEFORE we do a thing (speaking, actions, or plans), then the EFFORT required to maintain that is minimal. The more human thinking is involved, the less honesty is involved, and the more desire to be ‘right’ (vs ‘right with Adonai’) there is; the more EFFORT is required to maintain a healthy relationship. Diligence is the consistent effort we expend to maintain our relationship with Adonai and to do the tasks that have been set before us – the tasks being either physical work or the maintenance of the relationships that exist within our lives (parents, spouses, children, friends, the body of Jesus, etc).

How do we know HOW to be diligent? The Word is our map. It is our manual. It is the way by which we proceed. There is almost no end to the instructions it contains. There is nothing that it doesn’t speak to. If we can learn that it is trustworthy, that it IS truth (OBJECTIVE truth outside the thinking of humanity), and that there is benefit to submitting to it; our lives can be FILLED with diligence. Above all, it points to how we can REST IN JESUS and enjoy the Sabbath of the Church (the Body of Jesus) where we have CONSTANT renewal and therefore CONSTANT strength (where HE provides us HIS) without depletion or exhaustion. It shows us how to live IN JESUS instead of our own efforts. No one can be a proper and godly Christian outside of Jesus. He is the ONLY way to live and succeed at living (John 15:5). Everything else has no value.

Diligence is the sacrifice we daily offer to Jesus – whether it is a ‘work’ day or a ‘rest’ day. “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life on account of me will find it. For what will a person be benefited if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what will a person give in exchange for his life?” (Matthew 16:24-26). Our flesh doesn’t WANT to be diligent. But our spirit WANTS to be diligent. When we are – from the inside out – diligent, prosperity is the harvest (3 John 2). It isn’t playing Adonai’s system, it is seeding a positive and godly value and then receiving a positive and godly crop. It is leaning into His Way and gaining from that His promised prosperity. It is agreeing with the Word and then getting what the Word says, because we have aligned ourselves with Him and done as He said to do. More of HIM, less of US.

Imagine a field. There are only so many things that can grow in that field. If we fill our fields with diligence, there isn’t an opportunity for laziness to grow. If we are NOT slack, we WILL produce. If we want prosperity, we need to expend effort doing what produces it. If I want tomatoes, it does me no good to plant potatoes. If I want apples, I should not pick pears. Prosperity works the same way. Adonai CLEARLY tells us what produces prosperity and what produces lack. Whichever one we are planting is the one that will grow and produce in our life. Of course pure effort isn’t the only part of it. Remember that legal expectation? We need to apply effort at GODLY things.

Ruach HaKodesh is our coach. Our teacher. Our corrector. He will remind us of what Jesus spoke to us about what the Father has called us to do. He will not let up. He is consistent. He is diligent. He will ALWAYS encourage us in the things of Adonai. To lean into Him. To walk in the Way. To DO what we have been empowered and equipped to DO because we are who Jesus is (2 Corinthians 5:21). He provides us Fruit. He provides us leadership. And if we listen to Him, we will be sowing our diligence in the RIGHT THINGS. Adonai’s things. Kingdom things. When we do that, our harvest is ALWAYS rich and ALWAYS more than we need. Because He is a GOOD FATHER to His obedient children. Be diligent. Listen and obey so that you are diligent in the right things. Work when He asks, rest when He advises, and always seek to hear His words to us – printed and revelatory (they will NEVER contradict each other). Be a diligent sower and when harvest time comes you will reap many-fold over what you sowed (Matthew 13:8). From the inside out, it will be a GOOD crop (3 John 2).

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Matthew 13:19

“When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is what was sown on the side of the path.” The farmer sowed the WORD OF ADONAI. Not works, not ideas, not opinions, not personal effort, not anything else. JUST the WORD. Jesus is the Word made physical in a form we can see, touch, and interact with (John 1:14). They are the same. When we apply Jesus to our life by humbly submitting to Him in obedience, we gain a harvest. But we must PROTECT our obedience. Don’t let it get taken from you. Don’t dilute it with other philosophies. Don’t give up on it. We are to BELIEVE it and TRUST HIM to deliver what HE promised to deliver because WE are OBEDIENT to HIM in HIS Way. This is why He gave us HIS trust to trust with. Supernatural trust to trust supernaturally. Not going by what we see and feel, but going by what HE says is true: His WORD. It is the foundation of everything that is, and He made SURE that we have a way to perceive it, understand it, and act on it. Because He WANTS us to have good things. He is GOOD and He wants us to share in that GOODNESS. That’s why a Way was made so that IN JESUS we CAN! 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