Fear No Fear

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

All the hills that were cultivated with the hoe, you shall not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending out of oxen, and for sheep to tread on.”
Isaiah 7:25 (emphasis added)

Faith is belief as completed eager expectation – we’re not hoping maybe, we’re positive and sure. Faith is manifested obedience. Fear, on the other hand, is belief as anxious worry or selfish reliance. Fear is manifested rebellion. We’re told don’t fear because we have a choice not to do it. We’re told don’t fear because of all the negative things that it brings to our mental landscape. We’re told not to fear because it robs you of positive things in your life and being in a place where you can be blessed. We are also told not to fear because of what is waiting for us when we do. This isn’t a threat. This isn’t the Lord with His arm up, fist clenched, waiting to smack us a good one. This is a warning from love. This is a chance to change the path you are on.

“Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright in him, but the righteous will live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). This is one of those key verses where we see the basic principle of life in the Kingdom. Will we live by our faith or will we not? When the Law was given, it was presented as a choice between life and death. One way leads to life. One way leads to death. In Isaiah, it is a time of judgment coming on Israel and Judah. In chapter 7, it is a prophetic prophecy about the coming humiliation of Judah. The problem is that the people of the Lord have violated their covenant with the Lord. “Hear, heavens, and listen, earth; for Yahweh has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me” (Isaiah 1:2). This isn’t a single misstep, but generation after generation who are corrupt and intentionally moving away from the Lord. Right from the beginning of everything humanity is warned that the ways of the Lord are life and every other way leads to death (Genesis 2:16-17). The people of the Lord were choosing death and judgment was coming.

There was war coming and it was going to decimate the nation of Judah. The land was going to be emptied of people. Cities were going to be thrown down. The vineyards were going to be abandoned because there weren’t going to be enough workers to work them. Overcome with thorns and briers, people will stay away and not work the fields. It will be left as pasture land for oxen and sheep. An entire industry that brought much wealth to the people would be no more. Their livelihood would be impossible to continue. Life as they knew it would be over. It would be dead. Not because God wanted them to suffer. Not because God is petty. Not because in and of Himself He wanted to bring it upon them. No. It was because of the path they chose to tread. God was using Isaiah to bring them a prophetic warning. Their last chance was before them and THEY WERE MISSING IT. Guess what? We have this same choice.

We have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour. We have been born again as new creatures under Grace. Are we living by faith? Are we choosing to keep the Lord as first and foremost in our lives? Are we broken and submitted to Him, or are we trying to do it ourselves? Salvation isn’t a process where our works and our thoughts and our words are gaining us right standing before God. It is an instant gift of the Lord by Grace, through Faith. Are we then walking in it, or are we turning away from it? “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:26-27). Are we insulting the Spirit of grace by treating the blood of the covenant as if it was nothing? Or are we holding the Father as the highest thing in our lives? Is Jesus our Way? It is something that is a conscious choice every moment of our lives. Will we be informed by the Lord or by our Selves?

“For you need endurance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise. “In a very little while, he who comes will come and will not wait. But the righteous one will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the saving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:36-39). Endurance. This admits that it is not an automatic process. It’s not saved (which is instantaneous) and then you never have to think about it again. Yes, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit at the moment of our salvation (Ephesians 1:13). But we are called to live by faith (Hebrews 11:6). Live by it. Our decisions, our words, our deeds, our thoughts, all of who we are should be motivated by faith. Each and every corner of our consciousness is meant to be motivated by faith. This is the journey we are on. We need endurance to make it through. Because it isn’t easy to be honest with yourself. It is even harder to be honest with the Lord because you can’t hide anything from Him. Sanctification is the process where we bring pieces of ourselves to Him and submit them for correction. To change things from what pleases us to what pleases Him.

We do this with the Word. The Word is what retrains us. It is what renews us. It is what seeps through our minds and into our hearts where it steeps like a strong tea. Those little leaves slowly turn that pot of water into a whole different substance. A new thing that shares a lot of similarities to what it was, but also new and fresh. If we are reading it with intent, studying it to determine the motivations behind every verse, there will always be something to learn. We get the basics, then we get some deeper truths. After that there will be another level. With the Lord, there is always another level. We never see it all at once because unless you really know and understand a foundational truth, there is nothing to build on. God doesn’t rush us through revelation. He builds us properly and fully before promoting us to the next level. He does it so that there is structure to us. He does it so that we are strong and will not fall over. It is a partnership with Him. We choose to seek Him, He shows up. We choose to submit to Him, He does something with us. We need to take that step so that He can take His.

Faith is about that which we do not see with our reason, our feelings, our sensations. It is about our spirit and that spirit informing the rest of us as to the truth in which we abide. Adam and Eve did not live by faith as expectation. They met and talked with the Lord face to face. They saw Him. When we get to heaven we won’t need to live by faith. We will see Him. We won’t need to believe for something to happen. We won’t have eager expectation. We will see Him. It will be there. We will be walking in it all. But we WILL be able to live by faith as manifested obedience. Our obedience now is training for our obedience then. It is training our minds to rely on our spirit to get our body to do what we want. We won’t perfect the process until we are fully in heaven with a new body to match our spirit. Meanwhile, we will be doing our best to choose faith in every way, in every area, every time. To do this we rely heavily on the Holy Spirit.

“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you” (John 14:26). This is why we need to be reading the Word. Every scripture has value to us (2 Timothy 3:16-17). If it is in our mind and heart, the Holy Spirit can remind us of it. He can bring it up and point out the lesson. Show where we have something out of line with the Father’s will so that we can address it. The Holy Spirit is our guide always pointing to Jesus. Always showing us how we can live like Him, walk like Him, talk like Him, and abide in Him. He is our renewer (Titus 3:5). If we will actively listen to Him, we will stay the course. If we are obedient to Him, we will grow every day. We will have the thoughts of the Father revealed to us (1 Corinthians 2:10-11). If we know His thoughts, why wouldn’t we want to align ourselves with Him?

Choose life or choose death (Deuteronomy 30:19). Choose faith or choose fear (Psalm 112:6-8). This is our daily walk. This is the battleground where we fight against principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12). We don’t stand alone (Hebrews 13:5). We don’t stand unequipped (Ephesians 6:13-18). We are able to make the choice because God says that we are able to make the choice. We can stand because God says that we can stand. We can endure because God says that we can endure. God cannot lie (Numbers 23:19). God keeps His word (Isaiah 55:11). He is a God of promises and He keeps every promise that He makes (Psalm 145:13). God gave us dominion and we have a choice about whether we will walk in his ways and walk in His promises. We can refuse Him. We can turn away. We can choose disobedience. But nothing good will happen.

The Word is a covenant between us and God. It is the plan God has to keep us near Him. That’s where He wants us to be. That’s why before anything was created, God made a plan to make sure we can be with Him (Ephesians 1:3-6). God isn’t a judgmental God. He is a righteous God. Yahweh will judge us if that is the path we choose. Yahweh will accept us if that is the path we choose. Sin has a penalty. Disobedience has a penalty. Jesus paid that price and opened a path for us to be close to the Lord. It is up to us whether we accept it, whether we go through that door, and whether we stay on the other side or not. Don’t look for a quick fix. Don’t look for an instant solution where you can coast for the rest of your life. Living by faith isn’t coasting. Just like if you do not apply effort you won’t get anywhere on roller skates, if you don’t apply choice you won’t get anywhere by faith.

Faith is strengthened by us hearing the Word and feeding off of it (Romans 10:17). Whenever we are facing anything, we need to go to the Word and see what it says about it. The Word talks about everything in our lives. It was penned by human beings, but it was written by Yahweh God Almighty. It is crafted to always be relevant, always be new, always be teaching, always be true, and a dozen or more other things. It is a remarkable book. There is none like it. It is living. It is our window into the Father’s heart. It is the guidepost we can use to orient ourselves to what He wants, what He loves, what He says is righteous behaviour, and how we can walk in the victory that God got for us in and through Jesus.

We are asked to not fear. We are asked to be obedient. Not out of fear. Not out of obligation. Out of love. Out of respect. Out of a desire to make the Lord happy. To please Him with every word, every thought, and every deed. When we look at what He did for us. What He gained for us. What He wants for us. When we honestly look at it all, how can we choose to disobey? Why wouldn’t we grab the abundant life in Christ Jesus that is possible for each and every one of us? Every day we have before us what the Lord set there. Life or death. Faith or fear. The Blessing or the curse. Remember that Jesus redeemed us from the curse (Galatians 3:13). Remember that God didn’t send Jesus to judge us, but to save us (John 3:17). Without what God gave us we would only have death, fear, and the curse before us. God gave us life, faith, and blessing. Walk in what God has for you. Walk in obedience. You don’t want to have what will happen if you are disobedient. You don’t want overrun vineyards. You want a vibrant industry of what God works in your life. “But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God” (John 3:21).

When you get up. When you lie down. When you walk around. When you are at home. When you are at work. Listen. Listen to understand what the Holy Spirit is saying to you. Listen to prepare yourself to do what is being asked of you. Lean all of your understanding, all of your trust, and all of your strength on the Lord. Let Him guide you. Let Him correct you. Let Him sanctify you. Let Him be your all in all. In Jesus, by Jesus, through Jesus, and for Jesus, be the gift of faith that you were created to be.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: John 10:28-30

We are born again. We are new creatures. We are redeemed from the curse. We are not sinners, but redeemed. We are whole, healthy, and secure. That last is hard to remember when we’re watching the news. It’s hard to remember when we are swamped at work with deadlines approaching. It’s hard to remember when we’ve spent too much, have taxes hanging over our heads, or are late to an event and stuck in traffic. It’s hard to remember when we’re arguing with our partner. It’s hard to remember when our kids are driving us crazy. It is hard to remember in this world because this world is all about insecurity. It is about the changing nature of things. The adaptation of our species to the environment we find ourselves in — physical, mental, and social. But Jesus said that we are secure. We have been given to Jesus by Yahweh God Almighty. Placed in the palm of Jesus’ hand. By being placed in Jesus’ hand, we are in the Father’s hand. Jesus and the Father are one. To be in the hand of one is to be in the hand of the other. We are double-wrapped by God Himself. We cannot be touched by anything. Trials and tribulations happen, but they do not touch the us that is in His hands. No matter what the world comes up with or comes at us with, we are secure with God. Give up anxiety. Give up depression. Give up reliance on the world’s systems. Give up the shadow of security that money, property, and legal documentation gives. Rely on the Lord. Rest in those hands. Enjoy the security of the Lord. Listen to Him. Do what He says. Avoid what He warns about. You will make it through every storm, every political upheaval, every financial shenanigan, every everything that can come against you or rise up around you. Safe. Secure. He loves you and keeps you. No matter what.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.