Fear No Fear

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

“This is good and acceptable before God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

1 Timothy 2:3-4

We know that Adonai loves us. He loved us enough to sacrifice for us (John 3:16-18). Adonai chose to sacrifice for us while we were still VERY against Him (Romans 5:10). In fact, we know that He chose to sacrifice for us BEFORE He created ANYTHING that even REMOTELY could have led to us being alive (Revelation 13:8). Adonai did this because He loved us. He loved us enough to create us AFTER choosing to sacrifice EVERYTHING so that WE could come back to Him. THAT is love. Yet we worry about His mood. We get mad at Him for ‘allowing’ things. It kind of makes you wonder, doesn’t it? He LOVES us, but does He LIKE us?

“And God saw everything that he had made and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day” (Genesis 1:31). Once humanity showed up, things weren’t just GOOD. They were VERY good. I think that shows He likes us. Then, in spite of almost EVERYONE on the PLANET rejecting Him, He keeps us going (Genesis 6-7). He continues to interact with us and finds someone who will teach his descendants about Adonai (Abraham). He starts a special set-apart people (the Jews). He guides them and leads them in spite of them consistently rejecting Him. And then when Jesus comes, He picks twelve men and spends a LOT of time with them, in spite of them being slow on the trust-Adonai uptake. And THEN He comes and lives with humanity. He gives humanity the option to be saved and able to be inhabited by Ruach HaKodesh, making US His Temple – in spite of us not deserving it at ALL. This seems like more than love.

Adonai loves us and it is important for us to know that. It is important for us to delve into that love and understand that love by having it revealed to us by Adonai. But if we are scared of Him or worried about His mood or wondering if He will do things for us in particular, we will NEVER get that revelation knowledge. We won’t hear it when it is spoken to us. We won’t see it if it passes before us. We will MISS it. ALL of it. We’ll be left with a form of discipleship to Jesus, but lacking ALL power (2 Timothy 3:5). If we won’t let Him in to work, everything is useless. The power IS Adonai and Adonai IS the power. Without HIM, there is NOTHING. If we want to see His promises manifested in our lives, we need His power in our lives. To get His power in our lives, we need ADONAI in our lives. If we want Adonai in our lives, we need to stop blaming Him for everything that goes wrong. We have to stop assuming He’s angry. We have to stop believing HE did the bad thing to us – ESPECIALLY buying the lie that He did bad in order to teach us something. Jesus taught for three years. We have a multitude of examples. The disciples then modelled Jesus’ teaching methods and changed the world. Neither Jesus – modelling the Father – or the disciples – modelling Jesus – EVER brought bad to teach someone something.

The Father LIKES us. Jesus LIKES us. Ruach HaKodesh LIKES us. Adonai ENJOYS being around us. He calls us His FRIENDS (John 15:15). Yes, there is ABSOLUTELY a respect and reverence toward Him we NEVER EVER should lose. But the King of Kings is your friend. He LIKES to spend time with you. He WANTS to. He went through everything He went through in order to do that. Four THOUSAND years of teaching, talking, and guidance culminating with the Resurrection. Another TWO thousand years of correction, leadership, and encouragement culminating in YOU and I. In that time I am sure we broke His heart. In that time I am sure that He was not happy. I KNOW that He has corrected us both corporately and individually. But He has NEVER been ANGRY with us. It was SIN He hated, SIN He was angry at, and SIN that He waged war on. NOT us. He REMOVED us from SIN as surely as a divorce removes the husband and the wife. He TRANSPORTED us into JESUS the same way we can travel across the globe to a different country (Colossians 1:13). He didn’t do that just because He loves us. He did it because He LIKES us.

Start LISTENING to the message Ruach HaKodesh is speaking to us about Adonai’s affection for us. Start LISTENING to the TRUTH that He LIKES us. Yes, He corrects us – from LOVE, not anger. Yes, He commands us – from LOVE, not anger. Yes, He has set a high bar – from LOVE, not anger. He’s trying to get us with HIM, not keep us away. That’s because He LIKES us AND LOVES us AND wants us to be with Him and never, ever, EVER leave His side. In HIM we have life. In HIM we have our Source. In HIM we have our abundance on every level of human existence – spirit first, the rest following. Because He LIKES us. WANTS us. Don’t forget that. He LIKES us. He REALLY does.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Matthew 6:33

“But seek first his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” When my covenant partner comes home or I come home to them, I cannot WAIT to see them. I may have to keep my hands on the stove to keep the food from burning, or finish loading the laundry so water doesn’t drip anywhere, or put down my tools so they aren’t in the way, or change clothes because I’m drenched in sweat and smell bad; but everything I do is calculated to reduce the time between arrival and hug. I cannot WAIT to see them. I am aware of them. Where they are in the house. What they’re doing. What they need. I PAY ATTENTION. Because I love to serve. I love to bring the needed thing. I love to make them happy. I love to satisfy them with the good things we have been BLESSED to have – whether it is fancy or basic. I SEEK them out. And I do it first. The kids are second. I may wade through some on the way, but they know I want my covenant partner first THEN their attention. I SEEK. Do we treat Adonai this way? Do we PAY ATTENTION to Ruach HaKodesh? Do we know HIS needs? I am sad to say we do not. Not as often as we should. We get caught up in what WE think of as life, instead of what He TELLS us life is about. We seek Him, but maybe we’ll watch a little TV or scroll a bit first. We seek Him, but maybe we’ll get another half an hour of sleep. We seek Him, but it’s raining and I don’t really want to be out in it today – there’s always next week, right? We seek Him, but we don’t do it with our WHOLE heart. But I am grateful to KNOW that HE does. He seeks to capture our attention. He seeks to show us His goodness so that WE will start to WANT to seek HIM like HE seeks US. He doesn’t stop. He doesn’t slow down. He doesn’t put anything else first. He SEEKS for our SEEKING. And He never lets up because He KNOWS how good it will be for us AND for Him when we do. He loves us too much not to give us the fullness of Himself. 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