Fear No Fear

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

Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. The messenger sent from his very presence delivered them. In his love and mercy he protected them; he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times
Isaiah 63:9 (emphasis added)

‘The painful things that happen to us are not punishments for our misbehaviour, nor are they in any way part of some grand design on God’s part. Because the tragedy is not God’s will, we need not feel hurt or betrayed by God when tragedy strikes. We can turn to Him for help in overcoming it, precisely because we can tell ourselves that God is as outraged by it as we are.’ (Rabbi Harold Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People). Religious people will say that’s wrong. That Elohim is Sovereign and point to Job 2:10 as proof: “But he replied, “You’re talking like one of the godless women would do! Should we receive what is good from God, and not also receive what is evil?” In all this Job did not sin by what he said.” Yet that does NOT disagree with Rabbi Kushner’s point. The word receive is a verb meaning receive patiently. In other words, don’t rush to blame Elohim. Tragedy arrives, be patient with Him. Seek Him on it. If Elohim did not CAUSE or ORIGINATE the tragedy, why would we get mad at Him because it arrived? Why tell Him that only good should be in our lives? We can accept that tragedy occurs and NOT blame Elohim. We can join with Him to fight the tragedy and get back to where He wants us. Healed and whole.

Adonai is at a bare minimum as upset as we are when something happens. Chances are VERY high, however, that He is MUCH MORE upset. Rebelling against the position Elohim put them in earned the devil and his angels the reward of eternal fire (Matthew 25:41). That is a HIGH level of upset. It was not the plan. It was not His desire. But it was the choice of the devil and those who decided to follow him. We opened the door to that same punishment when we rebelled. The effect of opening that door (which was sin) was death. Left on its own, every sickness and disease leads to death. Death was NOT part of the plan. There should be NO cemeteries. There should be NO funerals. There should be no people blaming Adonai for what has come on them or their loved ones. There should be no one getting mad at Adonai over this. Ever.

In the Old Covenant had no final redemption. No ‘once for all’ solution. There was temporary relief in order to teach us that the relief was necessary. There was the Law which was meant to show us HOW SINFUL we were. To show us we NEED a saviour. That we CANNOT do it on our own. That PERFECTION and RIGHTEOUSNESS is beyond our own ability/strength. Adonai changed that in the New Covenant. It was a Covenant between a perfect man (Jesus) and Adonai (the Father). Payment was made (the cross). Resurrection occurred. Final and total redemption was possible IN JESUS. In Him, we could go back to where we started in relation to death. Now, our bodies do age because they are part of this fallen creation. Our bodies will stop working once our spirits leave. But death as the cause of spirit leaving is no longer a certainty. Jesus’ body didn’t fail Him. His body stopped working when He gave up His spirit. We can do the same. We can stay as long as we’d like (Psalm 91:16) and let our spirits go once our work is done. That IS a possibility. But it comes with a big BUT. First, we have to stay IN JESUS for this to be a possibility. Second, we are not the only free will humans walking the planet. BILLIONS of us make choices which affect the rest of us. YES, we can be miraculously saved from disaster. We can also be caught up in it. That whole issue is above my pay grade. I can tell you we CAN live long and we CAN choose when to go. I can also tell you we DO get caught up in the events of this world and from OUR perspective die prematurely. I can also tell you people die who Elohim wanted to live. I can tell you people die and are unable to do the job Elohim wants them to and He has to get a second stringer for the job. These things happen. It is undeniable. All we can do is walk in the promises and possibilities of the Word and choose to not pick up worry and argument about the rest.

The Word says I can be healed and whole. I’m going to walk toward that and in that. The Word says Elohim sorrows over tragedies in my life (even if I am the cause). I will rejoice in that as proof I can live in Jesus and be victorious. I will not look to Adonai and say ‘why me?’ or ‘why did you?’ I will look to Adonai and say ‘did I miss it?’ and ‘I claim the promise’ and then SUBMIT to what He reveals to me. If I have an issue of health and I claim the promises and believe the promises and don’t doubt and am NOT walking in the manifestation of the healing? I’ve missed something. Adonai healed everything on and through the cross. It’s mine. Now. I can walk in DIVINE HEALTH like Jesus did. The Word says so. “The one who says he resides in God ought himself to walk just as Jesus walked” (1 John 2:6). We can walk like Jesus. In spirit, in mindset, in behaviour, in words, in relationships, in love, in signs and miracles, in preaching the Word, in discipling, and in health. It means crucifying what WE WANT (Matthew 16:24-26). It means putting our relationship and walk with Jesus over the relationships we have with EVERYONE else [while loving them as Jesus did, which means not neglecting people] (Luke 14:26). It means giving up everything that has a hold of us, everything that interferes with putting Adonai in His proper place as KING over us (Matthew 19:21-24). It means being willing to give up things in order to do as you are told because you love Him more than anything and naturally want to do what is good in HIS sight according to HIS point of view (1 John 5:1-5).

In JESUS I am the righteousness of Elohim. I am JUST AS HE IS. “God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Do you know what that means? In Jesus, He is just as WE are. That means when bad things happen to us, HE HURTS. Do you know that verse in Revelation that talks about tears? “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist any more—or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the former things have ceased to exist” (Revelation 21:4). The Word isn’t speaking only of us. Jesus’ tears will also be wiped away. The tears He sheds for each and every one of us. For every wrong. For every pain. For every ache. For every death. For everyone who is lost. So many tears. We have a right as members of the New Covenant in Messiah Jesus to understand the depths of His love for us. We have the right because it is the depths of that love which are the reason for the Covenant in the first place. But we have that right. “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. I pray that according to the wealth of his glory he will grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, that Christ will dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, you will be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you will be filled up to all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:14-19). If we do, though, we will have to acknowledge His tears for us. Are you ready for that?

We have to prepare our hearts for it. It will be a blow to our minds that Jesus has tears for what happens to us. It will be a blow because it is VERY HARD to escape the idea that Elohim is aloof. Cold. Detached. A judge on a throne frowning at us. It is SO EASY to look at OUR performance and cringe. That isn’t what Adonai does. Yes, He sees the missteps. Yes, He corrects us. But He does it while seeing our perfection in Jesus. Yeah, I know. Boggles the mind. That is EXACTLY why we have to see it in our SPIRIT. “because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). The only eternal things are Elohim. If we aren’t in HIM, no eternity WITH Him. So everything we look at are things that are in Him. Everything we focus on are things that are in Him. His tears PROVE to us that He does NOT like what is happening to us. He is EMOTIONAL about it. His Compassion says it. His Kindness says it. His Mercy says it. His Grace says it. His Patience says it. His Lovingkindness says it. His Forbearance says it. His LOVE, His OWN SELF says it. Adonai does NOT like what is coming at us, coming on us, and being accepted by us. It is NOT His will because if it was His character would be a lie and THERE IS NO LYING IN ADONAI ELOHIM (Proverbs 6:16-19).

When war breaks out, He HURTS. It is a HEAVY day for Adonai. When school shootings happen, He HURTS. It is a HEAVY day for Adonai. When people are raped. When people are stabbed. When people become addicts. When people lie. When people dabble in witchcraft. When people honour the work of demons. When people hero worship other people. When people scoff. He HURTS. It is a HEAVY day for Adonai. How many people are on this planet? How many of these men and women with free will are choosing things that HURT Him? Not because we affect Him by it, but because we are hurting OURSELVES. How many HEAVY days does He have? Part of our role as His children is to acknowledge that our Father is hurting. That Jesus is hurting. That Ruach HaKodesh is hurting. It is part of our role to worship Him. To give Him glory. To LOVE on Him. To ease His burden. If your back is getting up about that last sentence, you need to pray Ephesians 3:14-19 until you get a better understanding of His love for us. If your back is getting up, ask yourself why. He LOVES us. Why wouldn’t what happens to us hurt? Don’t YOU feel hurt when your children, your friends, or your relatives hurt? Why would HE be any different? We are COPIES OF HIM! (Genesis 1:26).

They say love hurts, but it is really that when you love you feel the effect of the bad that happens to those whom you love. Adonai IS love. When we are willing to open our hearts to understand it as HE gives us understanding (1 Corinthians 2:16), then you must face that Adonai has times He wants our praise, and thanksgiving, and love simply because we love each other. Not in mutual sad sackishness. Not in mutual pity parties. Not sullen. But love. Loving on each other. Letting love overcome the tears. Letting love recommit us to Him. Letting our love for Him wash over Him like a HUG. From us to Him. Because He IS wonderful. He IS marvellous. He IS magnificent. He IS righteous. He IS merciful. He IS GOOD. SO, SO GOOD. You see, when we understand that. When we are willing to hug Him with our praise as an expression of our love, we will be willing to open our hearts to understand His love for us. Why is that understanding so important? Why is the deepness of that love so important? In a word? Trust.

When we love so deeply, we trust. When we love so deeply, we don’t fight gifts. We don’t say ‘oh, I couldn’t’. We don’t say we aren’t worthy. We don’t say we don’t deserve it. None of that even enters into it AT ALL. When we KNOW His love deeply, we know He wouldn’t give us anything bad. He wouldn’t wound us, beat us, hurt us, or anything else. All He wants us good for us. We’d accept Him readily because why WOULDN’T He give us that? Why WOULDN’T He? It makes receiving so much more. Learning how to give it a HUGE step, but we NEED to learn how to receive from Him. We will learn when we know His love. Real love is giving. Deep love gives deeply and readily. Adonai’s love? It’s off the charts. Open your heart, open the Word, and let Him renew your mind to the reality of His love starting right now.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Isaiah 53:5

“He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins; he endured punishment that made us well; because of his wounds we have been healed.” Messiah’s sacrifice would provide peace between man (male and female) and Elohim. The sacrifices of the Law were meant to point to this sacrifice of Messiah by Messiah. They were temporary waiting for the eternal. No one else BUT Messiah could pay for us. No one else BUT Messiah could suffer and release healing by that suffering. “and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross—through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven” (Colossians 1:20). Jesus went to the cross for us. Jesus suffered for us. Jesus died for us. Jesus made peace FOR us by reconciliation IN HIMSELF. Jesus IS Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

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

Matthew 16:16b