Fear No Fear

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

“And this is the judgment: that the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who practices evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed.”

John 3:19-20

The world hates love. Adonai IS love (1 John 4:8). Jesus IS Adonai (John 18:6). The world definitely hates Jesus (John 15:18-19). Jesus IS love. Therefore, the world hates love. There have been BILLIONS of words written about love. There have been MILLIONS of hours of entertainment created about love. Entire lives have been reorganized and altered forever because of love hundreds upon thousands of times. Wars have been fought in the name of love. And an almost incalculable number of songs have been sung about love. When you look at the Beatles catalogue, arguably the greatest band to make music, the majority of their songs are about love. What the world calls and reveres as love, however, is not love. The world has NO IDEA what REAL love is.

You cannot ‘fall’ into or out of love. It doesn’t pass. It doesn’t fade. There is NO honeymoon stage. You cannot do bad things and claim you did them for love, because love does not permit the doing of bad things. Love is not toxic. Love is not tainted. Love is not arbitrary. Love is not hard. Love is NONE of these things. Love doesn’t need to make excuses. You never need to ‘get over’ love. It cannot be given away in the heat of the moment. Love does not have a stereotype. None of these things is love. These things are feelings. These things are emotions built out of feelings. These things are passions. But these things are not love.

Love is a DECISION. It is made ON PURPOSE. WITH INTENT. It doesn’t change as feelings change. It doesn’t change as passions rise and fall. It CAN be neglected, which leads directly to a second DECISION to walk away from love. Love CAN be abandoned. But only with intent. On purpose. It isn’t natural. It isn’t normal. It MUST be forced. This is because the natural state of love is unending. Eternal. Always developing, never deteriorating. Always in motion in a forward direction. Becoming better and better and better every day. Love is this way because Adonai is love. Love is Adonai. He gave us a piece of Himself when He gave us love. We love because He loved first. He was love, was loving, and was loved long before anything was created. He extended that love to us, making it a part of us as surely as it is a part of Him.

1 Corinthians 13 tells us a lot of what love is. Jesus’ life and ministry tell us more. Jesus never abandoned anyone. Jesus healed ALL who came to Him for healing. Jesus paid attention to everyone that came to see Him, even when it exhausted Him. Jesus also said things His audience found hard to hear. But Jesus still spoke the truth with kindness. Firmness, but kindness. The only people He ever had a harsh word for were those who had intentionally set themselves as enemies to the truth – and even then He loved them. True love is so foreign in this world that it is easily recognized as abnormal. Like a flashlight in the darkness. It doesn’t seem to belong. The creatures and animals that live in the darkness shy away from it. They avoid it. They run away. Unless they are mesmerized by it.

We were sent into the world with love. To love the people in the world. To demonstrate what love is by loving each other. “A new commandment I give to you: that you love one another—just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). That is how rare REAL love is. The world will instinctively know we are with Jesus when we love. That is profound, if you think about it. It means that everything we say and do to one another – whether we are friends, neighbours, co-workers, spouses, fellow church goers, or any other human relationship – should be done in and through love. Period. It is to be our modus operandi: a distinct pattern or method of operation that indicates the work of Jesus.

Do not let the love that Adonai set in your heart (Romans 5:5) be tainted by picking up what the world calls love. All the things the world sees as love are pale imitations (no matter how ‘loving’ you are with people) of how we can love in and through Jesus. Love your family? You could love them even more. Love your spouse? You could love them even more. Love passion with your partner? You could have better and more emotionally connecting passion with your spouse in and through Jesus (He created sex. He isn’t a prude.). Whenever we see something good in the world it is a gift from Adonai (James 1:17) and there is a better version available from Him to His children – those who believe in, love, and submit to Him. Keep to His love. Keep to His commandment. Lean into it and discover the love of Jesus for you. Don’t dabble with tainted love. Let Ruach HaKodesh guide you into Jesus’ love. Let the PERFECT love of Jesus PERFECT you, and then flow out of you into all those around you like a lighthouse on a stormy night.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Psalm 84:11

“Because Yahweh God is a sun and a shield; Yahweh gives grace and honor. He does not withhold good from those who walk blamelessly” Adonai likes good things. He’d like us to have them. But Adonai LOVES us, so He makes sure we can handle them before He lets us have them. He could give them at any time, but He waits until we have set our priorities in the right place: on Him. When He is the light source of our lives, the thing giving us warmth and enabling life, then we are ready for other things. When He is the shield we grip and wield, making sure nothing that isn’t supposed to get in gets in, then we are ready for other things. Then they won’t draw us away. Then we won’t want ungodly things. Then we won’t be selfish, but generous and seeking to bless everyone we know and most of those we don’t. Then we’ll be ready for all kinds of abundance – physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, relationally, etc. Abundant life will be ours, because we will be resting in the one who designed it for us and then came to make sure we were able to receive it. 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