Fear No Fear

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

For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace,
Romans 8:6 (emphasis added)

Can the mind be changed? Science says yes. Therapists trend toward saying no. The Word agrees with science (Romans 12:2). Changing your thinking from a focus on one thing, or a WAY of thinking, or choosing to accept new facts, these are all ways we change our minds. There is some research out there that shows mindful thinking (thinking a certain way on purpose) will alter the structure of your brain. THINKING is something we can change. This is important because when we change our THINKING we can change who and what we are. That’s natural change. And it shows that naturally, we are NOT doomed to be a certain way – no matter WHAT way we are discussing. EVERYTHING about our thinking is malleable.

“Therefore, get your minds ready for action by being fully sober, and set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:13). Or bind up the loins of your mind. Or put the belt of truth around your mind. No matter the translation, it is obvious that we have a chance and an opportunity to change our minds. We do NOT have to go with the flow. We are NOT at the mercy of our inputs. We CAN take the driver’s seat. We CAN choose to change our mindset and approach things totally differently than how we started. Sadly, we’ve taken this true principle to a very dark human place. From Nazi experiments to the USA’s MK-ULTRA in the 1950s and ’60s to the brainwashed suicide bombers and school shooters today, we have tried to change our fellow humans. Look at the ‘alpha wolf’ phenomenon. It’s been PROVED that NONE of that research was accurate. In the wild there IS no ‘alpha wolf’ the way it is commonly believed. Instead, it was only young, frightened, captive, and hopeless wolves that exhibited the behaviour which was twisted into something the data never showed. Yet today there are legions of men strutting around parroting these ‘alpha wolf’ ideals as if they were something good.

If you want to peek over the religious fences, you’ll find conversion therapy. The man-made programs designed to forcibly (but usually not painfully) alter the way people think so fall in line with more ‘traditional’ values. We can brainwash people, but we can’t truly change them. A look at the suicides that have happened after such therapy shows that. Combine this therapy with all the historical head-playing that we have done and I think we can all agree that forcing a change in the mental mindscape is a BAD idea. The Word agrees with that. WE – humans – are not meant to alter the way other humans think. We were NEVER given dominion over each other OR over the free will choices of another. We can teach, we can correct, we can even discipline, but we are NOT to bend another’s will to our own. True change doesn’t HAPPEN at the mind level, but at the heart level and that is ALWAYS and EVER the purview of Adonai.

“Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2). How do we RENEW our mind to the will of Elohim? “You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth” (Ephesians 4:22-24). We need the SPIRIT of our mind renewed into the new creation that we have been made in Messiah Jesus. Which we do by TRUTH. Except WE don’t do it. Jesus prayed that the Father does it. “Set them apart in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). In the TRUTH of the WORD we are sanctified, or set apart, because the Word IS Truth. THAT is how we are renewed.

Why the Word? It’s objective. It isn’t written by humans in the sense of us thinking of the words and perfecting them through an editing process of trial and error until it said what we wanted it to say. The Word was DIRECTLY inspired by Ruach HaKodesh. He told us things we couldn’t know. Told us how to put them. Corrected us if we went off on our own. Each and every syllable is EXACTLY what Elohim wanted down. There’s nothing else like it. When He wanted a focus on a particular thing or a style to convey a thing, He found someone who thought and wrote that way so they would understand the nuances of what Adonai wanted written. It is remarkable. A book wholly and completely outside the human mind. Something OUR thinking could never come up with. And because it is the Words of Elohim written By Ruach HaKodesh, Adonai is able to inhabit them. It is a LIVING book. It is unique – as is Adonai Elohim Himself.

It is this living book that changes us because it brings to our human mind the perspective of the divine mind. That perspective is what changes us. Truth changes you. Whether you go along with it (Psalm 86:11) or buck against it (Acts 26:14). Truth changes. And His perspective is DESPERATELY needed. How can we tell what is real or not? What is programming or not? What is morally right or wrong in a society increasingly diversified by culture, politics, nation, race, financial status, and other such demographics? Only someone from the OUTSIDE can objectively tell us what is right and beneficial or wrong and harmful. Someone not stuck in our time limits. Someone who can see the long haul and not be hijacked by the sadness or gladness of it. Someone who can tell it EXACTLY like it is from a perspective higher than ours. We can’t do it for ourselves OR each other. Things we build cannot do it. It cannot even be MEASURED by us. There is only ONE book written by the absolutely TOP individual in ALL existence. Books written by wise men won’t cut it. Books written by smart men won’t cut it. Books written by spirits won’t cut it. Books written by dimensional beings won’t cut it. Books written by aliens won’t cut it. Books revealed to mankind by ‘angelic’ beings won’t cut it. Books written by a prophet’s own thinking won’t cut it. Only THE book written by Elohim Himself cuts it (Hebrews 4:12).

Once we start reading it; studying it like we’re commanded to (2 Timothy 2:15); and getting commentary on it from Ruach HaKodesh, then we need to stand on it. As we choose to do that, we’ll find ourselves starting to agree with it. So it’s important to stand on the Word. We do that by choice. “for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds. We tear down arguments and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4-5). We’re not doing this blindly. We’re testing everything to make sure it’s worthy to stand on (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22).

If it wasn’t His Word, it wouldn’t work. If it wasn’t His Word it wouldn’t change anything. It would be OUR efforts and OUR efforts don’t accomplish anything. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people across the globe are following the philosophies of a hundred different religions. All of them rely on the human follower to do something to achieve something. From forcing thoughts to balancing good and bad deeds (without knowing the outcome until after death) to journeying through multiple lifetimes to purge the flesh from everything not needed by the spirit. Yahweh calls it foolishness (Isaiah 44:9-20; 1 Corinthians 2:14). Anything other than the truth is delusion. It doesn’t matter how thinky your human thinking is. How reasoned. How rational. How fact based. It is delusion and foolishness as well. “For the wisdom of this age is foolishness with God. As it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”” (1 Corinthians 3:19).

We will never heal our psyche until we heal our minds. We get our minds healed by letting His Word get into our hearts. It changes us for the better. Not abstractly better. No better from a certain point of view. Truly better. Objectively better. It changes our minds on a myriad of topics. It changes us fundamentally at deep core levels. It is a change WE humans cannot engender. WE cannot affect it. Only Adonai Elohim can do it. He does it with His Word. He does it from the inside out. Most importantly the change comes with PEACE. Real and lasting peace. KNOWING the change is real, and right, and the best decision ever. It comes with thankfulness and praise to the One who did the work: Messiah Jesus, the Word Himself. Friends, family, and those watching you won’t understand the INSTANT, thorough, and absolute change that happens. But they will NOT be able to deny your Joy and satisfaction at the change. It is beyond human understanding. It is the miracle healing of the heart that only Adonai can accomplish.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Isaiah 53:8

“He was led away after an unjust trial—but who even cared? Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; because of the rebellion of his own people he was wounded.” Messiah would be judged. Not for what HE did, but for what HUMANITY did. What ADAM did. It was through Adam that sin entered this world (Romans 5:12). Eve was deceived, but Adam was there and CHOSE to rebel (Genesis 3:6). It was IMMEDIATELY when ADAM rebelled that the penalty Yahweh proscribed (Genesis 2:15-17) manifested (Genesis 3:7). They rebelled, sin entered, and there was a price to pay. Sin needs punishment (Romans 2). Sin needs to be judged (2 Timothy 4:1). It is incompatible with living (John 3:16). Sin is death (Romans 6:23). Messiah was to be judged for SIN. “They brought him first to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. (Now it was Caiaphas who had advised the Jewish leaders that it was to their advantage that one man die for the people.) Simon Peter and another disciple followed them as they brought Jesus to Annas. (Now the other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, and he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard.) But Peter was left standing outside by the door. So the other disciple who was acquainted with the high priest came out and spoke to the slave girl who watched the door, and brought Peter inside. The girl who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “You’re not one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” He replied, “I am not.” (Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire they had made, warming themselves because it was cold. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.) While this was happening, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. Jesus replied, “I have spoken publicly to the world. I always taught in the synagogues and in the temple courts, where all the Jewish people assemble together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said. They know what I said.” When Jesus had said this, one of the high priest’s officers who stood nearby struck him on the face and said, “Is that the way you answer the high priest?”” (John 18:13-22). Jesus was not sinful. Jesus NEVER sinned. Jesus NEVER violated the Law. But He was taken and judged. Even His disciples were under threat from the judgment. Jesus IS Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

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

Matthew 16:16b