Fear No Fear

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

“Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been fathered by God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. By this the love of God is revealed in us: that God sent his one and only Son into the world in order that we may live through him.”

1 John 4:7-9

We need to practise loving each other. I learned an instrument as a child. Several of them. But I can’t claim to have learned all of them very WELL, because I disliked practising. I liked PLAYING, but I didn’t like doing fingering exercises. I didn’t like scales. I didn’t like chord repetitions. I didn’t like learning tonguing techniques. I did not like all the fundamentals that become the muscle memory that my body would then use to actually PLAY. I didn’t like all the memorizing and learning that was required so that my brain and my fingers learned the PROCESS of learning in order to later learn SONGS. What I liked was sounds and what I wanted was melody from the get-go. My poor parents. In some ways I persevered. I can still – and do – play instruments today. But my skill levels will ALWAYS be dependent on my practising of the fundamentals.

Jesus was a practiser. He practised love every day of His life. He was able to practise it because He LEARNED the Word (Luke 2:52). He was able to practise it because He HEARD the Word (Luke 4:16). He was able to practise it because He PRAYED the Word (Luke 6:12). He was able to practise it because He SPOKE the Word (Luke 4:8). Jesus was active in maintaining a relationship with His Father through a relationship with the Word. He was not static about it. He built His life around it. Because of that, He could practise love. Adonai IS love, so it was Jesus’nature. But Jesus was also a man, so it was not. Jesus had to practise and He did it so often and so consistently THROUGHOUT His life, that we NEVER hear a single word from His lips that wasn’t offered from love (love can be correcting and firm as well as fuzzy and warm). We never see a SINGLE act that wasn’t offered in love. We see His COMPASSION compelling Him to heal everyone who came to Him desiring to receive it – and He NEVER turned ANYONE away. Jesus was ALWAYS looking for ways to serve, ways to connect, ways to speak truth from love, and ways to demonstrate that LOVING ONE ANOTHER is the greatest thing we can do to each other.

The Kingdom is built on sowing and harvest. On giving and receiving. We are given love to receive it. We receive love to give it. Adonai to us and us to Adonai. Adonai to us and us to each other. Each other to us and us to Adonai. Us to each other and us from each other. An ever-revolving flood of love from Adonai who IS love to us who are love IN HIM. This is so central to our understanding of Jesus’ love for us and how the Kingdom operates that Adonai made it a COMMAND. “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). By following it, we enable ourselves to operate in the fullness of the Kingdom wherever we go – and we’ll shine like a fortress on a hill in the night because this world doesn’t thrive on love. It is so foreign that it stands out for kilometres and kilometres. The world only knows passions (feelings). They don’t know what to do with true love.

We need to be conscious about our application of love toward one another. We need help to do that. We need to apply to Ruach HaKodesh for wisdom and instruction. He’ll give it (Colossians 1:9-10). When we have it and choose to use it, the way we relate to each other and the Fruit of His Spirit that rises up in us change drastically. We will find ourselves encouraging each other, not gossiping. We will find ourselves blessing each other, instead of trying to take. We will find ourselves compassionate, instead of selfish. We will find ourselves treating each other like Jesus treated people, instead of how we used to treat people. The love of Adonai has been poured into us already (Romans 5:5). What we need to do is to APPLY it. To engage it. To start the vehicle, put it in drive, and step on the gas.

Ruach HaKodesh is our guide. HE knows how to walk in love. We have ideas about it, but without revelatory knowledge from Him as we go through the Word, we are never going to properly apply it. We NEED His wisdom. We NEED His teaching and His correction. We NEED to listen, to hear, and to obey. We NEED the guidance of Jesus’ yoke. It isn’t complex or confining. It is simple and FREEING. We are told HOW and then we OBEY. Like anything, we have to practise it. Every day in every way we will get better and better. But only if we stay the course, run the race, and choose to rely on and trust in Him so that we don’t get weary. Any failure can be repented of. Every success will strengthen the next practise. Practise, practise, practise. It’s what makes things livable.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: John 14:15

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Or to say it another way, if you love me you’ll find yourself keeping my commandments. It can be a conscious choice and it can be an unconscious choice growing out of the emotions of our heart. Adonai created this marvellous thing called muscle memory. According to the Cleveland Clinic, muscle memory is the automatic movements we do that we don’t think about doing. We’re so used to them, they happen on their own, without conscious thought. As we practise Adonai’s Word, we will find that we develop strength in our spiritual muscles (Romans 10:17). A strength that becomes muscle memory. We find our trust in Jesus rising up to meet the needs of our situation. We’ll wake from a dead sleep quoting scripture and standing on the Word from whatever dream we were having. We’ll know what to say and how to act as our autopilot takes over. We need to feed on the Word, pray and fast, spend time talking with Ruach HaKodesh about the Word and what’s going on. We need to think on it and remember it. We need to make it so ingrained that we’ll just do it without thinking about it. What a great thing to put inside of us. What a great way to take the pressure off. We do our thinking ahead of time so that we don’t have to waste time with it during a crisis. 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