Fear No Fear

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

What shall we say then?—that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness obtained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith, but Israel even though pursuing a law of righteousness did not attain it.
Romans 9:30-31 (emphasis added)

The Jews are STILL Elohim’s chosen people. They are precious in His sight. They are the branch that didn’t need to be grafted. First the Jew and THEN the Gentile (Romans 1:16). They have had thousands upon thousands of years of knowledge and fellowship (imperfect though it was) with Yahweh. Their covenant with Adonai was the shadow and type of Jesus’ covenant with Adonai. The disciples were Jews, the apostles (first the Twelve and then the others) were mostly Jews. The Jews brought us the message of the Good News: we can ALL be right with Adonai Elohim Almighty. Thank the Father every day for the Jews and pray for them. As His chosen people they have insane amounts of pressure on them. You might not like everything they do, but don’t buck their position in His sight.

That said, it is obvious that not every Jew embraced Jesus as Messiah (which He is and provable through the Old Testament or Torah). There were leaders of religion who killed Jesus. There were leaders of religion who persecuted the early church (a Jewish church which expended to include the Gentiles). There were ALSO Jews who believed. Who apprehended the truth and took it to heart. We look across the world and what do we see? The same mix. There’s at LEAST a million and a half Jews who embrace Jesus as Messiah. They apprehended the truth and took it to heart.

To apprehend something is to possess it as your own. To lay hold of it and make it yours. It’s like obtaining a prize. It comes with the suggestion of firm pressure or force. To take or seize. To gather it. To do that, we need to understand it. To understand it, we have to see it. How can you seize something if you don’t know it’s there? You have to see it. You have to examine it so that you understand what you are seeing. Once you understand it, you can take it. And take it wherever. Home. Work. A friend’s house. Anywhere. It’s YOURS.

You don’t find this word used this way in the Old Covenant. It isn’t there. They were to obey the Law so that they could comprehend that they could not achieve righteousness by works. They always failed in some way. In their heart. With their mouth. Or by failing in a precept or command that they were supposed to do (the codified Law). But they did not understand the mind of Adonai. They had no access to it. In the New Covenant, we enter Jesus’ covenant when we enter Jesus. Through this we have access to the mind of Messiah (1 Corinthians 2:16). We have Ruach HaKodesh dwelling inside us, instead of simply coming on us (1 Corinthians 2:16). We have an advantage they did not have. An advantage only believers in Jesus (Jew or Gentile) have.

What is it that we can understand? What Adonai has for us. Simple as that. There is no physical evidence of salvation. Nothing to say that yes, from this moment on I am different. Yet if you will believe it and receive it, you could be instantly and totally transformed. Alcoholism gone. Depression gone. Anxiety gone. Cancer gone. It makes no difference to Jesus. He provided for us to be free and clear of all of those. It’s not only the same principle, it’s the same word (‘soteria’). It is all about what you see, what you understand, and what you take. You’re not twisting Adonai’s arm or bending him to your will. You’re only taking what He is offering. You can’t see it without His help. But once you see it, you can understand what it is He is offering, and you can take it. When you do, you’re saved. Simple as that. And it works for EVERYTHING that salvation brings.

Salvation from sin. Salvation from the Law. Salvation from sickness/disease. Salvation from shame. Salvation from toil (not work, work is godly). Salvation from lack. Salvation from self-doubt/poor self image. We are SAVED from all of it THROUGH Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross. We ACCESS it through the resurrection of Jesus being resurrected into Him at OUR salvation and baptism (baptism being our physical symbol of our spiritual joining with His resurrection to life). You know why the church doesn’t always teach this? BECAUSE WE’RE NOT JEWISH!

The Jews had thousands of years of the sacrificial system, atonement, redemption, covering of sin, removal of sin, praises, tithes, understanding of the curse, understanding of the blessing, and the list goes on and on and on. Why did Jesus get upset at the religious teachers? Because they had gotten off of the clearly laid out and experientially known path Yahweh gave them. It proved a stumbling stone to them even though it was absolute truth and the fulfilment of everything laid out in the scriptures (1 Peter 2:7-8). Yet what were the Jews (and AFTER, the Gentiles)? “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. You once were not a people, but now you are God’s people. You were shown no mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10). The early church were Jews that applied their TRUST in Jesus to the WORD of Elohim and look how that changed them. It can do the same thing to you in the same way it did to them.

If we look at the scriptures we see the TOTAL and ABSOLUTE freedom that can be obtained from Adonai. – and we can TRUST in it. The can see the TOTAL and ABSOLUTE redemption and restitution that is possible. Every sickness (physical, emotional, and mental) can be removed. Jesus released what is needed to remove it. We only need to see it, understand that is what it is. That gives us trust in Him and His words about it. Then we take it so that the offered unmerited gift can be ours. It’s in His hand. It COULD be in yours. If we want to attain it, we need to understand it, trust Him, and take it. Engage it. It’s there. Like the current in a socket waiting for the plug to enter so the lamp can be lit. He’s waiting. Engage. Take it. Be whole. See it and understand it, and you’ll have no trouble taking it. The Word helps us see. The Word helps us understand. He renews our thinking with it so that we can (Romans 12:2).

Don’t miss out on Grace’s gift to you. If you don’t feel like it’s there for you, get some Word on that. Healing scriptures as topical ointment. As prescription glasses aligning everything to clear your sight. Don’t give up because it isn’t happening fast. Don’t give up because it’s happening to your friend, neighbour, church acquaintance, or spouse faster than it is to you. Don’t be envious. Praise Him for it and get some Word on it. Seek and find. Ask and listen. Knock and walk in. Ask for wisdom, you’ll get it. Adonai isn’t hiding things from you. He’s making sure that you can see them clearly and make them yours. The Word builds your trust in Him and what He says is possible. It’s what He wants. Keep looking. Attain it with your trust in Him.

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 die for the sins of the world. It is the purpose of the Suffering Servant. The main reason He came, right from the beginning. “And I will put hostility between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15). The enemy would make a wound, but Messiah would deal a death blow. He would take all our ills (mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical) into Himself and by HIS suffering, OURS would be lifted. “(My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.) But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous One, and he himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2). Through Jesus we get redemption and freedom. Freedom from everything. Redemption from everything. Relief from everything. Fully restored to where we should be, how we should be, and with WHO we should be. Relationship restored because sin was dealt with. If sin was dealt with, then the consequences and effects of sin were also dealt with and no longer have the authority to be on us or in us. Messiah saved us. Jesus died for us. Jesus IS Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

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

Matthew 16:16b