Fear No Fear

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

And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.
1 John 4:17 (emphasis added)

We’ve talked a lot this year about receiving your healing. About things that can hinder healing. About doubt. About engaging what Adonai turned on. Today let’s look at another truth. You can COMMAND healing. Don’t throw a fit. It’s very biblical. Look at Peter and John. Look at Paul. Look at Jesus. They all commanded healing, without ANY form of prayer. They simply told sickness to move on, and sickness moved on. It can work the same way for you. It’s all about what’s in your wallet.

There is a fair amount being said about identity these days. I’m not opening that page today, but I will say this: we have a practical identity and we have our identity. I’d like you to do something for me. Give away your wallet to the next person you see. Don’t take anything out, simply hand it over and move on. Guess what? You are still you. They haven’t stolen your gender, your sexuality, your profession, your relationships, or your family. Yet, with what is in that wallet, they could steal your identity. They have your identification, they have credit cards, debit cards, social insurance numbers, addresses, clubs, memberships, and more. They have all the practical nuts and bolts information that make you who you are in the society where you live in this physical world. That is your practical identity. It is malleable. We change addresses, sometimes names, get different credit, swap banks, drop or pick up memberships, etc. But there is always one form of practical ‘you’ in that wallet.

Today’s verse shows us that WE are like JESUS right now, right here on this Earth. But, you say, He has His resurrected body and we don’t have that! He’s perfected, and seeing the Father face to face! This is true. We do not yet have our resurrected bodies. “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands” (1 Corinthians 5:1). As long as we’re here, we’ll have this flesh body which is renewed by Ruach HaKodesh from the inside out enabling us to age, but not grow infirm (Romans 8:11). This body is our PRACTICAL identity. It is the body that is being changed daily into Jesus – a process that won’t finish until we are face to face. “And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 3:18). We are like Jesus here in this life, SPIRITUALLY.

Now just wait, you say. We’re not like Jesus. He was sinless. We CAN be too, if we stay in Him 24/7. “And you know that Jesus was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5). “For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14). Problem is we don’t. In spite of the prompting of Ruach HaKodesh, we choose to take our eyes off Jesus, stop trusting in Him, and do something that isn’t of faith. Which is sin (Romans 14:23). And we ALL do it. “If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth. But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:6-10). So we are not SINNERS, but we all choose to SIN. Basically opening the door Adonai has always told us to keep shut (Genesis 4:7).

In what way, then, are we like Jesus? Well, Jesus was a Spirit. He had to put on flesh, even though it wasn’t who He really was. “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17). “You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature” (Philippians 2:5-7). Jesus BECAME flesh (John 1:14). Jesus, a Spirit, put on a practical identity. It wasn’t the sum total of who He was (John 3:13), but it was the identity He needed to inhabit to walk through physically what was already accomplished spiritually (Revelation 13:8). We do it the other way around. We learn to inhabit Him to walk through spiritually what He accomplished physically. When we are in Him, He is in us. He is the one living through us. “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

“I tell you the solemn truth, the person who believes in me will perform the miraculous deeds that I am doing, and will perform greater deeds than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12). We are like Jesus IN THIS LIFE. If we believe that and we do not doubt it, we WILL perform the miraculous deeds that Jesus did. ALL of Jesus’ deeds were at the behest of His Father. “Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does”” (John 5:19). It was all done to bring Elohim glory, and we are called to the same. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:30). This isn’t us running around looking for food to multiply, water to skip across, and dead bodies to raise. This is us being willing to do WHATEVER the Father tells us to do. The crippled man outside the temple had been there for YEARS. He would have seen Jesus. He probably got alms from Judas. But the Father didn’t tell JESUS to heal Him. He told John and Peter to. So they did. Exactly as Jesus told them. “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). That’s what Peter did. He didn’t pray. He didn’t beseech. He followed the prompting of Ruach HaKodesh, who was whispering the Father’s will, and they freely gave of what they had. They had health from Adonai, so they commanded it to manifest in the cripple. They did so with a command to the cripple, giving him a chance to refuse – but with the leading of the Spirit, I think they knew the man wouldn’t. He stood up (Acts 3:1-16).

Peter and John were using Jesus’ wallet that day. Walked like Him. Listened to Ruach HaKodesh like Him. Ready to obey what the Father told them like Him. Didn’t beg sickness to loosen its grip, but commanded healing like Him. Operated in total trust with no doubt like Him. They were using the identity that they had PERMISSION to use. This wallet wasn’t stolen. This was GRANTED identity. They used it. We can use it too. We have the SAME instructions from Jesus as they did. We’ve been taught the same Word they were. There is no real difference to what they could do and what we could do. Remember, this isn’t about POSITION (one of the Twelve, an Apostle, a deacon, etc). This is about whose wallet is in your pocket. Jesus has always liked simple declarative if you/then I statements. If we love Him, we will obey Him (John 14:15-17). If you remain in Jesus and the Word remains in you, your requests will be granted (John 15:7). “Today I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set life and death, blessing and curse, before you. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live!” (Deuteronomy 30:19). If you believe and trust in Elohim, there is nothing you can’t do, including having miraculous physical supernatural things happen around you (Mark 11:22-23). If we take Jesus’ wallet and use it exactly as He would, then we can command healing.

We command healing when the Father tells us to. We command healing when the Father has Jesus speak Words to Ruach HaKodesh who releases the power of Adonai Elohim Almighty. The Father sees into the hearts of everyone involved (1 Samuel 16:7). We preach the message of Jesus’ Covenant, proclaiming the Kingdom of Elohim is near, and healing follows (Matthew 4:23). We preach the message of Jesus and what Jesus accomplished in order to strengthen people’s trust in Jesus’ ability to act today and always (Romans 10:17). We can command healing. We’re not begging the Father for ANYTHING. We’re using the wallet we’ve been entrusted with and using the identity within according to the Word. We’re not at the Throne, hat in hand. We’re humbly submitted to Jesus, praising and worshipping Him. This isn’t about US. It’s about us being WILLING to submit or restrict our flesh so that we can stand firm and be co-labourers in Messiah. “We are coworkers belonging to God. You are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:9).

Use the wallet. He’s not mad. He’s waiting for you to walk in the paths Adonai prepared for you (Ephesians 2:10). Don’t let lies hold you back. Reach into your pocket. Open that wallet. And see who you are, who you are meant to be, and who you are meant to become. Be the identity He has for you. Be like Jesus.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Isaiah 53:10

“Though the Lord desired to crush him and make him ill, once restitution is made, he will see descendants and enjoy long life, and the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished through him.” Messiah would be resurrected and live forever. Messiah would stop being the fulfilled Suffering Servant and begin to reign as Returning King. “The one who believes and is baptized will be saved, but the one who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). “When I saw him I fell down at his feet as though I were dead, but he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last, and the one who lives! I was dead, but look, now I am alive—forever and ever—and I hold the keys of death and of Hades!” (Revelation 1:17-18). “For the Lord is king and rules over the nations. All the thriving people of the earth will join the celebration and worship; all those who are descending into the grave will bow before him, including those who cannot preserve their lives. A whole generation will serve him; they will tell the next generation about the Lord. They will come and tell about his saving deeds; they will tell a future generation what he has accomplished” (Psalm 22:28-31). Jesus died. The Father resurrected Him through Ruach HaKodesh and gives life to us today (Romans 8:11). Jesus did not stay dead. Jesus overcame. Jesus IS Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

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

Matthew 16:16b