Fear No Fear

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

“Because of this the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take possession of it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down voluntarily. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take possession of it again. This commandment I received from my Father.“

John 10:17-18

Jesus was sent by the Father (John 3:16), but the Father didn’t FORCE Jesus to come. Jesus ALWAYS had the option not to do this. In fact, the decision He made to die for us was made before there was an US to die for (Revelation 13:8). Before anything, He made the choice. Before there was a heaven, before there was a creation, before there was a devil who rebelled, before ANYTHING. Before Adonai made something to delight in (Psalm 18:19), He CHOOSE to die for that thing. That’s love. That is REAL love (John 15:13). Jesus did NOT have to, but He did. WE do not have to do anything either, but we CAN choose to.

“No one is able to come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44). We cannot come to Adonai unless the Father calls them. The Father HAS to call them, but they do NOT have to answer. Nothing in the Word, nothing in this life, nothing in all of the human experience says that we HAVE TO respond to Adonai positively. There are those who purposefully and with everything that they have OPPOSE Adonai. These are the wicked that will be removed from the Earth during the Great Day of Adonai (Isaiah 13:9; Joel 2:31; Matthew 24:40-41) – a day of travail that will change MANY things on this Earth. There are consequences for not answering His call. But we are STILL not forced. Adonai will shed many tears for those who choose not to answer. He is bound by His Word. He has given US the choice (Deuteronomy 30:15-19; Luke 13:1-5; Revelation 3:20; Genesis 3:9-12). We get to choose because HE chose.

This is a principle we keep coming up against. Adonai did it first so that we could do it. He loved, so WE could experience love. He had trust, so WE could experience trust. He chose to OBEY, so that WE could choose to obey. We are made in His image. In His likeness. We are like HIM. If there is anything that is part of Adonai, we were meant to have that as part of us as well. We wouldn’t and could never be able to BE Him, but we are little versions of Him. Like little children are IMAGES of us made in OUR likeness. They are not us. They cannot do what we can do. If they were always children (as we are ALWAYS children to Adonai) they would NEVER be able to do what we do. But they can do LIKE us. They can IMITATE us. They witness our behaviour and our character and they act just like we do (which sometimes is a HUGE red flag about our OWN behaviour). We do the same thing with Adonai. Jesus was our example (1 Peter 2:21-25).

Jesus CHOSE to give His life for us. Jesus CHOSE to be obedient to the will of the Father. Jesus CHOSE seek the Father’s will. Jesus CHOSE to follow what HE was shown (John 5:19-20). We can choose to do the same. We did not HAVE to choose Jesus as Lord and Saviour. We did not HAVE to accept salvation. We do not HAVE to continue to submit to Him. We do not HAVE to do what He says. But if we do not seek to do what He says will a WHOLE heart, we don’t really love Him. It doesn’t matter how you protest. It doesn’t matter what justification you give. We all ONLY show that we truly love Him by obeying Him. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. The one who says “I have come to know him,” and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in this person. But whoever keeps his word, truly in this person the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in him. The one who says that he resides in him ought also to walk just as that one walked” (1 John 2:3-6). There is NO middle ground.

It is a CHOICE. We made Him SO HAPPY when we accepted Jesus (Luke 15:17). We did NOT have to, but we CHOSE to. That’s AWESOME. Now we have the CHOICE to obey Him or not. We don’t HAVE to. But if we love Him, we WILL find ourselves obeying Him. The secret to obeying, then, is to love Him in the area that He is requesting obedience. We both know of the areas AND of His love for us in those areas through Ruach HaKodesh. Ruach HaKodesh is the One who tells us about Jesus’ love. Teaches us about it. Gives us revelation of it as we seek it. Opens the Word to us as we study it. He is our conduit of wisdom in regard to the love of Jesus and how it is VERY much a two-way street. If we expect to be able to obey, we need to get into the love of Jesus in every area we’re asked to obey and hang on tight, refusing to let go.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Psalm 141:5

“Let a righteous one strike me in kindness, and let him chasten me. It is oil for my head; let not my head refuse. For still my prayer is against their evil deeds.” Jesus was always KIND, but people did not take that as Jesus being nice. MANY people got offended with Jesus’ kindness. Jesus was kind because He told the truth. If we wasn’t rebuking a hard-hearted teacher of the Law who knew better, He did it with gentleness. He ALWAYS did it from kindness, love, and compassion. How we deliver a message is always as important as the message itself. Jesus often laughed. Often smiled. He ALWAYS spoke truth. He didn’t insult. He didn’t demean or belittle. But people got offended when what He said didn’t line up with what they thought. Or what they believed. We’re still struggling with that. Jesus knew we would. He made sure that Ruach HaKodesh was sent to us so that we had access to His love, His kindness, His gentleness, His compassion, and the rest of His Ruach. He knew we needed that and would need to lean into His Fruit while we grew our own. He called us to this continuation of His message and He made sure we were equipped and empowered to do so before we began. 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