Fear No Fear

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

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded!“

James 4:8

Ruach HaKodesh encourages us in who we are. He gives us constant updates about who we are in Jesus. He convicts us of opportunities to trust in Jesus that we didn’t take (or it looks like we are about to not take), and encourages us to take EVERY opportunity to trust in Jesus. Ruach HaKodesh doesn’t do this simply to do it. He’s not just Jesus’ cheering section. He’s not comforting us to comfort us. He CHALLENGES us because if we will seek Adonai, Adonai WILL BE FOUND. Feel alone? Take the step to Jesus and Jesus will take the step to you. It isn’t about FEELINGS, it is about TRUTH. We get the faithfulness to follow through on our loving of Adonai by drawing near to Him. Ruach HaKodesh is THE TOOL by which we do it.

He is not an inert tool. He is not a hammer sitting in a toolbox or a wrench pegged to the wall. He is an interactive and infused tool. He is the POWER of Almighty Elohim placed inside of us to produce signs and wonders which are BEYOND us. Abundant life shining up and out of us, filling us up and spilling over. Shining into the darkness from our hearts. He is an AMAZING tool. He is a TALKING tool, an ENCOURAGING tool, a COMFORTING tool, a CORRECTING tool, a tool that gets the Father’s will DONE. He is all those things and MORE. He has been placed, not at our DISPOSAL, but in our hand. With HIM all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). Jesus accepted His hand and they did things together that shook the foundations of creation. Blindness was removed. Poverty was attacked. Limbs were restored. Sickness was removed. Bodies were repossessed by their rightful owners. DEATH was told to get its hand off people. The supernatural was treated by Jesus with Ruach HaKodesh as if it was NORMAL – and in the Kingdom it IS.

We have that inside us. That life. That life that breaks ALL the rules of what we THINK is reality. It was so great that Jesus defied LOGIC. JESUS laid down His life and JESUS picked it up again (John 10:18). That’ll stretch your brain bone. But Jesus DID it. He did it because the Father sent the power to do it through Ruach HaKodesh. And that Ruach is THE Ruach who dwells inside of your body and my body. “And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also make alive your mortal bodies through his Spirit who lives in you” (Romans 8:11). Imagine that now. THAT is what is inside you. THAT is what is shining out of you. THAT is what is renewing you from the DNA level on up. We may age, but with THAT inside you HOW CAN YOU DETERIORATE? THIS is how we stay faithful. By keeping our hand in His hand as we go through this life.

Have you ever stood underneath or near those giant transmission towers that hold electrical cables? You can hear the hum for a LONG way away from them. The power coursing through them is making its presence KNOWN. Ruach HaKodesh does the same thing. When we actively and with intent hang onto His hand, the power coursing through us causes a spiritual hum that gets into our brains and we can’t ignore it. It isn’t a FEELING. It is a SENSE of His PRESENCE. It is a knowledge that goes beyond our five senses that He IS THERE. We may feel nothing, but that spiritual buzz is active and present and pulling our awareness off of ourselves and onto Him so that we can choose to listen to what He is saying about what we are doing, about to do, and inhabiting. This is getting near to Him. Building the awareness of that hand in ours. Awareness of His constant dialogue to us. Awareness of HIM.

So if we can’t always FEEL it. And if we can’t SEE it without spiritual eyes. How can we KNOW that we KNOW that we KNOW it? One word: peace. When we are near Adonai, there is peace because PEACE surrounds Him like a cloud. “Now may the Lord of peace himself grant you peace through everything in every way. May the Lord be with all of you” (2 Thessalonians 3:16). He is the LORD of Peace. When we are drawing near to Him, we don’t worry. We know He has it under control. When we are drawing near to Him, we don’t fight or rage. We know He has it under control. When we are drawing near to Him, we don’t beg and whine and moan. We know He is our Source and He has it under control. Doesn’t matter the circumstances. Doesn’t matter how much we’re being pressured. Doesn’t matter what the economy is doing. Doesn’t matter what politicians are doing. Doesn’t matter what disasters are occurring. Doesn’t matter WHAT is happening. We have PEACE because we are WITH ADONAI. It isn’t a FEELING, it is a lack of power that feelings have to grab a hold of us and stick to us. It is a peace unexplainable in ANY other way. THAT is how we KNOW that we have drawn near to Him: He has drawn near to us and WE HAVE PEACE!

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: 2 Corinthians 1:20

“For as many as are the promises of God, in him they are “yes”; therefore also through him is the “amen” to the glory of God through us.” Adonai’s promises are true and trustworthy. If He promises something, He is GOING to do it and NO ONE can stop Him (Acts 5:39). That is WONDERFUL news. Because He tells us again and again and again what His will is. If we align with that, nothing that we ask for will be denied. Because we’re asking for what He wants in the first place. That’s the key. Find a promise, study it to learn the framework of that promise, and if you qualify CLAIM IT. If you don’t, but COULD, then change your behaviour and your thinking until you DO. Because He has ALREADY SAID YES. We only need to believe what He said and then trust that He will do it. That simple. It really is THAT simple. He MADE it that simple because He doesn’t want us to miss out on His YES. He WANTS us blessed. He WANTS us to see. He WANTS us to have whole, functional bodies. He WANTS us to not be trapped in poverty. He WANTS us to be healthy ALL the time. He WANTS this. He promised us. He wrote it down. IT IS WRITTEN. And He ALREADY said yes to it. 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