Fear No Fear

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

For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want.
Galatians 5:17 (emphasis added)

Humans are selfish. We like our eyes right on ourselves. We like making everything about us. Our feelings. Our ideas. Our opinions. What WE want. What we THINK we want. How WE want things to run. What WE think is good for other people. We are selfish creatures. We don’t HAVE to be, but that is the nature of humanity (male or female). If you look around the world at broad strokes behaviours, you’ll see it. If you look closer, you’ll see it too, but we don’t like looking close. If we look TOO close, we might see a mirror and that would be terrible. We don’t like seeing our own selfishness. It doesn’t FEEL good.

“Do not seek your own good, but the good of the other person” (1 Corinthians 10:24). This is the basic point of view coming from Heaven, and it is spread throughout the bible. Elohim feels so hard about this that Jesus told us about it in the form of a command. Something we see again and again in scripture, then we come to Jesus and OH. It’s a COMMAND (John 13:34-35). Is it so that we HAVE to do something? No. It is a command because the Kingdom doesn’t operate for selfish people. The Kingdom isn’t selfish. In the Kingdom, everyone is a SERVANT. “So when Jesus had washed their feet and put his outer clothing back on, he took his place at the table again and said to them, “Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and do so correctly, for that is what I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example—you should do just as I have done for you. I tell you the solemn truth, the slave is not greater than his master, nor is the one who is sent as a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you understand these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:12-17). Jesus acted like a servant to His disciples so that they would act like servants to theirs. In the Kingdom, everyone is a servant. Everyone serves everyone else. It is not a place of rank and position with the elite lording things over those under them in the hierarchy (Luke 22:25-27).

This focus on self happens at all sorts of levels. In fact, you will be hard pressed not to see it active in your life every day. Don’t we all have our own way of doing things? We don’t plan things out based on what is best for those around us, but for ourselves. Even when doing something for others (like making special lunches for your kids), we do it in a way that is best for ourselves. Whatever is easiest, most streamlined, simplest, or just makes the most sense to us. How is that selfish, you might ask. Selfishness is seeking or concentrating on one’s own advantage, pleasure, or well-being. Yes, it is usually seeking while ignoring the needs of others. That’s the world’s definition – the same world that accepts negative emotions as healthy as long as they aren’t in excess. A biblical definition of selfishness is simpler. It is not putting Adonai first. That’s it. “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). “Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.”” (Matthew 22:37-38). Putting Elohim in front. In every way. Period.

There were no secrets. They didn’t keep it from us. It was there as a principle of good living right in the garden. The trouble then, as it is now, was that doubt was cast on whether what Elohim wanted was the best for us. Whether we were missing out on better things we could get for ourselves. “And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”” (Genesis 2:16-17). It’s funny when you consider it. Adonai did NOT tell them they would never learn the difference between good and evil. He did NOT tell them that was knowledge they were never going to get. Implied in the command to not eat is first to focus on the good and second Adonai has a plan and timing to everything so do everything in His time. That’s the only undercurrent. Up front is obey, and below that focus on good and wait for my timing. Adam let doubt rise. He let it give birth to selfishness, and he sinned. He considered the wrong thing and fell. We are still making that same mistake today.

When Jesus got tempted by the devil, the first temptation was for Jesus to use His power to do an allowed thing. It wasn’t forbidden. No Law prohibited it. But it would have been Jesus’ desire. Jesus told His disciples He ONLY did what the Father told Him to (John 5:19). If Jesus wasn’t doing it, He hadn’t been told. Nothing wrong with feeding yourself, though. It’s good to provide. But Jesus went with two things. Spiritual food (the Word) trumps physical food. He’ll wait on the Father’s timing, even if it never arrives (Matthew 4:4). It wasn’t the only time He did it, either. “Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” So the disciples began to say to one another, “No one brought him anything to eat, did they?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to complete his work.”” (John 4:31-34). Jesus always put His Father first. Jesus always had a mindset of servanthood. Servants don’t get to pick and choose what they do. They do whatever is put before them. They perform their tasks regardless of how they FEEL about it. Jesus gave us that example. He travelled everywhere. He healed everyone they brought to Him. He never ONCE turned anyone away. He never ONCE refused to go where He was needed. Jesus was a FULL servant.

It’s hard to approach life always asking what Adonai might think about something. How He might want us to go about it. It isn’t hard to find out that information, but we might not like the answer. I was thinking today about visions of Jesus like Saul had on the road to Damascus. Imagine that level of holy righteousness appearing in front of you. Right there in your own home. That kind of encounter with Adonai has a way of changing you. It makes the Kingdom more real to you. It lights a fire under you. It changes drive and perspective and makes it easier to follow directions. What I was thinking was what would I change? What things would no longer seem so important in my life? What activities, entertainment, distractions, or anything would I not care about anymore? What would fall away from me? What would I put away like so many games of childhood (1 Corinthians 13:11)? Thinking about it, I realised the REAL question. Why am I not cutting those things out now? Why am I waiting?

It comes down to selfishness. We like the feel of something. We like watching something. We like, we like, we like. It doesn’t mean the thing is bad. It also doesn’t mean the thing is good. It is hard to figure it out from OUR point of view because… we’re selfish! We NEED to see HIS point of view. That’s all that can give us perspective. Seeing things not only from an OBJECTIVE point of view, but a point of view that is TOTALLY RIGHTEOUS. No evil. No shadow. No negativity. Nothing bad. At all. Completely removed from the situation. Not affected by the situation. Nothing in the situation for Him at all. Just truth. THE truth. Absolute, unwavering, and unalterable. Not truth for this person or that one. Truth. Period. Everything else is nothing but excuses. Justification. A way to try to get what WE want, instead of what HE wants. That is selfishness. That is also rebellion. When we have such a clear map to follow (Psalm 119:105), we have no excuse. Anything that isn’t directed by Adonai, anything that is done outside of motivation to see Him glorified, anything not launched from our place of trust in Him, is launched from our place of not trusting in Him. If it isn’t trust, it is antitrust. Which is sin (Romans 14:23).

Remembering who He is. Remembering how He feels about us. Remembering Jesus’ sacrifice for us. Remembering His covenant with the Father that they have made available to us in Jesus. Remembering our identity in Him. Remembering the GOOD things our GOOD Father does for us. Remembering all of that and choosing not to crossblock it with our selfish desires and passions, our selfish feelings, or our selfish actions/words is the first step toward real maturity in the Kingdom. Able to act under His Grace with HIS motivations, nor ours. For His Glory, not ours. A chance to be in a place where receiving from Him is as easy as giving to Him. A place where we do and say ONLY what He shows and tells us to. A place where OUR will isn’t our motivator. Ever. A place where our Trust in Him is our foundation for everything we do. A place of selfless servanthood by CHOICE. A place of true freedom.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Isaiah 55:4

“Look, I made him a witness to nations, a ruler and commander of nations.”” Messiah would testify to the truth. He would witness the truth of Elohim to the nations. To everyone who He came across. It would be a function of His anointing. “Then Pilate said, “So you are a king!” Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world—to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”” (John 18:37). Jesus came testifying to the truth (John 17:17). Jesus spoke it to whomever asked (John 8:14). Jesus was a witness to the Mercy and Grace of His Father. Jesus IS Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

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

Matthew 16:16b