Fear No Fear

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

Praise the Lord, O my soul. With all that is within me, praise his holy name.
Psalm 103:1 (emphasis added)

Why is so much in life about reminding ourselves of what we know? Remind me why we’re doing this or remind me why we put those there or remind me about that thing. We function in the time stream. It goes only one direction. Our attention also seems forward facing. No wonder there’s a song titled ‘What have you done for me lately?’ It seems as though anything that is out of our mind for a few days to weeks is gone, unless we intentionally recall it. This is why we are told to keep the Word in front of us continually (Deuteronomy 11:18-19). This is why we are to dwell on the Word and the things of Elohim day and night (Joshua 1:8). This is why Jesus wanted us to be participating in Communion frequently. Remembrance is a part of it (Luke 22:19). Psalm 103 is written by David TO David. It is an inward looking Psalm. The idea of it is simple. It is to make himself REMEMBER what Adonai had done for him. To bring himself to a place of PRAISE. He knew it killed doubt. It killed unbelief. It killed everything that keeps us from being GRATEFUL. That keeps us from being HUMBLE. That keeps us from RECEIVING from Him.

Hey! Body! Listen up! Each piece of you has a reason to PRAISE! Don’t forget that! This is how David opens the psalm. He immediately tells his body and his soul not to forget (vs 2). To remember and not forget. This should be the goal of every believer. This should be part of our daily walk. Hey! Body! Remember what Adonai has done and don’t forget it. Stay grateful. Stay thankful. Keep praising Him just for being Him. Keep focused on HIM and not the situation. I have an older brother who is great at that. It isn’t that he is happy when bad things happen, but he recognises that bad things occurring is a GREAT excuse to re-focus his attitude toward Adonai. The world says it is impossible and maybe even detrimental to be happy all the time. But the Word says it is possible and very beneficial to be JOYFUL all the time. We get that way through praise. Acknowledging that Adonai is what we need, is over it all, is our fortress and strong tower, and able to make a Way through. Praise does that. And when THAT is our mindset we can be in circumstances that we hate without losing our joy. We can exist IN trouble without BEING in trouble.

Guess what? We don’t have to FEEL like praising in order to praise. One of the BEST things about Adonai is that He is a SPIRIT. Adonai made us like Him (Genesis 1:26). We are also spirit beings. It’s just that we have a flesh sack we wear. But we are spirits. We are not RULED by our feelings. We don’t have to be if we don’t want to be. We don’t need to be. Feelings are input. Like heat and sound and light. Input. Information. A sensory report about things around us. We do NOT need to be ruled by our feelings. We can choose to be loving when our feelings say hate. We can choose to be joyful when our feelings say depressed. We can choose to be at peace when our feelings say anxiety. Our emotions can be based on the Spirit within us, instead of the feelings outside of us. It can be hard to say we are one way when our feelings want us to be another. That’s when remembrance becomes so important. When we remember, it is easy. We look beyond the feelings of ‘now’ and remember our emotions in a previous time. A time when things were rocking along the way we like them too. A time without this particular situation. A time when we ‘felt’ it was easier. Remembering what He’s done for us really helps with that.

First thing? Because of Jesus, the Father forgave our sins (vs 3). Second thing? Because of what Jesus endured, He healed all our diseases (vs 3). The physical arrival of evidence that He can forgive sin. That is the biggest thing that healing is. Yes, it is release from bondage. Yes, it is a blessing of health. Yes, it is restoring us to what we should be. Yes, it is helping us live an abundant life. But it is also ALWAYS the physical arrival of the evidence of forgiven sin. That is why it always accompanies the preaching of the Word. It is evidence to the unbeliever. Go to someone about their sin and the ability of Adonai to forgive it, and what can you SHOW them? Remember, they have no frame of reference for it. We can command healing in their bodies and SHOW them Jesus doesn’t lie. SHOW them that Adonai watches over His Word to perform it. SHOW them that He CAN do the supernatural. No matter where you are in your journey, your healing (and the healing of those around you) can remind you of that basic trust in Adonai in a way nothing else really does.

We are redeemed from the natural destination of rebels (vs 4). In place of that sentence of non-life, Jesus offers life. Relation with the Father. Knowledge of who Elohim is. His loyal love and compassion filling us with experiential knowledge of how much He loves us. Remember, this is AFTER we have healing available to us to show that His words are truth and have power. Taken together these verses are an AMAZING witness, but the PURPOSE of that witness is revealed in the next verse (vs 5): “who satisfies your life with good things, so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.” He forgives our sin with evidence of supernatural healing to show that His Word can be trusted when He says we are redeemed from death to eternal life of fellowship with Him where we will see the real evidence of His loyal love and compassion which will fill us so that He can satisfy our life with good things which will renew us to our youth in the same way eagles are always moulting and renewing their feathers so that they never have to stop soaring. Adonai Elohim wants you to be in a place where you have consistent fellowship, consistent renewal, and the consistent state of being ABOVE the troubles of this world instead of IN them. Sometimes this will be miraculous deliverance. Sometimes this will be circumstances simply not touching us – like a hurricane passing through town and you have some extra leaves to rake up but that’s it (true story). Sometimes it will be a circumstance rising up, but the solution also rising up right then. Sometimes it will be negative things happening, but you not taking damage from them and them affording you opportunity to witness. There are DOZENS to HUNDREDS of ways that Adonai protects, provides, and holds us above the fray – provided we don’t wiggle off His walls.

These are reasons to praise that do not rely on our feelings. They do not rely on our circumstances. They do not rely on anything but the GOODNESS of Adonai. They are things that remind us of the NATURE of Elohim. Since we can remind ourselves of His nature, we can look at what is in front of or around us and know how He will react: loving kindness, goodness, and mercy. We know everything – whether big picture or small – will be in accordance to that, because His nature is unchanging. He won’t do us wrong. He won’t fire and brimstone our butts. He won’t put something of sin and death (sickness, depression, anxiety, mental disorders, physical diseases) on us. He just won’t do it. It isn’t in His NATURE. Because we know that, and we remind ourselves of that, we can praise Him in ANY situation because we know the bad parts of it weren’t from Him. He is with us in them, He will use anything to teach us, but we know HE isn’t the cause of them. We know He has a way out of them. We know He is in control and He has the interests of everyone in His heart. That He will Bless and not curse. That He will save and not condemn. That He draws us in, and doesn’t kick us to the curb.

We can take solace in this nature. We can draw conviction from these remembrances. Our confidence in Him will strengthen our trust. Our devotion to the Word will help us stand in our convictions. It will give us ample material to praise Him about. As we do this again and again, fighting off the darkness with the light of praise to Him, it will start to become second nature. Soon enough we’ll be doing it wherever we are (though maybe not at the top of our lungs). We’ll start to be praisey people. These days, more and more, this will need to be our default starter position. Praising Him in ALL things at ALL times.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Isaiah 59:15-16

“Honesty has disappeared; the one who tries to avoid evil is robbed. The Lord watches and is displeased, for there is no justice. The Lord Intervenes He sees there is no advocate; he is shocked that no one intervenes. So he takes matters into his own hands; his desire for justice drives him on.” Messiah would be THE intercessor between Elohim and humanity (male and female). We would no longer need to look to a Moses or a temple priest. We could look to Messiah himself for all our intercessory needs. ““Whoever, then, acknowledges me before people, I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever denies me before people, I will deny him also before my Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33). Jesus will stand up against all opposition and declare for those who acknowledge Him. This is more than admitting Jesus is who He says He is, but real believing and submission to the reality of who Jesus is (Romans 10:9-10). Those who humbly submit and give Jesus His place of lordship in their lives will have an eternal, untiring defender before the Throne of Heaven. Jesus IS our advocate. Jesus IS Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

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

Matthew 16:16b