Fear No Fear

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

You people are from your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, he speaks according to his own nature because he is a liar and the father of lies.
John 8:44 (emphasis added)

Did you know you cannot divest your parental duties by walking away from them? Fathers, present in the child’s life or not, are still legally obligated to provide support. If a father does not want custody, this does not mean that he is legally excused from financially supporting his child. Fathers are to preside over their families and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. That is fascinating to me, because it means that if something hasn’t starved to death, then something has been taking care of it. If something isn’t destitute, something has been supporting it. Lies are alive and well today because their father supports them, protects them, and nurtures the environment that gives them the necessities of life. Since their father is a barren wasteland unable to give of himself, he has to con everyone else into doing it for him. When we look around the world today, it is clear that he is very good at it.

A lie is anything that covers or conceals a truth. Truth is everything and anything that is true. Not true from a certain point of view. Not opinion. Not truth as seen or felt by only one person. Truth is objective. Lies are not, so they are subjective. A white lie is still not the truth. A lie of omission is still not the truth. Not acknowledging truth is still not the truth. Something smoothed over so it doesn’t seem to be exactly what it is, is still not the truth. The truth is clear. The truth doesn’t change. The truth isn’t different from one group to another. The truth is true no matter where you are from, no matter what age you are, what sex you are, and how you feel. Everything else is not the truth. We can focus on FACTS and pretend they are truth, but they wouldn’t BE truth. Truth doesn’t change. What we FEEL changes. What we THINK changes. What OPINIONS we have change. What we BELIEVE changes. The TRUTH never changes.

One of the best tactics of the devil is to get us to look at FACTS and call them truth. The FACT may be that you are this or that based on a multitude of factors. But it doesn’t make it TRUE. We, as a species, are obsessed with FACTS. They are provable. They are able to be demonstrated to others. We can alter the factors that make up our facts. It doesn’t matter if they slide on a scale, because at any point on that scale, we can call it a fact. Not to be controversial, but this is a great example: those in the LGBTQ+ community say that it is normal for those in their community to have different stances on their sexuality within their lifetime. They may identify as bisexual at one point, lesbian at another, and maybe straight at another point. Their sexuality and attractions are said to be normal when they are fluid and going through the process of discovering what is right for them. Most of the world gets behind this message and accepts it. The FACTS of what that individual is interested in will be different at different times of their lives. Facts change. The devil loves the mutability of facts, because he and the system he promotes can get you to accept many things as normal through changing facts.

Adonai doesn’t do that. “O Lord, your instructions endure; they stand secure in heaven” (Psalm 119:89). “The grass dries up, the flowers wither, but the decree of our God is forever reliable” (Isaiah 40:8). “Since, I, the Lord, do not go back on my promises, you, sons of Jacob, have not perished” (Malachi 3:6). “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35). “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever!” (Hebrews 13:8). Adonai is stable (Psalm 18). Adonai is secure (Matthew 7:24-29). He is TRUTH (Ephesians 4:21). He is OBJECTIVE (2 Timothy 3:16), because Adonai exists OUTSIDE of space and time (Colossians 1:17; Romans 1:20). Because of that, what He says is true, IS TRUE. And it is as unchangeable as He is. Anything from His point of view will always be true. That’s our big challenge, really. To see things as HE sees things. Easier said than done, because this world is all about lies.

Compromise is the language of this world. Sadly, it creeps into the church world too. But people don’t see it as bad. Compromise an agreement or a settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions. Compromise is two people choosing not to hold strictly to their opinions, which is not a bad thing if the opinions aren’t based in truth. Two sides not getting exactly what they want, but both getting something so that both sides are content, having settled it MUTUALLY. We – contentious and selfish humans that we are – see this is a positive. As a GOOD solution. But when you really, objectively look at it, ANY compromise is accepting standards that are lower than is desirable. Taking LESS THAN and being willing to settle for it. On the human scale of things, compromise is not always bad. On the spiritual scale of things, compromise is always a horrific mistake. Spiritually, compromise is a failure to trust. It is accepting something that isn’t from Adonai. Because ADONAI doesn’t need to compromise. Spiritually, compromise is a lie. A lie of ‘it will be okay’ and a lie of ‘at least you have this’. The truth is that in Jesus, things are always a victory (John 16:33; Colossians 1:15; 1 John 3:8-10). The truth is that Adonai gives GOOD things and COMPLETE things and NEVER less than ALL HE HAS – whether we TAKE those things from Him is on OUR side, not His. The original temptation was that Adonai was holding something back. Original sin was saying My way, My time, not Your way, Your time. Original sin was compromising the integrity Adonai gave us.

At its foundation, a lie is meant to steal something from you, destroy an opportunity coming your way, and kill your ambition to succeed. It is ALL that the devil wants to do. It is why he wanted into the earth. He wanted to kill people, steal victory, and continue doing that until he had destroyed what Adonai wanted to do. If he could not steal Adonai’s position, he wanted to destroy what Adonai made. There is nothing else that he wants. There is nothing else he is capable of. He cannot create. He cannot invent. He cannot do anything positive. He cannot think straight. He cannot see reality for what it is. He lies with every breath. Even facts are twisted when they are in his mouth. He is intelligent, but it is intelligence dedicated to a twisted end. He couldn’t even recognise Jesus for who He was until it was too late. But he is good at his message: trust nothing. He is so good at it that when we have literal truth in our hands – the Word – we will read about an archeological discovery and think ‘gee, I guess the bible was wrong’. It is PITIFUL and RIDICULOUS and WE ALL DO IT.

Why do we place so much emphasis on human understanding of the world and history, when we have proved again and again and again that our knowledge of it is ALWAYS changing? I laugh when I hear ANYONE say ‘we KNOW’. The things that humankind KNEW is cartoonish at best. That will continue to evolve as more and more of the truth is revealed, and then understood by us. We need to stop standing on the shoulders of brilliant men who were ignorant of the truth. We need to stop deciding things are SO based on the system WE promoted. Why are teenagers maniacs with raging hormones? Because we’ve been talking to them about sex and reproduction since they were five years old. Because every television show and movie has physical relationships in it. Because every one of them are told this is normal, expected, and there is something wrong with them if they aren’t trying to climb into everyone else’s pants when they are alone. We have MADE a sexualised society, so of COURSE we have sexual oriented citizens. What if we changed society? I would be willing to bet that in a few short generations we would have less sexualised teens with fewer raging hormones. This wasn’t an issue a hundred years ago. Or two hundred. Or a thousand. Does that mean there weren’t any young people getting up to things? No. It means the society-wide expectation wasn’t there. And without the expectation, there was no rampant reality. It is a lie that has built for THOUSANDS of years and is being accepted in spades in modern times. The lie is becoming the reality. It is true on MANY levels in almost all walks of life.

Why do we want this to be? Why do we accept the lies? Yes, the truth can be uncomfortable. But only because we have accepted so many lies. “Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you have known me, you will know my Father too. And from now on you do know him and have seen him.”” (John 14:6-7). Jesus is TRUTH. Jesus is LIFE. And Jesus came to show us the WAY to the Father so that we could have eternal life. What is eternal life? It is KNOWING the Father. “Now this is eternal life—that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent” (John 17:3). Eternal life isn’t boring. It is meant to be ABUNDANT. Abundant knowledge, abundant blessing, abundant fellowship, abundant freedom in Jesus, and abundant enjoyment. That is the life we are meant to have. That is the life the devil wants to steal from us. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly” (John 10:10). The more we let Jesus change us, the better things get. The more we let the devil or the world sell us lies, the more miserable we are. We CANNOT be depressed or anxious when we know who we are in Jesus. We aren’t willing to compromise when we know the freedom, joy, and truth of the Word. It is all just too GOOD to give up for temporary pleasures, which aren’t all that pleasurable in comparison anyway.

“Set them apart in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). “Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2). Don’t buy the lie. Don’t feed it. Lies should be orphans. They should not have sustenance from a father. We are being made surrogate parents when we support, perpetuate, and speak lies. The ONLY way to kill them is to embrace and speak truth. The only way to grasp truth is to get our mind renewed to it. To flush out the message of the world and the message of the devil and replace it with Adonai’s message, Adonai’s words, Adonai’s values, and Adonai’s virtues. It won’t make us popular. Those who hate Jesus will hate us (John 15:18-21). But we will have orphaned the lies we’ve been feeding. We will have taken a stand on something REAL and STABLE and ETERNAL (Psalm 71:3). Be someone who stands on the truth. So much of what we believe about our health, our relationships, our finances, and our attitudes are based on lies we were raised in (not knocking our parents). We need to divorce from those things and get set up in TRUTH. Do not be a surrogate father to lies. Feed on TRUTH and accept nothing less. It WILL change your life as He changes your mind.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Isaiah 61:1-2

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has chosen me. He has commissioned me to encourage the poor, to help the brokenhearted, to decree the release of captives and the freeing of prisoners, to announce the year when the Lord will show his favor, the day when our God will seek vengeance, to console all who mourn,” Messiah would have the Spirit of Elohim upon Him. Ruach HaKodesh temporarily came upon prophets and kings in the Old Covenant. But with Messiah it would be a permanent residence. It would be a presence that would NEVER leave, which until Messiah was impossible. It would be proof that Messiah was sinless, because Ruach HaKodesh could not descend on and STAY on someone who indulged in sin. “After Jesus was baptized, just as he was coming up out of the water, the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my one dear Son; in him I take great delight.”” (Matthew 3:16-17). Jesus was sinless, so Ruach HaKodesh could descend on and stay on Him. How do WE get indwelt by Ruach HaKodesh? By dying to ourselves and being resurrected into Jesus’ life. “God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). It is JESUS who enables this. It is in JESUS that we gain Ruach HaKodesh. Jesus IS Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

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

Matthew 16:16b