Fear No Fear

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

“But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With human beings this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”“

Matthew 19:26

Jesus meant it. On our own we are not that successful. It isn’t that we cannot accomplish things, it is just that what we accomplish is so very far below what we can accomplish WITH Adonai. It is because His ways are higher than ours, so He lifts us up (Ephesians 2:6). This can ONLY be accomplished in Jesus (John 15:5). Without Jesus, we’re building sandcastles in the mud. WITH Jesus, we are growing things that really rise and really last (Matthew 7:24-27; 13:31-32). The problem with humanity is that we resist being with Adonai and we strive to make Adonai be with us. Which NEVER works.

“And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may approve what is the good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2). We need to shift our perspective. We need to change our opinions. We need to look at the TRUTH, not what we observe or decide are facts. “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). “With all vigilance, keep your heart, for from it comes the source of life” (Proverbs 4:23). It is not ANYTHING that works. It is JESUS who works and Adonai’s WILL that works. With Adonai means shifting our hand to His and letting HIM lead – as a toddler does with a parent. We may be able to toddle around. We may be able to go places and get into things. But only with our hand in HIS will we get to where we need to be.

The issue is that much of what the will of Adonai is conflicts with the pleasures and wants of our flesh. And it isn’t that all of it is inherently bad. It just means that it is a poor second place to His first place. Compared to Adonai’s glory, nothing else much matters. He truly is THE BEST in all areas at all times. We struggle with that because our flesh is selfish. It really is still the baby it was when it came out of the womb. Babies are SELFISH. They want what they want when they want it and it is always NOW NOW NOW. Our flesh hasn’t really changed. It still wants what it wants and it wants it now. There is the saying the heart wants what it wants, but that is really just the selfish desire of the flesh. The habit of selfishness which is the first thing we learned. We learned it so well it is the strongest of the strong strongholds in our minds. It is the last thing that will ever be defeated, because it has gotten itself into all of our thinking. Until we are completely renewed, there will always be something of it somewhere in our thinking for us to stand against.

To get full and total victory over ANYTHING, we need to place our hands in His. We need to come to Jesus like a child and trust Him to get us to where we want to go. We need to go with Him like we go with a trusted parent, not kicking and screaming like spoiled brats. Take the book of Mark. The whole gospel is a masterclass in WAITING for Jesus’ timing. The revelations that came to the disciples weren’t the issue, the knowledge that evil spirits had weren’t the issue, the miracles that so brought wonder and amazement to the people weren’t the issue, but Jesus consistently shut them down. Because Jesus was INSISTENT on following the timeline of the Father. Jesus INSISTED that things ONLY got revealed or focused on when the FATHER said it was time. Whenever He was obeyed, the revelation had its proper impact. Whenever He was disobeyed (and the evil spirits NEVER disobeyed because they are powerless against His authority), there were problems. The book of Mark is such an important read for us because it shows us the benefit of obedience and the harm of disobedience so clearly.

WITH GOD means aligning with His point of view. It means adjusting to His timeline. It means doing things His way. And ALL of that means a focus on humble submission. Making sure we are giving Him His proper place. When we are relying on Him like we are children relying on a parent, when we are looking for Him to be our Source of everything, then we are going to do things His Way. We won’t be as concerned about what WE want because we’re going to choose to be focused on what HE wants. On what HE says is possible. On what HE gave us as true wisdom and true morality. True goodness. From HIS point of view – the ONLY objective point of view that exists. When we are WITH Him, we are obedient TO Him. When THAT is the reality, then NOTHING is impossible and EVERYTHING is possible – because He is directing the shots and He is performing the work. We’re there COOPERATING, not trying to get our desires realised (James 4:3). With Him means submitting to Him. In love. Through obedience. Because it is the RIGHT thing to do. HIS will, not ours (Luke 22:42). That’s what being like Jesus really means.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: 1 Peter 5:8

“ Be sober; be on the alert. Your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” Lions roar to advertise territory. They do it to intimidate rivals and prey. Thing is, though, that male lions are lazy. They are slow. They don’t want to chase anyone or anything. They use their roars as a tactic. To get the prey to panic and run right into the waiting (and silent) female lions who do the dirty work. The devil is lazy and slow. He is also incapable of making us leave Adonai. His roaring, then, is designed to spook us. To get us to panic. To get US to leave Adonai. To leave His protection and to run into the tall grass where we can be taken down and destroyed (John 10:10). To counter this, we have Ruach HaKodesh within us constantly speaking to us the words of Jesus. Constantly telling us what Jesus says about us, about our situation, and about what we should be doing to understand His solution to it. We are given peace by staying in His presence. We’re given self-control so that we can choose to stay. And we are given the Word so that we have something solid to stand on. We’re given everything we need so that we can ignore the roaring and lean into His sheltering wings – and stay safe. 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