Fear No Fear

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

“Stay awake and pray that you will not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak!”“

Mark 14:38

We are called to a certain observance. To have a habit of watching what is around us and remembering to make sure we are relying on Adonai alone (Mark 13:32-33). When Adonai is our Source and we recognize that He is MORE THAN ENOUGH for every situation and every circumstance and every feeling that we find coming on ourselves, we will be well-prepared for anything that comes our way. We are to automate our reliance on Him, our checking in with Him, and our following the instructions He speaks to us (through Ruach HaKodesh and the Word – which will ALWAYS align and never contradict each other). Without this automated reliance, we will be operating at less than peak efficiency. When a storm hits is not when we should be preparing for it. Storm shutters are most effective when they are secure BEFORE the winds and the rains strike.

It all becomes a question of who we are looking at. Are we listening to Ruach HaKodesh who is always pointing toward Jesus, or are we looking at who WE are? Remember that in JESUS we are so much more than ourselves (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus is our connection to overcoming (John 15:5). Jesus is our connection to victory (John 16:33). Jesus is the author of our trust. The finisher and the one in whom the covenant is (Hebrews 12:2; Luke 22:20). When we are in Him, that is what Adonai sees. In LOVE we are looked at perfect in Jesus. That’s HIS point of view. It is one of the things that we need to renew our minds about, because we’re used to seeing a poor reflection. Our flesh has flesh eyes. That’s what it sees. All the things of the flesh that we do and/or surround ourselves with. It sees them and it assumes THAT is our environment. But our environment can be QUITE different.

“Set your mind on the things above, not on the things on earth” (Colossians 3:2). This was Paul’s practical advice to the church at Colossae. If we focus on Adonai, then the things of Adonai become our reality. It doesn’t mean ignoring what’s around us. It means bringing Jesus into everything we see. We’re going to kick away from us those things that He doesn’t approve of (Psalm 119:101). Because we will be trying to align with Him. To keep within the aspects of His character. That is where real freedom is. That is where real life is. No one wants to be a slave to their feelings. To always get trapped into reacting to external stimuli without any regard to what’s best for our mental, emotional, physical, or spiritual health. Feelings come on us, situations come on us, circumstances come on us, but WE choose what we do with those things. WE choose what we emote. Whether or not we have a stress response. It is OUR choice. Stress is internal, not external. We have a CHOICE. Emotions are internal, not external. We have a CHOICE. And it is in JESUS that we can choose in alignment with His character: peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, faithfulness, LOVE, and all the rest. This is what Ruach HaKodesh wants to see coming up out of us. This is what OUR spirit wants to see coming up out of us. They are both hand in hand with Jesus on it (Ephesians 1:13).

We have spent a lifetime being told things are a certain way. A gets you B. C is normal because D is present. We’ve absorbed it and learned it in ways we probably don’t even recognize. It’s truly eye-opening to look at some of the entertainment we engaged in as children. As a grown adult, you see different messages than you did as a child. You notice how things were present, there for your mind to absorb and ruminate on. Little bricks that later they built something out of. The trend continues today. It is truly shocking to come back to entertainment after a significant time away from it and see what passes as ‘normal’. Or to look around the world and digest what they feel is being an ‘ally’ and what is being an enemy. The world has become very topsy-turvy and it is being built on the decades upon decades of pioneering work by men and women who cared for what satisfied their flesh more than what might have fed their spirit.

We need to pinch ourselves on a regular basis. To keep our minds occupied and focused. Otherwise, we won’t even recognise the temptations AS temptations until it’s too late. Until we have taken our eyes off of Jesus and the message of His morality that we WERE listening to. Until we have buried the voice of Ruach HaKodesh with so much noise that we cannot hear the whisper of TRUTH that He speaks. Until we’ve hardened ourselves to the warnings and the obedience to Jesus that keep us on the one true Way. We need to NOT slumber. We need to STAY VIGILANT. We need to pay attention to what we see, read, and listen to. We need to pay attention to what we say and what we are absorbing. What is becoming part of our day to day belief system. Ruach HaKodesh will always help us as long as we are willing to listen. Willing to humbly submit to what is right, just, and true. Don’t stop listening for His voice. Don’t stop obeying it.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Hebrews 1:1-2

“Although God spoke long ago in many parts and in many ways to the fathers by the prophets, in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world,” I don’t know what’s better. That Adonai worked things until we had a better way to hear Him or that He hasn’t removed any of the other ways in which we heard Him. Because He didn’t stop with the prophets and with the scriptures. He still sent Jesus who did, does, and will always speak to us. He sent Ruach HaKodesh to live within us and constantly speak to our hearts and minds. He uses ALL the ways that He can to communicate with us because He is THAT dedicated to make sure that we don’t miss it. So that we don’t have to do without. So that we don’t have to STRUGGLE in our work. So that we don’t have to HUNT in order to find Him, just seek. He makes SURE that He is always talking to us because He always wants us to know what’s happening. What’s coming. And what is possible in Him. Communication is number one and He proves it every day in every way that He can. 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