Fear No Fear

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

“So then, we can say with confidence,“The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?”“

Hebrews 13:6

The kind of verse I disliked as a youth was ones like Hebrews 13:8 which says Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Then there was Malachi 3:6 which is Adonai declaring that He doesn’t change. I saw it as proof that Adonai was dowdy. Another geezer type stuck in His ways. Dry. Boring. Which leaned into unapproachable. Or worse, getting to Heaven and everything being the same day after day, stretching into eternity, until what would be the point of having been born? Which is FAR from what Heaven is like. It’s even FARTHER from what Adonai is like. That kind of thinking is typical human thinking about something I did not understand at all. The promise of the changelessness of Adonai is a MASSIVE BLESSING and I wasn’t seeing any of it.

Adonai isn’t moody. That is one part of the BLESSING of His changelessness. He has an even keel. You KNOW how He is going to be. There isn’t a question about it. It CAN be known. We do not have to wait until some sign or portent tells us that it’s favourable. We don’t have to appease Adonai. We don’t have to bang on the gates of Heaven or answer some kind of question before getting in. We KNOW that we can walk right through the gates, right into the throne room, and right up to the throne itself (enter boldly verse). We know He is eager to see us. Eager to fellowship. Eager to have us cooperate with Him. Eager to see us take our place and acknowledge Him in His rightful place. We are BELOVED children (verse). No human made religion can conceive of a God like this. One who is great and mighty and absolutely righteous, but who seeks to be part of our lives and for us to be part of His. But we KNOW it and can RELY on it. He isn’t going to change His mind. He isn’t going to suddenly make wild demands. He is NOT moody. He IS our Father. He LOVES us.

Adonai is consistent. That is another part of the BLESSING of changelessness. We can look at His character and His accomplished acts and know what He is going to do in a similar situation. Not the specifics, but the general way He will handle it. How He will approach it. With understanding and compassion. With gentleness and kindness. He won’t approach things with mercy one time and suddenly demand we jump through hoops or perform a labour the next time. He isn’t wishy-washy. He isn’t unknowable (Ephesians 3:19-21?). He gave us His Word which is an extension of His character. We can KNOW Him and rely on Him. Faithfulness not fitfulness is who He is. We may miss it, but He NEVER does. The Word is Truth and it shows us the truth of His character. We can believe it, trust it, and use it as a springboard to get closer in our relationship with Him – because it will never contradict Him and He will never contradict the Word. It is trustworthy. Adonai is trustworthy. We don’t have to worry about what will happen when we open a dialogue with Adonai. We know what He will be like. We know He isn’t angry at us. We know He is ready to help us get to where He has called us. We know because of His changelessness. We can rely on Him in ALL circumstances and situations. He is CONSISTENT.

We know Adonai will never present us with the bill. Adonai will never sit back, fold His arms, and wait for us to achieve. We are never EVER meant to be apart from or to operate apart from Him (John 15:5). We’re meant to be the Dynamic Duo – He is the dynamic part and we’re the plus one. We achieve in HIM. We overcome in HIM. We endure in HIM. We rest in HIM. We receive in HIM. We bless others in HIM. It is all in and through HIM. He is the achiever. We are the obedient cooperator. He’s the One who has the big picture, we’re the ones who follow His lead. When we face something that needs strength, He gives us His. When we are attacked with anxiety and depression He gives us His peace. When our minds want to pick up stress because of our circumstances, we can refuse because we can actively choose to trust in Him. He gives us EVERYTHING we need to succeed in what He’s called us to and we have Jesus to rest in for EVERYTHING else. In HIM we have ALL our successes. In HIM we overcome because He ALREADY overcame everything. And that never changes because HE never changes.

Jesus is the foundation of everything we do, can do, should do, and will do in the Kingdom. It all rests on Him. A relationship with Him and a knowledge of Him is vital. The truth that He is changeless and can be RELIED on should be a great comfort. The truth that when we get revelation knowledge from Ruach HaKodesh about an aspect of Jesus’ character or how Jesus loves us in our situation and KNOW it will ALWAYS apply should get us excited. Jesus is the answer to EVERYTHING and always will be. We just need to make sure we’re asking the right question (Jesus was always challenging people to look at the real issues and ask the correct questions). Ruach HaKodesh is part of that process. He is always helping us to see the real Jesus and ask the real questions. Because when we get to the heart of the matter, we will see Jesus as the solution to it. We get to see that because of Jesus’ consistency. Because of His goodness and mercy and grace. Because of His constant character. Which doesn’t change. Which can be relied on.

The world is full of ‘I am not sure’. Do you know your identity? Is it changing? What’s going on with gas and grocery prices? What’s the government doing? What war is happening? Who can we get mad at? It’s all up in the air and no certainty is being peddled by anyone or anything – EXCEPT Adonai. In a world of upheaval He can ALWAYS be counted on. In a world that is choosing fluidity and change – often without any standards or ‘rules’ – it is a relief, a blessing, and a GREAT COMFORT. That’s part of the comfort that Ruach HaKodesh gives us: revelation knowledge of the constant consistency of Jesus’ character and being. That He IS the ROCK on which we have stability. That He IS trustworthy. That He IS reliable. That He CAN be believed because He IS faithful. This is the core of the certainty that the Word talks about (Luke 1:4; 1 John 5:14; Hebrews 11:1; Romans 8:38-39). In a world of unsurety, Jesus is THE surety. The ONLY surety. The changeless foundation of all that is. THAT is a wonderful thing to know, to embrace, and to rely on.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: John 1:5

“And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” If we know who we are in Jesus, there is NOTHING that cannot be dealt with. No darkness on this Earth exists that cannot be defeated with a birthday candle. Light ALWAYS destroys darkness. Darkness is simply the absence of light. That means that light doesn’t need darkness to exist. But darkness cannot exist unless light retreats. Jesus IS light. He provided the light that literally enabled life to exist for FOUR DAYS (Genesis 1:1-19). When we know who we are in Jesus, we know how much LIGHT is inside of us. Jesus comes to live inside us in order to get LIGHT inside us. To let it shine into all the inner parts of ourselves AND to shine out into all the world around us. It is the authority that defeats darkness. It is the authority that eliminates it. Because Jesus IS the LIGHT and Adonai made sure there was a Way for the LIGHT to be inside of us, providing us with all the victory we will EVER need. 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