Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Even as it is written, “For your sake we are killed all day long. We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from God’s love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35-39 (emphasis added)

God is love. “Beloved, let’s love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love. By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his only born Son into the world that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loves God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we remain in him and he is in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God. We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. In this, love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, even so we are in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts our fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother” (1 John 4:7–21).

Atoning sacrifice. That’s the appeasing sacrifice. The propitiating sacrifice. The means by which the wrath of God toward sin is turned away from us. The sacrifices on the altar of the Temple was the vehicle for the sins of the Israelites to be atoned for — for a year. Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:27–32). It is the day that their soul was cleansed of sin — if they were repentant and had confessed their sin. If they had forgotten one, they weren’t forgiven. But it was temporary. It had to be done again and again. Year after year. Unless a spotless lamb was sacrificed on the altar. Jesus, the sinless Son of God, who became our sin so that we could be cleansed through Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).

It cost Yahweh to redeem us. Blood was spilt. Pain and suffering. Sin in the flesh had to be cleansed (breaking His body). Sin in the spirit had to be cleansed (shedding His blood). Sin’s price had to be paid (His death). But the Spirit of the Father raised Jesus back to life and in Jesus, we can join that resurrection becoming redeemed and cleansed of our sin. When we repent truly, honestly, and completely, we get forgiven and our relationship with God is restored (1 John 1:9–10).

If we have restored our relationship with the Lord, then we can be with Him and He can be with us (Revelation 21:3; Psalm 27). What can hurt us? What can make us fear? We have the LOVE OF GOD within us. Just by being in us, the Holy Spirit gives our mortal bodies life (Romans 8:11). By studying the Word and both dwelling on what it means and choosing to submit ourselves to what we find there we gain life — spiritually and physically (Proverbs 4:20–23). By nothing more than seeking the face of the Lord and studying the Word, we can have health. It will radiate through us. It will add years — actual years — to our lives. It says that we will be satisfied with LONG life (Psalm 91:14–16). I don’t know how many years we’ll be willing to live without physically heading to heaven, but it is a guarantee it is longer than the WORLD says we should live. Forty years old isn’t over the hill. Eighty years old isn’t old age. At ninety, we’re just beginning to get the hang of it.

Health and life being but short, cut off, or damaged in some way is a MAJOR fear of the world. Turn on the television and you’ll see advertisements after advertisements. Go online and there are DOZENS of people telling you the ‘trick’ to solve a problem. Worse, there are dozens more telling you that blah is a sure sign you have blah. Do NOT DWELL on sickness. Dwell on the Word of the Lord! You shouldn’t ignore symptoms. But head to a doctor who’s a believer. Seek the Lord together as you seek wisdom for the doctor so you both know how the Lord wants you to proceed. Human doctors aren’t evil — the Lord gave them their wisdom and nurtured their knowledge. But God’s best is always healing. Jesus healed people of their physical ailments and He hasn’t changed (Matthew 8:16–17, Hebrews 13:8).

Who are we afraid of? Jesus has all the authority that ever has been. He’s above earthly authority. He has authority in the heavenly realms. He is the Name Above ALL Names (Philippians 2:9). Jesus is the final, complete, and total arbiter of EVERYTHING and ANYTHING that can possibly appear in our lives. “Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I command you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen” (Matthew 28:18–20). Do you believe these words? Do you believe they are true? THEN START ACTING LIKE IT!!!!
We can speak with the authority that the Lord Jesus gave us. His authority lives in the Word because Jesus IS the Word (John 1:1–4, 14). The Word is a living thing (Hebrews 4:12). We are to put on the Lord Jesus like a suit of clothes and make no provision for the flesh and its lusts (Romans 13:14). That is lust in a sexual sense, but also lust in a non-sexual sense. The flesh lusts after sin. It lusts after sickness. It lusts after feelings. It lusts after food. It lusts after anything and everything that is based in this fallen world (Romans 8:5, 1 John 2:16). Nothing the flesh wants is good. It is ALL bad. Your SPIRIT wants good things, but your flesh is a spoiled, selfish, ignorant, gluttonous, detriment to everything you are. THAT is one reason we were given Jesus as a gift. “Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as you, Father, as in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me. The glory which you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be perfected into one, that the world may know that you sent me and loved them, even as you loved me” (John 17:20–23).

That position was bought for you by the Blood of Jesus. The enemy spends almost all their energy trying to prevent you from realising and walking in your position. They want to steal from you. They want to sickify you. They want you to be discouraged. They want you to be sad. They want you to be passionate with whatever you want to be passionate with. They want you to be slaved to a system of debt. They want you to be slaved to religious rules and standards of behaviour that are more onerous that all the Halakhah in Judaism (the laws and ordinances that have evolved since biblical times to regulate religious observances, the conduct, and the daily life of the Jewish people).

You are the BLOOD BOUGHT, hand crafted, new creatures that God has chosen for His VERY OWN CHILDREN. When we get in trouble in this world, we look to someone bigger than us to help. An older sibling. A parent. A spouse. A boss. A court. A government. Well, WHO IS BIGGER THAN GOD?!?!? We have a heavenly Father who is capable of doing it all, making it all, saying it all, changing it all, and any and everything else you can think of. He has NO LIMITS. We have NOTHING to fear because we are the offspring of the CREATOR.

Stop being scared. Fear is a decision. Choose love. Love is a decision too. Decide to read the Word. Decide to believe it. Decide to live your life by what is found there. It won’t be contrary to good living. It IS good living (John 10:10). It is life unlike anything you’ve known. Spiritually, mentally, and physically. In ALL areas of life. You can be victorious because if you pray according to the will of the Lord you’ll receive what you pray for (Mark 11:24). Find out what GOD wants and pray for it. Be satisfied with your position. Work to improve it by all means, but be SATISFIED. Be honest with yourself. Submit to the Word, submit to the Lord, and use the Word as the final arbiter of all thought, word, action, and argument in your life. If you abide in Jesus in ALL things, He will abide in YOU in ALL THINGS.

There will be NO FEAR where Jesus is. There will be NO SICKNESS where Jesus is. There will be NO LACK where Jesus is. He is the OVERCOMER of ALL THINGS. And NOTHING can separate you from His love, His presence, and the POWER of His BLOOD.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Revelation 5:9

Nothing separates us from the love of God. Not time. Space. Location. The price was paid for all people. Every tribe. Every language. Every people. Every nation. Every single one. There is NOTHING that isn’t covered by that. We can accept it, or we can reject it. IF we accept it, we can accept it in part or in whole. Just as the revelation of God we can only understand in part until we are perfected in Him in heaven (1 Corinthians 13:9–13), so too we can only operate in part here on earth. What can you understand? Do you know anything? Not unless you’ve gotten into the Word and let the Lord educate you with it. If you aren’t knowledgeable in the things of the Lord, you will NOT have the freedom that you could have. It doesn’t make you a bad person. It only makes you a person who may not accept all that is heading our way. Renew your mind. Renew it to the things of God. Build your faith. Strengthen your faith. Make it strong enough to accept the next thing God has to tell you. It isn’t a NEW revelation, it is heavenly commentary on what we have already been given in the Word. But OH what freedom there is. What deliverance the Father wants to work on this earth. Don’t settle for knowing part of it, choose to BE part of it (Isaiah 6:8–13).

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.