Fear No Fear

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

But I desire to have you to be free from cares. He who is unmarried is concerned for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but he who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife.
1 Corinthians 7:32-33 (emphasis added)

First off, Paul is not knocking marriage. He’s simply pointing out that those who are unmarried don’t have the added responsibilities and cares that those who are married to. It doesn’t really matter if we’re talking about a marriage relationship, children, jobs, friendships, or anything else. If the cares of this physical life mount up, our spiritual life will suffer. Paul would see us spared that. Paul would see us living in Jesus first and foremost (Philippians 2:9). In fact, it was our position in Christ that Paul saw when he looked at his fellow believers (1 Corinthians 2:2). We cannot do that unless we embrace atonement. Atonement is action to correct wrongdoing for the purposes of reparation and restitution.

Standing at the door of atonement, is to stand on the brink of infinite possibility. Let go of your insistence that all is impossible and unchangeable (Mark 9:23). You see, Jesus is believing for you. His belief will carry the day if you are abiding in Him. He is our mediator proving us before the Throne (1 Timothy 2:5). God NEVER tests. He PROVES. Testing seeks the answer. Proving demonstrates the answer. Are you repentant? Today, let God PROVE you. The doors of possibility are opening. Will you watch from afar, or will you get close, remove your sandals, and say I AM PRESENT (Exodus 3:4-6).

When we sin, we suffer consequences. We have to live with that sin, which makes space for more sin. Sin weakens our resistance, corrupts us, and puts us in a spiritual box. But sin is finite and transactional. There is a cost to each instance of sin. Only through the proper payment can it be removed. We try to deal with it. Wrongdoing can only be atoned for through suffering and punishment (the judicial system and the Old Covenant — the Law). But it wears us down through the impact of sin. It wears away our capacity for commitment because it is cyclical — which breeds cynicism.

What is legally demanded for sin is atonement through sacrifice. This act voids the impact of sin. But each and every sin – no matter how minuscule – must be atoned for to remove sin’s effects. This impossibility of the human to atone for wrongdoing and remove the impact of sin (preventing it from making space for more sin) is what stares at us across the abyss of repentance. We cannot bridge it because it requires a perfect sacrifice. If we need a sacrifice, we are by definition not perfect, so we cannot provide it or be it.

Enter Jesus. He paid the price for sin. When we accept that the cost was incurred by us but paid by Him, we have the opportunity to submit to the transaction of forgiveness. We know we have truly repented when we no longer do that sin we’re repenting for. Because repentance is taking God’s thoughts on that sin and agreeing with them. Breaking the cycle of sorry by realising and running from sin’s transaction. We must wilfully and purposefully change our mind. When we do that, repentance is present. When repentance is present, we’re able to accept forgiveness, which enables the Father to wash us clean with Jesus’ blood (1 John 1:9–10, Romans 10:9–11). We get redeemed from the Law of sin and death into life and grace (Romans 8:1–2).

Repentance through Jesus is a divine gift making the impossible possible. The bridge by which we can cross the chasm of sin transformed from our unrighteousness to His Righteousness through the table of His sacrifice (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). Through our journey over the table, we seek the face of the Father. When we seek Him, He seeks us and helps us achieve the process of redemptive transformation that He called us to (Isaiah 36:25-26). We become new creations (2 Corinthians 5:16-17) who will one day walk in the perfection that was the plan (Genesis 1:26-27) and will be our reality in Heaven. What we have NOW is HIS spirit inside us opening the redemptive door and prayer doors 24/7 year round (1 Corinthians 3:16).

When you shift from the impossible to the possible, you create the possibility of doing that which seems impossible (Luke 1:37). The door of redemption never closes because the Blood of Jesus is ever on the Mercy Seat (Romans 3:19-26). For believers, the door of prayer never closes. For believers, the door of prayer is never closed because He to whom we pray lives inside us (1 John 4:12). When we’re alienated from the Lord, the alienation itself tends to drive us farther from the Lord (book of Jonah). If you find yourself feeling this way, make all efforts you can to repent, and seek His face. Break the cycle by walking through the door into His waiting arms.

Remember: it’s a door. Not a wall or a vault. Easy to get through. The challenge is deciding to turn the knob, push it open, and walk through. And here we come to today’s verse again. When you are in relationships, they can take on an importance that is hard to ignore. Because they are RIGHT THERE. They want your attention. You want to give your attention. Have kids together and it seems that alone time dissipates like smoke in a hurricane. It isn’t that you regret them or the time, but.. well… Everyone needs to unplug and have time to recharge. Recharge ourselves. Recharge our relationships. There are hundreds of thousands of books about it. Tens of thousands of hours of seminars. Advice available (asked for and not) from everyone you know. How easy it is in the face of that to forget the Lord.

Again, Paul is NOT saying DON’T get married. Paul is saying how much easier it is to maintain focus on the Lord without distractions. No one can deny the truth of this. Jesus made it a bit of a refrain because we NEED to hear it again and again and AGAIN. “But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). “A man’s foes will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me isn’t worthy of me. He who doesn’t take his cross and follow after me isn’t worthy of me. He who seeks his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:36-39). “Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments”” (Matthew 22:37-40).

What did King David say about this? “One thing I have asked of Yahweh, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in Yahweh’s house all the days of my life, to see Yahweh’s beauty, and to inquire in his temple” (Psalm 27:4). David had a few wives, a lot of kids, a kingdom to rule, and many things to take his attention away. But he strove to put the LORD first. He didn’t always make it, but he worked at it every day. Can you say the same? And can you see how it would be easier without a lot of what life makes up for us? Don’t throw it all away. Instead, follow David’s example and make time for the Lord before (Psalm 5:3), during (Deuteronomy 6:7), and after the rest (Isaiah 26:9). It might be a sacrifice, but the Lord appreciates sacrifice (Mark 12:41-44). Especially that which comes from the love of Him (Deuteronomy 11:1, John 14:15).

We need to seek the LORD above all. We need to put the LORD before all. We need to look to the LORD always. Start your day with Him. End your day with Him. And pray without ceasing in a running conversation in your heart, mind, and mouth so that He is part of every part of your day (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). It makes the rest of the day easier because of the toolbox we have when we abide in Jesus (Galatians 5:22-23). When the Holy Spirit provides your words (Luke 12:12), they aren’t idle and don’t hurt others. When we’re walking the path the Word is illuminating (Psalm 119:105-106), we walk boldly into good decisions and His blessing.

If the Lord is first, it is easier to see where we have stepped wrong. To meditate on it, get the mind of the Lord on it from the Word, let Him renew our thinking, and decide to reject that wrongdoing through repentance. To stand on the Word and reject all that is wrong in God’s eyes. It is even easier without life’s encumbrances, but even when we are living life the Lord guides us – in fact, He makes that life we live so abundant we are a blessing to all those close to us and whom we encounter. Either way you slice it – solo or group – the LORD provides all that is good. He’s a GOOD Father. He’s a MERCIFUL Father. Seek His face and let Him renew your mind with the Word so that you call good what HE calls good and turn from what HE calls bad. Period.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Psalm 119:108

God loves us because He teaches us His mind. That means that we need to be open to accepting correction. We need to be open to altering our thinking. Learning to call sin what HE calls sin. No matter what we FEEL. No matter what we have REASONED. No. To stand on the Holiness of His Word and run our thinking, our moral system, our actions, our words, and our lives by the principles that the Lord lays out. The Holy Spirit is the tool by which the Lord can guide us into and through the Word so that our minds get renewed to those things we were created to have (Genesis 1:26-27). In Jesus, it is possible because Jesus does the hard parts. But we need to decide to agree. We need to decide to humble ourselves. In EVERYTHING. We need to open our minds to what HE says is possible, not what WE think is possible. Don’t be held back by religious thinking. Don’t be held back by worldly thinking. Unlearn the habits the LORD says are bad. Be willing to submit. It only hurts until you let go. The flesh wants to hang on, but once it’s kicked out the door it can’t do anything to you. Well, yell through the window maybe. But the LORD is where our focus should be. Hear the Word. Read the Word. Pray and LISTEN to what He says. Every day, not just once a year. The doors of possibility are opening. Take off the burdens of fleshly thinking like you’d take off sandals. Meet the LORD in the circumstance He says is possible. He will separate you in Jesus, consecrating you into His purposes. Which is why we were created in the first place: to be worshippers in thought, word, and deed of the Almighty Yahweh God.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.