Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the NET, netbible.org, all rights reserved)

Now they understand that everything you have given me comes from you, because I have given them the words you have given me. They accepted them and really understand that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I am praying on behalf of them. I am not praying on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those you have given me because they belong to you.
John 17:7-9 (emphasis added)

aléthós (al-ay-thoce’) ginóskó (ghin-oce’-ko), or really understand. The meaning of the Greek words is: truly, really, certainly, surely, or demonstrably valid and I am taking in knowledge, come to know, learn; I ascertained, realised; especially from personal experience. Jesus is saying that His disciples ascertained from personal experience that what Jesus said and did was demonstrably valid. THAT is the level of trust that they had, which enabled them to believe everything that wasn’t demonstrated, but equally stated, as true. This was trust that was functional. This was trust that marked them as belonging to Adonai Elohim Almighty. This was the kind of trust that enabled them to receive from their Source: the Father. It will – and does – do the same thing for us, since we ALSO are disciples of Messiah Jesus.

Our roadmap here is very simple. In order for our trust (faith) to function, we have to make sure (ascertain) from our personal experience that Jesus can do what He says He can do. If we make sure that ONE thing is true, we can trust that the OTHER things are true. We have all had the salvation experience. We all have seen the changes in ourselves that mark that experience. Therefore, we ALL have ONE THING that we can say is true: Jesus saved us. Now if He saved us and we can demonstrate that to ourselves by seeing the change in ourselves (sometimes a feeling and sometimes another change like how we speak, act, or think), we KNOW that Jesus speaks the truth. “Then Pilate said, “So you are a king!” Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world—to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”” (John 18:37). “Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). “Your justice endures, and your law is reliable [or truth]” (Psalm 119:142). “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us insight to know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This one is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20).

There is a LOT in the Word about promises. Promises to us, promises for us, promises, promises, promises – there are over 3,000 for sure and some put it at over 7,000 and others at a very specific 8,810. Any way you look at it, that is a LOT of promises. A promise is defined as ‘a declaration that one will do or refrain from doing something specified; or a legally binding declaration that gives the person to whom it is made a right to expect or to claim the performance or forbearance of a specified act’. We live in a world of broken promises. Do a search for promises and you will see MANY more web pages dedicated to BROKEN promises than FULFILLED promises. When dealing with ANY promise in the Word, we automatically come with a bias that it won’t be kept. Only 54% of people keep promises in any way that is trackable (like repaying a specific amount of money, mail a specific thing, etc), and the number grows depending on how abstract the promise is. But Yahweh KEEPS His promises. “And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy” (Hebrews 10:23). “The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). “For every one of God’s promises are “Yes” in him; therefore also through him the “Amen” is spoken, to the glory we give to God” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Since we can expect Adonai to keep the promises He makes, and since there are so many promises in the Word, and since we KNOW that Jesus speaks the truth and since He IS the Word; we know that the Word speaks truth. We can take any one of those promises and study it out. We can find out who is applies to, what restrictions there are with it, and can evaluate with the guidance of Ruach HaKodesh to see if it applies to ourselves. If it does, we can claim it, declare it, choose to trust that Adonai will do His part, actively do our part, and believe it will physically arrive. It can be a small thing. It can be a not so small thing. This will be a process by which we grow our trust, confirm our belief, and have an experiential knowledge that Adonai keeps the promises of the Word. We can take one delivered promise and trust that He will deliver them all. This is how everything works. We grow from one thing to another until we are all wholly fulfilled in Messiah Jesus. “And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

It is the WORD that makes our trust something we can depend on. Abraham is considered one of the Fathers of Trust (Faith). He had words spoken to Him by Adonai. He spent YEARS considering them, meditating on them, and then choosing to believe them. To trust them. But he did it so much, he was unshakeable in his trust. Take the promise of a natural child. It didn’t matter if his life experience said it wasn’t true – Adonai had said it would be true. It didn’t matter what other people said about it – Adonai had said it would be true. His wife was past the age where she could have children (we can suppose she had passed through menopause). When she had been in her childbearing years, she had been barren. So this was doubly impossible. And yeah, they made mistakes along the way (Hagar, for example, Genesis 16:1-16). But they got so firm about it, they would not take no from ANYONE. Result? They had a child. The two of them. Both over a hundred years old. Natural child who was breast-fed. That was a lot of trust, but it was developed over many years, and it was not shakeable.

We don’t have to start with a child in old age, stage four cancer, or provision for all our bills overnight. We can start small. Provision for today’s food. Safety while we travel. Remembrance of all the things needed while we shop. A parking space that won’t cause us issues. As we see these small things coming to pass day by day, we can start believing in larger promises. And larger. And larger. Always looking at Word-based promises that apply to us. Always doing those things that are required of us in relation to the promises (sometimes it is obedience, sometimes it is a specific act, sometimes it is a mindset). Always applying them in the ways they were meant to be applied – which takes both study and listening to Ruach HaKodesh. This is how we take our trust from being intellectual to being functional. Baby steps. Like a toddler learning to toddle. Like a baby learning to speak. It might not be impressive to the outsider, but it WILL be impressive and a delight to Adonai.

The disciples didn’t always get it right either. They had a clear command to cross the lake (Matthew 8:23-27). When we are given a command, we are empowered to do what is required to fulfil the command. So the disciples could have commanded the weather to cease or not to impede them. They had been given the authority to do anything that didn’t violate Elohim’s will to get across that lake. It was the Father’s will that Jesus minister over on the other side. Jesus delegated the responsibility for transportation to His disciples. They could have commanded the weather because JESUS commanded the weather when they dropped the trust ball. We will sometimes drop the trust ball, too. Jesus will be there when we do. Ruach HaKodesh will be there as well. We will NOT be left alone (John 14:18). We will also be given opportunities again and again to exercise our trust. To develop our belief. And to reject doubt – doubt it NOT ours, it comes from the outside to steal our opportunities from us (Matthew 13:4).

When we REALLY UNDERSTAND then we will BELIEVE and we will TRUST that belief. It doesn’t take much (Matthew 17:20-21). But it HAS TO BE HONEST. We can’t fool Adonai (Jeremiah 17:10). The Word MUST be mixed with honest trust for it to work in our lives (Hebrews 4:2). Adonai gave us His trust (Mark 11:22) and we KNOW that He ONLY has good things (James 1:17). We need to use it. We need to grow it. It is MEANT to be functional. We know from being saved that it works. That He is real and He says things that are true. We know we can count on Him. We know we can stand on His Word. We know it and we can know it by experience after experience after experience. This isn’t just for us, but it also is the basis of our testimony to others. A way to point to Jesus and say look what HE did. It is one of the ways we SHINE out to the world as a witness. It is one of the ways we gain opportunity to share the Gospel.

Functional trust is not just something we need, it is our RIGHT. It is our PRIVILEGE. It is one of the markers by which WE and others know that we belong to Adonai Elohim. It is a FAMILY trait. And WE – through our salvation – have become part of the family of Elohim. “But to all who have received him—those who believe in his name—he has given the right to become God’s children—children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband’s decision, but by God” (John 1:12-13). Exercise your trust and watch it grow day by day from something that seems like a seedling into something that can sustain all the birds of the air that Adonai brings your way (Matthew 13:32).

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Jeremiah 30:9

“But they will be subject to the Lord their God and to the Davidic ruler whom I will raise up as king over them.” Messiah would be born a king. Fully God, fully human, and born a king of the Line of David. “Then Pilate said, “So you are a king!” Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world—to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”” (John 18:37). “and from Jesus Christ—the faithful witness, the firstborn from among the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has set us free from our sins at the cost of his own blood” (Revelation 1:5). “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in the time of King Herod, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem saying, “Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”” (Matthew 2:1-2). Jesus was born a king – spiritually and physically. Recognised by other countries. Recognised by rulers. Proclaimed into the role by Yahweh. Born of the Line of David through both adopted father (making Him legally a descendant) and mother (by blood). Jesus was and is a king. Jesus IS Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

Yeshua is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Matthew 16:16b