Fear No Fear

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

“And other seed fell in the midst of the thorn plants, and the thorn plants grew up with it and choked it. . . . “ And the seed that fell into the thorn plants—these are the ones who hear and as they go along are choked by the worries and riches and pleasures of life, and they do not bear fruit to maturity.“

Luke 8:7; 14

These verses are also covered in Matthew 13:7; Mark 4:7 and Matthew 13:22; Mark 4:18-19. The third kind of receiving is FOCUSED receiving. According to a recent study, children have an attention span of about 29 seconds, young adults about 76 seconds, and older adults about 67 seconds. That’s not a lot of time. But that is UNINTENTIONAL attention. FOCUSED attention in human beings is much longer. Like HOURS longer. We have a great capacity for sustained intentional attention. No matter how LONG we focus, however, there is only so much we can focus on at once. And whatever we focus on is whatever is going to make it through the dust on the ground and into the soil underneath. The question then becomes, what are you planting?

Fruitfulness in our spirit will only come when we are intentionally planting the Word. We need to take the Fruit of HIS Ruach and plant it in our own. That takes time. That takes intent. That takes a lot of things that maybe we aren’t taking the effort to do. Lackadaisical efforts mean haphazard results. There is nothing worse than needing your fruit grove and finding half a cucumber, two lopsided oranges, a kumquat and a potato where there SHOULD be an orchard of heavy-laden trees. We have to have careful efforts full of intent and godly purpose if we want to succeed at receiving the Word. We need to make sure we are planting correctly. That takes time. But how much time are we letting ourselves have?

I’m sure you’re familiar with not having time. You don’t have it for this. You don’t have it for that. But you do have it for social media or your favourite TV show or game. And then there’s the chores, the bills, the driving around, the necessary shopping, and the other things of life that are all part of simply living in our current society. Thing is, none of these things have to be bad. The entertainment could be ALL godly content. The things of life could be necessary chores, bills, and upkeep that we do as good stewards. These things do NOT need to be sinful, harmful, or even mildly dangerous. The point isn’t how BAD or GOOD they are. The point is the TIME they take. The decisions we make to PRIORITIZE them over the Word. Over Adonai. Over our SPIRITUAL lives. Physical life is the life we see most clearly, but that is because we’re using physical eyes. Our spiritual lives are much more important, much more vital, but they can only be seen by our spiritual eyes. Our FOCUS needs to be more on Adonai and less on ourselves and what surrounds us (2 Corinthians 4:18). Yet we need both. We prosper in the spirit so that we are able to prosper (in every way, this isn’t just money) in the physical.

We can all see that we need to pay attention to some natural things here on this Earth. That’s how to be a good steward. That’s how to help others. That’s how to bless. That’s how to raise the next generation. But what we need is proper balance. Balance between work and family and recreation and the Word. In ourselves? That’s impossible. But WITH Adonai, it IS possible (Matthew 19:26). How we achieve it is by resting in Jesus (John 15:5). Letting HIM call the shots. Letting HIM give us His point of view on everything in our lives. Having a relationship with Him. Having a relationship with Ruach HaKodesh our guide, comforter, and teacher.

Ruach HaKodesh will TELL US when we are giving something too much attention. He will CORRECT US when we aren’t giving the Word its proper place or we aren’t worshipping as we should be. We should be FOCUSING on Adonai, through Ruach HaKodesh, so that we always have Jesus in our crosshairs – no matter WHAT else is going on. “Brothers, I do not consider myself to have laid hold of it. But I do one thing, forgetting the things behind and straining toward the things ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). When Jesus is what we focus on, everything else becomes so much clearer AND more manageable. It is through that CHOSEN focus that we receive.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Philippians 3:15

“Therefore as many as are perfect, let us hold this opinion and if you think anything differently, God will reveal this also to you.”  We don’t always get it right. Sometimes, we can be downright thick. But Adonai KNOWS that. He made us, He saw us Fall, and He has been carrying us ever since. He doesn’t keep things we need to know from us. He likes to share (James 1:5). He doesn’t get tight lipped (Amos 3:7). He doesn’t tell us things that would cause us issues (like knowing exactly when Jesus was returning). He DOES share what we DO need to know. Gladly. Without judgment. When we think wrongly, He wants us to know the Truth. Objective truth. THE truth. Adonai will reveal it to us. Ruach HaKodesh will TELL us. Every time. All we need to do is to ask, listen, and spend time with Him. He WILL tell us. What a GOOD God He is!

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