Fear No Fear

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

You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
James 5:8 (emphasis added)

This isn’t ordinary patience. Like waiting for the light on the waffle iron to turn on. Or for the kettle to boil. Or the light to change. Or your friend to show up. This is crop patience. In the verse before today’s verse it says “Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receives the early and late rain” (James 5:7). One way we can be patient is given in the verse after today’s. “Don’t grumble, brothers, against one another, so that you won’t be judged. Behold, the judge stands at the door” (James 5:9).

We cannot rest in what the Lord has for us if we are full of fear. There are so many ways that He tells us this that we know it is a key principle of the Kingdom. To be patient is to bear pains or trials calmly or without complaint. If we’re not resting in the Lord, that is simply not possible. Fear brings impatience. Fear brings anxiety, panic, and worry. These are not things that are of the Kingdom. Over thirty verses in the Word encourage us to overcome worry and anxiety. Jesus points out several times that they are a CHOICE. Yes, a choice. Sure, the natural fallen world can build on that. Fallen flesh can be twisted, not working the way it was designed to. Sure, the enemy will take advantage of that. Take something small inside you and blow it up into a full-blown condition. Sure, when you choose to pick something up, like is attracted to like. But guess what? Jesus redeemed us from all that. We have NOT been given a spirit that includes fear (2 Timothy 1:7).

When we successfully get the Word into our hearts. When we successfully know things on a HEART LEVEL we can walk in that. Even the world recognises that heart knowledge is different from knowing something with our minds and our knowledge. “Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him; and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). The world tries to connect that knowledge to an intellectual understanding of how humanity is connected. They posit about ancestor connections and nature connections and they ignore – on purpose – true spiritual connection because it is Yahweh God who IS that spiritual connection. “He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23). God put ALL THINGS into subjection to Jesus who IS the all in all of creation itself. God is the Spirit that connects us all and the ONLY spirit that connects us all. We are – in Jesus – connected together and to the Lord God Almighty. This is how we were designed to be.

If we get the message about seedtime and harvest – crop patience – then we will have in our hearts the method by which the Lord does all things. Crop patience does NOT come naturally to me. I plant it and I’m looking for it to sprout the very next day. Once it sprouts, I’m looking for growth. A fair bit. Pretty quick. If it has been a month and I don’t have a harvest, I’m disappointed. None of this is logical. Not even a little bit. I mean, when I plant things I know it’s weeks of germination. Months of growth. And in the end it has been anywhere from sixty to ninety days for the quicker crops. Up to a hundred and eighty days for others. During those days I’m not pulling it up and ruining it. I am watering it. Checking for pests and removing them. I’m making sure the soil is taken care of. Sometimes adding in nutrients. Making sure that the seed is in the best conditions for it, cared for, watched over, and ready to do whatever is necessary to make sure that it makes a crop. Most of the process is automatic. So, my main job is not to mess it up. Not to do things that are a detriment to that seed and the plant coming from it.

It works the same way with the things of faith. Our faith is strengthened and deepened by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). That is the ‘nutrients’ that build our faith. That keeps it from atrophying. If there is an aspect of the Kingdom that you need more light on (healing, praying, work, entertainment, breaking poverty, etc), the Word is how we get it. Led by the Holy Spirit, searching out the verses (in context, not cherry picking) that teach on it, and studying them out. Listening to teaching from anointed ministers and teachers about it. Praying into them and listening for commentary by the Holy Spirit. Checking out what we hear and testing it against the Word (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Reading out the Word as a declaration. Moving it from intellectual reading of words to mental understanding of the words to knowledge that drops into and resonates in our hearts. There is a serious difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge. It will hit you and you will FEEL the difference. You should take that feeling and test it, declaring out the Word. When it is heart knowledge it will resonate in your Spirit and you will KNOW that you have moved past believing it to KNOWING it. Doubt will dissipate. Worry will flee. Anxiety will dissolve. Fear can be kicked off your path. You will be walking in the knowledge of the Word of God.

When we are CERTAIN about the Word, then waiting for harvest is nothing at all. There is always a time period. Only the Father knows what it will be. We plant the seed. It must germinate, sprout, grow, and then bear fruit. After that is the harvest. When we are CERTAIN about the Word which we have sown into, the wait for the harvest is as sure as standing on a rock until you have stood on it. We all need to work at this. Keep our faith up and on target to the things God wants us to point it at. This is why getting into the Word on a daily basis with intent to encounter the Lord and submit to what He says in ALL THINGS is so important. It is a commitment that we ALL have to give. Every day. Every way we can. Not from duty, but from sheer love of His Word. There is a preciousness to it that cannot be exaggerated. You can start small, but sooner or later if you are reading from Love of the Lord, it will grab your spirit and you’ll want more. Love it truly enough and you won’t be able to help yourself.

Our heart harvest comes directly from our crop patience. Our crop patience is about the certainty of the expected harvest. We KNOW it will come. We don’t just believe or hope. We KNOW it will come. Harvest ALWAYS happens after sowing. In the time between the two events we rest in our certain expectation. We wait in and on the Love of the Lord. “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good. In love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate to one another; in honor prefer one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, enduring in troubles, continuing steadfastly in prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, and given to hospitality” (Romans 12:9-13). We don’t wait alone. We rest together. We sow and harvest together. We are a group, one body in Christ (Galatians 3:28-29). We encourage each other in our certain hope (Romans 8:25). We don’t let each other put down that boldness. Or put down that faith. We keep each other’s arms up trading off so that none get too weary to do what we are called to do until harvest is come (Exodus 17:12-13).

Take a season and find yourself a local farmer on the web. Look at the pictures posted at their property throughout the year. Do drive-bys of their fields. Watch all the different stages of growth. Realise the time periods and precious care that goes into each and every crop. I know people who would rather watch paint dry than watch corn grow, but I really enjoy driving past corn. Sure, it looks the same most days. There’s just something about the gentle rustle of wind in the corn that is soothing. All the green and yellow and tufts of brown. Realising that each and every silken strand we see at the top of the cob is connected to a kernel inside the protecting husk. The symphony of growth over that long season. It is a great reminder that we may have a skewed idea of time, but the Lord does not. “The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). The Lord knows when the harvest should come in. It will happen. Never forget that and never give into fear on it. The Lord is the Master of the Harvest (Matthew 9:38).

Establish your heart in and on the Word. It is the stable rock on which we can build faithfully (Matthew 7:24-27). Jesus is the Word and the Word is Jesus and they are the only foundation worth anything in this world of ours (1 Corinthians 3:10-15). When we sow deep into our hearts and protect it like our only cash crop able to prepare us for winter, then we will have the heart harvest that the Lord meant for us (2 Corinthians 9:10). You’ll hear a lot about sowing and reaping, planting and harvest in the church and this is a good thing. “While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night will not cease” (Genesis 8:22). Develop your crop patience and protect your crop. Leave the Lord to grow your harvest. He never fails to bring it in. “Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let’s not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season if we don’t give up” (Galatians 6:7-9).

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Genesis 13:14

The Lord will ALWAYS meet you where you are (Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:19). We need to be aware that at the beginning it is also NEVER where He wants you. Until you’re walking WITH HIM you’re not where He wants you. It’s about the journey and process to get to what He is calling you to at this time. It is about the journey and process to get to what He is calling you to in the future. To walk out the fullness of your calling here on this earth and in the Kingdom beyond. He called Abram out from where he was born. Out from where his family was. And into a new country. Once he was there, God told him to look around. There he was in a new place and God met him. Then God told him to look. Not just one place, but all over. In every direction of the compass. The Lord doesn’t seem to deal with single places. He doesn’t seem to deal with small and tiny things. He is a God of WIDE VISION and He calls us to be the same. To be willing to look at ALL THE LAND and agree that if the Lord is giving it, we are enabled to claim it. Jesus came and showed us ALL the Blessing of the Lord. All the victory of the Lord. All the Spirit of the Lord. He called us to it (1 Peter 2:21-25). We’re asked to submit to the Will of the Lord – doing things His way in all things in all ways at all times (Romans 14:23) – because only when in obedience can we wield the Word that we are authorised to use (James 4:7, Hebrews 4:12, Ephesians 6:17). The Lord comes to where we are and asks us to lift our eyes to His possibilities, His dreams, and His vision. With the Holy Spirit and the Word as our guide, there is no end to where we can walk with Him. So lift up your eyes today and see the whole land of His calling.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.