Fear No Fear

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

“Jesus said to her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.“

John 4:26

Jesus said a lot about who He was. He talked about being the Messiah, though it was not yet the hour for Him to be Conquering King. He talked about being the Son of God. He talked about being I AM. He talked about being God (One with the Father). He talked about being the beginning and the ending of all things. In fact, Jesus talked so much about who He was that it can be confusing. Or easy to dismiss as hyperbole and poetic language. Figurative, but not literal. Other times it’s easy to forget about. Jesus becomes an abstract idea instead of a person. The problem with that is that when troubles come on us we start to reach out to Him as a tool, a life preserver, and not a person. Not a personality able to interact with us. Which always leads to forgetting about relationship and considering Adonai as some kind of cosmic toolbox designed so that we can grab what we need to get out of where we are. This is the WRONG attitude. We need reminding of what RELATIONSHIP means and with WHOM we have it.

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name—that one will teach you all things, and will remind you of everything that I said to you” (John 14:26). Ruach HaKodesh is our reminder. The mechanism by which Adonai makes sure we cannot say that ‘we forgot’. That’s my kids’ favourite excuse. Oh. I forgot. Whoops. I forgot. Ohhhhhhh, yeahhh… I forgot. I particularly love and am frustrated by it when it comes to morning devotions. For three years now, every single day of the year, they are to wake up, bathe, and then read the daily Word portion OR wake up, read the daily Word portion, and bathe – depending on whether or not the bathroom is free when they wake up. The daily Word portion is written on a white board attached to a door that they face whenever they leave the hallway and enter the living portion of our home. It is LITERALLY before their faces every single morning. Yet on a regular basis when we gather for first meal and I ask ‘You’ve all read the bible today?’ There will come an ‘oh… I forgot’. They’ve been reminded for one thousand and ninety-five days in a row, but they ‘forgot’. Makes me roll my eyes inside AND laugh. We’re all the same way. How many times throughout our lives do we read the Word, read something about Jesus, get touched, and then forget it. Later we come across it again and we say ‘Oh, yeah. I forgot’. It MUST make Adonai laugh, even as He shakes His head. Because it always means the same thing. That we have NOT been listening to Ruach HaKodesh. We have not been listening to the reminders of what Jesus said about Himself.

The first time in the gospel of John that Jesus identifies with the I AM who revealed Himself in a burning bush to Moses (Exodus 3:14) is with the woman at the well in Samaria. This I AM statement means that Jesus was identifying as so much more than only the Messiah (already a BOLD claim). Jesus also does this during His trial as recorded by Peter in Mark 14:61-62: “But he was silent and did not reply anything. Again the high priest asked him and said to him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”” The Pharisees wanted to know if Jesus claimed to be Mashiach, Ben-HaM’vorakh, the Messiah Son of the Blessed One – and Jesus said yes. That was enough for the Pharisees to scream blasphemy and call for His execution. But here with the Samaritan woman, Jesus was pointing to so much more.

On the surface, Jesus revealed to her that He was, in fact, the Messiah (John 4:25-26). That was phenomenal and huge. But Jesus phrased it as being I AM He. Jesus was identifying with Adonai Himself. The One who Was. Past, present, and future. He will be who He is who He will be. This is not the only time Jesus will say this. And it is important because right from the very beginning the plan was simple: The Son of God with thorns on His head hangs on a tree as a gift to give covenant; beginning by creating the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1; Revelation 13:8). Jesus was identifying Himself with that. With His divinity (John 3:13; Proverbs 30:4). With that sacrifice that was needed to cleanse Sin, instead of covering it. Jesus was identifying as the ONLY way to truly be SAVED.

We know Jesus as Saviour. We sometimes struggle to accept His position as Lord and Sovereign in our lives. And it is easy to forget that being salvation for us is not a one-time thing. Instead, it is a lifestyle of freeing us from bondage through giving us the keys HE made to unlock the chains WE placed on ourselves or let others place on us. He took the first away, the one we didn’t pick – our sinful nature. Now we have to live in constant retraining of our minds to His truth, His point of view, and His moral compass/scale. We do that DAILY (Matthew 16:24-26). Which means Jesus is I AM for us DAILY. An ongoing process from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18 ) which requires our remembrance (Mark 14:22-25) of WHO He is and what He accomplished for us and continues to offer to us in every area of our lives: spirit, soul, and body. HE IS and through Ruach HaKodesh, He is CONSTANTLY speaking to us. About Himself and about who we are in Him. By hearing and applying what we hear, we get to know Him better.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Matthew 26:23

“And he answered and said, “The one who dips his hand in the bowl with me—this one will betray me” Jesus had known for some time who would betray Him. He also knew those among His disciples (all the disciples, not just the Twelve) who wouldn’t believe in Him. Jesus didn’t change His behaviour. He still taught them. Still ate with them. Still fellowshipped with them. Still LOVED them. He didn’t change what was happening on HIS side of things in the hope that they would all choose differently on THEIR side of things. Jesus ALWAYS meets us where we are and ALWAYS calls us to be somewhere else: with Him. On His side. Not just seeing His point of view, but EMBRACING it. Living it. Cooperating with Him fully and completely in humble submission. Jesus never stops. He went right to the line with Judas and He’ll go right to the line with each and every one of us. THAT is how much He loves us. What a GOOD God!

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