Fear No Fear

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

To do this you must hold firmly to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck in regard to the faith.
1 Timothy 1:16 (emphasis added)

Trust (faith) is the mechanism that moves the Kingdom. Like the gears in a watch move the hands. If you want to tell accurate time on a watch, the gears have to move. If you want to receive from the Kingdom, trust needs to operate. Trust is a VITAL part of our lives as believers. “Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). Without trust, nothing works. With trust, we are in a position to have all things. This is a principle true in the New Covenant, true under the Law, true before the Law, and even true in the Garden. Holding firmly to our trust keeps us firmly in a relationship with Elohim. It is the cornerstone to our standing on THE Cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20-22).

Abraham is considered the Father of the Jewish people. Certainly the Father of their faith. Abraham is admired because he was obedient to Elohim. That is certainly true, although like us all he missed it in a couple of places. But I think that he is much more remarkable for his TRUST. Abraham didn’t have the written Word to teach Him trust. He didn’t even have the Law to show him a need for Adonai. All Abraham had was spoken words from Adonai. No proof beyond the communication. No evidence of anything occurring – not right away, anyway. He thought about the words (he must have) and considered them (what else could he do?) and chose to believe that they were worth trusting. Then he hung onto that and didn’t let go. Yes, he tried to make the promise of a child happen in his own strength, but by and far Abraham simply trusted and waited for fulfilment – being satisfied with what he had at the time. “You, my servant Israel, Jacob, whom I have chosen, offspring of Abraham my friend” (Isaiah 41:8). “Our God, you drove out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and gave it as a permanent possession to the descendants of your friend Abraham” (2 Chronicles 20:7). Abraham didn’t have dead trust. He had ACTIVE trust. When needed, he did the things that Adonai asked him to. He asked clarifying questions. He wondered when they would physically arrive. But when the time came to respond to Adonai’s words with action, Abraham acted. His works matched his trust, and both were motivated by his belief. “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? You see that his faith was working together with his works and his faith was perfected by works. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Now Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness” and he was called God’s friend” (James 2:21-23). It was all about his trust in Adonai.

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going. By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, he received the ability to procreate because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. So in fact children were fathered by one man—and this one as good as dead—like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand on the seashore” (Hebrews 11:8-12). Abraham’s wife Sarah ALSO had to have trust in the promises of Adonai. She came along for the journey. She stood behind him. She also missed it here and there trying to make things happen on their timetable, their way, by their own power, but who hasn’t done THAT? It’s a frequent human failing. They DID trust. It could not have happened if they did not. And they trusted regardless of what was in front of their eyes or what had happened in the past according to human experience. “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son. God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,” and he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense he received him back from there” (Hebrews 11:17-19). Abraham trusted BEFORE he set out with Isaac. He was SO SURE of the promise at this point, that even death would not hold back its fulfilment. We see this when he instructed his servants to wait for himself and Isaac who would BOTH return after worshipping Adonai. “So he said to his servants, “You two stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go up there. We will worship and then return to you.”” (Genesis 22:5). Abraham totally trusted that his flesh and blood child would be his heir. That is what he had been promised (Genesis 15:4). This is separate from the Messianic promise of a descendant (Genesis 12:1) which was fulfilled in Messiah Jesus. Abraham was promised a physical heir from his own body. Isaac was that child. Therefore, no matter WHAT happened, Isaac would be alive to inherit from Abraham. Abraham was THAT sure of it. No evidence of anyone being raised from the dead, but Abraham was sure it would happen. They were going to go up the mountain, Isaac would die, then get raised, and then they BOTH would come back again. THAT is trust. And it was all based on the WORDS that Adonai spoke.

Abraham held FIRMLY to his promises. He didn’t see the fulfilment of all of them. He only saw 1.25 fulfilled. Isaac, flesh from his body became his heir. And he got a plot of land that he owned (Genesis 23:17-20). It was a piece that was HIS, which was a tiny fulfilment of Adonai’s promise that all the land would be Abraham’s and Abraham’s descendants (Genesis 13:14-17). His son didn’t see the fulfilment. It didn’t get fulfilled for hundreds of years (430 years from the promise plus the 40 years wandering in the desert due to lack of belief – Galatians 3:17-18; Joshua 5:6). Abraham’s trust and belief that his trust was well-founded did not waiver. THAT is the kind of trust that made him Elohim’s friend. Because he TRUSTED. Trust is the floor our relationship is built on. Love is the foundation that the floor is laid on. Belief are the walls that hold up the roof, which is our covenant in Jesus with the Father. If WE want to have the same kind of relationship, we need to do what Abraham did: first trust, and second to hold FIRMLY to that trust.

It is so easy NOT to hold firmly. We’re warned about it by Jesus. “Other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. When the sun came up it was scorched, and because it did not have sufficient root, it withered. Other seed fell among the thorns, and they grew up and choked it, and it did not produce grain” (Mark 4:5-7). Each group had its own issues that led to their releasing their grip on their trust in Jesus. “These are the ones sown on rocky ground: As soon as they hear the word, they receive it with joy. But they have no root in themselves and do not endure. Then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away. Others are the ones sown among thorns: They are those who hear the word, but worldly cares, the seductiveness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it produces nothing” (Mark 4:16-19). We have to hold FIRMLY and not let things pry our fingers off our trust. We need to make sure that we are grounded in the Word, letting it transform our mind, and then being obedient to what we find there, taking it and applying it to our daily walk. We need to make sure that our eyes are on Jesus so that we can rest in what He has accomplished instead of letting the things in this world that we face get us discouraged, stressed, and despondent. We need to invest in a relationship with Ruach HaKodesh, Jesus, and the Father, so that we don’t start looking at human thinking about physical things and think they make more sense than what Adonai has shown us. If Abraham had looked only at the human things around him, he could NEVER have been willing to sacrifice his son. The benefit of resting in Adonai is that everything becomes possible since HE is doing it, not us.

Adonai Elohim calls Himself I AM. That is present tense success, future tense success, and past tense accomplishment providing that success. It is not a name that means He has more to do. Or that He needs to be doing things right now. His WORKS are accomplished. Jesus agreed to go to the cross before Creation. Once Creation was created, everything was ready to go. The stage set. The actions of redemption and victory began. Adonai was able to REST because everything was going as He saw and every ‘i’ was dotted and every ‘t’ crossed. He even slashed every Aelph (a Hebrew letter with a diagonal in the middle). He then RESTED in His ACCOMPLISHMENTS and waited for their physical arrival. This was YAHWEH’S trust. THIS is the trust He gives us (Mark 11:22). In the same way that the Jew got the Sabbath from the Law, those in Messiah Jesus (Jew and Gentile) get our Sabbath from our trust in what He has done. If we let go of that trust, we’ll let go of our rest. If we have no rest, we’ll be tossed around by the storms and circumstances of life because we’re trying to rest while not resting (James 1:8).

Without rest in Jesus, based on our trust in the Word, which is the will of the Father and instructions on how to be in harmony with Him, we will NOT make it very far in our walk as believers. It is the WORD that lights our path. It is Ruach HaKodesh who corrects, guides, comforts, and helps us remember who we are in Jesus. It is Jesus who did the work and allows us to use His authority. It is the Father who loves us and is the source of ALL things we need in life. When we rest, we are being obedient. When we’re not resting, we’re taking control of something – an emotion, a situation, a way of thinking, or a way of speaking – instead of leaving it in the hands of Jesus where it belongs. Things might not go how we as individuals think it should. But when we are obedient they will go the way that is best for all the people who are touched or will be touched by the situation we find ourselves in. This is the witness we are to the world. This is the light that shines out from us. Obedient relationship with Adonai Elohim. Humble submission to who He is. Acceptance of the truth of His Nature and a desire to be as much like Him as we can be – which is what we were created to be (Genesis 1:26). Our resting shows that we cannot do it. We’re weary. We’re overloaded. We don’t have it in us to succeed. So we rest in the harness and let Him do it for us and through us. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry” (Matthew 11:28-30). Our rest is letting ourselves get under His yoke. The same yoke Jesus is under. The will of the Father.

We aren’t the strongest, He is. But in Him, we get access to His strength. Our resting because of our weakness enables His strength to shine through and do the things (2 Corinthians 12). It is His free gift to us. Without it, we have no real rest. Without trusting in Him, we have no way to rest because we’ll be worried about how to survive and accomplish what we need to. We MUST trust that He is telling the truth, that He can do what He says, that He accomplished all things, and that He gives good gifts as a reward to those who love Him (Hebrews 11:6). If we hold firmly to our trust, we retain all the benefits of our salvation. If we have that, we retain eternal life: relationship with the Father. Hold onto your trust and never, EVER let anything get between you and it. It isn’t worth it. Not even a little.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Hosea 13:14

“Will I deliver them from the power of Sheol? No, I will not! Will I redeem them from death? No, I will not! O Death, bring on your plagues! O Sheol, bring on your destruction! My eyes will not show any compassion!” Messiah would defeat death. The Suffering Servant would die. Paying the price for sin (Genesis 2:16-17). But He would NOT remain in the grave (Psalms 16:10-11). Messiah would be resurrected to life. ““Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). Jesus died for us, but He did NOT stay dead. He was resurrected to life and seen by five hundred people (1 Corinthians 15:5-8). These people were not keeping secrets, but vocal about what they saw and many were still alive at the time it was written down as a witness. Jesus is alive today. Jesus IS the Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

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

Matthew 16:16b