Fear No Fear

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

The thoughts of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful. The words of the wicked are about lying in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them.
Proverbs 12:5–6 (emphasis added)

The power of words is a startling reality, but once you get ahold of it it’s hard to forget. Though it doesn’t make it any easier to walk in. Just like faith versus fear. When you grasp hold of how EVERYTHING that isn’t faith is fear-based it’s hard to forget. But it can be just as hard to walk in. Take a few minutes to think about what you really say. Honestly. Think of all the sayings, idioms, and slang that you use that are fear-based. The negative comments. The sarcastic angles on things. You will be hard pressed to think of a single say that goes by without you saying something that is fear-based — to someone else or to yourself. Like a cancer, it spreads everywhere that it can.

Just like a cancer, it has to be eliminated. Cut out. Fried. Yes, it will also kill the old man, but that dude is supposed to be dead anyway, right? “For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection; knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin” (Romans 6:5–6). We are not slaves to sin. We are not (current) sinners saved by Grace. We’re FORMER sinners who were saved by Grace. We are the Righteous in Christ, formerly known as sinners. We are renewed, redeemed, restored, and made new. That means there are no chains to sin attached to us. So… we don’t have to sin then. Sounds odd, doesn’t it? But the Word bears it out. “Whoever is born of God doesn’t commit sin, because his seed remains in him, and he can’t sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn’t do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn’t love his brother” (1 John 3:9–10).

Why do we sin then? Because we do. We ALL do (Romans 3:23). Sooner or later, we choose to sin. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we haven’t sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:8–10). We will all sin because we are all not Him. Yes, we have His righteous spirit (1 Corinthians 6:11). We were saved and we are under no condemnation (Romans 8:1). We are completely new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17). Done deal, right? Not quite. “For most certainly in this we groan, longing to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven” (2 Corinthians 5:2). We are still in flesh. We may have a spirit that is sealed and new and in Christ, but the mind must choose to listen to it and tell the flesh to obey. If the mind chooses to listen to the flesh, we will sin. The flesh is a sensation delivery system (good and bad). It doesn’t know ANYTHING. It needs to be dominated by our mind listening to our spirit.

Cain (Genesis 4) had the opportunity to not sin. He could have chosen to learn from his brother. He could have chosen to change his heart toward God. He could have learned what offering really is all about and given an honest one. Instead, he answered the knock of sin and let it in. God warned him about it. God told him not to let it in. God told him to put it down. He didn’t listen. He listened to flesh. He listened to his FEELINGS. And he murdered his brother. And then lied about it — a lie of omission is still a lie, especially when you understand the nuances and context of the question. We are under the same instruction. We are to let sin knock. Let it ring the bell. We are not to open the door. We are to put it down. Black and white. One answer. Nothing else will do. Period.

James 4:7 tells us to submit to God and to resist the devil. That is all that we have to do. We are not doomed to be persecuted by the devil. He’s about as dangerous when we follow that verse as a wet paper bag. Our trouble is that we do not follow that verse. Our trouble is that we decide to compromise. To compromise is to find or follow a way between two extremes. The Lord is RIGHTEOUS. Everything else is unrighteous (Romans 14:23). The only thing in this universe that is righteous is the Lord God Almighty. What about angels? They reflect and inhabit His righteousness. The Body of Christ? They inhabit and reflect His righteousness. The patriarchs? The Jewish people? They were to inhabit and reflect His righteousness — and many did and do. Everything was meant to inhabit and reflect His righteousness. That’s why the great rebellion is called the FALL. We left righteousness behind and fell below our station. We were created a little below God (Psalm 8:5). Angels were below us. Ministering spirits to our needs (Hebrews 1:14). They would have followed our instructions if we did what we were supposed to and only speak the Word of the Lord. We didn’t. We fell. Now they are above us. Not forever, but until we get back to our full place — having learned to only speak the Word of the Lord. Until then they still minster to us, but at the Lord’s sole direction, not ours. We can release them in their God given tasks, but only when the Lord God tells us to.

That leaves us here on earth, operating in the spiritual realm, in a body that can’t see it, feel it, touch it, or understand it. Not a great position. The advice we receive from our spirit is good, just, and direct from the Lord. The advice we receive from our experience, knowledge, the world, our own bodies, and all the learning that could ever be gathered is wicked. That doesn’t mean it is WRONG, just wicked. It is flesh. It is natural. That is not who we are. We can operate at that level, but then we have to deal with the consequences of choosing to live on that level. Why get sick if you don’t have to? Why rely on a job or a paycheque when we can rely on the Lord to make sure the money flows in exchange for our labour? Oh yeah, we are still supposed to work (Genesis 2:15). But we work for the Lord, rely on the Lord, not on the world (Colossians 3:23). It’s a heart attitude and a open eyed understanding of who is giving us what. I will NEVER rely on a company, a group, or an individual to meet my needs. They may sign a paycheque or transfer funds, but it is written by the Lord. “Behold, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, in which he labours under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion. Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor — this is the gift of God. For he shall not often reflect on the days of his life, because God occupies him with the joy of his heart” (Ecclesiastes 5:18–20).

So if we focus on the spirit. If we focus on the Word and find out what it is that the Lord wants for us. What it is that we should be focusing on. If we submit to what we find and stand on the Word. If we don’t whine and beg and kerfuffle, but stand and declare the Word whenever ANYTHING that ISN’T the Word comes up, the devil will flee from us and we will choose not to sin. Sounds like a lot, but it IS possible. What then? IN today’s verse, it shows us. The words of the wicked are about lying in wait for blood. They’re out and about. Lying in wait for blood. Yours? Mine? Naw. For whomever spoke them. Remember, words cannot hurt you unless you are speaking them. Words of the wicked can come at you, but if you speak the Word to them they shatter to nothing and are blown away by the wind of the Holy Spirit like so much chaff. But the wicked who speak them? They have no defence.

The words of the wicked are going to kill them. Cut them, slice them up, chew them up, and spit them out. The wicked are doomed in so many different ways, it’s hard to tell which way will be the one who does it for final and true. Our job is to be a light in this world (Matthew 5:14–16). We are to be a beacon so that the wicked can come to the Hope of the World (1 Timothy 1:1; Titus 2:11–14). What are we to do? “Say these things and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one despise you” (Titus 2:15). If WE are forgiven when we repent of the sins we CHOSE to do once the realisation hits that they were sin (1 John 1:9–10). If WE are given the tools to enact restoration, deal with the consequences, and learn to move our thinking into God’s thinking so that we do NOT commit that sin again (Luke 17:3–4; Acts 3:19, 17:30). If that happens for US, then HOW MUCH MORE will the Lord’s Grace abound for the wicked who choose to repent?? “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).

How can they repent if they don’t hear the message? How can they hear the message if we don’t tell them? How will they understand the power of the message if we are busy hating on each other, engaging in strife, arguing and treating the world like trash, and avoiding everything with our noses up in the air? Jesus NEVER compromised. Jesus NEVER engaged with wickedness or sin. Jesus NEVER… He never acted like we so often do. He didn’t treat anyone badly. He wasn’t rude. He wasn’t judgmental. He wasn’t cruel. He wasn’t smug. He wasn’t superior. He was LOVE. And He calls us to be the same (John 13:34). If we treat the wicked with the same love and respect that Jesus did — calling a spade a spade, not taking it and sliding it up our sleeve — then the wicked will hear the WORD OF THE LORD. The Good News that God isn’t mad at them. That God made a way for them. That they don’t have to stay dead, but can come up out of that grave of deadness and wicked words. They can be saved from what they sowed. That’s huge.

We can be part of that. We can be that blessing to them by doing what the Lord says, when He says, and how He says. The Words of the Lord which come through our mouths and our lives and our actions and deeds, and that WORD will save them from their wicked words. Jesus saves. The Jesus in you and the Jesus in me. We are His ambassadors. We are His children. We are His brothers and sisters. We are His and He is ours (Psalm 95:6–7). Let’s share Him and help to save this world from wicked words with THE Word.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Psalm 100:3

We are the people of God. That’s a great feeling. Know what? We’re the adoptive kids. We were scooped up by the heavenly children’s services branch. We are the ones who were placed in foster homes. We are the ones who were disadvantaged and abandoned by our birth parents. I’m not putting anyone down. This is simply the truth. If you are reading this or hearing this and you are not a Jew, then you are adopted. We shouldn’t have had to rely on the various voices of blessed Gentile preachers and teachers. We should have been listening to Rabbis explaining this whole thing — in the model of Matthew, Mark, John, Peter, and Paul. And nothing has really changed. If you think you’re going to get to heaven and Paul won’t have anything new to tell you, you’re mistaken. The Jews have eaten, drank, and lived Covenant in a way we simply do NOT understand since Abraham first walked the world. That isn’t to say they didn’t miss it here and there. But so do we. We are not replacements for them. When the rapture happens — whenever that is — EVERYONE who believes in Jesus will head up to meet Him in the clouds. Jew AND Gentile. We’re all the Body of Christ. It isn’t a Jewish body. It isn’t a Gentile body. It is JESUS’ body. It is a unique and new thing that includes us ALL (Galatians 3:28). Never forget that. We are ALL in Christ. Guess what? There will be Gentiles that miss the rapture. There will be Jews that miss the rapture. But the Lord is MERCIFUL and will keep a remnant safe. We are all the same. We might not look the same. We might not have the same culture. But across this globe are people of all races who worship the Lord God Yahweh Almighty. Who are IN Jesus. Who Jesus is IN. We all have the same Holy Spirit. And we are all praying for one another — or we should be. Don’t get caught up in political lines and descriptions. Pray for one another. Jew and Gentile. Slave and free. Male and female. We are ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS. God loves us ALL. Amen.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.