Fear No Fear

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

My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything.
James 1:2-4 (emphasis added)

Shaddai does not tempt us, nor does He send temptation. It isn’t even a question of ‘allowing’ it. We – humanity, as contained in Adam – chose to rebel and gave dominion in this world over to the devil. This world is fallen and completely physical. Like calls to like, so temptations exist naturally due to the nature of things. On top of that, the devil seeks to rob us of everything from revelation to relationship to possessions to ideas to our very lives (John 10:10). On top of THAT our own minds and our choices of what to think about give rise to temptations (James 1:13-15). These are the trials that beset us. Some from our environment. Some from our own choices. Some from the devil. Why is it a JOY to have those things? Because Shaddai is on OUR side of the equation.
You can combine this idea with Paul’s letter to the Romans to prove that Adonai is not the author of our temptations. “And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Temptations are not a problem IF we are actively loving Elohim. Loving Him means obeying what He says (John 14:15). Temptations are not a problem IF we are actively living according to His purpose. “The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Living according to His purpose means we’re working to destroy the works of the devil. We’re standing against them. We’re moving in the opposite direction. We’re not submitting to our problems. We’re not accepting temptations. We are actively applying Jesus’ mindset to repel the things of the world and the things of the devil that are not in harmony with the Word and Will of the Father. So we KNOW temptations and trials do not originate with Adonai (although He can and does use them to instruct us), because the trials and temptations that come at us work together for our good if we are interceding in the power of the Holy Spirit, if we love God, and if we are out to destroy the works of the devil. They couldn’t do that if Adonai was sending them (Acts 5:38-39).

Temptations and trials are from the devil who is trying to make you fall down. To rob from you what the Word is telling you can have. To keep you from continuing to walk where you’ve decided to walk. “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. . . The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: Whenever they hear, immediately Satan comes and snatches the word that was sown in them” (Mark 4:3-4, 14-15). He wants your failure. Adonai, on the other hand, enables us IN JESUS to be like He is. “So then, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Adonai allows these things to come at us because it is an opportunity to show the devil we rely on Jesus. To prove ourselves in the sense of passing an exam the teacher knows you will ace. AND just in case we decide we can’t, in case we decide to flap our hands and bail in the face of trouble, He gives us a cheat sheet. “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). We are standing there facing calamity, but like a father behind a child standing on the edge of a drop, Adonai Elohim puts His arm around us, securing us at His side, and keeping us from being able to fall no matter what. “So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and make your hearts pure, you double-minded” (James 4:7-8). This is standing firm in our trust in Jesus. This is the victory we have in Him. This is being in the boat, snug as a bug in his tallit, as the storms around us rage. The more things around us rage, the more firm we are able to stand. The wind and the waves don’t loosen our hold, they improve our hold. Our trust is like Roman concrete.

While slow to set and cure, Roman concrete was able to set in all conditions – even underwater. That’s remarkable. It was also self-repairing. Inside the mix of concrete, which included a specific volcanic ash (pozzolanic ash), was small, distinctive, millimeter-scale bright white mineral features. The white chunks, often referred to as ‘lime clasts’, originate from lime and along with the ash, were a key component of the concrete. They gave Roman concrete a unique property. The ability to self-heal. A paper from MIT explains: ‘As soon as tiny cracks start to form within the concrete, they can preferentially travel through the high-surface-area lime clasts. This material can then react with water, creating a calcium-saturated solution, which can recrystallize as calcium carbonate and quickly fill the crack, or react with pozzolanic materials to further strengthen the composite material. These reactions take place spontaneously and therefore automatically heal the cracks before they spread’ (https://news.mit.edu/2023/roman-concrete-durability-lime-casts-0106). Internal material reacted to external elements to heal the overall material and provide more strength. This is what our trust in Jesus does. We mix it with the Word, we stand on it and let Jesus do what Jesus did, we listen to Ruach HaKodesh and respond in trust and belief to what we hear – obediently submitting to the Will of the Father. The result: the devil flees. Every time. The weapons whetted against us fail so severely, they’re never even out to use (Isaiah 54:17). What is inside our hearts prevents what is coming against us from hurting us – no matter WHAT it first looks like – and by prevention, gives witness to our minds and hearts, which strengthens our resolve, our belief, and our trust. It is a PERFECT circle of love, trust, and belief.

Peter thought this way too, although he phrased it differently. “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith excellence, to excellence, knowledge; to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish love. For if these things are really yours and are continually increasing, they will keep you from becoming ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately” (2 Peter 1:5-8). What is in us (Jesus) is so much more powerful that ANYTHING that comes against us (1 John 4:4). When we internalise what Jesus has already accomplished in our lives, we put it in a place where it can be brought out in our times of need (John 14:26). We do NOT stand alone in times of need, trouble, temptation, trials, persecution, or bureaucracy. We stand with Adonai Elohim, the Almighty I AM, the Commander of the Armies of Heaven, the Word Made Flesh, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Father of Eternity, the Creator and Upholder of All Things, the Messiah Jesus of Nazareth hand in hand at our side, living in our heart, filling our body, standing behind us, and resting on and over us. Though it be a Category Seven Hurricane, Category Five Typhoon, Enhanced Fujita-Scale Tornado, Imamura-Iida Magnitude Four Tsunami, or Moment Magnitude Scale Eight and higher; we can be safe, secure, sheltered, fed, watered, and warm in Him.

This is our identity. This is the place we are to operate in and from. We ARE the Righteousness of Elohim in Messiah. This is what brings Glory to Elohim. This level of living – abundantly – is what it is ALL about. This is how Jesus lived, walked, talked, thought, and ministered. We are to do nothing less and nothing else. “You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had . . . Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world by holding on to the word of life so that on the day of Christ I will have a reason to boast that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain” (Philippians 2:5, 14-16). We are to hold fast to our trust. Keep our hand in the Father’s hand. Enduring NOT as a struggle, hoping to hang on. But enduring in the total and ever-deepening rest of letting Jesus do what Jesus did, relying in completeness in all things in all ways on Adonai Elohim – the source of all things and the perfecter of our trust as He proves Himself through our proving of this trust we share. He came to win it. We only need to stand in it, sharing the victory circle that He marked out. How can that stir up ANYTHING in us BUT Joy? His strength is what makes us joyful. Our gratitude to Him is what vaporises our anxiety, worry, stress, and troubled hearts. That joyful gratitude is the taste, smell, and feel of Jesus’ victory. There is nothing like it and we need to do nothing but accept it. Accept it by trust, believing He IS and WILL deliver. What an anchor that is for our lives! Jesus-healed trust. It lasts FOREVER.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Joel 2:28-32

“After all of this I will pour out my Spirit on all kinds of people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your elderly will have prophetic dreams; your young men will see visions. Even on male and female servants I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will produce portents both in the sky and on the earth—blood, fire, and columns of smoke. The sunlight will be turned to darkness and the moon to the color of blood, before the day of the Lord comes—that great and terrible day! It will so happen that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered. For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who survive, just as the Lord has promised; the remnant will be those whom the Lord will call.” Messiah would promise the Spirit as well as inhabit the promise of the Spirit. The Spirit would NOT just temporarily rest on humanity, but descend to stay and inhabit humanity. “After Jesus was baptized, just as he was coming up out of the water, the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my one dear Son; in him I take great delight.”” (Matthew 3:16-17). “And in the last days it will be,’ God says, ‘that I will pour out my Spirit on all people, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. And I will perform wonders in the sky above and miraculous signs on the earth below, blood and fire and clouds of smoke. The sun will be changed to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. And then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” (Acts 2:17-21). “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). Ruach HaKodesh descended on Jesus like a dove – doves do not go from place to place, but nest and rest in a single spot, making it their home and permanent base of operations. Jesus also promised the Spirit to His disciples. “When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, I also send you.” And after he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:20-22). 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