Fear No Fear

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

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see. For by it the people of old received God’s commendation. By faith we understand that the worlds were set in order at God’s command, so that the visible has its origin in the invisible.
Hebrews 11:1-3 (emphasis added)

Trust (or faith) in the Hebrew mindset is a dual concept. Yes, there is a belief there. There is a choice there. There is trusting there. That’s how we see it in the West. But there is another aspect to the concept. That is faithfulness or steadfastness. It is firmness or steadiness. It is human conduct. In other words, the belief and trust part is the noun. The steadfastness is a verb. The DOING completes the TRUSTING. James was trying to explain this when he wrote James 2:17 “So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself.” It isn’t the works that justify us, but faith isn’t faith; trusting isn’t trusting, without action to complete it. Cooking and plating a meal isn’t all there is to the meal. It also must be consumed. That’s why Abraham had to offer his son. It wasn’t trust until he was going through with it. It wasn’t until the knife started down, action complete, that he proved his trust. Until he showed BY ACTION that NOTHING was first place in his life but Elohim.

If you have a friend who lives on the seventh floor of an apartment building and when you go to visit you find the elevator broken, you have two choices. First, decide they aren’t THAT good a friend and go home. Second, decide to trust the stairs. You have to trust they go to the seventh floor. You have to do more than mentally decide this. You also have to walk up the stairs – without being able to see their completion. You have to have trust. You show you have that trust by walking up the stairs. If you believe, but don’t walk, you do not have real trust. It might be enough to believe, but it isn’t enough to DO anything. Since the needed belief part of trust is small (mustard seed size), then it is the action part of our trust that is both so important and the lion’s share.

“Peter said to him, “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.” So he said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind he became afraid. And starting to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”” (Matthew 14:28-31). Peter trusted enough to get out of the boat. He trusted enough to get within arm’s reach of Jesus – Jesus only had to reach out, not sprint to save Peter. What happened when Peter started to doubt? I believe Peter stopped walking. The faithfulness part of his trust failed. He let doubt stop his forward motion. And he started to sink. Jesus said ‘little faith’. But Jesus says we only need a small amount, tiny even (Matthew 17:20-21). What was small was his walking it out. If we don’t walk out what we trust, we aren’t really trusting. We’re only using empty words. Jesus warns us that “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven—only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). It isn’t the SAYERS who get in, but those who combine saying with DOING. Trust isn’t enough. Trust demonstrated by action. This is vitally important if you don’t want to be on the wrong side of the door to the kingdom. Right from the beginning, action is a part of belief and trust. “because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). The belief in our heart is immediately followed by our confessing audibly with our mouths. Belief proved by action. This was true in Jesus’ earthly ministry as well.

Water into wine, they had to fill the jars with water (John 2:1-11). Haul of fish, they had to re-cast their nets (Luke 5:1-11). Peter’s mother-in-law, she had to get out of bed (Mark 1:30-31). Centurion’s servant, he had to receive a spoken word (Matthew 8:5-13). Raising the widow’s son, they had to let Him touch the body (Luke 7:11-18). Stilling the storm, He had to verbally rebuke (Matthew 8:23-27). Curing the (or the two) demoniac(s): the demons had to trust Jesus wouldn’t torture/torment them, that He would give permission for animal possession which manifested in action as begging (Matthew 8:28-34). The paralytic had to pick up his mat and walk (Matthew 9:1-8). The woman with the issue of blood had to touch Him (Luke 8:43-48). The man with the withered hand had to hold it out (Matthew 12:10-13). The two blind men had to speak their trust out in front of witnesses (Matthew 9:27-31). Even Jesus had to be faithful. When He cured the deaf and mute man it was Jesus who placed His fingers, Jesus who spit, and Jesus who deeply sighed in prayer (possibly an example of praying in tongues – thought on this is divided). There are more examples. There was always an action whether it was doing something, speaking something, or receiving a word. The action was the physical arrival of the mixing of their trust with what was said by Jesus (the Word made flesh – John 1:14-18). Without trust in fullness, we cannot please Elohim (Hebrews 11:6). It is our ACTIONS that perfect our trust, because they prove that we truly do trust.

The heroes of trust in Hebrews chapter 11 were all men and women who walked out their trust. They could NOT just believe and leave it there. They ALL had to ACT on what they believed and trusted was true. If they hadn’t, nothing supernatural would have happened. It is the Word of Elohim mixed with trust that produces – it didn’t matter if it was written down or spoken directly to them. When we look at the Fruit that comes from the Spirit, we see that it is ALL related to actions. We can act with kindness, with gentleness, with love, with self-control, with patience, and with faithfulness – continuing to place our feet where we trust they have support. We cannot always SEE where we should be going or what we should be doing. But the unseen that we trust in is the foundation of our visible actions and our audible words. This is what trust IS. Unseen and seen. Visible and invisible. His Word and our actions. Our mental decisions are perfected by our physical actions. When they are in harmony and based on the Word of Elohim, nothing is impossible (Mark 9:23). It unleashed the power of Elohim in our lives because WE line up with HIM – like putting the prongs of a plug into the socket so that the power will flow. This is how trust can revolutionise our lives. It starts in our minds and hearts, flows to our limbs, and expresses itself in actions. The heart is the repository of the trust decisions that we are going to make with our actions (physical and verbal). Our mind decides what goes into our hearts. If we will keep the Word before our eyes and filling our ears as much as possible, we have the richest material going into our hearts – especially when we think about what we are reading and hearing. This is the type of trust Jesus is ALWAYS looking for and wondered if He would find when He returned (Luke 18:8).

If we want to experience the fullness of what is available to us, we need to have trust in full. Thought, word, and action. Believing isn’t enough. We need to walk it out. Do what we’re called to whether WE can see it or not because HE sees it and we trust in Him. Nothing will stop you when you are in harmony with Elohim, because nothing can stop Elohim. Take your trust from mere words into powerful actions. One word and one step at a time. The echo of trusting footsteps can shake the world. Just look at the book of Acts. Regular men and women, mixing trust with action, changed the world and helped with the ushering in of the Kingdom. True trust ALWAYS has action to prove it. Evaluate your actions today. Are they trust-based or anti-trust? Get in harmony with the Word. Listen and obey Ruach HaKodesh. Jesus showed us what He wants to do with, in, and through us. Cooperate with Jesus today and unleash the fullness of your trust.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Micah 4:1-8

“And in future days the Lord’s Temple Mount will be the most important mountain of all; it will be more prominent than other hills. People will stream to it. Many nations will come, saying, “Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the temple of Jacob’s God, so he can teach us his ways and we can live by his laws.” For instruction will proceed from Zion, the Lord’s message from Jerusalem. He will arbitrate between many peoples and settle disputes between many distant nations. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not use weapons against other nations, and they will no longer train for war. Each will sit under his own grapevine or under his own fig tree without any fear. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has decreed it. Though all the nations follow their respective gods, we will follow the Lord our God forever. In that day,” says the Lord, “I will gather the lame and assemble the outcasts whom I injured. I will transform the lame into the nucleus of a new nation and those far off into a mighty nation. The Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion, from that day forward and forevermore. As for you, watchtower for the flock, fortress of Daughter Zion—your former dominion will be restored, the sovereignty that belongs to Daughter Jerusalem.”” Messiah’s Kingdom would be established with the place of birth at Bethlehem. From that starting point He would reign forever. “He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:33). “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in the time of King Herod, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem” (Matthew 2:1). “So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David. . . But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, for I proclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all the people: Today your Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:4, 10-11). Jesus was born in Bethlehem. 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