Fear No Fear

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

“Blessed be Yahweh, my rock, the one who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war—“

Psalm 144:1

Sea levels are rising. Storms are intensifying. You only need to look around the world and give the most cursory look at weather patterns to discover the facts about this. It doesn’t even matter what the cause is, really, The reality is that we have to deal with the situation. One of the ways we protect our coastlines is with breakwaters and trenches. Structures that protect the shoreline from the impact of the waves and the height of the water. That keep erosion at bay and protect coastal infrastructure. We also live in a world with rising levels of immorality. Human hearts bent toward selfishness and lasciviousness in almost all arenas of life. The storms of the unrighteous against the righteous are getting worse and bolder. There is little in the world to prevent an increase in this increasing behaviour. After all, it’s hard to stop a boulder from rolling downhill once it gets moving – the problem is that humanity thinks it’s going UPhill. Ruach HaKodesh is our breakwater and the Word is our trench. The Grace of Adonai has provided them for us, and we really need to lean into them BEFORE a major issue erupts. After all, a breakwater built during a storm (or after one) is no protection at all.

Preparation time is NEVER wasted time. The question is, what exactly are we preparing for? Well, we should be preparing for one thing in all circumstances and situations: making Adonai our Source. Relying on Him. In peace, in war, in famine, in plenty, in small things, in large things, in things we can manage, and in things we cannot. In ALL things. The reason is simple. If we haven’t learned to rely on Adonai when things are going well, how can we do it when things aren’t? We have time when things are well. We don’t when things aren’t. Imagine a nation that has an enemy. If they don’t prepare their defenses and train their men ahead of time, when would they? You can’t train when you’re being attacked. Imagine a team of firefighters who start learning how to fight fires when they’re called to a blaze. The structure would burn down before they got the hang of it. Or an athlete who starts training when the race or contest begins. They’d end up failing to win. We have to prepare ourselves in the downtime in order to be ready when things ramp up.

Suffering – often the result of trials and tribulations – comes from negative things. It can enter our lives because of our own stupidity and choice to sin (1 Peter2:20); having current unrepented sin in our lives (1 Corinthians 11:31); having past sins still unrepented of (Galatians 6:7-8); and the fact we live in a fallen world (Romans 8:22). Suffering can also enter our lives because of attacks from people who are against Adonai or are feeling the sting of sin in their own lives (John 3:16-18). It can enter because we have taken a stand for truth and righteousness (1 Peter 3:14); for our choice to love Adonai (2 Timothy 3:12); and from a public demonstration of our faith (Hebrews 11:13). That’s a lot of reasons and a lot of directions from which we can be attacked or tested (not by God, but by those who seek to see us fail). If we have learned to rely on Adonai as our Source, the circumstances we are in might not be pleasant (suffering is NEVER nice), but we won’t be defeated. We will be overcomers while in the world just as Jesus ALWAYS overcame while in the world (John 16:33).

We see this model operating in Jesus’ life. When He was about to be attacked, it was Ruach HaKodesh who was leading Jesus (Matthew 4:1). When He was being tested, Jesus wielded the WORD and not fancy arguments or cries to heaven for relief (Luke 4:1-13). When the disciples could not command a healing, Jesus told them that their trust in Adonai can ONLY come from prayer and fasting ahead of time (Matthew 17:21; Mark 9:29). We see Jesus again and again go off to pray, to fast, to spend time with the Father. We see Jesus again and again led by Ruach HaKodesh to do and say very specific things. And we see the relief from the suffering and struggle, not before or during, but afterward (Matthew 4:11; Luke 22:43). Led by Ruach HaKodesh – the breakwater – and deeply invested in the Word – the trenches. This is how Jesus operated and this is how we are to operate as well.

“Therefore subject yourselves to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). We subject ourselves to Adonai by constantly yielding to Ruach HaKodesh. We will never be guided wrong. We will never be led astray. We will always be studying, meditating on, and standing on exactly what we are supposed to be. Exactly what we need for any and every situation that we find ourselves in. We need to use the Word the way it was designed to be used. Jesus didn’t quote scripture like it was a declaration of intent. Jesus quoted scripture to SHOW the foundation of His behaviour, words, and thoughts. He didn’t quote a scripture in the hope that it would deal with the situation. He was dealing with the situation and quoting for the benefit of others to show them what was the basis of His actions. For example, when the devil tempted Jesus to Action A, Jesus refused by not taking Action A. Then Jesus quoted the Word to show the devil WHY and HOW He was refusing Action A. Jesus was proving through the quoting where and to whom He had totally submitted Himself. He didn’t SAY in order to MANIFEST. He MANIFESTED so He SAID. Without preparation time, we will be unable to do the same. With preparation time, we will be able to follow the example of Jesus and do just as He did – which is what we are called to do (1 Peter 2:21-25).

When we are prepared, we are calling the things that are not in us on our own accomplishments as things that ARE in us because of JESUS’ accomplishments (Romans 4:17). We need to keep our eyes on Adonai and His moral character if we have any hope of understanding, copying, and making it our own (2 Corinthians 4:18). It takes a flip of thinking (Romans 12:2), but it’s a flip that is well-worth making. Start taking the time to get the Word into your heart. Start shifting your thinking from what you see in front of you to what Adonai says He has for you. Get so convinced of His words that you won’t accept anything less. Then when trials and tribulations come, you have a firm foundation. You have solid footing. You won’t have an issue being patient or enduring, because your trust in Jesus isn’t founded on TIME but on Jesus Himself. His MUCH MORE THAN will become your MORE THAN ENOUGH which will turn all afflictions into light afflictions not even worth the effort to worry. Our overcoming lives will become the joy they are meant to be (John 10:10) in Jesus – the one who created and the one who provides ALL our strength.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Acts 1:10-11

“And as they were staring into the sky while he was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood by them who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand there looking into the sky? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven like this will come back in the same way you saw him departing into heaven!”” We look TO Jesus because we don’t have to look FOR Jesus. It’s totally understandable that the gathered believers were caught up looking for Jesus. They hadn’t received Ruach HaKodesh yet. But WE have Ruach HaKodesh living inside us, so we are WELL aware of where Jesus is: seated at the Father’s right hand. We KNOW that because that is the exact place that Ruach HaKodesh lifts us to (Ephesians 2:6). We have a CERTAINTY that they were still waiting for. And it is that certainty that gives us peace in storms. It is that certainty that keeps us connected to our Source. It is that certainty that lets us rest in the overcoming life we get to live in Jesus, who is the Overcomer. It is the victory that we walk in. The JOY we experience – regardless of where we find ourselves. It is the song the bursts from our hearts as we meditate on the love that Jesus has for us and all which that unlocks. It is a GLORIOUS certainty that is worth celebrating. And it is all because of Jesus and the love that Adonai has for 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