Fear No Fear

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

The enemy is overtaken by endless ruin. The very memory of the cities which you have overthrown has perished. But Yahweh reigns forever. He has prepared his throne for judgment.
Psalm 9:6–7 (emphasis added)

Nothing that exists or has existed prepares like Yahweh God Almighty does. Nothing takes Him by surprise or unawares. “Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me. I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done. I say: My counsel will stand, and I will do all that I please. I call a ravenous bird from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. Yes, I have spoken. I will also bring it to pass. I have planned. I will also do it” (Isaiah 46:9–11).

This is the God who had the plan for creation, the plan for redemption, and the plan for the New Heaven and New Earth all worked out in every detail and happening before the beginning began (1 Peter 1:17–21). How is it we manage to pick up fear over ANYTHING? It’s proved again and again in scripture. He planned caravan starting times and routes (Genesis 37:25). He planned for sacrifices (Genesis 22:13). He planned for invading armies to see the angle of the sun the right way (2 Kings 3:22). He planned for Cyrus to enter Babylon (Isaiah 45:1). He planned for the Ninevites to be drunk when they were judged (Nahum 1:10). He planned for a census so that His Son could be born in Bethlehem (Luke 2:1–5). There are many prophecies in the bible given by His prophets at times hundreds of years before the events unfolded — exactly as He said they would.

God is a planner. He is a planner and He is not a liar. God IS truth (John 14:6–7). God CANNOT tell a lie (Hebrews 6:18). I read it this way in an article recently: God cannot lie when He makes a promise, and He cannot lie when He makes an oath (bible.com). Jesus is the Father and the Father is Jesus in the sense they (along with the Holy Spirit) are God (John 14:9–11). Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:25–34: “Therefore don’t be anxious.” Not about clothing, not about food, not about your body. Not about anything. In John 14:1–4 Jesus said, “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many homes. If it weren’t so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also. You know where I go, and you know the way.” Do. Not. Worry. Do not LET YOURSELF worry. Anxiety? A choice. Worry? A choice. Depression? It can also be a choice. All of fear and fear’s babies are a choice and can be a choice. Why? Because of faith. YOUR faith.

“for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). “Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22). The clearer translation of Mark 11:22 is have the God kind of faith or have the faith OF God. A.S. Worrell says in his Worrell New Testament note on that verse that: ‘Have the faith of God; translators generally render this, “Have faith in God;” but if this had been the thought, it would have been easy to have expressed it in the Greek. Faith originates with God; and those who have real faith have His faith; the same perhaps as “the faith which is of the Son of God”’ “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20).

EVERYTHING is faith. It isn’t a matter of having an amount of faith. We all have the same measure of faith (2 Corinthians 4:13). It is a question of whether we have developed it into strong faith (Hebrews 11), or whether we have it but aren’t working on it and it is weak and small in ability (Matthew 8:26). Everything that isn’t faith-based is sin. Because God is faith and not-God is sin. Period. Hearing the Word develops our faith (Romans 10:17). Faith can give us access to things we cannot see, but the Lord tells us are there (Hebrews 11:1). We walk through our life by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7). Our faith rests in the wisdom of God, not in anything else we come across (1 Corinthians 2:5). We can — WITH GOD — do anything at all that is in accordance with His Word (Mark 9:23). It doesn’t take a lot (Matthew 17:20). It is the marker by which our life is recorded (2 Timothy 4:7). It is how we get healing manifested in our bodies (Mark 10:52). Faith is how we live. “For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith”” (Romans 1:17). “Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright in him, but the righteous will live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).

Faith is more than just belief. Faith is a trust. It is born of fellowship. It is strengthened with the Word. It is a gift of God and is a part of God — it is HIS FAITH. Do you believe He exists? Do you believe that He rewards those who obediently seek Him? “Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). This is how we please the Lord. Obedience because we love Him. Faith because we trust Him. TRUST HIM. Assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of Him. Dependence on something future coming from Him. A property interest held by Him for the benefit of us. Of YOU. Do you want more of Him and the manifestation of His BLESSING in you and your life? Trust Him more. How do we trust Him more? We seek His face. We get to know Him more. We get closer to Him. We fellowship with Him more. The closer we get to Him, the closer He gets to us. “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8).

Fear flees perfect love. The only thing that IS or HAS perfect love is the Lord God Almighty. “In this, love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, even so we are in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:17–19). How do we know that are not fearing? That we are walking in love? John continues: “If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother” (1 John 4:20–21). Our heart attitude informs our behavioural attitude. If we want fellowship with the Lord, we need fellowship with the Lord in our heart. “You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good man out of his good treasure brings out good things, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings out evil things. I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:34–37).

What is an idle word? Inoperative and/or non-working. That is an idle word. All idle words are based in fear, not faith. “For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). “so is my word that goes out of my mouth: it will not return to me void, but it will accomplish that which I please, and it will prosper in the thing I sent it to do” (Isaiah 55:11). The Word is operative. The Word works. It does not work FOR us. We work WITH the Word. We read the Word with INTENT. When we do, we submit to what we find there. When we submit to the Word — which is Jesus, who is God (John 1:1) — we alter our life and lifestyle to fit the Word. Not the other way around. This isn’t a magic wishbook. That’s satanic. This isn’t a collection of spells and rituals that you can apply to get manifestation in your life. That’s satanic. There’s a move out there growing in strength that supports just that. We are not after what WE want. We’re after what the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY wants. HE sets morality. HE sets righteous behaviour. HE determines what is proper and right and good. Our task is to align with that.

This shouldn’t be a problem for us. Remember where we started? HE’S A PLANNER!!!!!!! When we are submitting to God and His Word, we are moving ourselves into the place He has set for us. He planned it. He put all the pieces together. Why would you want to be anywhere else? We’re all a part of the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12–27). Maybe you wanted to be an eye or an ear or a mouth. Maybe what you are is an elbow. A big toe. A femur. You might not seem important, but you try living without it. It can be done, but it isn’t BEST. Sometimes God wants us in a spot we don’t think is glamorous. Or important. But it could be important. I know of a woman who got saved because the parking lot attendant at a church waved to traffic going past every Sunday. Not a come in here, just a friendly wave hello. Parking lot attendant. Not a glamorous job. We don’t make movies about them. We don’t admire them. We don’t write books about them. But the smallest, lowest, and poorest job or task can be the thing that helps bring a soul into the Kingdom.

God is a planner. He doesn’t show us the blueprints. We probably wouldn’t be able to figure them out anyway. The things of the Lord are so far above us, how could we understand? (Isaiah 55:8–9). We’re not meant to. We’re meant to obey. Heartfully. Gratefully. Intentfully. It’s a TRUST issue. When we talk about faith, it is ALWAYS a trust issue. “Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Don’t be wise in your own eyes. Fear [reverence] Yahweh, and depart from evil” (Proverbs 3:5–7). Every sin is the failure to trust God. Every act of faith — weak or strong — is our success in trusting God. God cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18). If He cannot lie, and He plans EVERYTHING, then why not trust Him? Why not trust Him with your life? Your finances? Your health? Your spiritual life? Get your trust out of your head and into your heart. That’s where it will do you good. That’s where faith lives: in the total, absolute, complete assurance that what God says is true and will happen IS TRUE and WILL HAPPEN. Nothing less. Nothing more. Trust in the Planner.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Matthew 16:27

We have total assurance that the Lord is going to come back. He is going to come back in glory. He isn’t coming alone. The servants of the Most High God will be with Him. The reapers who will bundle the tares and the wheat. As a born again believer, I’m not worried about the tares. I’m wheat. Thing is, I may not burn, but will anything I have built survive the flames (1 Corinthians 3:15)? God loves us SO MUCH. And He doesn’t want us to have a pile of ashes. He wants us to have nice things. He wants us to have treasures that nothing but He can touch. He wants to smile on us and say well done. This is a reason we have the Word. This is a reason we have the Holy Spirit. To help us remember to be intentful. Nothing we do is by accident. Your brain conceives it, sends signals to your body, and your body does things. It is ON PURPOSE. You can purpose it for faith or you can purpose it for fear. Do everything with intent. Search your heart. Use the fellowship with Him that the Word engenders to check your motivation and your execution of EVERYTHING. It will lead you to God things. It will lead you to full healing. It will lead you to full blessing. But that is after the biggest one: it will lead you to His face. THAT one is the foundation on which all things lasting are built. He loves you. He leads you. He wants to see you leap like a calf in the grips of JOY full of His Glory (Malachi 4:2).

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.