Fear No Fear

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

Yahweh sat enthroned at the Flood. Yes, Yahweh sits as King forever. Yahweh will give strength to his people. Yahweh will bless his people with peace.
Psalm 29:10–11 (emphasis added)

The Flood is the single most dramatic moment for all humanity thus far. We’ve had some crazy things happen to us. Good and bad. The cross was the most significant and dramatic for CREATION, but for humanity alone, it was the Flood. Humanity knew who God was. They were not that far from the Garden. Adam had only died about a hundred and thirty years before Noah was born. Enosh, Cainan, Mahalale, Jared, Methuselah, and Lamech were all alive when Noah was born. The oldest (Enosh) died when Noah was 44. There is no excuse for the world to not know Yahweh intimately. These were people who heard from God. Who could talk about how their grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather, and great-great-great-grandfather fellowshipped with God in the Garden of Eden. They all seem to have been significant men in the world. Doers of things. Talkers. But the world walked away from God. They chose to ignore Him and not only went their own way, but chose to go in direct violation of everything God stands for.

No one was seeking the Lord. No one was acknowledging His Kingship. They were indulging in any and everything that they ‘felt’ was appropriate. They were violent. They were totally consumed with the things of the flesh. They built cities, worked with metals, and got more and more divorced from the farming lifestyle they started at. That’s not to say that technological innovation is bad or sinful. It just needs to be done in the service of the Lord. God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28). We get to take dominion over the world. We’re allowed to do whatever it takes to do that as long as it doesn’t violate the greatest commandment: “You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). The Lord will never lead us to do anything that truly harms the earth or ourselves. Those who stand against the Lord don’t care who does what to whom. A good way to tell the two apart (Matthew 7:16–20).

Humanity misused their freewill so bad, the Lord regretted creating them. He wasn’t sorry that He made them, He was sorry that He had to judge them. That they had resisted Him for hundreds of years. After that He started an in-your-face attempt. The Ark. You KNOW they must have asked Noah what was up when he was building the Ark. It took him a hundred and twenty years in a desert climate. There would have been questions. But they did not stop. They kept on going. “For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ship, and they didn’t know until the flood came and took them all away, so will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:38–39). It was life as usual in spite of all warnings right up until the rain started falling, but it was too late. The cup of the Lord’s wrath was full. Took almost a thousand years, after His first warning (birth of Methuselah — Genesis 5:21. Methuselah means ‘his death sends’ and the Flood came the year he died). But when the time was done, the rains came. The same thing happened to the Amorites (Genesis 15:16).

As much as the Lord loves us (John 3:16–18), He is a just God and He is a KING. He is the ruler of all things. One of the things He won’t put up with is the worship of false gods. His wrath is no joke. No myth. Not something that has passed away. It is real. It is judgment. And it is pure RIGHTEOUSNESS. That is why Jesus came. That is why He went to the cross. That is why He shed His blood and broke His body. So that we can remove ourselves from the grip of the curse by accepting the life-line of the resurrection. When we buck against that. When we choose our own flesh over His Spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge Him and go our own way. When we worship something other than Him, we open ourselves to the things of the curse. That NEVER ends well.
“For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error. Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers, backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1:26–32).

A great way to connect to the idea of the Lord God’s Kingship is the Psalms. He rules over creation. He is sovereign. He is Lord over the nations. Lord over the earth. Lord over everything humanity has ever called or considered a god. He has standards of righteousness that He calls all humanity to follow. He is merciful. He is full of loving-kindness. He is generous and He is loving. He wants everyone to be saved, but there will come a time that judgment MUST fall. One such time was the Flood. He sat enthroned as the King of Judgment over that. His wrath hit the world. Humanity was judged for indulging in their feels and not their faith. They were judged for turning away from Him and His ways. They were judged for not repenting. When it was all over, there were eight human beings left on the earth still breathing.

When the Lord instigated the Ark, He gave a way for righteous humans to be saved. If you read the account, you’ll see that Noah didn’t shut the door of the Ark when it was completed. He didn’t shut it when the animals were gathered in. He didn’t even go in until the Lord commanded him to. It was God who shut the door. God shut out the sinners who suddenly were not repentful, but very, VERY sorry they hadn’t taken things seriously. When judgment falls, it is too late to work on your heart. The Lord is just (Deuteronomy 32:4). He wants you saved more than you want to be saved (2 Peter 3:9). He loves you more than you can imagine — it has to be revealed to you by the Spirit (Ephesians 3:18). But you cannot escape the reality of the situation: “For Yahweh is our judge. Yahweh is our lawgiver. Yahweh is our king. He will save us” (Isaiah 33:22).
WE can do nothing. God knows this (Psalm 103:14). He planned for it. Before the foundation of the world He established redemption. He chose His people. He even arranged for salvation for the Gentiles, those who are not genetically His people. He grafted us into the Kingdom through Jesus, His Son, the Last Adam (Romans 11:17–24; 1 Corinthians 15:45–50). All who believe Jesus is Lord, by confessing with your mouth, believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, are saved. If you are saved, you are sons and daughters of the Lord. We are His people. Yahweh God blesses His people with peace.

Because the Lord gives us strength, we can rely on Him. His Joy is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). I know that sounds trite, but it is TRUTH. If you praise the Lord with your heart. With intent. With honesty. Fully and truly worship and praise. Guess what? Weariness can slough off. We can be restored in our strength. Supernaturally fed by our interaction with the Holy Spirit while worshipping the Father. It’s true. And it isn’t a stand alone scripture. “But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11). “Yahweh, your God, is among you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will calm you in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). When we engage with Him, He engages with us (James 4:8).

When we get a sense of who the Lord is on that Throne in Heaven, we have the right perspective to crush fear. It doesn’t matter what happens in the world. The Lord is King. It doesn’t matter what faces us. The Lord is King. We cannot go before Him as we are. We need Jesus. On our own, we are not righteous. We cannot hope to make it before the Throne and survive. But in Jesus? We have NO REASON TO FEAR. “Having then a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let’s hold tightly to our confession. For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. Let’s therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace for help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14–16). We can go before the Father. We can repent. We can submit to Him and accept His rulership in our lives. Out of love, not fear. Out of grateful adoration, not demanded or owed service.

If we let Him, He will carve out from us every evil thing. It is a process of sanctification where the Lord takes everything we are and turns it into everything He sees in us in Jesus. He sanctifies us with His Word (John 17:17). He gets into all the cracks and crannies (Hebrews 4:12). We are washed clean by Jesus (1 John 1:9). We are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). We are HIS people. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. In the past, you were not a people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:9–10). He will give us peace as we rest in Him. Strengthened by His Love. Protected by His Power. Renewed in His Son. Loved, corrected, instructed, taught, and comforted by His Spirit. He sits as King and we worship Him. No matter WHAT is going on in the world.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: 1 Peter 4:10–11

God has created us all different. Some of us are more different than others, but we are all precious and not the same. The world LOVES to say that one size doesn’t fit all. Not every lifestyle choice is for everyone. Not every food choice is for everyone. Not everything is for everyone. God made us all different, but there are some universal truths. There are some things that ARE good for everyone — though sometimes there is an adjustment period. One thing that is true is that God gave us all gifts. We all have the ability to speak. We all have the ability to serve one another. If we all use the ability God gave us, and if we all serve in the way that we are able to serve, you’ll see the Body of Christ meeting every need that we have. Just like the early church in Acts 2:41–47 — although not quite in the same way they did (the world and how we choose to operate within it has changed a little). We are meant to help each other. We are meant to support each other. We are meant to be a net to catch the unbeliever when they start believing. We are meant to be able to share the Gospel with every segment of the world and there is a believer out there who is able to connect with every unbeliever out there. Our differences mesh so that our sames can shine. He made us that way with a purpose. Loving His way.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.