Fear No Fear

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

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
2 John 1:3 (emphasis added)

If you were to sum up the Jews in a single word, that word would be gratitude. Gratitude to Yahweh is what marks them as a people, as a spiritual group, and also their name (Judah is Yehuda in Hebrew, which became Yehudim, which became Jews. Yehuda means gratitude – Genesis 29:35). That single word became THE defining word of the Jews because gratitude to Yahweh is what informs their relationship to Him – in essence the Jew is one who gives thanks and Judaism is the religion of giving thanks. It is also a key aspect of being able to receive from Him. Gratitude naturally puts us in a receptive state. For New Covenant believers, it is the same relationship. Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile believer, gratitude to Adonai Elohim is a vital part of inhabiting Messiah Jesus, the cornerstone of our trusting in Yahweh.

R.Dessler in his Essay on Lovingkindness states ‘The true service of God is built on a foundation of gratitude. It is states with the utmost clarity in all the books of Tanach (Torah, Prophets, Writings) that we have a duty to be thankful to Hashem for all the good He bestows on us. Gratitude is the motivation of our observance of all the mitzvos and statutes of the Torah’. When Yahweh gave the Law to Moses, He stated that relationship. “I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery” (Exodus 19:2). He is Yahweh. He brought them out of Egypt. They were to be grateful to Him because He was/is the God who saves them. What is the result of this? The next step? “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 19:3). Yahweh is the God who saves them, therefore they are to be grateful and demonstrate the gratitude with putting Him first, which is shown through obedience. Nothing has changed in the New Covenant. “If you love me, you will obey my commandments” (John 14:15). If we are grateful (which is part of love), then we will be obedient.

There is always an expression of gratitude when we recognise a partner’s actions, commitment and love. It adds trust to the relationship on our side of things. How do we know this? Because in a statistically significant number of relationships, when they start taking each other for granted the relationship fails. Amie M. Gordon studied this and wrote a very interesting article about it (https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/gratitude_is_for_lovers#:~:text=We’ve%20found%20that%20gratitude,felt%20closer%20to%20each%20other). She and her fellow researchers found that the more grateful the participants were toward each other, the stronger and longer lasting the relationships were. It is no wonder then, that from the beginning Adonai has framed our relationship with Him through expressions of love and gratitude. Adonai has never taken us for granted. “The Lord is your protector; the Lord is the shade at your right hand. The sun will not harm you by day, or the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all harm; he will protect your life. The Lord will protect you in all you do, now and forevermore” (Psalm 121:5-8). “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on those who are evil and those who are good” (Proverbs 15:3). “Nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing is secret that will not be made known. So then whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops” (Luke 12:2-3). Our view toward Him, however, has been varied.

When we let ourselves take on the idea that Adonai sends us trouble, that He sends us sickness, or that He makes temptations for us, it damages our trust in Him. It erodes it and makes it SO MUCH MORE difficult for us to either relate to Him or receive from Him. If you’re dealing with a person who might shake your hand or haul off and smack you one, it makes it difficult to trust them when they approach you. It is exactly the same with Adonai. If we cannot trust Him, our relationship devolves. If however we CAN trust Him, it builds our relationship. Our gratitude toward Him is a MAJOR player in our trust. Just look at everything that Adonai has done for us. Even a SMALL list includes a myriad of things that we got, but didn’t deserve. A journey through the Psalms, for example, is a journey through both major and minor things Adonai has done for humanity. Made the world, fashioned us, gave us abilities and talents, provides for us, protects us, guides us, instructs us, and corrects us. He watches over us, encourages us, supports us, brings us good things, lets His presence rest on and around us, He gives us His Word, and He speaks to us. We deserve NONE of that. At our best, we are selfish beings. Our flesh is selfish, stubborn, and obstinate. He did so much for us before we even acknowledged His existence. “But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). If we did all that for us, shouldn’t we be grateful? And IF we are grateful, isn’t the best way to SHOW that gratefulness to walk in His ways? By doing that, we bring Blessing into our lives. Not by our DOING, but by our LOVING in GRATITUDE.

“How blessed is every one of the Lord’s loyal followers, each one who keeps his commands. You will eat what you worked so hard to grow. You will be blessed and secure. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in the inner rooms of your house; your children will be like olive branches, as they sit all around your table. Yes indeed, the man who fears the Lord will be blessed in this way” (Psalm 128:1-4). This says the same thing as today’s verse, especially together with the previous verse: “because of the truth that resides in us and will be with us forever. Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, in truth and love” (2 John 1:2-3). Because of the truth of who Jesus is, who the Father is, and who Ruach HaKodesh is resides within us, Grace, Mercy, and Peace are with us. The truth of who Adonai Elohim is brings us these things when it resides inside us. “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me—and I in him—bears much fruit because apart from me you can accomplish nothing” (John 15:4-5). “Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you” (Romans 8:11). “If you have known me, you will know my Father too. And from now on you do know him and have seen him” (John 14:7). We have Almighty Elohim residing inside us. Which means we have the nature of Elohim residing within us. If you think about that and apply it to yourself, you will find gratitude welling up within you.

His peace is inside us. Peace. Confidence in our trust in Jesus. That relaxing sigh because Jesus is on the case and we can rest in Him. His love is inside us. The perfect love that drives out fear. The love that enables us to love Him and each other with our will, words, and actions. The authority of the NAME above names is inside of us. That name is shining bright and clear. Out of every pore. Out of our eyes and mouths and hearts. The Grace of Adonai is living inside us. Ready to correct us and get us back on His path whenever we step off. Ready to help us repent and get back into harmony with the will of the Father, which is the Word. Mercy is living inside us. Enabling us to experience His mercy AND to show His mercy to others through our decisions, words, and actions. Shaddai is living inside of us! The Creator of all things abides within us! Do you see it? Do you see the expanding, filling, shining, abiding, and magnificent GLORY that is filling you and pouring out not only into YOUR life but into the lives of everyone who is around you?

When we are grateful and speak out that gratefulness in worship and prayer, we can then EASILY turn and tell sickness and pain to go because how do THEY have a right to be in our bodies when Adonai Elohim is already there? How much easier it is to speak healing to our bodies when we see what we have through what Adonai has already done! This is the life that is abundant. This is the victory because Jesus was victorious. This is walking as an overcomer because the one who overcame is within us and makes us into copies of Him day by day, piece by piece, starting now and finishing when we stand before Him smile to smile. How can you live speaking in a negative framework when you are actively SEEING the abundance of BLESSING that resides in you? If you are speaking negatively, you AREN’T seeing it. You may be AWARE of it, but you are not walking in a revelation of its REALNESS. I’m healed, praise Adonai! I am! I refuse to accept anything else because it is a part and parcel of my salvation. My spirit was transformed in a MOMENT to being EXACTLY like Jesus’ spirit. It was sealed by Rucah HaKodesh and NOTHING outside of Adonai can touch it. Jesus came into me and has stayed. He’s NEVER gonna leave. He brought all His stuff with Him. It was pretty cramped at first, but since His stuff is so much better than mine, I started tossing mine and using His. If I have anything to say about it, that’s never going to change. I have the life-giving, body-renewing, human resurrecting power of the Almighty inside me. How can ANYTHING touch me negatively again? “You need not fear the terrors of the night, the arrow that flies by day, the plague that stalks in the darkness, or the disease that ravages at noon. Though a thousand may fall beside you, and a multitude on your right side, it will not reach you” (Psalm 91:5-7).

When we see this reality in us and we KNOW this truth, the Mercy, Grace, and Peace flows. It kills fear. It kills anxiety. It kills depression. It kills doubt. It kills unbelief. It kills all the things and activities we have that get in the way of Adonai. The more we see this truth within us, the more attention we give it. The more attention we give it, the more we desire it. It is a closed circle from Adonai to us and back to Adonai. It is a real thing. It is a promise rooted in the Word. We CAN have these things. Start seeing the truth of who really resides inside you. And encourage Him to clean you up while you’re there – its nice if you lend a hand too. Cooperate with Ruach HaKodesh. He will NEVER steer you wrong – He is incapable of it. This is our victory as believers. This is our inheritance as His children. This is the miracle of salvation. “What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). Get this view inside you and receive from Him. It is there and waiting. See it. Take it.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Habakkuk 2:14

“For recognition of the Lord’s sovereign majesty will fill the earth just as the waters fill up the sea.” Because of Messiah, the Earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. Messiah would come to suffer for us and be a sacrifice for us. Messiah would call down an anointing on His sheep. Messiah would enable them to spread the gospel message of peace between Adonai and humanity. For Yahweh’s glory miracles, signs, and wonders will occur. For Yahweh’s glory lives would be transformed. Messiah would unleash all of this on the Earth. Messiah would deliver humanity (Jew first, and then the Gentile). “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion; he will remove ungodliness from Jacob”” (Romans 11:26). “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God lights it up, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their grandeur into it. Its gates will never be closed during the day (and there will be no night there). They will bring the grandeur and the wealth of the nations into it” (Revelation 21:23-26). Jesus came to deliver us (Luke 19:10). Jesus did NOTHING outside of glorifying the Father (John 12:27, 12:36). 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