Fear No Fear

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

Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father
Galatians 1:3-4 (emphasis added)

There are two key phrases in this verse. First, Grace is what leads to Peace. Second, we are being rescued from this PRESENT evil age, not one that is coming. These two things should have you shouting for JOY at any time of year. They are confirmation of the promises we received and an excellent hope to grab hold of. If we could just see these promises as the truths they are, living a victorious life – at peace above the storms of life and not tossed around by them – would be a given. We were not meant to constantly look forward to our time in heaven as the only reality where we have effective salvation from our condition(s). Yes, we can’t do it on our own merit or by our own strength. That’s why Grace comes first. It is by GRACE through Jesus’ efforts that everything is possible.

There is NOTHING in the Kingdom that isn’t Grace-based. Nothing. We quite literally deserve NOTHING. We can’t earn anything. We can’t fake it. We can’t make it ourselves. None of us are capable of acting truly and totally righteous with our words, actions, and thoughts. We simply don’t make the cut. Whether it is in big ways or a single minuscule way, everyone has fallen short of the totally perfect, total righteous thoughts, deeds, and words from Adonai’s point of view standard which is required for right-standing with Elohim. It was obvious from the beginning, but as people refused to see it, Adonai gave us the Law to prove it to us. And it does. Read through it. It first kicks up sin. Makes you think of a whole bunch of things you never thought of before. Then it makes you resistant to obedience. Sullen, you might say. Then when you try and keep the commandments and realise you can’t even imagine things (versus doing them) without colouring outside the lines – we’re talking really thinking on something, not just having it come to mind and rejecting it. How can anyone keep the Law? Answer? You can’t. “So now why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?” (Acts 15:10). “If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). “just as it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.”” (Romans 3:10-12). These are TRUE statements. It is by GRACE that we are given anything. It is by GRACE, because of His love for us, that we have the opportunity to be redeemed.

What is it that we are redeemed from? Everything. Now. Today. In THIS life. “Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, there is no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive in this age a hundred times as much—homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, fields, all with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”” (Mark 10:29-31). “because everyone who has been fathered by God conquers the world” (1 John 5:4). It is our right as Elohim’s children to have victory IN THIS LIFE. That does NOT mean no persecution – Jesus warned us that would be the case (Matthew 24:9). But being safe in a high tower while riots go on below you is a world of difference from being trampled by the crowd. Being in a Zodiac in a storm is a lot different from treading water. Things may come against us, but we are NOT defeated. Things can be hard, but we OVERCOME. We run the race and we reach the finish regardless of the hurdles in the way. Jesus had victory every day He was on this earth and we are called to do it in exactly the same way (1 John 2:6). This is not some pipe dream of people trying to scam you out of money. These are true sayings! Backed by the inspired Word of Elohim. We will NOT get the fullness of everything we’re promised because we have to shed the meat sac first (1 Corinthians 15:50-58). But we CAN start right now. Because if we TRUST in the GRACE that Adonai is offering, if we TRUST that He is able to deliver, then we can enter into His Sabbath rest, which is His PEACE. “Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God. For the one who enters God’s rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works. Thus we must make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:9-11). Grace leads to Peace when WE trust that Adonai can and has delivered the Grace of our salvation.

There are a LOT of almost unimaginable wonders awaiting us in Heaven. That doesn’t include the face to face relationship we will be able to have with Adonai Elohim Himself. We can look at the Revelation to John and see that in language we can understand – if maybe not totally comprehend. But Jesus didn’t come so we could live in call waiting. He didn’t go through that dehumanising suffering (Isaiah 52:14) in order give us something to look forward to. He did it to save us from THIS PRESENT evil age. Not an age coming soon. Not an age in times past. Not an age in the time after time. This present age. Today. Now. Here. So what IS here? What IS is He wanted to save us from? How about sickness? Matthew 8:16-17 tells us He does. What about poverty and lack? 1 Corinthians 8:9 tells us He does. What about demonic control? Luke 10:19 tells us He does. Peter was saved from execution (Acts 12:1-11). Paul was saved from Jewish conservatives who wanted to kill him (Acts 21:20-36). Jesus doesn’t just rescue us from sin (Romans 6:6). Jesus wants to rescue us from the dominion of sin. The place where sin has place. The place where sin lives and moves and affects those who live there. Jesus cuts sin off us like a body part (Colossians 2:11). With it gone, we don’t need anything that has sin as its source. We can age but not deteriorate. We can live in health because Jesus resides in us, never getting sick. We can have abundance so we can bless others with some or all of it – it won’t matter if abundance is something we have instead of something we work to keep. These are things we can have NOW. We only need to have the right mindset.

Jesus was not poor. He gave money away to the poor constantly (John 13:29). They regularly had large amounts of money on hand (John 6:6-7). Jesus owned a house before He even met the disciples (Matthew 4:13; Mark 2:1). He hated lack in others and was constantly providing for people even as He was provided for (Luke 8:2-3). Abundance didn’t have Jesus, Jesus had abundance. He could keep it, use it, give it away, and it was all the same to Him. Jesus looked to His Father as His source, not the money pouch.

Jesus was not sick. He touched lepers. He touched fever-ridden people. He touched dead bodies. Nothing affected Him. Not a cold. Not a fever. Nothing. Ruach HaKodesh had come on Him and resided in Him like a home, a nest, a permanent dwelling, like a DOVE (Luke 3:22). No germ could touch Him and live because raising from the dead power lived inside Him – the same as it can be for anyone in whom the Holy Spirit dwells (Romans 8:11). We are only ever sick because we don’t see ourselves well in Jesus. We don’t mix the Word of Romans 8:11 with our trust, so it has no effect. But this is how Jesus wants us. Whole and healed. Well. In every way.

We can have this life NOW. It can be a HUGE witness to this present evil age. Because we only have it in Jesus, it can be what keeps us afloat when others sink. It is life in Jesus just as Jesus is life. Anything less isn’t Adonai’s best. We can live that way, but it isn’t His BEST. If you get the Word in you and can see yourself in the promise, then the promise can be real for you. Jesus suffered and died to provide it. The Father is offering it. Ruach HaKodesh is whispering to us about it constantly. This is WHY Jesus came. To give us TOTAL salvation. Total. Total means entire, complete, and missing NOTHING. Doesn’t the idea of being complete in Jesus and missing nothing excite you? I get excited when I read the Word and see these things. I get MORE excited when I see them inside me. When the NAME is shining out of me. When Jesus is speaking up from my heart to help me hang onto His promises with my hands of trust. They’re strong hands too because I got them from the Father. It is something I am LIVING. Not perfectly. I haven’t arrived at the end of my race. But I’m not at the starting block either. I’m headed in the right direction and every day brings a new victory. It can be the same for you too! See yourself in the promises. Let the Word transform you. Renew your mind to His. Praise Adonai, NOTHING will ever be the same!

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Zechariah 3:8

“Listen now, Joshua the high priest, both you and your colleagues who are sitting before you, all of you are a symbol that I am about to introduce my servant, the Branch.” Messiah would be Elohim’s Servant. Messiah would be the branch connecting Elohim’s children to Himself. He would be a symbol and a conduit. “I glorified you on earth by completing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4). “I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener” (John 15:1). Jesus ONLY did what His Father told Him to and NOTHING else (John 8:29). Jesus served those around Him (John 13:1-17). Jesus was Elohim’s PERFECT servant. 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