Fear No Fear

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

Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ If a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.
Luke 10:5–6 (emphasis added)

How many of us go into people’s homes or places of business with a blessing for them? There is precedent for it right here. It’s not something the church is commanded to do as a whole, but these men were. We can see from this that the practice is a good one. It is a heart attitude. The passing of peace. The giving a little of yours to someone else — and the great thing about that is that we have an inexhaustible supply so ours never gets lessened. But we don’t think of it. It just isn’t on our radar.

Maybe it isn’t because of the occult practice of house blessings. This is where an officiant (or several) of some kind come in to pray for or ‘cleanse’ the home. Often before a new ownership, celebration of a marriage, or after an ‘incident’, or to ‘clear negative energy’, etc. This is found in most religions. I am not talking about this. There is NOTHING biblical about ‘cleansing’ a home. There is no negative or positive energy to be removed. Smudging, salt, images of saints or angels, chalking doors or anything to ‘drive off’ evil are all perversions of what the Word does tell you to do. We are to submit to God, use the Word, and the devil will flee from us. We are told to anoint each other with oil and pray for each other for healing (James 5:14–15). There are Old Testament Laws for priests to follow about homes. There is nothing about using oil or salt or holy water to cleanse a physical space. We can PRAY, we can say what the Spirit leads us to say. We HAVE authority over these things IN JESUS as we operate according to the Word. “Behold, I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will in any way hurt you” (Luke 10:19). We take authority, we deal with these things through the Courts of Heaven, not through ritual and ‘objects of power’. Of course there is more to it that this brief description, but I want to be clear that I am not talking about blessing a physical place or cleansing one.

I am talking about the blessing of peace that resides in our hearts. I am talking about the free blessing of our heart shared with our fellow humans, just to bless them. It is so rare to freely bless someone. Quite often we hear the opposite. “They may curse, but you bless. When they arise, they will be shamed, but your servant shall rejoice” (Psalm 109:28). It could be as simple as quoting the Word. “May Yahweh increase you more and more, you and your children” (Psalm 115:14). Or maybe “Blessed are you by Yahweh, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 115:15). It doesn’t matter how they treat us. We should be blessing everyone we come into contact with. This is a lifestyle of loving attention and fellowship that we are called to embody.

“Bless those who persecute you; bless, and don’t curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Don’t set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Don’t be wise in your own conceits. Repay no one evil for evil. Respect what is honorable in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men. Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.” Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:14–21).

Who does all that? Almost no one. Yet, this is how Jesus operated. It is how He walked. Not on His own steam, but by the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Jesus did NOTHING that the Father didn’t show Him to do (John 5:19). Jesus said NOTHING that the Father didn’t give Him to say (John 12:49). Jesus commanded us to love one another (John 13:34). Since we love Jesus, we should do what He commands us to do. “But God’s love has most certainly been perfected in whoever keeps his word. This is how we know that we are in him: he who says he remains in him ought himself also to walk just like he walked“ (1 John 2:5–6). Everywhere Jesus went He was a blessing to those who would see it. He never took it back either. Even when they would not take Him in (Luke 9:51–56). Two of disciples wanted to destroy them. “But he turned and rebuked them, “You don’t know of what kind of spirit you are. For the Son of Man didn’t come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them”” (vs 55–56).

Jesus came to save. Our spirits. Our souls. Our bodies. Our lives. “The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly” (John 10:10). He came to do more than die for us. He came to show us how we can live. There are those who want to make Jesus poor, but He wasn’t. He owned a house before He started His ministry (Matthew 4:13). He had access to boats whenever He wanted — which means His disciples weren’t poor either (Mark 3:9). He had over half a year’s pay on hand at one point (John 6:7). He randomly crossed the Sea of Galilee, delivered a man, and had a clean set of clothes for him (Luke 8:27, 35). He gave away so much in charitable giving that even though a betrayer had been announced MOMENTS before, the disciples thought that Judas was being sent out to give to the poor IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PASSOVER MEAL (John 13:28–29). Jesus had money to do what He wanted, when He wanted. But He STILL chose to do what His Father told Him. Also, He was about more than monetary blessings.

Just like He told a man to sell all He had before following Jesus to make sure that money and possessions were not in his heart where the Lord should be (Luke 18:22), the Lord Jesus doesn’t want us to have anything having a hold on us but the Father. We should have money. Money shouldn’t have us. We should have abundant life. Abundant life should not have us. We live from the inside out, not the outside in. Jesus told us to seek the Father first above all. “But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). We CAN get blessed when we bless others (Proverbs 11:25), but that isn’t why we do it. We bless others because we are blessed. We are blessed IN ORDER to bless others. Financially. Physically. Emotionally. Spiritually. We are to spread that peace. We are to bless everyone we come across whether they are the cashier at McDonald’s or the parents of our spouse. We are to bless others.

One of the reasons we see technology taking over is so that the enemy can prevent the spread of the blessing of the Lord. If we are ordering food through apps on our devices, using self-checkouts, being taxi’d by self-driving cars, banking by phone, shopping by online merchants, and having delivery drivers dropping a package on our porch and walking away, what chance will we have to look another human in the eye and say, ‘May God bless you, keep you, and increase you and yours’? If we can’t tell people they are blessed, how will they know? So often we feel forgotten by God. We feel alone. We feel tired. We feel defeated. We hear platitudes like ‘the heart wants what it wants’ so often we think feelings matter. The TRUTH is that feelings can’t be trusted to open a window, much less be productive in our lives: “The heart is deceitful above all things and it is exceedingly corrupt. Who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Why aren’t we teaching the wisdom of the Word to our children? “Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). We cannot be trusted. God can.

The only way we can truly bless one another is (1) we need to see each other and interact with one another, and (2) we need to love. Loving is a decision. It is a kindness beyond politeness and social acceptance. It is acting for the good of others, the improvement of others, and the advancement of others in spite of whether or not it benefits us. That is love. We are to help those who come into our sphere and do our best to make sure that they have what it takes to advance and prosper (Leviticus 19:33–34). We’re to love each other. Period. Not when we feel like it. Not when the people we face are nice. No. We are to love them. To accept them. To treat them the way you treat yourself. We have to put our fear aside. Our fear of their clothes. Of their lifestyle. Of their philosophies of life. We need to put that all aside with the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–26). Jesus dined with sinners (Matthew 9:10–17). Jesus didn’t shun adulterers (John 8:2–11). Jesus didn’t scorn the wicked or the pharisee (Luke 7:36–48). Jesus interacted with ANYONE who needed Him. We are called to do the same.
Fear keeps us alone. It keeps us separated. It keeps us apart. It keeps shadows of bad things before our eyes. It wants us nervous. It wants us locking doors unnecessarily (like in traffic when a pedestrian we don’t like walks past), crossing streets, entering or exiting businesses. It wants us to give in to it. Faith wants us walking tall. NOT because WE are anything special. No. Because we have the Spirit of He that raised Christ Jesus from the dead living inside us (Romans 8:11). We have the One Who Overcame the World living in us (John 16:33). The Lord God Almighty is with us and will NEVER leave us (Hebrews 13:5). “So that with good courage we say, “The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?”” (Hebrews 13:6).

Let your faith shine (Matthew 5:16). Let your love mark you as a follower of Jesus (John 13:35). Bless those you come across. Help defeat the fear in their life by spreading the peace that you have in yours. Not because you are special, no. Because Jesus is Gracious, because the Father is Merciful, and because Holy Spirit is dripping with their Fruit. May our love and His peace mark us for all to see. May our love and His peace show how different we are. How quick to bless, to help, to encourage, and to give freely what we were freely given. Be light in the Darkness. Be like Jesus.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Matthew 10:8

Spread blessing. Spread an attitude of MORE THAN ENOUGH. Why do we try and gatekeep the Word? Why do we try and gatekeep the church? Why do we do anything but let others in? Why do we do anything but bless everyone we see? Sure, we may not have the ready cash to hand them c-notes all day long. But we can bless them with the Word. We can speak kindness. We can smile at them and treat them like they are human. It doesn’t matter if they’re wearing tight jeans, crop tops, short shorts, falsies, dresses, make-up, tights, or heels. It doesn’t matter if they are gay, straight, in-between, confused, convinced, blatant, or hiding. It doesn’t matter if they are bikers or hunters, incels or rapists. It doesn’t matter if they are jailed or free. It doesn’t matter if they are homeless or rich. Political or atypical. They are human beings, they are loved by God, and they deserve kindness. Not human kindness — that always comes with a price tag. No. They deserve the Love of the Lord God Almighty. He gave it to you as surely as He gave it to them. He wants them to accept it as surely as He wanted you to. We are only capable of love because God loved us first (1 John 4:19). If He loved us before we were saved, before we were washed clean, before we were anything but damned sinners… why are we treating other humans differently than He treated us. We are to be like Christ Jesus. One thing we can do is pray for His love to manifest in our hearts (1 John 4:7–9) so that we can see them as God sees them: precious souls to be loved into His arms. Don’t make them clean up first. Don’t make them change. Love them. Love them and accept them. Let God change them. That’s HIS job. Ours is to love freely because He loved us freely. Amen.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.