Fear No Fear

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

Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, I give to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.
John 14:27 (emphasis added)

The thing about gifts is that once they are given, they’re given. Oh, sure. You can ‘return’ them, but you always know in your heart of hearts that it was given. In fact, it is as good as given. Often people give gifts, and when they are turned down say something like ‘keep it anyway, I gave it to you’. Which can free the person up to re-gift it or sell it. If it gets forced back into the giver’s hands, it often goes unused onto some back shelf or tossed. Why? It was a given gift and they have no more use for it. It is good that isn’t how it works for us and God.

God is a GOOD father. Good fathers give gifts (Matthew 7:11). “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation nor turning shadow” (James 1:17). He gives gifts. And He is consistent. He gives them regularly. He doesn’t want them back. He DOES want us to use them (1 Peter 4:10). He doesn’t give us all the same things (Romans 12:6). But He gives to each of us what we need to function, what we need to walk into the next step, and He gives us what we LIKE — and we all like different things. Yes, there are gifts of God that are purely spiritual in nature. “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the profit of all. For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, and to another workings of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of languages, and to another the interpretation of languages. But the one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing to each one separately as he desires. For as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all given to drink into one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:7–13).

Those are vitally important things. This is how we function as a body. This is how we do the things He has given us to do. You can’t properly operate without them. They are the tools of our empowerment. But guess what? God also gives us things we like. It might be financial. It might be a new car. A toy. A book. A new house. A computer. A freezer. Stuff. Things. It’s true. Yes, He gives them. Also yes, He won’t give you something that will pull you away from Him (James 4:3–6). That’s why He has you focus on HIM not on things. That’s why when we are seeking His face, we are CONTENT with what we have. It doesn’t mean we don’t work to improve ourselves and our lives. It means that if they don’t improve we’re fine. If they do improve, we’re fine. We are fine because we are CONTENT with the Lord God Almighty. It means that we are not striving to get our NEEDS met. We KNOW and BELIEVE that He is meeting our needs. We don’t have to waste time and energy thinking about NEEDS. He’s got that. All we need to concern ourselves with is what we want and whether those wants are in harmony with His will.

What we want should coincide with the WORD. If our wants are against the Word, we’re not going to get them. THAT is what will pull you away from the Lord. Why would you WANT immoral entertainment? Why would you WANT something that will eat up your time with the Lord? Why would you WANT something that will damage your health in the long run? No. We pray in line with the Word. We ask according to the Word. And we shouldn’t be asking for stuff the Lord doesn’t approve of. I know that can SEEM limiting, but if you have your priorities right and submit to the Lord with humble obedience, you’ll find that you are just as happy, if not MORE happy than you were with the stuff that grates against the Word. We ask for our wants, but we are focused on Him. That helps our wants to also be focused on Him. “But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). He meets our needs. He’ll bless us with things we want. They’ll be a blessing. They’ll be nice. They’ll be fun. You’ll enjoy them. It’s okay. We’re not meant to be monks. We’re meant to be living life abundantly.

Abundant life begins and ends with the Lord Jesus. Everything we do, think, or say, should have Jesus in them. “But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because it isn’t of faith; and whatever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). We’re to do everything in faith. Jesus is Lord of our lives. Not the Lord of our lives Sunday morning nine to noon. Jesus is our all in all. We can’t really do anything without Him in it. He is Lord. We submit to Him in everything. From the way we drive our vehicles to the food we put on our plate. Jesus wants to be part of EVERYTHING. That’s one of the reasons we need to let the Word renew our minds (Romans 12:2). “Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, seeing that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue, by which he has granted to us his precious and exceedingly great promises; that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust” (2 Peter 1:2–4). We have everything we need. We have the power to accomplish everything we are called to do. We will be blessed with everything that the Lord has for us. If we have the knowledge of Jesus inside us. The more knowledge of the Word we have, the more we are able to enjoy this life — both our work and our not work.

“Yes, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge; and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control, perseverance; and in perseverance, godliness; and in godliness, brotherly affection; and in brotherly affection, love. For if these things are yours and abound, they make you to not be idle or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5–8). We work to use our faith in everything we do. In operating by faith in all things we gain access to the moral excellence we have in our spirit. Moral excellence in turn seeks knowledge of that which created moral excellence. The Word. The Word helps us build up self-control as we put down the old man, old lusts, and old behaviours as we choose the things of God, the actions of God, the morals of God. Exercising self-control builds our perseverance. Our perseverance pleases the Lord because we are operating obediently, obeying His commands and strengthening our faith. Do you see how they are all connected? How one leads to the other which leads to the other which leads us to the Throne of Grace from which we have been given all these gifts? They are all from the Father and they are all very, VERY good. Guess what? A person who is walking in faith, bringing Jesus into all aspects of their lives, feeding on the Word, being obedient to what they find there, renewing their minds, strengthening their moral excellence, using self-control, and persevering against anything that comes against us… that kind of person is not going to ask for things that God won’t approve of. That kind of person is not seeking ungodly anything. That kind of person will ask for good gifts from our Good Father.

That’s what WE want, and what WE enjoy, and about OUR lives right here in this world. But what about God? What does HE want to give us? The thing that we most need: salvation. Next, He wants to give us the NEXT thing that we most need: peace. Peace of mind. Peace in our life. Peace in our emotions. Peace in our families. Peace. Not normal peace. Supernatural peace. The same peace Jesus had. That’s a lot of peace. They tried to throw Him off a cliff (Luke 4:29–30). They tried to stone Him (John 10:31–42). They tried to seize Him (John 7:30). And then the biggie: “looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus went to the cross in JOY. Now THAT is some peace right there. The peace God gives is a spiritual peace. A supernatural peace. A peace beyond our understanding (Philippians 4:5–7). Jesus’ flesh desperately wanted to avoid the crucifixion. Jesus’ spirit knew what was really going on (Matthew 26:41). THAT is the peace He gives us.

Our spirit knows what is really going on. If you know what is REALLY going on, why would you be worried about anything? Why would you be scared about anything? How could anything get past that armour? The answer: you wouldn’t be worried and nothing could get in. THAT is abiding in Jesus. THAT is overcoming like Jesus overcame. THAT is peace. Knowing that you know what is really happening. The causes. The solutions. It’s all in the Word and the Word is in us and the peace is ours because God gave it. It is up to us to use it. It’s a two-handed thing, so you have to put down fear. You can’t hold both. Fear can be sticky, but peace will wash it away. This peace is wrapped up hand in hand with the love that the Lord has for us. When we understand the depth and length and breadth and width of Jesus’ love for us we will be unable to do anything but have peace (Ephesians 3:17–19). His perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). Know love? No fear. It’s our God-gifted guarantee.

Jesus left it with us. Gifted it to us through our resurrection into Him. He doesn’t give temporary things. He doesn’t take things back. There are no strings attached to it, only promises. He gives it to us so that we don’t need to fear. We don’t need to be troubled. We don’t need to worry. Because of this gift, we can CHOOSE not to fear. We can CHOOSE to use the peace He has given us. It is a GIFT. It is GRACE. Believe the Word. Have faith that you have it. Love the Lord, accept His love, and let His peace flow through you and wash out fear from every corner of your thinking, dreaming, speaking, and acting. It is the second best gift you’ll ever receive.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Ephesians 2:8

Grace is the wrapping of the Blessing of the Lord. It is how we get the gift. Without it, we have a prettily wrapped who-knows-what on the shelf of our spirit. Grace is meant to be open. Grace is meant to be used. Grace is meant to be shared. This is a gift that WANTS to be re-gifted (Philippians 1:7). By Grace we were saved. By Grace we were healed. By Grace we were gifted. By Grace we were empowered. By Grace we were given power. By Grace we use the power. It is the gift that keeps on giving. It takes knowledge of the love of God for us to use it properly. We need to know the depth of His love to understand the potency of His gift of Grace. The blood flows in the anointing and the anointing is poured through Grace. Our love will abound more and more through our knowledge of the Word. When we know more of the Word, we will have our eyes opened to what He has for us. For us to begin to see how much is in that package. If you understood the love of the Lord and you saw the Grace He has given to you, you wouldn’t be able to be depressed. To be anxious. To be sick. You would see the GOODNESS of the Lord God Almighty and how He WANTS you to operate in His GRACE. To LIVE ABUNDANTLY by your spirit, which will inform the rest of your life whether it is your thinking, emotions, your flesh, or your finances (3 John 1:2). By GRACE we are SAVED — from everything that the devil or the world tries to steal from us. Problem? Grace it. That is what the Word is for.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.