Fear No Fear

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

for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds. We tear down arguments and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (emphasis added)

Sometimes Do you want to follow someone who doesn’t know what to do? Do you want to rely on someone who might change their minds, or possibly not show up at all when it counts? This isn’t what we look for in our leaders, teachers, managers, CEOs, or priests/pastors. This isn’t what we would expect to find in a military or a civilian chain of command. This is not what we would find acceptable in a government. Yet there seems to be a wide-spread and often pushed idea or narrative that Adonai Elohim – the Creator of All There Is – doesn’t have a clear idea of what He wants to do. Why would you WANT to worship a god like that?

‘You never know what God’s going to do.’ How OFTEN I have heard this. I’ve also heard ‘He/she is so mad at God for that’ – which is ALWAYS in relation to a sickness or disease. How do we not know what Adonai wants to do when Adonai has been so clear about it throughout the Word? I’ve heard the stance that ‘that was for the apostles’ or ‘that’s ended’. But it doesn’t say that in the Word. Nowhere in the bible does it say the ministry of Jesus and the things Jesus did were for a temporary period of time. The argument that they are over hinges on the idea that before the apostles (the Twelve and the many others mentioned in the Word) died, they wrote down the inspired teaching of Ruach HaKodesh. Since we have it written down, we no longer need the signs and wonders. We only needed those UNTIL it was written down, so the thinking goes. But if the signs and wonders were to prove the reality of Jesus and His works only until the Word was completed, then the Word must perform the same work in order to prove the reality of Jesus. The words in the Word equate to the words the apostles taught, right? So if signs and wonders accompanied their teaching when given orally, then signs and wonders should accompany their teaching in written form. That’s the only logical conclusion. As for whether we know what Adonai wants to do or whether it is Adonai’s will to heal, the Word clearly shows that (a) Jesus ALWAYS healed EVERYONE who accepted the healing EVERY time, and (b) Jesus said we would do what HE did if we loved, obeyed, and followed Him. So it IS His will to always heal and redeem and renew.

This broken thinking that either limits Adonai (it’s passed away), or claims His wishy-washiness (you never know what He’ll do) are strongholds on thinking that need tearing down. They’re the wrong strongholds, built on the wrong hills, flying the wrong flags. Is Adonai sovereign? Yes. He is. But He isn’t a dictator. He gave us free will and He requires us to utilise it. He is looking for cooperative partners, not mindless slaves (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22). If we’re partners, then we have a part. Action, thinking, and appropriate words are required. We are not silent partners, but representative partners. Ambassadors. There isn’t an ambassador in this world who doesn’t work hard every day to represent their country’s values, economy, political objectives, etc. Why should we be any different? Elohim created Adam to have dominion here (Genesis 1:26-28). Elohim placed Adam to tend, keep, and work in the Garden (Genesis 2:8). Jesus came to restore us to where we should have been (Luke 19:10). That means that in Jesus we have all the authority and dominion that HE says we have WHEREVER He says that we have it. Sickness? We have authority. Disease? We have authority. Poverty and lack? We have authority. And we don’t have it from the outside in, we have it from the INSIDE out. These negative things are trying to come ONTO us, they aren’t nestled WITHIN us. That is broken thinking.

The strongholds of the world and the devil in our mental landscape need to be pulled down. These are the stumbling blocks that keep us from receiving from Adonai because we assume THEY are the rules, standards, reality, and the way things are here. We then choose to ignore Adonai and the Word when He says something different. We put weight on the wrong things. Which reinforces our broken thinking. Which strengthens the strongholds. Why do we put so much importance on the narrative of health organisations, but so little on the Word? I know it seems like doctors and dieticians and nutritionists know so much about what is and isn’t possible with the human body, but that is human knowledge. Knowledge based on what WE have figured out, what WE think is possible, and what WE believe – especially in the area of cause and effect. It is a LARGE body of knowledge. They are precise and always searching for clearer answers. They’ve developed a multitude of machines to look into our bodies, to diagnose our ills, and to create both coping methods and elimination of symptoms with the goal of their not returning. While all that is good and VERY useful, it is limited. If you simply look at the OTHER hand you’ll see it. The Creator of All Things who designed our bodies. The One who is able to tell us what is happening on a subatomic level. The One who is NOT limited by human methodology, knowledge, or wisdom. The One who is NOT limited by natural laws, biology, physics, chemistry, or anything else in our physical world. It seems logical, rational, and the BEST THING for us to go with the UNLIMITED.

This doesn’t happen automatically. This happens when we CHOOSE and then ACT. It is not done by Adonai. Adonai gave us His Word so that we know the will of the Father. Ruach HaKodesh speaks to us so that we can correct our course. But WE must take these things and walk in them. That’s choosing to let the Word transform us (instead of rejecting or resisting the process). That’s choosing to see things from Adonai’s point of view. That’s submitting to the Word and acting on what we see there. Jesus is on every page, in every word, and each one is an opportunity to get a little more of Him inside us. To adopt HIS mindset as OUR mindset. That is a will-power led choice. It takes self control. That’s why He gifted it to us. “For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7). We TAKE these thoughts, ideas, and mindsets and bring them to the cross. Not hand in hand skipping along while sniffing daisies. This is forcibly chaining them, not letting them loose, and dragging them – even if they kick and scream – to the cross. To force them and leave them there under the purifying flow of Jesus’ blood. There, under that flow, is where we compare them to the knowledge of Elohim. Which means we need the Word in us and we need to be connected to, and in a relationship with, Ruach HaKodesh. Through Him we have access to the mind of Messiah (1 Corinthians 2:16). We are encouraged to ask for wisdom (James 1:5). Adonai gives us ALL the tools we need to evaluate thoughts, ideas, philosophies, mindsets, and all human thinking. If they don’t pass muster; if they stand against the things Adonai approves of or says is right, then we can be confident in the next step – which is either leaving it chained to the cross, forcing it/them to obey the Word, or tossing them aside and moving on.

We don’t just have the ability. We have a responsibility to ensure our thinking, mindset, and viewpoint are in harmony with Adonai Elohim. No matter WHAT humans come up with, decide, or agree to, only HIS viewpoint, opinion, and morality is correct. EVERYTHING else is incorrect. Adonai is totally RIGHTEOUS. Period. It is US who needs to change. US who need to move. US who need to conform. We’re NOT trying to get Elohim to move on our behalf or perform what we think we want/need. We’re developing harmony with His thinking so we can receive from Him all the things He wants to give. The more of Him we see, understand, and inhabit, the more freedom and blessing we can hold. Shaken, pressed down, and running over (Luke 6:38). THAT is where we should be and THAT is where He wants to get us to go (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). Get to where you belong, and don’t let broken thinking, clever thinking, or human reasoning move your feet. Stand. Then stand some more. And then stand again. He is the Rock and if you don’t move you’ll be secure, so STAND and rule (Genesis 4:7) over everything that tries to move you. This is your responsibility, your right, and your heritage in Jesus. Amen.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Zechariah 11:7

“So I began to shepherd the flock destined for slaughter, the most afflicted of all the flock. Then I took two staffs, calling one “Pleasantness” and the other “Union,” and I tended the flock.” Messiah would minister to ‘poor’, the believing remnant. The poor was a segment of Israelite society they were commanded to care for (Deuteronomy 15:11; Proverbs 22:9; Isaiah 58:10). Not only poor in finances, but poor in spirit, poor in opportunity, poor in teaching, and poor in every way. “Then Jesus went throughout all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were bewildered and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:35-36). Jesus had a heart for the poor of every and any condition. He sought them out and did all He could to bring them solace and lasting help. Jesus ministered to the poor. Jesus IS Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

Yeshua is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Matthew 16:16b