Fear No Fear

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

For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace;
Romans 8:6 (emphasis added)

The mind of the flesh is the most mind many people ever get. A bunch of dirt got talking one day and figured they could do stuff. They developed a system of education. Of course, each country and region had their own version of that system. Some have claimed that the Prussian factory system of education was the model used. Some have claimed the religious conservatives were in charge of the model. Some have claimed it was the textbook people. There have been a lot of versions, a lot of facts, a lot of missing facts, and a lot of confusion. But that is to be expected. Dirt made it up. We did our best. We thought of the children. We thought of the desired result — functional citizens. We have developed several ways to do it across the globe. And in many cases it works out pretty good. There have been some very, VERY smart people capable of some very, VERY brilliant things. Lives have been saved. Technological wonders have been invented. The face of the world has been re-shaped. The mind of the flesh is capable of some real wonders.

But it is still dirt (Genesis 2:7; Psalm 103:14). It is still flesh. It is human. It’s not an animal brain. It never has been. Untrained, it is still capable of more than any animal can ever hope to accomplish. We’re pretty special as functional beings. The problem is we keep leading with our flesh brain. We see something in the bible and we decide it’s wrong. Or the world comes up with what it currently sees as a ‘fact’ and says that it proves the bible wrong. Until they find out something else that alters the ‘fact’ and it turns out the bible wasn’t wrong. We keep looking at this living, breathing spiritual force and claiming it is a man-written document. We say things like how can God be a God of love when He excludes so many people, when the truth is that He wants everyone saved (1 Timothy 2:3–4). When we hit something we don’t understand — or that we don’t like — we tend to fault God, fault the bible, and say that it ‘proves’ out point. If that isn’t the dirtiest dirt-thing, I don’t know what is.

The renewing of our minds is an ongoing thing, changing us over time and deepening our understanding of the Word. It’s like an onion, but each layer means more than the last without changing the meaning of the last. I know. It can make your head hurt. We can take heart though. “Jesus answered him, “You don’t know what I am doing now, but you will understand later”” (John 13:7). This is a very truthful verse. Sometimes we DON’T understand, or we MISunderstand. And then we start ‘deconstructing’ our faith and end up with a pile of tinker toys on the floor instead of a tower of wisdom. The problem is, when we started to question, we looked to our selves, the world’s wisdom, or other religions. We didn’t look to the Lord, the Word, and the understanding that only the Lord God Almighty gives us. “Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Don’t be wise in your own eyes. Fear Yahweh, and depart from evil” (Proverbs 3:5–7). Since the Lord is the Lord of ALL THINGS, not just THIS CREATION, it shouldn’t be a surprise that wisdom from the Lord can take forms we just do NOT have the capacity to understand on our own.

Worship and praise of the Lord can overcome almost all of our questions. He is outside of time and space. He is outside of all dimensions. He is a God that is unknown in all His being. We only see portions of Him. Why is it that we assume we can fit Him into a box? When we acknowledge the Lord’s place in the universe and praise Him for who He is, the doors of peace open up. We don’t need to be worried about what we don’t understand YET. We can get the Word into our hearts, mix our knowledge with the faith God gives us, and operate in His authority which we are granted in Christ Jesus. What hold do those big questions have on us when we can see the moves of the Lord? If you see someone you know is dead rise, are you really going to question whether God exists? If you see someone miraculously healed of a disease or condition that was hurting them, are you really going to question whether God can move today as He did in the bible? If you experience the Blessing of the Lord in the face of logic that says you cannot be blessed or prosper right now, are you going to doubt whether He cares? If you see people all over the world, every walk of life, and every philosophy, creed, race, gender, and orientation come to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus as Saviour, are you going to doubt that God IS a God of love? Short answer, if you use your flesh brain then yes. You will.

The Judeans witnessed miracles performed through Jesus. They didn’t believe. They saw the blind healed. They saw the dead rise. They saw the lame walk. They saw thousands healed miraculously. But they did not believe. They chose to use their flesh brains. They chose to side with specific religious leaders (the Pharisees and Sadducees) and refute what their eyes saw, their ears heard, and their minds processed (Matthew 13:14–15). This small group of people chose to stand against the Lord Jesus and they as a group tried to wipe Him off the face of the world. Thomas — who closely witnesses the teaching, miracles, and person of Jesus — doubted until he SAW the physical evidence with his flesh brain. Jesus — the resurrected Jesus — stood on a mountain and disciples who had followed Him doubted. They even have been there when Jesus ascended. Did they change their minds, or did they explain it away? If they flesh-brained it, they fell away. “Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit” (Mark 4:7).

“I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people; and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. The first things have passed away.” He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” He said, “Write, for these words of God are faithful and true.” He said to me, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son. But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death”” (Revelation 21:3–8).

God is not holding anyone out of the Kingdom by HIS will. It is OUR will that keeps us out. If we would just accept the Lord and what He is offering — including the restrictions on our flesh — we would be able to walk in the door. It is a simple, SIMPLE message. Submit to the Lord, accept Jesus AS Lord, admit you needed Him to pay for your sin. That’s it. “But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart;” that is, the word of faith which we preach: that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed”” (Romans 10:8–11).

We will NOT be disappointed. This is a PROMISE. The Lord God does NOT lie. He CANNOT lie. Lying is an invention of the devil. We picked it up and ran with it, but it is foreign to Yahweh. When He gives a promise, He is able to perform it (Romans 4:20–21). If we believe He exists, and we believe He is able to and DOES reward those who seek Him, there is nothing that we cannot have (Hebrews 11:6). When we seek Him, we are not trying to fit Him into a flesh-brain-box. When we seek Him, we are humbling ourselves, submitting to what we discover in the Word, and being loving, obedient children. Not out of fear. Not to get something. Because He is GOD and deserves it. Because He is GOD and we WANT to please Him. When we seek Him, when we get close to Him, HE gets close to us.

“Be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you” (James 4:7–10). The Word is here to help us. The Holy Spirit is here to guide us, correct us, instruct us, and point us to Jesus who leads us. Jesus leads us to the Father. The Father is God Almighty. Rest in Him. Accept the abundant life He offers. Yes, it means putting the flesh away from you. But what we get from Yahweh God, King of the Universe, is SO MUCH MORE than dirt can ever manage to make happen. Submit and watch Him bring peace (2 Thessalonians 3:16), life (John 10:10), and understanding (James 1:5) into your life. He promised. He’s able to perform it. Trust Him.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Mark 4:38 & 40

Paraphrase of disciples: Hey, Jesus! HELP!!!!!. Paraphrase of Jesus: Why didn’t you do it?? Yup. Jesus empowered them to operate. Not only that, this was AFTER He had sent them out on a preaching and healing tour (Mark 3:13–19). They had performed miracles operating in the authority He gave them. He told them to go over to the other side of the lake (Mark 4:35). They could have come against the storm that was threatening them. Not ANY storm, but the storm was coming against the command of God. The storm was stopping them from completing the task set before them. They COULD have stood against it. They COULD have commanded it to let them pass. To tamp down. They ALSO could have commanded it to stop. It doesn’t matter if it was natural, supernatural, or a combination of the two (the supernatural taking advantage of the natural). It was standing in the way of a direct command of God toward a group of people empowered to operate in the authority that rested on Jesus. Guess what? The same authority rests on us. Open the Word. What promises and commands has the Lord made toward you? Yes, there will be restrictions. Yes, there will be qualifiers. But the promises and the commands? They are real. They are true. And you CAN perform what the Lord SAYS you can perform. Are you healed? HE says you are (Matthew 8:16–17). Are you blessed? HE says you are (Deuteronomy 28:6–10). Are you living a joyful life? HE says you can (Nehemiah 8:10, Psalm 16:11). Are you accessing the fruit of the Spirit? HE says you can (Galatians 5:22–26). Are you having trouble believing? HE says you have HIS faith (Mark 11:22). Stop using your flesh brain. Stop believing what the world drummed into you. Start believing what HE says. Start believing that the WORD is TRUE AS IS. VERBATIM.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.