Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

“You will not follow a majority for evil, and you will not testify concerning a legal dispute to turn aside after a majority to pervert justice. . . For Yahweh said this to me while his hand weighed heavily on me, and he warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, “You must not call conspiracy everything that this people calls conspiracy, and you must not share its fear, and you must not be in dread. You shall regard Yahweh of hosts as holy, and he is your fear, and he is your dread.”

Exodus 23:2 & Isaiah 8:11-13

Humans are a social species. We draw reassurance from doing things other people are doing. We copy the behaviour of other people. If you look around the world, you can see that this is true. You can also see, without much trouble, that this is NOT always a good thing. This social need isn’t reserved for humans alone. The animal kingdom also shares social position and identity. Adonai placed a PLACE in all of His creation. Everything innately understands that it has a place, but in a fallen world, creation doesn’t always know its place. Unfortunately, the human beings CAUSED the fall. We cut ourselves off from our Source, so we don’t know who WE are, what OUR place is and so are unable to make sense of the rest of the interconnected systems. In almost all cases, it is only when we know OUR identity that we can go ahead and help others.

Our problem is that we were designed to get our identity from Adonai. Since we fell, we were not connected to Adonai. Sometimes humanity has sought to return to that connection (the Jews and later the Gentiles through Jesus). Mostly though, we’ve tried to make up our own thing. This was a TERRIBLE idea that REALLY got traction. Because you could go along with anyone else who was doing something that seemed to work. That feeds our social species button. We were meant to have a relationship with Adonai – social connection. Instead, we’re connecting primarily with each other instead of with Him. He is – at best – a second tier connection. That is a TERRIBLE idea that has REALLY gotten traction. We are investing in FEELINGS not emotions. SENSATIONS not substance. OURSELVES and not Him.

It’s funny that Jesus told us the last days would be like the days of Noah (Matthew 24:37-39). People were doing whatever they wanted. And because Adonai wasn’t destroying them, they felt that Adonai didn’t care. So they doubled down. We’re seeing the same thing today, they’ve just added the idea that either Adonai doesn’t care or that there isn’t an Adonai in the first place. People are doing whatever they want. And when other people see that those people aren’t being destroyed, they join in. Or pick their own thing. We’re seeing record numbers of people engaging in immoral behaviour. And all of them are point at OTHER people doing it to ‘prove’ why it is okay for THEM to do it. And there is a call to ‘normalize’ any given behaviour so that those people performing it can feel that it is okay to do. Human beings are begging other human beings to join in or validate what they are doing so that their social species button can be pushed. So that they can feel normal, accepted, and part of the whole.

What Ruach HaKodesh reminds us of is that we’re looking to the wrong whole. We shouldn’t be trying to fit in with human thinking, human morals, or human behaviour. We should be trying to align with Adonai’s thinking, Adonai’s morals, and Adonai’s behaviour. Jesus was our model for ALL behaviour internal or external. Jesus NEVER stepped wrong. In success, in financial freedom, in health, and in persecution, rejection, and abandonment. Jesus walked through it all and did it perfectly (1 Peter 2:21-25). THAT is the kind of alignment we are to seek. What Jesus had with the Father and Ruach HaKodesh. THEY are the ones we should be seeking to join in with. We were created to be social so that we would seek and lean into a relationship with Adonai. To walk with Him and to talk with Him. To rely on Him. That is why we all have a whole inside us that seeks to join. He is who we are supposed to join with. He is the identity we are supposed to claim. He is the one we are to cooperate with.

We will never have true satisfaction if we are not aligned with Jesus. If Adonai is not our source, we will always have something that we lack. It is an itch built into our DNA that cannot be scratched ANY other way. He IS the Way for us. He IS the Life. He IS the Light. He IS our all. The desire began with Him and it ends with Him. Ruach HaKodesh communicates that to us every step of the way. Whispering to us consistently. Guiding us relentlessly. He is the clarion call to get with the One we are meant to be with. To see our identity through Adonai’s eyes. To claim our relationship and then to develop it. To learn what resting is. To learn what reliance is. To learn how deep and how rich Jesus’ love for us really is. He IS our reassurance. He IS our comfort. He IS who we really are, when we let ourselves truly be who we were designed to be. It is MORE than a feeling. It is TRUTH and it is SATISFYING.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Psalm 17:15

“By contrast, I in righteousness shall see your face. Upon awakening I will be satisfied seeing your form.” How much of that satisfaction is from looking in the mirror? Jesus is making us more and more like Himself every day and will complete the process when we are standing before the Throne in person (Philippians 1:6). Which means that every day we look more like Him. It is a psychological reality that if you look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself something, your brain will accept it exactly the same as if a trusted person had said it to you. So when we get up every day and look in that mirror, beholding more of Jesus’ image in us than we had the day before, we should rejoice at the evidence of the work that Jesus is doing in us. We will be seeing His face clearer and recognising its marks on our own countenance. How great is that? That Jesus DOES what He says He will do? That He IS doing a work in us. That He IS transforming us. That He IS NOT stopping for anything or anyone. IF we will seek His face, we ARE going to find it. What a GOOD God!

Your Daily Confession of Elohim’s Goodness:

I taste and see that Yahweh is good; I am blessed because I take refuge in Him.

Psalm 34:8