Fear No Fear

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

“Yahweh is my shepherd; I will not lack for anything. In grassy pastures he makes me lie down; by quiet waters he leads me. He restores my life. He leads me in correct paths for the sake of his name. Even when I walk in a dark valley, I fear no evil because you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare before me a table in the presence of my oppressors. You anoint my head with oil; my cup is overflowing. Surely goodness and loyal love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will stay in the house of Yahweh for a very long time”

Psalm 23:1-6

The Word lights our path (Psalm 119:105). Ruach HaKodesh lights the Way, always pointing to Jesus (1 John 5:5-12), who is the Light of this world (John 8:12). When we are lost in the darkness, light helps us find the way out. When we cannot make out where our sustenance is, light helps us locate it. When we are cold, the source of light warms us. Light brings sustenance to the plants that keep us alive. Light provides the hormone Vitamin D which is vital to the maintenance and development of the human body – especially the immune system. Light is a vital thing that we NEED, darkness is not (1 John 1:5). That is who Jesus is. The light and the life that without which, we perish (John 1:4).

Ruach HaKodesh is the light that guides us to the Light. He is a reflection of Jesus the way the light of the moon is the reflection of the light of the sun. He is a vital part of our journey with Adonai. “because you have delivered my soul from death. Have you not kept my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?” (Psalm 56:13). We’re on this journey because of what Jesus did for us. But we would stumble and fall away if it was not for Ruach HaKodesh who helps us walk in His Light. Without Ruach HaKodesh to point out those things that we need to know in our hearts, how would we know what to do? What to say? Where to walk? Would we even understand the Word that guides us? God says we can’t. “But the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). Without conversation with and listening to Ruach HaKodesh, we will have no idea what is REALLY going on.

When the last of the plagues are poured on the Earth for the purpose of showing Adonai’s might and power and bringing the people into repentance, only those who LISTEN will do that. Sadly, scripture tells us in Revelation 16:9-11 & 21 that on THREE SEPARATE OCCASIONS the ‘natural’ human beings blaspheme Adonai because of the plagues. They obviously recognise who brought them and they curse Him for it. Intentionally and on purpose they DON’T repent. This is what darkness does. It makes you unable to see what is really going on. You may realise that there is a chair there. You may see its shape. But you will not see its colour, pattern, or anything else that light will reveal to you. The darker it is, the less you can discern. This is what people do. We see things happening and we try to explain them away. Sometimes, we succeed. Other times we need a lie from outside ourselves, and we buy into that because we like the lie better than the truth. Other times we KNOW what the truth is, but we reject it. We see the hand of Adonai and have the audacity to say ‘how dare you do this’. We claim goodness as a reason for happy lives, when the one has nothing to do with the other. We reject the truth because we don’t like how we FEEL deep down when our spirits react to the presence and moves of Adonai.

The world is getting to be a chaotic place as the systems humans created spin out of control. Add to that the machinations and movements of the devil who seeks to kill and destroy each and every one of us because he doesn’t believe that Adonai deserves to keep anything the devil can’t have. On top of that, there is the deterioration and devolution of Creation because of Sin. And on top of THAT are the righteous judgments of Adonai on Sin in order to show beyond a shadow of a doubt what the good and proper object of worship is: Himself – the ONLY thing outside Creation (John 1:3; Genesis 1:1). That’s a LOT going on. We as human beings have gone WAY off the course Adonai had for this world and those who inhabit it. When Adonai starts to correct it? To fix it? To return it to the proper path? There will be a shaking up the likes that we have never seen before and honestly could not imagine. It will be tumultuous. The world will panic. The wicked will be terrified. And no one will be able to deny the hand of Almighty Elohim is at work – but many STILL won’t repent.

What about the believer? What about those relying on Jesus? Those who have the Father as their Source? They will have green pastures. They will have still waters. They will be shepherded and protected. It does not mean they won’t be going down the rapids like everyone else – it will mean our canoe is being steered by Jesus. It does not mean we won’t experience the shakes and tremors of the earthquake – it will mean our house doesn’t fall down and we stay on our feet. We will be in the BOAT during the storm, not treading water. We will be like Paul on his journey to Rome. The storm tried to kill them. They lost their cargo. They lost their rigging. They lost their boat. Not ONE man was lost (Acts 27:27-44). After they were on land, Paul was bitten by a poisonous snake. A particularly deadly one. He did not die (Acts 28:1-5). Paul was in Jesus’ spiritual boat, and not at the mercy of the storm. That is what it will be like. Not perfect and maybe not even safe from a human point of view. But completely safe, secure, and BLESSED from Adonai’s point of view.

How did Paul have the trust in Jesus to get through that? He was TOLD what would happen. He was TOLD they would be saved. He was TOLD Jesus was on the case. We can take the SAME CONFIDENCE today. Ruach HaKodesh is dwelling inside us. He is constantly speaking to us. We do NOT need to fear. We do NOT need to cower. We KNOW that we KNOW that we KNOW that Jesus is on the case! Whenever doubts arise, we can go straight to Ruach HaKodesh, ask Him the deal, test it against the Word, and kick everything untrue from our path as we grab a hold of everything true. We can rely on Him. We can trust in Him. We can believe that He can do what He says He can do. Period. No matter what. He gives a push or a prod, go that way. No matter what. In the end, He WILL be right. You WILL be ready. And the dawn of that dark night will be BRIGHT and CRISP and CLEAR. Jesus is our LIGHT and our LIFE. Jesus CAN BE TRUSTED. And Ruach HaKodesh will be pointing us to Him every day, all day long, no matter WHAT. Amen! He is a GREAT God!

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Genesis 26:1-5 & 12-13

“And there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine which was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, to Gerar. And Yahweh appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land which I will show to you. Dwell as an alien in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham you father. And I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and I will give to your descendants all these lands. And all nations of the earth will be blessed through your offspring, because Abraham listened to my voice and kept my charge: my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” . . . And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in that same year a hundredfold, and Yahweh blessed him. And the man became wealthier and wealthier until he was exceedingly wealthy.” Droughts can be VERY severe. We can garden in a drought by planting drought-resistant crops and watering effectively. But without water, you’re sunk. If the soil dries out too much, you’re sunk. Just look at the dust bowl of the 1930s. Families lost land, the agriculture was decimated, and things just did NOT work out well for YEARS. Yet when Adonai tells you something is possible, it is very, VERY possible. Not because of natural conditions, but because of HIS WORD on it. When Adonai speaks it, it will come to pass. He can do it. And we can rely on Him. Isaac relied on what Adonai said. When everyone else was not planting – and some of them were heading to the fertile Nile valley where food still was – Isaac listened to Adonai and planted. And got a hundred-fold return on his crop. Unheard of. Impossible in the natural. Yet it happened because in spite of the hardship. In spite of how they lived while they were waiting for the harvest. In spite of the difficulties. In spite of all that, Isaac took the Word of Adonai over all. And in the end, was rewarded. In the end, was prosperous. In the end, what Adonai said came to pass. No matter what is coming our way, we can ask Ruach HaKodesh what Adonai says about it. We can investigate the Word to see what Adonai says about it. We can choose to endure hardship. We can choose to ignore difficulty (in the sense of not letting it control our choices). We can choose to believe Adonai and trust that Jesus is on the case. When we humbly submit and obey Adonai, when we rest in Jesus and let HIS efforts take the day, then we will ALWAYS end up with the harvest He planned for us to have. We will ALWAYS overcome because JESUS overcame the entire world and everything in it so that we could rest in what HE did. 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