Fear No Fear

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

““Be strong and courageous; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you. Don’t turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. Haven’t I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go.””
(Joshua 1:6-9)

“Yahweh’s name is a strong tower:
    the righteous run to him, and are safe.
The rich man’s wealth is his strong city,
    like an unscalable wall in his own imagination.”
(Proverbs 18:10-11)

“Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked,
    nor stand on the path of sinners,
    nor sit in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in Yahweh’s law.
    On his law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water,
    that produces its fruit in its season,
    whose leaf also does not wither.
    Whatever he does shall prosper.
The wicked are not so,
    but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked shall perish.“
(Psalm 1)

Take the Land. That was the order. That was the commission. And the WORD was how they were going to accomplish it (Psalm 119:105). God has told them He would go before them (Exodus 23:28). When the spies got in, they met a woman who told them that everyone was terrified of them and ready to break (Joshua 2:9-11). God was FAITHFUL in what He said. If they would reject everything the land was saying to them (the giants, the walls, the fierce fighters) through what they SAW, and if they would rely on what God SAID through His Word, they would have victory. The Word needed to be foremost in their lives so that it would live in their hearts. Only with God as their Source were they going to complete their assignment.

Our wealth is found in the Lord (1 Timothy 6:17-19). What we put our minds on, our eyes on, and our eyes on, is what ends up in our hearts (Luke 6:45). If we are making God what we put into our hearts, if we are seeking to put His Word there, we are running into a tower that will keep us secure and safe. Because that is the treasure of eternity (Matthew 6:19-21). There is wickedness and people who have CHOSEN wickedness all around us. They have been given platforms to speak, to sing, to entertain, and to display the lifestyles they want us to emulate. They are in business and politics and law and banking and every endeavour of this world. They’re not everyone. But they are loud and noticeable. We need to decide not to listen to them.

It isn’t enough to listen and decide that’s not for me so I will defy them. We must REJECT the advice of the wicked and not take their message into our hearts.. The only way to truly do this is to EMBRACE the Word, which is righteous. It is Adonai who BLESSES the righteous and DESTROYS the wicked – whether that is happening according to OUR point of view and timeline or not. We shun the behaviour of the wicked by DELIGHTING in the Word and the moral character of God. It isn’t about external actions decrying the wicked. It’s about internal decisions and the effort to not let the Word get away from us or become commonplace to us. The actions we externally do will be consistent with our inner landscape. We only truly reject the wicked advice and their ideas when we do it in our hearts. Our battles are fought first in our minds and hearts. If we lean into the Lord and His Word, we will always be on the winning side.

Summary

We cannot do what we are called to do without the Lord as our Source. Without God leading us, guiding us, teaching us, correcting us, and assisting us in our repentance, we will not make it. That is what it means to be a living sacrifice. We put DOWN what we feel like and we pick UP what God says is right and good. We aren’t owed an explanation. We are told to do and we should do. We MUST trust in Him. We must retrain our minds with the Word until we start trusting Him. Then we need to keep it up and deepen that trust, strengthen that trust, and develop that trust until it is as second nature to us as BREATHING. With the Word in our hearts and in our minds, we are able to walk in what He sets before us. Every time. HE is our stronghold and HE is our strength.