Fear No Fear

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

“They brought in God’s ark, and set it in the middle of the tent that David had pitched for it; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in Yahweh’s name. He gave to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins.”
(1 Chronicles 16:1-3)

“Don’t trust in oppression.
    Don’t become vain in robbery.
If riches increase,
    don’t set your heart on them.
God has spoken once;
    twice I have heard this,
    that power belongs to God.
Also to you, Lord, belongs loving kindness,
    for you reward every man according to his work.”
(Psalm 62:10-12)

“The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they scoffed at him. He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. “The law and the prophets were until John. From that time the Good News of God’s Kingdom is preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a pen in the law to fall.”
(Luke 16:14-17)

As soon as the ark was in Jerusalem, David re-instituted the sacrificial system. And as soon as the sacrificial system was in place and functioning, David blessed the people. There were a LOT of people in Jerusalem that day. Each of them got the same gift – and it wasn’t tiny. That was a HUGE expenditure for David and he didn’t blink an eye. There is blessing when we get right with God, doing things the way He has told us to. David did not want the people to forget that.

When we obey God, there is blessing in that. Not as a reward, per se, but because when you do right blessing can enter your life. Just as when we do wrong, there is a cost. Not as a punishment, but as a consequence. Even blessing comes with a warning, because we can so easily put our trust in the blessing. In the successes. In the money that successes can bring. But the stuff isn’t important. The Lord and our relationship with Him is important. It is the biggest and least visible blessing there is. But if we concentrate on trusting in Him, there is a natural blessing that comes from that. What we ‘do’ in heart, word, and deed enables us to receive from Him – if what we do is in line with what God says is right and good.

Until Jesus came, the Law and the words of the Prophets (the Old Covenant) was our witness that God rewards obedience and that there is blessing in aligning ourselves with Him. Without any of that passing away, Jesus came to show that there is another witness. The witness of the Kingdom. A witness of grace and mercy to ALL people (Jew and Gentile). But it is still a less visible blessing than the money and trappings of life. If we love God above all, there is nothing of this life we can’t handle. But if we don’t, then the stuff starts to have us instead of us having it. Stuff is there so that we can bless others. It isn’t important and it isn’t needed. It’s just stuff. When we lean into the Lord and His Kingdom, we can clearly see that.

Summary

Love is what makes the world function. It is the glue holding everything together. What we love is what is put into our hearts to grow. If God is what we love, there is nothing bad that will grow from our hearts. If we love other things, thorns and thistles will grow. They might be pretty at first, but they always prick and wound. Our works are based on what is in our heart. If the love of God is in our heart – placed there on purpose and cultivated by us on a daily basis- it is His Fruit that will grow. If we love something else, something else will grow. We need to constantly be weeding the garden of our heart and checking our motivations to make sure we have our eyes where they need to be. There is freedom in Jesus from all bonds and slaveries. But we need to love Him and receive the love He gives us to keep ourselves resting in that freedom.