Still Beheld

This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture that reject fear. Fear is a spiritual force used by Satan to keep people down. Instead, we should have faith and trust in God. God appeared to Isaac and told him not to be afraid, for He is with him and will bless him. God's favor and protection are given to us. He chooses us and wants us on His team. He loves us unconditionally and wants us to be like Him. Our closeness to God is determined by our righteousness, but His love for us is not dependent on our actions. We should focus on God rather than ourselves and the world. He loves us, enjoys us, and is always present for us. We should not be afraid. Welcome to Fear No Fear. Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit embrace you today. This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture. We reject fear in any and all forms. Fear is a spiritual force, the currency of darkness and ignorance. It's what we inherited when Adam gave up his faith and Satan uses it to keep people down. His only weapon is words. If he can get you believing or looking at words of fear, he's got you. Instead, we champion faith as an allegiance to God, as a belief and trust and loyalty to the Lord God Almighty. We accept the evidence of his word as unvarnished truth, as is, just as it's written. We get close to his perfect love through the word, and perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4.18 All scripture is taken from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Visit eBible.org Genesis 26.24 Yahweh appeared to him the same night and said, I am the God of Abraham your father. Don't be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake. Isaac was not having a good day. He'd been digging wells, in fact, re-opening the wells dug by his father Abraham. But the locals fought over them and chased him off. Not once, but twice. He kept moving farther and farther away from where he wanted to be. Boy, does that sound familiar. Finally, possibly not in the best of the best spots, he dug one and they left him alone. Immediately he thanked God. Then the Lord spoke. The Lord did not speak while he was having issues. Isaac had not sought him. The Lord did not guide him in a direct way. Isaac hadn't asked him to. The Lord did not help him take back the land used by his father. Isaac wasn't thinking of that. But as soon as Isaac got space for himself, he thanked God. That same night, the Lord spoke. Isaac didn't ask for a word, but he got one. It often happens that way. When we think we're the most alone, we're the most on God's mind. Isaac was on the Lord's mind and God wanted him to know it. The Lord spoke and told him not to be afraid for two good reasons. First, God was with him. Second, Isaac would be blessed and favored with the blessing of his father Abraham. Through Christ, Abraham is our spiritual forefather. Galatians 3.29 We're part of the family. We get to share in his blessing. God was with Isaac and Isaac was blessed and favored. We are too. These are three very powerful words. With. Meaning accompanied by. Having or possessing. Indicating the instrument used to perform an action in opposition to. Indicating the manner or attitude in which a person does something. Indicating responsibility in relation to. Employed by. In the same direction as. Indicating separation or removal from something. Think about God and what he said in the scripture. All those things are aspects of our relationship with him. We are accompanied by him. We are both possessed by him and have him inside us with the Holy Spirit. We are the instrument he has chosen to do things on this earth. He is in opposition to those who try to stand against us. He does things with us as we align with his will and believe. He is and gladly assumes responsibility for us. We're co-heirs with Christ and in the family related to God our father. We are employed by him to do things. We walk with him toward the goals the Lord has for us and those around us. We are in him separated and removed from both our old sinful selves and the world around us. I mean, wow! And that's even before we get to the good stuff. Bless. Pronounced words in order to confer or invoke blessing. Blessing. God's favor and protection. And to be blessed. Blessed. Blessed is defined as if blessed with a particular good quality or skill. They have that good quality or skill. God confers on us and invokes within us his favor and protection, which means he gives us his favor and protection to operate in. That sounds nice, but what does his favor mean? Protection is easy. Protection is something that prevents one from being harmed or damaged by unpleasant things. It doesn't stop the things, but it protects us from them. We are in the calm and the storm is around us. We are inside trouble but are not troubled by it. And if we've been blessed with it, then by definition we have it. But favor is something else. Favor is defined as approval, support, or liking for someone or something. An act of kindness beyond what is due or usual. Prefer something over all the other choices available. Treat someone better or in a kinder way than you treat other people. Support something or someone and think that it is a good thing. It helps you and gives you an advantage to be chosen first instead of the other thing which is rejected. A small, inexpensive gift given to guests at a party. Now that last one isn't applicable like the others, but the world works really hard to believe it. God's favor means we have his approval and support. He likes us. He acts toward us with kindness. He isn't mad at you. He isn't convicting you. He isn't getting ready to squash you. You're a believer. You're part of the family. He just wants a hug. He prefers you over everything else. Do you want to know what boggles the mind? He prefers us all the same. Above all the other choices available. Exactly the same. And that will make your head hurt if you get into it enough. He treats us with kindness. He does it kinder and better than we behave to others. We don't deserve the treatment, but he gives it anyway. He likes us. He supports us because he thinks we're a good thing. Genesis 1, 27-28, God created man in his own image. In God's image he created him. Male and female, he created them. God blessed them. And then in 131, God saw everything that he had made. And behold, it was very good. Behold means to look at, to take notice, to observe, to see, or gaze at. God stomped, observed, gazed, and took notice of us. You're a good thing to the Lord. He helps us. He gives us an advantage in everything, big and small. We have an advantage when we go into battle and when we pick fruit from the market. He chooses us first. When teams are picked, he shouts your name before anyone else gets a chance to even look over the lineup. He wants you. He likes you. And he needs you on his team. He wants you and wants you to know that he wants you before you get a chance to be rejected by anyone else for anything ever. He wants you secure in your knowledge of his love. We are beheld by the Lord God Almighty. That is huge. We have trouble understanding it, grasping it. Yahweh has written us in the palm of his hand. Isaiah 49, 16. Literally, your name is on his hand. He looks at it daily and thinks of you. He chose us before we could do anything good or bad. Ephesians 1, 4-6 and 1 Peter 1, 17-20. His choosing of us is not dependent on what we do, say, feel or believe. It is not dependent on our viewpoint, emotions, actions or inactions. Because he made us with intent, on purpose. He thought about it, decided on it and went ahead with it. Genesis 1, 16 and 5, verse 1. He made us like him. And like all parents, he wants us to grow up to be like him, to walk in his ways. Leviticus 19, 2 and Ephesians 5, 1. Not to give us rules and do nots, but because of his righteousness and his desire for us also to be righteous. His liking and love for us is not dependent on our walk with him in any way. His desire for us to be his children and walking in his ways is separate from his love for us. You see, he wants that for us because he loves us. He doesn't love us because he wants that for us. How close we get to be with him is determined by our walk with him because he is righteousness. And only righteousness and faith can be in his presence. But love? His love and affection for us is not determined by our walk or his thoughts about what we're doing or not doing. This is big. Lamentations 3, 22 to 23. 1 John 4, 10. Romans 5, 8. Romans 8, 35 to 39. This is huge. He loves us because he loves us because he loves us because he loves us for no other reason than he is love. And he has set his mind on us. This world loves to do nothing but to stop you from being with the Lord. The easiest way to do that is to keep your mind on the world. It can do that with shiny entertainment. It can do that by appealing to your flesh and creating addictions. But it is also really good at focusing you on yourself. The whole nature of consumerism is about just that. What do you deserve? What do you need? How can you improve yourself? The focus is all on you. Those foibles and faults start to be easy to see. Take a close look at anything in this fallen world and we'll start to see the effects of death, decay, and the passage of time. We have a 120-year minimum on this earth available to us. Yet at 30, we talk about being old. At 60, we're talking funeral plans. At 80, we're grateful we're around for another day. How many hundred-year-olds do you know going for hikes, doing some work, and enjoying their life? Not many. Jesus is here to remind you that the focus isn't you. The focus is the Father. The image He has is the image of you in Jesus. There are no faults. There are no foibles. There is nothing bad. There is only good. How proud He is of you. How you make Him smile. He loves you so much, He dotes on you. He brags on you. He talks to Jesus about you. He checks in with the Holy Spirit all the time to see how you are, what you need, and what you like. He enjoys you. He enjoys life with you. You are His beloved and He is yours. Isn't that so much better than what the world wants for you? Isn't that something that stirs you up? How can you give in to being fearful when you have a loving God as present as the Lord is, attending you every moment whether you're aware of it or not? Always there, always present, always available, always smiling on you, always ready to correct your missteps and bless your true repentance. Ever merciful. What a good God. Do not be afraid. The Lord is with you. He blesses you. And you have His favor. He likes you. Give Him a hug today. Our daily affirmation of God's love is 1 John 4, 7-12. God loves us. He is in us and He perfects us in that love. We are written on the palm of His hand, chosen before we could do anything good or bad, made with intent, made like Him, and we can't get away from that. We cannot escape His love. We cannot escape His presence in a good way. Jesus said He will never leave us or forsake us. Hebrews 13, 5-6. Psalm 139 describes how inescapable God is, how thorough He is about His love for us. God is with us even when we aren't with Him. He is a guiding, loving, teaching parent. And all that time He loves us, no matter what we do, because our behavior does not determine His love. And He loves on us hard. He died for us. He died for you because you have worth. Let Him love you today. As we close, remember that you have worth. You are precious and valuable. Declare this. Today, God loves that I, now you, fill in the blank. Was it a meal you made? A smile you gave? Did you get out of bed? Read? Put on socks? There's no wrong answers here. There is no end to God's love and no end to the things about you that He loves each and every day. Pick one. And remember, the Lord loves you just because you're you. 1 John 4, 9-10 tells us, By this, God's love was revealed in us, that God has sent His only-born Son into the world, that we might live through Him. And this is love. Not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. His perfect love turned away God's wrath because of sin. And it casts out our fear, too. See verses 18 and 19. We love because He first loved us. He just loves us. He can't get enough of us. And that is wonderful. See you next time.