Choose the Choice

This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture that reject fear and champion faith. Peace can only be found in Yahweh God, and it is part of His nature. Jesus healed all kinds of issues and continues to restore and bring peace. We can choose to walk in peace by aligning ourselves with God's will and leaning on the Holy Spirit for understanding and guidance. Constant connection and communication with the Holy Spirit is important in our journey of faith. 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 Judges 18.6 The priest said to them, Go in peace. Your way in which you go is before the Lord. The world is full of lots of things, but there isn't any peace. There is calm, the calm before the storm. There is lack of conflict, as we eye one another over the battle lines waiting for the next round. There is lack of strife, because we are being forced to adhere to a set of behavior by another individual, group, or set of rules. But there isn't any peace. The only peace there is comes from Yahweh God. The only place it can be walked in is before Yahweh God. Notice that I do not say that it is the only place it's found. Peace is part of the nature of the Lord. God is the God of peace, Romans 15.33, 16.20, and 1 Corinthians 4.33. As such, anywhere that the Lord is, there goes peace. We feel it when He touches us, speaks to us, even when He corrects us. There is such love of God toward us that we can't help but feel peaceful when He's there. There is no anger in His correction, but love. There is love and peace in every word that He says, even the firmer and fiercer ones. It is part of the nature of God and cannot be separated from Him. It was the wind in the garden, Genesis 3.8. It was the wood that cleansed the waters, Exodus 15.25. The scepter that calmed the queen's fear, Esther 5.2. It was the food that provided strength, 1 Corinthians 19.5-6. And it was the song sung from bloody lips, Acts 16.25. It is more than relief, more than a pause, more than some calm, and more than coping while being resilient. The world will tell you that you're born with a myriad of trauma and issues inherited from generations past. The foibles of your parents as they attempted to raise you. The issues they have passed on to you. And then there is, of course, the atmosphere around you and the environment you find yourself in. Often on this earth, it is less than ideal as we all try to do our best as clanking and broken machines. I'm not talking about fault and blame, and most psychologists and those who study these things won't either. But they will also, they will tell you about the other thing you inherited. Coping mechanisms. Those things and patterns and distractions that help us to focus, move on, and hopefully grow as we deal with our pain and scars. And try not to pass them on to the next generation. It's about regulating yourself and your mental landscape by will, method, or medication. It's about finding the tricks and trappings that help us move along in our various diagnoses. You can get relief with the coping mechanisms, but you cannot get peace. They'll say you can't as well, they're honest. They'll say that it is part of who you are, and you need to make the best of the situation to helpfully move on. But why would you want to be broken and coping when you can be restored and at peace? Do I know why some people get healed of things immediately and others don't? Nope. Am I saying that every mental issue is something we shouldn't have and could be healed from? Yes, absolutely. God is a God of wholeness. I completely believe that God's best for each and every one is total and complete healing. I believe it is possible for everyone. I believe it is within everyone's grasp. Peace is quiet, tranquility, safety, comfort, placidity, serenity, ease, calmness, a resting place, sanctuary, satisfaction, repose, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, and welfare. Does that sound like someone who's anxious, dealing with trauma, depression, sickness, deafness, ADHD, autism, alcoholism, addiction of any kind, disease, broken pieces, missing pieces, skin issues, birth defects? Of course not. Everything bad, whether we accept it as normal, inevitable, or chance, is in fact bad. We can get through it. We can triumph in spite of it. We shouldn't be attacked or discriminated against because of it. We shouldn't be taught we're weird, strange, or freak. We're all people. We all have worth. And no one that is walking this planet isn't dealing with something. But it doesn't mean we need to accept the things we're dealing with. And it certainly doesn't mean we need to keep them. We look to Jesus as our example because we are to be like Him. And everywhere He went on earth, He healed the sick of all their issues. Acts 10.38 Mental, physical, emotional, demonic, you name it, He dealt with all of them. Matthew 4.23 Each and every one of them, He never said no. Matthew 8.2-3 He never stopped until they were all healed. Matthew 8.16-17 He worked Himself to exhaustion. John 4.6 And guess what? Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13.8 Jesus is always about taking our bad and restoring us. It is what He, as the Prince of Peace, does. And He is always looking for faith. By their faith, they were healed. By their faith, they were cleansed. By their faith, they were able to walk. By their faith, they were raised. By their faith, they were delivered from sickness, disease, demons, and death. He's still looking for faith. Without faith, it is impossible to be well-pleasing to Him. For he who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Hebrews 11.6 How are we rewarded? 1 Corinthians 13.11 tells us, Finally, brothers, rejoice. Be perfected. Be comforted. Be of the same mind. Live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. Amen. If the peace of God is what brings us healing, relief, wholeness, and restoration, then we should endeavor to live in it. His Word says that we can. But it also says what? It says, Your way in which you go is before the Lord. That's from today's verse. The peace of the Lord is before Him, and we are called to walk in it, to go before Him. That means movement. That means journey. For some, that might be instant deliverance, restoration, and healing, followed by walking in Him. For others, it might be healing, delivering, and restoration, as they walk in Him. If we're willing to walk, He'll lead us where we are. He always does. He is eager to let us let Him in, and to let Him work. It may be quick, and it may be long, but whichever it is, we are to travel in faith, in Him, abiding in the Word, and not letting it leave our mind or our sight, not faltering, traveling ever forward, taking one step at a time as He lights our path, Psalm 119, 105. Along the way, we'll find mercy and love, Jude 1, 2. Why all this talk about mental landscapes, healing, and all of this? Because in spite of what the world teaches, and in spite of what science shows us is possible and probable in the flesh, there is another reality, a spiritual reality. We can choose. God gave us choice in Genesis 2, 16-17, and has been upholding our right to choose ever since. We can choose what we experience. We can choose to walk in peace, where walking in peace takes intent, not just practice. Peace is antithetical to the flesh. Walking is a choice, but the scripture tells us again and again that it is possible as long as we are doing it in Jesus, because when we are in Jesus, and He is in us, it is Jesus who is doing the work, not us. We make the choice to align ourselves with the will and the word of the Father, and Jesus brings us along inside it. Colossians 3, 15 says, And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the peace of God rule implies choice. We can let it. We can choose it. The problem is that it is beyond our understanding. Philippians 4, 6-7 But blessed are we, the Holy Spirit can bring us understanding, and also let us operate in His understanding, because we can lean on Him in total trust and assurance. Proverbs 3, 5-6 If we lean into Him, The Douay-Rheims Bible translates Proverbs 3, 5-6 as, In all thy ways think on Him, and He will direct thy steps. I've also read that He will straighten your paths. So if we think on Him in all our ways, leaning on Him, meditating on Him, consulting Him, considering Him, then as we walk our paths, we'll be straightened out, no matter how spaghettied they are. God's thoughts are above ours. Isaiah 55, 8-9 But the Holy Spirit is with us to provide us with understanding of our role in them. John 14, 26 We need to be in constant connection and communication with Holy Spirit on everything we do. That's not waiting to hear before we do anything, but in doing things, hearing. Have you ever seen dancers going through a routine? One dancer leads, the other follows. The leader is telegraphing the next step to the follower constantly. Gestures, the pressure of the finger, a look in the eye, or any number of ways. The follower isn't standing still and waiting to hear about the next step. They are in constant motion and they adjust their trajectory, speed and style based on what they hear from the leader. We are to be the same way, doing but always seeking, listening but moving along, sometimes actively moving, sometimes moving in rest, in place, in stillness. As God leads, we follow. As God leads, peace descends because we know He has us, know we're all right. We know that in spite of disturbances around us, they are not in us or on us. The Lord is in us and His peace is on us. Period. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope in the prayer of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15, 13. It doesn't matter what flesh condition we may be dealing with. It doesn't matter what mental condition we may be dealing with. Peace can be ours, real peace, lasting peace, the peace of deliverance, the peace of reliance on Him, the peace of God. We can covenant with Him and enter His peace by intent, on purpose and walking in it step by step. For the mountain may depart and the hills be removed, but my loving kindness will not depart from you and my covenant of peace will not be removed, says the Lord who has mercy on you. Isaiah 54, 10. I will make with them a covenant of peace and will cause evil animals to cease out of the land. They will dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing. I will cause the shower to come down in its season. There will be showers of blessing. Ezekiel 34, 25-26. Therefore say, Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace that it shall be to him and to his offspring after him the covenant of an everlasting priesthood because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the children of Israel. Numbers 25, 12-13. In the blood of Jesus we are made priests. Revelation 5, 9-10. We are chosen, sanctified and ordained as priests in His covenants of peace. But you were a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession that you may proclaim the excellence of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. In the past you were not a people, but now are God's people who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. 1 Peter 2, 9-10. We can covenant with the Lord on and in His peace. We can be ordained into a priesthood in Him regarding peace. If we walk in His ways, if we remain broken before Him and let Him lead us, if we are passionate about Him and letting Him be our Lord, our Savior and our Father, if we choose Him and abide in the conduct of His Spirit, if He is our God, we will be His people, walking in peace, enjoying wholeness and tranquility and mercy and love. Joyful assurance and willful acceptance. Covenants always involve sacrifice. What is ours? The sacrifice of praise and prayer. Hebrews 13, 15 and Proverbs 15, 8. As the negative things come against us, we praise Him and pray. We take the thought that isn't ours, that is negative, that is not of God, and we subdue it. We wrap it in prayer and we put it into our waste bin. We praise the Lord, knowing He is going to take that waste away forever. As we actively pray and praise over all those things, they get weaker and weaker. His peace becomes stronger and stronger, led by Holy Spirit in what to say, what to sing, and when. Walking with Him, covenanted, trusting Him to do His part as we actively do ours. Watching the negative shrink until it is nothing. Empty of power, empty of reality. Reach out to Him and accept His peace. Covenant with Him over us. Pray and praise your way into it and never step out of it. Believe it, receive it, walk in it. Always. Our daily affirmation of God's love is Zechariah 9, 9-11. God loves us. He seeks to covenant with us because He loves us. He wants us to have assurance, to know that He has our backs, to know the lengths that He is willing to go to keep us safe, to know that a life of peace is our inheritance, that it is not a life without difficulty or pressures, that it is not a life where nothing bad ever comes at us. It's a life of pure contentment and tranquility within the storms of life. Because we trust our God. Because we know He has us. Because He has rules and reigns, cares and comforts, provides and protects. He grants us adoption into His family. He covenants peace to us. Isn't that tremendous? He loves us and wants us as part of His family, part of Him. He loves us so much. He loves you. Rejoice and shout because He comes to us and frees us. Amen. As we close, remember that you have birth. 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. Can't get enough of us. And that is wonderful. See you next time.