Tools for the Trade

This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture that reject fear and champion faith in God. Fear is a spiritual force used by Satan, but through the word of God and the Holy Spirit, we can overcome fear. We have authority over the enemy and can access all the courage, love, and blessings that God provides. We need to constantly renew our minds through the word, prayer, and listening to God's voice. By putting on the armor of God, we can defend against the enemy and walk in victory. We should pray without ceasing and meditate on God's promises. Our faith should constantly grow as we learn more about who God is. Through hope and prayer, we can stay connected to God and reject thoughts that aren't from Him. God loves to give good gifts, and we are precious and valuable to Him. His love casts out fear, and we can declare His love and worth in our lives. 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 Nehemiah 4.14 I looked and rose up and said to the nobles, to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses. The Lord was with us then, the Lord is with us now. And no, this is not a call to arms, to tear down the government, or to harass those of another political view from yourself. Ephesians 6.12 says, For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. The battle is in our mind, and for our mind. Satan has no authority or power. Remember this, this is key. God gave mankind authority over this physical world and everything that lives in it. Mankind gave Satan their authority. Jesus took it back. Satan has no authority or power. He's a tiny little lion, roaring in the darkness. Unless we give him authority, there is nothing he can do, except talk. He whispers and cajoles, he shouts and screams, he mocks and teases, he lies and admits truth, he convinces and argues, he investigates and points to facts. He is a legalist, a splitter of hairs, one who knows the nitty gritty of the nitty gritty of the finest of the fine print. And he's really good at it. If he convinces us to, we'll buy into a lie and hand him authority in that situation. Once he has that, he can do something. Until then, he can't. So he works really hard to push our button. What can we do? How can we prevent him? Nehemiah says we should stand up and defend. How do we do that? Well, God has not left us defenseless. And he does not hide from us our process. We are to set our minds on him. To seek him in the word. Not just reading words, but listening to his voice coming from the pages. To imprint him on our minds so that our minds can be renewed. Ephesians 4, 22-24, and Colossians 3, 9-10. When they are renewed, we know inside, to the core of our being, that we are beings of spirit and not of flesh. In the spirit, we are the same as Jesus because we are in Jesus. Ephesians 1, 17-23. He gave us his spirit. He has allowed us use of his authority. Through his grace and faith, we have all the benefits and blessings of the Father. Ephesians 1, 7-9. We can reach out and take his courage. Did Jesus falter in the face of the enemy? No matter what was said to Jesus or the manifestations of the demonic powers? No. Because he had authority. We have the same authority in him. I cannot say it too much. I cannot emphasize it enough. If we dwell in him, if we set ourselves to study the word, listen to Jesus' voice through the word and in our hearts, and let God renew our minds, we have access to all the courage that we need. We also get love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That's Galatians 5, 22-23. That's all stuff we can choose to use all the time. It isn't a special gift for a specific task. It is an all the time, if you want it, you can use it. So get into the word. Pray about it. Read it. Think about what you've read, which is meditation. Look things up. Pray some more, and get so that the Father imprints on your mind. And then the revelation word of God will renew your mind and change your life. Revelation is permission to enter the domain the revelation controls. We get caught up by revelation. It lifts us up. The word is the key to the door that is Jesus through which we enter the kingdom as we're raised in revelation after revelation. Now again, it sounds complicated, but we've already done it once. We hear the word. We get the faith to receive the grace by which we are saved. Now after that, keep hearing, keep reading, keep meditating, keep listening, keep praying, keep letting God renew you. You will never mature in the faith. Faith as a process is ever maturing. So you plant the seed in the word. Little seed, mustard seed, and then it grows and keeps growing and keeps growing and keeps growing and keeps growing. It'll never stop growing. Your faith is the process of maturing. Because God doesn't stop. He's always bigger. He's always greater. He's always growing. He's a God of growth. If we're going to have faith, we need to be fully persuaded of who God is. Which means our faith is constantly growing. Because God is constantly growing. It's going to be like this for eternity. Giant trees of faith getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. As that happens, as your faith continues to mature, fear will fall away. Because God is love. The more he reveals himself to you, the more love you get, the less fear can be there. Because you're full of love. Where's the room for fear? And when fear falls away, with it will fall all its babies and all that weighs us down. Don't miss out. Don't limit God. Get a relationship going with him today. Let him renew you. Receive his gift of freedom. Not just into the kingdom, but into the things of the kingdom. Don't just hear it. Do it. Faith can't be stored up. It has to be used. We have to find things to do again and again and again and again. Faith without works is dead. Because you can't have faith without using it. So we have our faith and we're using our faith and we're walking in the kingdom and we're doing the tasks of the kingdom. And the enemy wants to stop us because he wants everyone not free. So we defend against the evil one with the armor of God. That is the defense that we have given whereby we can defend our homes, our families, our friends, and all the saints. So let's put it on. And I'll give the scripture references with each piece. Declare with me today. I declare I am strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Psalm 28, 17. I declare I have the utility belt of truth around my waist and my forehead. My mind is prepared for action and my hope is set fully on the grace of God. 1 Peter 1.13 and Ephesians 6.14. I declare I have put on the breastplate of righteousness. I am equipped with faith, love, and judgment. I let myself be guided by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit in what I do. Exodus 28.15. 1 Thessalonians 5.8 and Ephesians 6.14. I declare I have fitted my feet with the preparation of the good news of peace. The peace of the Anointed One rules my heart, freeing me from the love of money, so I am content with God's good gifts. As I am free, I am prepared to spread the news of how to obtain freedom to all I encounter. Colossians 3.15, Hebrews 13.5 and Ephesians 6.15. I declare I have taken up the shield of faith. I have been born of God and overcome the world. The fiery darts of the enemy cannot touch me. I walk God's path. 1 John 5.4 and Ephesians 6.16. I declare I have in my hand and in my mouth the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. I thank you, Father, you have written it on my heart and my mind. Proverbs 21.23, Ephesians 6.17, Jeremiah 31.33 and Hebrews 8.10. I declare I place over my head the helmet of salvation. I am not conformed to this world and its manner of thinking. I am renewed in my mind by His voice in His word. Jesus is the hope of my soul and the wings under which I roost. Romans 12.2, 1 Thessalonians 5.8, Psalm 91 and Ephesians 6.17. I thank you, Father, that I can pray at all times in this spirit with all prayer and requests. I decide to pray for all the saints in perseverance. Please bring them to my mind in their moments of need. 1 Timothy 2.1-4, Matthew 5.44, Romans 8.26 and Ephesians 6.18. I am equipped against powers, principalities and the rulers of this age. I am empowered to pull down strongholds and to stand on the victory of Jesus through His death and resurrection by the Father to life again. I am able to and choose to stand on Him, His word, and in Him always. My expectancy is born out of the promises of God's word, because He who promised is faithful. Ephesians 6.11-12, Hebrews 10.23 For it is God who works in me both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Philippians 2.13 God did not give me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1.7 I will not throw away my boldness, but will stand and endure in Him. Hebrews 10.35-36 I subject myself to God and His will. I resist the devil in Jesus. Devil, flee from me. I am armored against your works, and you have no dominion here. Here Jesus is Lord. The Father is my God, and Holy Spirit lives within me. By the name of Jesus, I command you to get behind me. James 4.7, 1 Peter 5.8, and Matthew 4.10 Amen. Kingdom faith is faith that knows how to stay occupied with victory, being fully persuaded because we don't let our minds ever stop thinking on the Lord in some way. We do that by standing and meditating on the words in Jesus by the utterance of the Holy Spirit. If the voice isn't active in the word, then kingdom faith, 2 Corinthians 6.18, isn't active. Get into the word with active anticipation. Kingdom hope. Hope activates the voice. It's a voice of meditation, of fellowship, discovered in the word as we are armored up and defended against the enemy's attempts to derail us, and deepened in prayer. Are you praying? We don't have to pray long, but we need to pray a lot. We think things to ourselves all day long. Why don't we pray to God all day long? While we're doing the dishes, make a thought to the Lord. While we're folding laundry, sing a chorus of praise, even if it's some silly children's song you learned. While we're pumping gas, Lord, it's a pretty good day today. Bless the traffic as I drive along home. Pour your anointing on all those around me so we can all enjoy your presence and peace. Short, constant, about everything that comes to mind. Do you like these socks? I kind of like these socks. And remembering to pause and listen inside yourself. God is talking to you in a still, small voice. Over time, we get better at hearing it, and we get better at phrasing what's on our mind. Just like with a friend, we learn to communicate. It's not that God cares what socks you buy, but God wants you happy. You might see one pair, he might know there's another pair just over there that you're going to like better. It's not important, but it's a relationship. It's him saying, ooh, you like the green ones. And you see them and go, wow, I really like those. And you're happier. It could be something serious. It could be taking those few moments to choose not to lose your temper. To choose not to let the pressure of a temptation make you give in. Don't be afraid. Remember who the Lord is. The Lord God Almighty and Jesus, your friend. Holy Spirit, your counselor. The great and mighty Father, but also the Father that wants to give you a hug and slip you some candy. Let the Word remind you and show you who he is and what he promises. If you know he's good for it, you'll learn his promises are good for you. Because he's perfect, pure. Nothing of the flesh in the Lord. Just pure righteousness. Everything from him is a good thing. Talk to him a lot. Listen often. Armor up daily and reject any thought that isn't from God. It's just saying, that's not my thought. If it's God, you know it's good. Just because it's good, you know, nice, pleasant, enjoyable, doesn't mean it's God. We get bombarded by thoughts all day long. Sometimes a thought will come at us a thousand times. Each time we can say, not my thought, not my thought. You're thinking about it? No, not my thought. I reject that thought. Talk to him a lot. More of him, less of us. Means more of the real us in Jesus. All love, no fear. Fully persuaded in our victory. Why settle for less when this is so easy? No burden, real freedom. Kingdom faith. Mustard seed faith. Always small, but always growing. Don't stop praying. Our daily affirmation of God's love is 1 Thessalonians 5, 16-24. Why do you give gifts? Obligation? I hope not. Obligation does not feel good. I don't give things out of obligation. I don't care if they think it's rude. I do not give out of obligation. I do give things when they're not required. In fact, I love to give. I can't always give money so I give my time. Or a gift of treats. Or something else that I've made. Or something I've written. I love to see the smiles. I love to bring joy. How much more then does our Father in Heaven love to give? Just to see our joy. To see our smiles. To know that we have something truly good. That isn't selfish or will take away from our time with Him. God's gifts do not pass away. No. He creates us as new beings. Ones that have never existed before. And completely holy in spirit, soul, and body. In spirit, right now, in Christ. Your soul can join with Him through the renewing of your mind as you abide in God. And your bodies, when you go to be with Him, just transit over to Heaven. We don't die. We will never die. You are right now living out your eternity. Your flesh might have some issues. But the spirit, the real you, is forever. What amazing grace. What amazing gifts. And an amazing, merciful, good God. Praise Him 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. In this is love, not that we loved 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 amen to that. See you next time.