Faithful Grace

This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture that reject fear and champion faith in God. It emphasizes that God has always been present and real throughout history, and Jesus is the Son of the living God. Jesus is the foundation of the church and the only way to God. It highlights the importance of knowing Jesus personally and following his teachings. The teaching of Jesus may seem impossible to keep, but through our relationship with him, we have forgiveness and access to God. 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 Isaiah 44.8 Don't fear, neither be afraid. Haven't I declared it to you long ago and shown it? You are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? Indeed, there is not. I don't know any other rock. It's fair to say that the Israelites had known God. He personally brought them out of Egypt. Exodus 14.19-25 He kept watch over them in the desert and sustained them. Hosea 13.5 And blessed them personally with his presence as well as the guidance of the law. Deuteronomy 2.7 Again and again throughout their history, he proves to them that he was real. From his words to Abraham onward, he did not hide what was in their future, both what they would do and what they would choose to walk in, and what he would do in response. God did not keep secrets from them. They got exactly what they asked for and worked for. Hosea 13.6 Through it all, God was there. Through it all, God proved he was living, real, and without compare. Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower. Psalm 18.2 When Jesus came to earth, he did not buck this trend. He kept no secrets from them, but told them exactly what was going on and what would go on and how God was going to deal with it. He connected himself to the Scriptures, showing and living his fulfillment of them. Jesus was the only begotten Son, and the Father revealed that to them. Simon Peter answered, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. Matthew 16.16-17 Jesus goes on to tell them that on this revelation of himself as the Son of the living God, Jesus will build his church. That's verse 18. He refers to the revelation as Petra, which is Greek for a rock mass or bedrock. And this here is the single most important principle of the church. This is that from which all else follows. If you don't believe this, go home. You're wasting your time. If Jesus isn't the Son of the living God, then his sacrifice doesn't mean much. I mean, without a spotless lamb providing the sacrifice, then how can it be effective? Without that sacrifice, there's no spirit or power behind Jesus' words. Thank the Lord that Jesus is the Son of the living God. Thank the Lord that he gave us the grace to believe it and stand by it. When I came to you, brothers, I didn't come with excellence of speech or of wisdom proclaiming to you the testimony of God, for I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in the demonstration of the spirit and of power that your faith wouldn't stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2, 1-5 This is our foundation. This idea of God and Jesus as our rock echoes again and again. The psalmists sing of his steadfast characteristics. Psalm 118 His holiness is unique for Samuel 2-2. He is perfect, just, and upright. Deuteronomy 32-4 He is a deliverer, refuge, and shield. Psalms 18-2 and 91-2-4 He laid a foundation that we can trust. Isaiah 28-16 Jesus is that foundation. For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3-11 Jesus came preaching the peace of God, reconciliation between God and man through the cross. He came and preached peace to you who were far off, and to those who were near. For through him we both have our access in one spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens, with the saints and of the household of God being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit. Ephesians 2 17-22 Jesus is the one and only. He is it. There is no other way for us to get into the presence of Almighty God. There is no other way for us to make it into heaven. Jesus said himself, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you know him and have seen him. John 14 6-7 I like how Peter puts it in 1 Peter 1 24-2 verse 5 For all flesh is like grass, and all of man's glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers and its flower falls, but the Lord's word endures forever. Isaiah 46-8 This is the word of good news which was preached to you, putting away therefore all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking as newborn babies long for the pure spiritual milk that with it you may grow, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Come to him, a living stone, rejected indeed by men but chosen by God, precious. You also as living stones are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. We are to be built on Jesus. He is the word of God. John 1 1-5 verse 14 On him we are to be built, which is why we study the Bible, seek his presence in praise, and do our best to get to know him. He is truth. He is authority. He is power. He is grace. He is mercy. He is everything that there is. King of kings, Lord of lords, and the name above every other name. Philippians 2-9 Seems simple, doesn't it? But what did Jesus say to people who had spent their whole lives in pursuit of the one true living God? But he answered them, When it is evening, you say, it will be fair weather, for the sky is red. In the morning, it will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening. Hypocrites! You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you can't discern the signs of the times. Matthew 16, 1-3 It is possible to hear the truth, but miss the whole point of it. Jesus warned us of that too. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven. But he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will tell me in that day, Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name? In your name cast out demons? And in your name do many mighty works? Then I will tell them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity. Matthew 7, 21-23 Knowing Jesus. Not just the words, not just the teaching, not just the prophecies, not just the name, the personality. Knowing Jesus. That's the key. That's the difference. It's possible to use the tools of the kingdom, but miss the point behind them. The Lord God set out spiritual rules that work if you use them. Look at sowing and reaping. You talk to somebody about it, and they roll their eyes and lump you in with what they see as the prosperity gospel. But you go to any business conference today, and you'll hear the adage, you need to spend money to make money. Now you say it that way, and no one will bat an eye. You see, the enemy uses the same laws of the spirit that we have access to. It's because in and of himself, he has no power. He can't create anything. He can just copy. What's the difference? He doesn't know Jesus. He knows of him, but he has no relationship with Jesus. He just has dry rules to follow. But we can know Jesus. We can get on the inside track. Everyone, therefore, who hears these words of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on a rock. The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it didn't fall, for it was founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn't do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell, and its fall was great. Matthew 7, 24-27. Notice that both houses were well built. In fact, the one on the sand might have been the stronger and better house. We don't know. The only thing that is contrasted between them, the only thing that mattered, is where they were founded. That's what made the difference. Now remember that Jesus said this on the tale of one of his greatest teachings, the Constitution of the Kingdom, if you want to think of it that way, the Sermon on the Mount. From Matthew 5, 3 to Matthew 7, 27, Jesus lays out the principles and morality of the Kingdom of God. He tells us what to do and how to do it. It is the walk of faith that we are called to. Everything else but faith is sin. Romans 14, 23. Thank the Lord that we have provision in Jesus. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1, 9. Does this sound impossible? Yeah, you know, it is. The law was impossible to keep. This teaching of Jesus is also impossible to keep. What? Oh, we're human, fallible, and we have no strength to do it. We aren't righteous. That's why knowing Jesus, being in relationship with him, is so vital. Jesus was sinless, pure. He was the only one who could accomplish this. Purity combined with the anointing of God is what can keep the Word 100%. Jesus is the anointed one. Acts 10, 38. Jesus was pure. Hebrews 7, 26. He did it. Now, without him, we can't. In him, we can't because it is him in us who actually does it. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as children. And because you were children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Galatians 4, 4-7. Now, that is the foundation of everything we do. I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. Every branch in me that doesn't bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You were already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can't bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing. If a man doesn't remain in me, he's thrown out as a branch and is withered, and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you. In this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit, and so you will be my disciple. Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love. I have spoken these things to you that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full. John 15, 1 to 11. If we abide in Jesus, we will have peace. Abiding in Jesus is abiding in his love. Doing what the Father shows us and saying what the Father tells us. John 5, 19. All our needs met. Philippians 4, 19. Relying on Jesus to be it all because without him we're nothing. Through praise and prayer, fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit, and being taught, corrected, and guided by him. 1 John 2, 27. What does that all mean? Our spirits get to be rich, full, and blessed. And guess what? If our spirits prosper, the rest of us will also prosper. 3 John 2, 4. When we are walking in Jesus according to the will of the Father, as revealed in his word by Holy Spirit, how can we fail to succeed in every activity? For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world. Your fate. Who is he who overcomes the world? But he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 1 John 5, 4-5. How can we fail becoming strong and flourishing in Jesus? Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Ephesians 6, 10. How can we fear with this kind of relationship? How can we fear when we have Jesus with us at all times? How can we fear when he gives us the victory that he fought for? If you're truly walking in him, you won't. Why? Philippians 4-7. That's why. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. Amen. Let his perfect love cast out your fear as you walk with him. Hand to hand. Heart in heart. It will take you through every storm, every flood, every wind, and everything. Period. Let him be the rock on which you build your life. You won't regret it. You'll be secure. And you'll be very, very loved. Full of peace. Full of Jesus. Always. Our daily affirmation of God's love is 1 Chronicles 16 28-36 The seas roar in their fullness. The fields, full of verdant beauty, exult. The forests and jungles and all their beauty sing. Deliverer of nations. Caretaker of children. Eternal. Everlasting. The God Most High. All of creation praises him and his glory. His majesty. Giving offerings to his strength. And what does Yahweh do? He gathers us into his embrace. Loving us in pure kindness. Good. A good God who cares for you. Without end. Without agenda. Just love. Loving you. What could be better than that? 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.