In Him

This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture that reject fear and champion faith in God. Fear is seen as a spiritual force and the currency of darkness, while faith is seen as an allegiance to God. The importance of abiding in Jesus and accepting His love is emphasized, as it casts out fear. The promise of God's protection and provision is highlighted, and the need to trust and rely on Him is emphasized. The importance of renewing our minds and seeking understanding of God's work is also discussed. The love of God is emphasized as the foundation for everything, and the assurance of His love for us is emphasized. 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 Job 6.21 For now you are nothing. You see a terror and are afraid. When he was in real need, Job got nothing from his friends. They had nothing to give, no advice worth listening to, nothing to hang on to, no value. They didn't even give him decent comfort. They were totally and absolutely operating from fear. They were friends, but they were more, stay at arm's length, don't rub off on me, what have you done, I don't want to do it, do. That kind of friends. Not the kind of friend we need. Outside of Job's immediate situation, this verse is a command to us. Not to fear that which we see. If we do, we will be as nothing. Which is interesting to me, because Jesus talked about the circumstances in which we, as believers in Him, would be nothing. The only circumstances in which we would be nothing. 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 is thrown out as a branch and is withered. And they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. John 15, 5-6 When we abide in Jesus, we are something. When we do not, we are nothing. He is the conduit by which we receive life. If we are not glorifying the Father, we are nothing. Not just by words when we praise, but with everything we are and everything we do. But that's impossible, you say. Not in Jesus it isn't. In Jesus, all things are possible. Matthew 19, 26 We need Him to accomplish it. But it can be accomplished when we actively seek to bring Jesus into everything that we do. In this, my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit. And so you will be my disciples. 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, 8-11 If we remain in His love, we will have joy. His joy. That isn't fear. That has nothing to do with fear. The love of God is perfect. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4, 18 The love of God casts out fear. We abide in Jesus, and we have His love in us, around us, and working through us. We are to be in living covenant with the Lord. That's what communion is about. Us entering into covenant with the Lord, on purpose, with intent, aware of what it means. Us joining our hand with His, to be with Him, and able to, in Him, accomplish everything that He has set before us. Accepting the sacrifice of Jesus, the breaking of His body, the shedding of His blood, paying for sin, dying for our sin, being raised to life again. Submitting to Him in humble brokenness. Aware and declaring that we cannot do anything. That it is Jesus who does it all. In Him, by Him, through Him, and for Him. It is Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. The way, the truth, the life. Our life. When we are obedient. When He is first and foremost in our lives. Then we have safety. Then we are secure. Because He is our salvation, our fortress, our high place. He responds to that. You afflicted, tossed with storms, and not comforted. Behold, I will set your stones in beautiful colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones. All your children will be taught by Yahweh, and your children's peace will be great. You will be established in righteousness. You will be far from oppression. You will not be afraid, and far from terror, for it shall not come near you. Behold, they may gather together, but not by me. Whoever gathers together against you will fall because of you. Isaiah 54, 11-15 That's a promise with power. That's the reverse of today's verse. That right there is the command that is behind today's verse. If we have set the Lord as the lodestone and guiding light of our lives, we have made Him our refuge. When He is our refuge, we are walking in and living His love. In Jesus, we become His righteousness. For Him who knew no sin, He made to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5.21 In Him, we are established in righteousness. We become the righteousness of God in Jesus. This means we will not be afraid. How can we be? We're walking with God. What can come against us? Romans 8.31 If we are in His love, fear won't be nearby. That isn't wishful thinking. That's a promise of the Word. The promises of the Word we can apply according to the will of the Father. We can stand on them. We can declare them. If we are in line with the Word and how it says we can do things, then there is nothing that can stop us. If we are established in righteousness, then fear and its oppression will be far from us. Now, that's a promise to stand on. John 15 says we can abide in Jesus as the vine that provides us with the life that we need to make our fruit grow. He is the righteousness that we can become in Him, in His Word. This is not complex. Take up your cross was what Jesus said to us. Matthew 16.24-26 If you look at the calling of the disciples throughout the gospel accounts, you will see a common phrase. Leaving all behind, they followed Him. Luke 5.11 Matthew 4.20 Mark 2.13-17 Paul said the same thing. Brothers, I don't regard myself as yet having taken hold, but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3.14-15 Now, He continues and calls us to do the same thing in verses 15-16. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, think this way. If in anything you think otherwise, God will also reveal that to you. Nevertheless, to the extent that we have already attained, let's walk by the same rule. Let's be of the same mind. In Jesus, we are being sanctified. In Jesus, our spirits are perfect because they are His spirit. Romans 8.11 And since we are spiritually perfect, we can bring that into our soul and our body through Jesus. How? The Word. It is the process Jesus prayed about in John 17.17. Sanctify them in your truth. Your Word is truth. This is the process of sanctification that the Word does in us. This is the process of being like Jesus that the Lord works in us through Him. Philippians 2.13 We have been given the spirit of power, love, and self-control. 2 Timothy 1.7 We have the authority to wield His power according to His Word. We have the right to walk in His love. And we have, by grace, been given the self-control to do what He has called us to. How He has called us to do it. The way He has called us to do it. When He calls us to do it. It is being enabled to do what He says we can do in Him. It's all about Jesus. Not us, but Him. Less of us, more of Him. John 3.30 So John 15 enables Isaiah 54, which prevents Job 6. Now it sounds strange said that way, but it's true. Jesus is the vine that we are connected to and can abide in. Abiding in Him, we have His righteousness. Established in His righteousness, we are far from oppression and far from terror. Far from terror, we cannot be afraid. How does Psalm 91 put it? You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked, because you have made Yahweh your refuge and the Most High your dwelling place. No evil shall happen to you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling. Verses 5-10 This is freedom. This is life. This is overcoming. This is victory. This is a mindset that keeps us in Him. There are an amazing number of things that we are able to walk in and inhabit when we are in Jesus. Just look throughout the Gospels at what Jesus Himself said that we can have. You want an example? Luke 6-20 He lifted up His eyes to His disciples and said, Blessed are you who are poor, for God's kingdom is yours. Now the Greek word from which we get yours or belongs to you, depending on your translation, is in present tense. That is really important. In Jesus and through Jesus, the kingdom and its blessings are currently available to us. Jesus is saying to us that the kingdom belongs, even now, to us. Just to scratch the surface of that is Ephesians 1-3, which says that we have been blessed by the Father through Jesus with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. And Jesus said that they are ours now in Him. We don't have to wait until we get to heaven to have the spiritual blessings that are in the heavenly places. We can be renewed by the Word to understand them and to understand that we can utilize them, operate in them, and exhibit them right now today here on this earth. Now isn't that tremendous? Are we nothing? On our own, very much yes. But we have a great gift by grace through faith. We can kneel before the Father from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named and say with humble brokenness and honesty that we are nothing. That the Lord is everything and we rely on Him. He is provider. He is sustainer. He is our good Father. And in Jesus, we become something. In Jesus, we become everything. In Jesus, we become Jesus, piece by piece, step by step, every day, in every way, becoming the righteousness of God in Jesus. How can we fear? There is nothing near us to fear. How can we be afraid? Nothing is close enough for us to be scared of. We have space around us. Space inhabited by Yahweh Most High. The Spirit moves in, on, and around us. Jesus lives within us. His name is written on our 46 chromosomes. The glue that holds the pairs together. The glue that holds all in all, Colossians 117. When God is our fortress. When God is our focus. When God has the place in our lives that God deserves to have. When we are the branch, not trying to be the vine or the root. When we are what we are meant to be, called to be, and enabled to be, well, then terror cannot seize us. Fear isn't near. We get to stand on the Word, stand on and in Jesus, and experience the love of God, the peace of God, the total lack of everything of the curse that holds us back, that presses us down and tries to chain us. Chains are broken, John 8, 31-36. We're set free, Colossians 5, 1. Full of rest, as we learn from Jesus, Matthew 11, 28-30. We are the righteousness of God in Jesus. We are branches, fruit makers, harvesters, seed sowers, prayers, worshipers, obedient children, blessed and loved. We see nothing but love. We live nothing but peace. We are nothing but broken before Him. We believe it. We receive it. Thank the Lord we are in Jesus. Thank the Lord we are His. Thank the Lord we have no fear. Our daily affirmation of God's love is Luke 17, 20-21. We're always looking for the Lord to do things. Bring your kingdom, establish your dominion, do it this way, make it like that, conform to our view of you. Wait, that's nuts, isn't it? Sounds crazy, but really think about some of those prayers that you have said. You're trying to bend Him. You're trying to make Him do what you understand instead of seeking understanding about what He is doing. The kingdom doesn't come with observation. We do not see it, quantify it, measure it, and write it up in peer-reviewed papers. God is doing things in you and in the world around you. Don't make the mistake of trying to make it work the way you understand. Instead, seek to understand what He is doing. It is possible. Don't believe the lie that it isn't. Ephesians 1, 17-23 is a prayer for understanding. It is a prayer for renewal in order to manage the understanding. It's Kingdom Management 101. Pray it every day over your life. Seek it every day in the Word. Don't try to limit God. Take the limits off your eyes and off your mind. Walk in the mysteries of Matthew 10, 7-15 and beyond. God loves you too much to let you stay in kindergarten. He wants you moving through His grades. He wants you to understand more and more of Him until you graduate. Accept the love. Renew your mind. Walk in the miraculous. Because the miraculous is part of the kingdom. 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? 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 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. Can't get enough of us. And that is wonderful. See you next time.