Stay in the Yard

Fear No Fear is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture that reject fear in any form. Fear is a spiritual force used by Satan to keep people down. Instead, it champions faith as an allegiance to God and emphasizes the importance of accepting His word as truth. The Lord shows mercy and cares for His people, even under the old covenant. The blessings of obedience and staying in God's will are highlighted. Belief and intent are essential in receiving God's blessings. Praising and worshiping God and aligning our hearts with His are important ways to create an atmosphere of faith. The Lord's love is emphasized, and we are encouraged to walk in it and declare our worth in His eyes. 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 Jeremiah 40.9 Jedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore to them and to their men, saying, Don't be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you. The Lord always shows mercy. His mercy endures forever. Luke 1.50-78 Romans 11.30-32 His loving kindness also endures forever. Psalm 136 This is very, very true today, as he indwells us through his Holy Spirit, guiding our steps. Psalm 23.3 We can speak with him and hear from him, and Jesus has given us his nature to succeed. But even under the old covenant, under the law, the Lord was merciful and provided a way forward. The king of Babylon had been sent to punish Israel and carry away God's people into bondage for their sins, for which they had been repeatedly warned of, almost right to the day that Babylon invaded. A remnant was left behind, a remnant which could keep the promised land warm, as it were, ready to take up worship again. Not everyone was sure that this would happen. They feared a return of the Chaldeans to punish or destroy the rest of them. But the man, the king of Babylon appointed governor, assured them that this wouldn't happen, that they could serve their conqueror in peace and without fear of destruction. God was willing to let a disobedient, defiant, and rebellious people keep a remnant behind to preserve their ancestral lands. It lets you know that the keeping of that land was important, that the fulfillment of all the rules of stewardship was important. The law wasn't willy-nilly, it was there for a reason, and it was a requirement. So that remnant was left, and the Lord said if they were faithful, he would care for them. Now how much more will he care for us today? We aren't under the law, Luke 16.16 and Romans 6.14. We're inside a relationship, the fulfillment of the law, Matthew 5.17-18 and Romans 7.4. Not only did the Lord leave a remnant, he made certain they could live in the land in peace. He was clear on this, not only in the verse here, but later his prophet Jeremiah made it clear when telling a group of the dissatisfied people not to leave, but to stay. The Lord has very clear ideas about where he wants us. This might be a particular geographic spot, like the promised land was, or an employment situation, a church home, a task that needs doing, or even in an emotional or mental landscape. In each and every instance, he will guide us and make his will clearly known to us. So don't believe me? Skim through the books of the law, Genesis through Deuteronomy. Again and again, the Lord is clear about what he wants, what he expects, and what will happen, good and bad, to the Israelites. Then look at the rest of the Old Testament. It happened exactly as God said it would hundreds of years before. Those that took his lifeline succeeded. Those that didn't, did not have a happy ending. Today, the Lord is the same. He never changes. Hebrews 13.8. Yes, we are under the new covenant. Sin is paid for. We do not stand condemned of our sin. We do, however, stand convicted of our love and trust in Jesus Christ. Read through the Gospels in a Bible with red ink when Jesus speaks. Now, only read the red text. Some of it will be confusing. The black parts give context for his words. But again and again, Jesus tells us what he expects of us. The same principles as in the law, except in the new covenant, sin has been paid for. It isn't about dealing with sin. It's about getting close to the Father, using the righteous nature of Jesus, which he gives us by faith, through grace, because of his sacrifice and resurrection, to renew our minds, to get our minds and bodies in line with our spirit, and by that, to enter into the courts of heaven with praise and thanksgiving. It's almost as if Jesus was teaching us to function as if the curse didn't exist anymore. What does that look like? It shall happen. If you shall listen diligently to Yahweh, your God's voice, to observe to do all his commandments, which I command you today, that Yahweh, your God, will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you listen to Yahweh, your God's voice. You shall be blessed in the city, and you shall be blessed in the field, and you shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock. Your basket and your kneading trough shall be blessed. You shall be blessed when you come in, and you shall be blessed when you go out. Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you. They will come out against you one way, and will flee before you seven ways. Yahweh will command the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to. He will bless you in the land which Yahweh, your God, gives you. Yahweh will establish you for a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you shall keep the commandments of Yahweh, your God, and walk in his ways. All the peoples of the earth shall see that you were called by Yahweh's name, and they will be afraid of you. Yahweh will grant you abundant prosperity in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, in the fruit of your ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you. Yahweh will open to you his good treasure in the sky, to give the reign of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You will lend to many nations, and you will not borrow. Yahweh will make you the head, and not the tail. You will be above only, and you will not be beneath. If you listen to the commandments of Yahweh, your God, which I command you today, to observe and to do, and shall not turn away from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. Deuteronomy 28, 1-14 Now stop there. Everything after that is the horrible stuff you endure when you don't follow God's commands. And it is presented as a penalty of the law because it was, but we're not in the law. For us, it works like this. Stay in God's yard, get the blessing. Leave the yard, don't. Don't get the blessing. Now is that so bad? Yes, it is. You see, we think of the blessing as an extra, that we get da-dum, da-da, da-dee, da-da, da-doo, our way through life, and everything is copacetic. And if we get really holy, we'll get more stuff. If we pad the offering basket, we'll get above and beyond return. If we show up every service, listen attentively to every sermon, or at least not yawn, volunteer for Sunday school once a month, do the pancake breakfast and help old ladies across the street, we'll get blessed because we're going above and beyond. But God doesn't work like that. If you're out of God's yard, you're exposed to everything that is out there. You're under the reign of the curse, not the reign of the blessing. It doesn't mean that everything will immediately go wrong or that they will appear terrible. They may not. They may look tickety-boo because when you operate by the world system, the world system can reward you. That's what systems do. But you'll be saturated by the curse. You're eating the best out there, but it has no nutrition, and its production is poisoning the ground you get your water from. You're living in the nicest places, but there's mold in the walls. You're wearing the best clothes, but they beat a factory of children half to death to make them. Everything comes with a price, whether you see it or not, and nothing returns love. It does return a cheap version of it, but it's emotionally based so it can change at a moment's notice. Nothing is stable. Everything is shaky. Everything can be taken from you. There is fear everywhere, especially when there's security, because then you're a target for everyone who doesn't have security and wants it. The reign of the curse is cold and thin. The blessing isn't designed to be an extra. It's designed to be a lifestyle. It's designed to be an atmosphere of faith. What does that mean? It means you don't talk trash. You don't say things like, if I can afford it, or it would be nice to do that, as if you couldn't. In the blessing, it is never a question of whether you can or if you can afford it. The questions are always, is it a need, and did you tell God your want? God provides all our needs, Philippians 4.19. God likes to hear your wants because he likes to give you what you want, Psalm 24. So we can talk like we can afford anything because we can, and we can talk like we can do anything at all because we can. We can talk like we have perfect health, complete energy and ability because we can. So why don't we? Why don't we have everything we want and loads of cash and no colds ever? Could be a lot of reasons. Two foundational ones are intent and belief. Belief is simple. You have to believe. Be fully persuaded. Simple. It's almost a you have belief, you get the things. Almost. But that step of full persuasion, it takes effort. It takes time, and it isn't easy. You want an example? Abraham, huge man of faith, one of the founding fathers of the kingdom of God. But he worked at it. He was given a single promise. One. He thought about it, and he thought about it, meditated, mulled it over. Remember, God doesn't work on earth in things having to do with dominion and man without the permission of a man who holds that dominion. So the promise came to pass when Abraham was fully persuaded in the promise. That was 25 years after the promise. That's right. One promise. A simple one. An impossible one. And it took 25 years for Abraham to be totally persuaded and for his wife to be fully persuaded, because they both had to have faith on this one. We have a lot more promises than that. Some are simple. Some are not. Almost all of them are impossible. The best ones are double impossible. Now, how much thought are you putting toward them? Not thinking of them, but thinking of them fulfilled. Thinking of them having come to pass. Thinking and meditating and mulling and putting yourself in it, visualizing yourself in that life with the promise fulfilled. Belief is simple, but it takes effort, daily effort, until it is no longer mental belief but heart truth. Now, intent is another foundational biggie, because here's the thing. What do you want your wants for? What is the benefit to you? Because if you're going to spend all of your time in front of that new TV and neglect all the discipline that got it for you, then it's a negative thing. God doesn't give negative things. Do you want food that's going to damage you? Do you want activities that will hurt you? Do you want stuff and things that will take time away from the Lord? Now, this needs to be clear. God is not against stuff and things, but the world is active 24-7, and we are God's instruments in it. He calls us to be ready. That's the armor of God thing, Ephesians 6, 10-18. If God comes calling in the middle of your game or your program or your meal or your vacation or your whatever, will you drop what you're doing and answer? If the answer is no, then it is higher than God in your life, and that's idolatry, and that's negative, and God doesn't give negative things. If you ask and don't receive, it's because you ask with the wrong motives so that you may spend it on your pleasures, James 4, 3. If we want our wants every time we ask for them, we need our wants to line up with God's wants. He wants us to have good things. We want those things to never, ever get in the way of what He wants, whether that is attention or fellowship, because sometimes God just wants to talk with us. This reveals a third foundational biggie, and it takes us back to where we started, obedience, faithfulness, to do what God requests, how He requests, and when He requests so that it will go well with us. Again, staying in the yard of the Lord where He wants us so we can enjoy the blessing that falls there without ceasing. It doesn't fall anywhere else. It just falls there. Now, we listen to the Word of the Lord, letting it transform our minds and attune ourselves to the will of the Lord. The Word reveals the heart of the Father, so we get close to that heart, treasure it, abide in it, make it your own. His words become your words. His atmosphere becoming your atmosphere. No fear, no lack, no negativity, no strife, no selfishness, purity, the fruits of the Spirit, Galatians 5, 22-23. Not letting a word escape into your atmosphere by anyone, especially you, that isn't of the Lord without challenging it. Not to be rude or confrontational, just to reset the atmosphere, simply to echo what the Word says, because the atmosphere of the yard of the Lord is saturated in the Word and we need to be so very careful of what is in our atmosphere. Now, the best way to program your atmosphere is with praise and worship. Don't be drunken with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always concerning all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father, subjecting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ, Ephesians 5, 18-21. Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are a game changer. They're the best way to bring the glory down around your ears. It doesn't even matter if they're in tune or well done. God doesn't care about sound like He cares about heart. He wants to see our heart. He wants to hear our heart. And He wants His heart and our heart to align in every way. Don't be afraid to do what the Lord asks of you, to stay in a job, in a living situation, leave a situation of any kind, do a task, say something, keep your mouth shut, open your mouth, or whatever the Lord says. If we want to be close to the Father, it isn't just about obeying. It's about obeying with a joyful heart, mindfully, in accordance with the Word, in an atmosphere of His possibilities, praising and thanking Him for His mercy and love. They remain forever. Serve the Lord and deepen your relationship with Him. Thicken your atmosphere. Dwell in the place the Lord has for you at this time, and it will be well with you. So don't be afraid. Our daily affirmation of God's love is 2 John 1, especially verse 3. The Lord is love, and He wants us to not only experience it, but to walk in it. For love to become such a part of us, and such a habit for us, that we cannot be separated from it, or Him. He wants to shower us with His gifts, gifts that get us into His kingdom, gifts that help us, that save us. He doesn't want you to lose anyone you care about. He doesn't want to lose anyone, period. No one. Everyone has value and worth, and is precious beyond belief. He loves you. Enter that love and walk in it. Walk with Him. 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, 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.