Do Not Let Your Heart Be Troubled 2

As we saw in my earlier post, Do Not Let Your Heart Be Troubled, fear is a spirit that attacks from the outside...it is not coming from within!

And fear is insidious...let down your guard, start enjoying your freedom, and wham! You get blindsided!

When this happens, remember this: fear attacks the mind, and you are not your mind. You are a spirit, you have a mind, wherein lives your will, your thoughts, your emotions...and you live in a clay vessel we call a body.

And the Spirit within is all God, all the time.

Dead
Romans 6:6,7 says '...knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is feed from sin.'

Paul understood this completely, and said of himself "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

Need more proof?

'Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him...' [Romans 6:8]

'But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.' [Romans 7:6]

'For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.' [Colossians 3:3]

'It is a trustworthy statement: for if we died with Him, we will also live with Him...' [2 Timothy 2:11]

Look at it this way...Ephesians 1 and Colossians 2 both explain that we were buried with Him and raised up together with Him. Was that our bodies, 2000 years ago, resulting in a race of some kind of zombie Christians? [GREAT movie title, by the way...]

No! Our act of faith in His sacrifice joins us to that sacrifice...we died with Him, 2000 years ago [actually, before the foundation of the world], now, today, whenever we accept His sacrifice! It's a quantum reality, but reality nonetheless. And we were raised up together with Him and seated with Him in heavenly places! [Ephesians 2:6] There are lots of articles about that on this blog...use the search function to find them.

Yes, we are in two places at once...in the Spirit, we are seated in Him in heavenly places, in the city of the living God, with all the church, angels, and the sprinkled blood of Jesus! {Hebrews 12:22-24] On earth, we're walking around in these earthen vessels! Someone once called it an earth suit!

But I Digress...
Ok, back to fear. You are not your mind, and fear comes against the mind. Oh, your mind thinks it's you, but it's not...it's something you possess and can control! Psalm 94:11 says 'The Lord knows the thought of man, that they are a mere breath.'

Psalm 146:4 tell us that when we die, 'His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.' Of course, that was from an Old Covenant perspective...as we've seen, our spirits have already departed! Hallelujah! And now we are One Spirit with the Lord! [1 Corinthians 6:17] Filled up to all the fulness of God! [Ephesians 3:19] Strengthened with ALL miracle working power! [Colossians 1:11]

Hallelujah!

How do I know I can control my thought? Because Romans 12:2 tells me to renew my mind. Unfortunately, modern psychology has brainwashed into believing that our thoughts are uncontrollable...they are just who we are.

NO! My thoughts are not who I am, and I will purpose to do what David did in Psalm 94:19: 'When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.' I will choose to meditate on His consolations rather than the lies and deception of the evil one.

Take Charge of Your Thoughts
The Bible calls us vessels...think of your body as a container, filled up with God [Ephesians 3:19] Mediate on that, day and night, until you start to believe it.

If you know who you are in Christ Jesus, and understand the spiritual reality of the New Birth, you will realize that you have authority, not only over the physical world and evil spirits, but over your own mind, as well. [I've written lots on these subjects, please refer to relevant blog articles...there's not enough room here to go into it all again]

Take charge, or control, of your mind. Renew to the Word of God. You are what the Word says you are, in Jesus...'For in Him ALL THE FULLNESS OF DEITY DWELLS IN BODILY FORM, and in Him YOU have been made COMPLETE...' [Colossians 2:9,10]

You can do it because He says you can...all things are possible to him who believes, remember? How? Through the power that works in you!

Do Not Let Your Heart Be Troubled

After Judas left the Passover table to betray Him, Jesus instructed His disciples about the days and years to come.

In John 14-17, we see Him telling them all the things they they will need to know during this intense time, and in doing so, He has encapsulated the most important things for us as well. He tells us about the indwelling Trinity—He, the Father and the Comforter would come and live within us. He tells us that anything we ask will be granted by the Father.

He gives us His glory, and explains the importance of abiding in Him. He reiterates the assurance of answered prayer, as if He knew that one would be the hardest for us to really believe.

Never Let...He starts off by telling them "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God believe also in Me."

The Greek word me is translated here as 'do not let' or, in the KJV 'Let not' is translated 33 times in the NT as 'never.' If we read the verse that way, it is "Never [let] your heart be troubled..." or better yet, "Never your heart be troubled..."

Never is one of those absolute words. No gray shades about it, never means never, not ever, no chance, period. What is He saying? In the words of David Crosby, don't give in an inch to fear. Don't let it start, don't let it grow, don't let it hang around.

A Spirit of Fear
We've seen in earlier posts that fear is a spirit. Job describes it perfectly...

"Now a word was brought to me stealthily, and my ear received a whisper of it. Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, dread came upon me, and trembling, and made all my bones shake.

"Then a spirit passed by my face; the hair of my flesh bristled up. It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; a form was before my eyes; there was silence, then I heard a voice..." [Job 4:12-16]

Of course, then, the spirit of fear goes on to tempt Job with lies about God.

It's interesting to notice that this spirit is not coming from within but from without. 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us 'For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.' The KJV translates the Greek word dielia as fear...the NT Greek Lexicon translates it as timidity, fearfulness, cowardice.

Romans 8:15 calls it a spirit of slavery...

The Spirit given to us is the very Spirit of God...we are one Spirit with the Lord! [2 Corinthians 6:17] And we see that it is a Spirit of 1) power, 2) love and 3) discipline. Colossians 1:11 says that we are strengthened with all power...ALL POWER! Not just a little power, not just natural power, but ALL POWER!

If we experience any kind of fear—timidity, fearfulness, cowardice, any kind of anxiety or worry—we know that 1) it's not from God our Father and 2) it's not coming from within us but is the result of an external spirit of fear.

Don't Leave Yet...
Okay, I can hear the wacko alarms going off out there, but bear with me. Everything I've written so far is directly from the Word. And evil spirits are a Bible fact.

But there's good news! In Luke 10:19 Jesus told His disciples "Behold [look], I have given [past tense] you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you."

Authority over ALL the POWER of the ENEMY! And they weren't even reborn yet...we've got God inside and have been strengthened with ALL POWER!

In John 17:20, Jesus prayed for His disciples and all who would believe in Him through their word...He didn't give them one thing and us another! We have the authority in His Name—not as a talisman, or lucky coin, or rabbit's foot—we are ONE with Him, and wear His Name as His Body in the earth! We have authority because He has authority, and we wear and use His Name as a wife wears and uses the name of her husband...well, used to, in the olden days.

Control Yourself...
Jesus knew that the Holy Spirit was a Spirit of power, love and discipline. He knew what the fruits of the Spirit were, '...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control...'

And then there's 2 Timothy 1:7...

'For God has not given us a spirit of timidity [fearfulness, cowardice], but of POWER and LOVE and DISCIPLINE [self-control].' 

So when He tell us to NEVER let our hearts be troubled, He knew that we would be capable of doing it. The disciples really didn't get it—when the soldiers took Jesus, they ran off and hid. Peter was the only one with enough nerve to go after Him...but he succumbed to fear, too. After Jesus died, some of the disciples went back to fishing! In the couple of days He was buried!

They didn't get it, just like we don't get it. Modern psychology has us so twisted in our thinking that we don't think we can control our emotions...we're not supposed to suppress them, that would be denial!

Live in Denial
I'm here to tell you, go ahead...live in denial! Deny the spirit of fear any place in your life. Deny it's every attempt to dominate you. Deny, or forbid, it to come near you.

Jesus has give us the keys of the kingdom. Whatever we bind, or forbid, on earth shall have been bound, or forbidden, in Heaven! And whatever we loose, or allow, shall have been allowed in Heaven. That's past tense spiritually—in Heaven, and present tense naturally—on earth...a quantum verse!

Forbid fear to exist in your life. Live in full blown denial...the denial of fear's right to exist anywhere near you. Don't allow it to start, don't allow it to grow, don't allow it to stay.

But How...
I asked the Lord, "That's great, but how exactly do I do that?"

Immediately James 3 came to mind...the NT treatise on the tongue. [The Old Testament treatise is, of course, the Book of Proverbs—read it through and write down all the verses pertaining to the mouth]

James 3:2 says '...If anyone does not stumble in what he says he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.' And he compares the tongue to the bit in a horse's mouth and the rudder of a great ship. The word 'perfect' is the Greek word teleios, meaning brought to its end, finished; wanting nothing necessary to completeness, that which is perfect. Kinda reminds you of shalom, doesn't it?

It doesn't really mean perfect, as we think of it...without blemish or error. It really means soteria—the Greek word for salvation—complete wholeness, redemption from all earthly ills.

I saw what He was saying...you deny fear just like you got saved. Believe in your heart and say it with your mouth. '...for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.' [Romans 10:10] Believing in the heart results in a spiritual state—righteousness, or right-standing with God; and confessing with the mouth brings it to pass in our lives—soteria!

So the 'how' is the same 'how' we access all spiritual blessing with...faith. Believe it and speak it, just as Jesus instructed in Mark 11:22,23.

'And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him."'

Oh yeah...right. Faith. The way things really work in the universe...I get it...[cut to Jesus with His hand on His forehead, shaking His head, saying 'how many times do I have to tell these morons the same thing?' [My personal interpretation of Matthew 17:17]
Renew your mind so you can be transformed...changed! Changed to prove or demonstrate the will of God in your life—that which is GOOD and ACCEPTABLE and PERFECT! [Romans 12:1,2]

Take up the sword in your mouth. Deny fear it's right to dominate you. Do what Jesus told us to do in Matthew 10:8 and Mark 16:17,...cast it out!

Then believe that what you said happened and praise the Lord!

Amen to the Glory of God!

'For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are YES; therefore also through Him is our Amen—so it is, so be it, may it be fulfilled—to the GLORY OF GOD through us.' [1 Corinthians 1:20]

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you've seen the first part of 1 Corinthians 1:20 quoted over and over. It is such a wonderful, neglected scripture, confirming the spiritual reality that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us...so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles. [Galatians 3:13,14]

Every promise is YES in Him...He has fulfilled all the requirement of the Law so that we may enjoy every blessing. I write about this a lot, because it seems that we are constantly being told that we must still earn our blessings, both in church and in the world.

Jesus said "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has CHOSEN GLADLY to give you the kingdom." [Luke 12:32] It is His will that we have His kingdom—it is not His plan to withhold it from us, and anything contrary to that fact is a lie.

Look at the Lord's prayer. Jesus prayed "Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Most Christians believe this means the millennial reign of Jesus in some distant, magical time, and we've had a lot of help believing that.

Today

'And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

"THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD." 

'And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."' [Luke 4:16-21]

And what a fabulous Scripture it is! The Favorable Year of the Lord refers to the Jubilee, that 50th year where all debt was wiped out, where slaves went free and no one worked...

He said that all of these wonderful things, prophesied by Isaiah, were fulfilled TODAY. TODAY, TODAY, TODAY.

The Second Part...
Now let's look at the second part of 1 Corinthians 1:20...

'...therefore also through Him is our AMEN—so it is, so be it, may it be fulfilled—to the GLORY OF GOD through us.'

Why would He give us His kingdom? Why would He choose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him? [Ephesians 1:4] Why would He, with Him [Jesus], freely give us all things?

So that the Glory of God would be demonstrated through us! To the world, to the enemy—we are to demonstrate His glory in the earth!

Consider Romans 12:2:

'And do not be conformed to this world, but BE TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind, SO THAT YOU MAY PROVE WHAT THE WILL OF GOD IS, that which is GOOD and ACCEPTABLE and PERFECT.'

In other words, change your mind so you can prove how wonderful God is! How wonderful and perfect His will is!

Please note that it does NOT say so we can prove how God blesses us be giving us cancer or killing our children or burning down our church!

How about these Scriptures?

'Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom THERE IS NO VARIATION OR SHIFTING SHADOW.' [James 1:17] 

'For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord gives grace and glory; NO GOOD THING DOES HE WITHHOLD from those who walk uprightly.' [Psalm 84:11] 

'But BY HIS DOING you are in Christ Jesus, Who became to us WISDOM from God, and RIGHTEOUSNESS and sanctification and redemption, so that, just as it is written, "Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord."' [1 Corinthians 1:30,31]

Complete
Colossians 2:9,10 says 'For in Him ALL THE FULNESS OF DEITY DWELLS IN BODILY FORM, and in Him you have been made complete [full]...'

Put this together with 1 John 4:17...'By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because AS HE IS, SO ALSO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD.'

And again, "The glory which You have given Me I HAVE GIVEN TO THEM, that they may be one, just as We are one..." [John 17:22]

Then there's the [I think] most mind-blowing Scripture in the Bible [that no one believes], '...and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be FILLED UP TO ALL THE FULNESS OF GOD.'

In Colossians 1:11, the Holy Spirit Himself prays that we be strengthened with ALL POWER!!

So What's the Problem?
If these things are true, and they are, what's the problem?

Why are so many Christians struggling with sickness, lack and oppression of every kind?

Proverbs 23:7 tell us 'For as he thinks within himself—reckons in his soul—so he is.' That's why we're told to renew our minds if we want to prove the good and perfect and acceptable will of God!

Yes, Jesus taught us to speak to the natural world to change things, as does much of the rest of the Bible [particularly Proverbs and the Psalms]. But before speaking, we must BELIEVE! [Mark 11:22-24]

We've been deceived, alright...right out of our inheritance! In the Old Testament, we read that all things belong to God...in the New Testament, we're heirs of God, fellow heirs with Christ, and all things belong to us! [Romans 8:17, 1 Corinthians 3:21,22]

If Jesus is the fulfillment of Scripture—the very Word Himself, and we are in Him and He is in us—what about Isaiah 57:14? 'And it WILL be said, "Build up, build up, prepare the way, REMOVE EVERY OBSTACLE OUT OF THE WAY OF MY PEOPLE."'

How about Isaiah 26:7...'The way of the righteous is smooth; O Upright one, make the path of the righteous level.'

Or Psalm 1:1-4?

'How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD 

And in His law he meditates day and night. 

'He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he PROSPERS.'

Did you realize that Jesus is the fulfillment of Psalm 91 for us? For our families?

Before the Curse/After Jesus
Let's look at Adam, before the fall. His job was to reign upon the earth and commune with God. God did everything else—provided a wonderfully abundant place to live, provided a beautiful soulmate...He even brought the animals to him to name! [Girls, there were even jewels and gold there...Genesis 2:12!]

You know the story. Adam severed his relationship with God, then it was all struggle and toil. Mankind could only prosper to the extent that he was strong...this is called a CURSE!

You see, in God's eyes, it is a curse to have to struggle without Him, and a blessing to live in His provision! He then began to make covenants with men, to bless them if they would permit it!

Until the final Covenant—Jesus, the Last Adam and the Firstborn of Many Brethren [that's us]. 'He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him FREELY GIVE US ALL THINGS? [Romans 8:32]

Christ has REDEEMED US FROM THE CURSE, having become the curse for us!

In Deuteronomy 30, we see how God looks at things. He set before the Israelites LIFE AND PROSPERITY, and DEATH AND ADVERSITY. See how He linked those things together? Not life and adversity or death and prosperity [in the sweet by-and-by]...just the opposite! And Jesus came to give us life!

The Jesus Race
2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us 'Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a NEW CREATURE; the old things have passed away; behold new things have come.'

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil [1 John 3:8] and He made clear just what those works are..."The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly—have abundance. [John 10:10]

He came to create a new race—He was the Last Adam, and the Firstborn of many brethren! A race of God-filled men and women, with authority over all the power of the enemy [Luke 10:19] who would show His Glory and His good and perfect and acceptable will!

I think, and this is just my opinion, that when Jesus told us to speak to things, believing that they would obey, He was giving us the Kingdom way of living in the earth. He was reinforcing everything the Book of Proverbs taught...the easy way, the Kingdom way of reigning in life!

But where are they? Cowering in churches, sick and broke. Why? Because they don't know any better! They don't know who they are In Christ or what God's will for them really is! They don't know that the Holy Spirit prayed that they be FILLED UP TO ALL THE FULNESS OF GOD [and that His prayers are answered...]

It's time to renew our minds to the Word of God, so we can PROVE what is the good and perfect and acceptable will of God! To walk as Jesus, our Brother and example did, speaking to the natural world, walking away from crazy mobs, healing the sick and raising the dead.

Rambling...
Yes, I'm rambling, it's true. I'm having a hard time expressing what's in my heart.

Here it is [the point].

Believe God and enter into His rest. [Hebrews 4]

Start to expect the blessing instead of the curse. When people tell you how hard life is supposed to be for Christians, don't listen. Meditate on the Word of God—as God told Joshua,

"No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. 

"This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. 

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. [Joshua 1:5,8,9]

Read my post Easy Does It and all the ones on Yad. Go ahead, read them all—they're all about this!

Maybe it's easier than we think, or have been taught. Enter into His rest, demonstrate His glory. Renew your mind, expect good—expect blessings and miracles to come easily to you. Speak His good Word into the earth and expect it to come to pass.