Keep My Commandments
“In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 NASB
Take courage – In the Greek text, the word translated “take courage” is tharseite. This verb (tharreo) means, “be confident, take courage, be bold,” in one of its forms, and “to trust, to rely on” in another form. The LXX always uses this verb in the second sense, “to trust, to rely on.” In the New Testament, the word is only used in one way – as an imperative. It is a command!
Did you know that Yeshua never suggests that we be encouraged? He never tells us, “Oh, I empathize with your situation but I want you to know that you can have hope. It’s so important to look on the bright side of things. Cheer up!” He doesn’t play psychotherapist. “You know, you’ll feel a lot better if you think encouraging thoughts. Try not to be so negative.” No, Yeshua commands us to be confident, to be bold. Now, if Yeshua commands us to be like this, then it must be possible for us to actually do what He tells us to do. After all, God would never tell us to do something that we simply can’t do.
And this command tells us something else that is very important. “Taking courage” is not about how I feel. It doesn’t make any difference how I happen to feel about my situation. A command implies an action, not a feeling.
Think about it. What if someone comes to you and says, “Now I command you to feel happy. Right now, I want you to have the emotions of good feelings.” Unless you’re an actor (in which case the outward signs don’t match the inward reality), such a command is useless. Good feelings are the result of good circumstances. You can’t command someone to feel one way or the other. But you certainly can command someone to act in a particular way no matter how he happens to feel. And that is exactly what Yeshua does. He says, “I know that you have troubles in your world. But I am telling you; this is what you must do. Do this. Be bold. Be confident. Take action. Trust Me! Because I have already been victorious over your world.”
So, if this is a command, what does it mean for my actions? It means that I never give up my confidence in God. I never give in to the voice that says, “Your troubles are too much for God to deal with.” I never listen to the whisper, “God doesn’t really care about you.” And I never, ever stop expecting God’s faithfulness to show itself. Trust is an decision-action of the whole person, not an emotion I wait to have pumped into me.
There is one other thing I can do. I can shout out my battle cry, “Yeshua has overcome the world and I am with Him!”
Topical Index: take courage, trust, rely, be bold, John 16:33, tharreo
Joshua must have really been scared, because both HaShem and Moses repeatedly reminded him to take courage. Makes me feel better about myself when it takes a second reminder for me to actually take courage. 🙂
And Joshuah was officially given authority by Moses and HaShem in front of many others. (Is that why Paul reminds Timothy of when he was laid hands on?)
Must admit though that taking courage in Yeshuah’s victory, despite the facts of my situation, is a great way of sidestepping depression.
Thank you for teaching what you have learned, Skip.
Dear Skip,
I apologize for writing directly to you via this comments section, but i could not figure out how to contact you privately.
I have three mentors; two have skin on them.
The first man, through his teaching ministry, has helped me understand how to manage my particular gifts and calling. Like many, I struggled for years trying to “fit” in the Kingdom. Thanks to this man’s bent and willingness to serve, I am at peace with how I am “wired,” and though I have neither met nor corresponded with him, God continues to use him in my life. To use your words, he has accepted responsibility for me (and others) and acted responsibly toward me (and others) without knowing that he has done so. I am in his debt and grateful beyond words.
The second man is you. I have adopted you, so to speak. I hope you are OK with that. No pressure, but please accept my thanks. In fact, you don’t even need to respond to this message. I merely want to let you know how spending yourself is benefiting one more soul.
For lack of a better term, I get “visions” from time to time. Long ago, I asked to see the battle—the unseen, spiritual one—expecting to witness angelic warriors of light and demonic hosts of darkness converging in intense, if somewhat ambiguous, paranormal collisions.
I was naïve. I neither grasped the scope of my ‘simple’ request nor foresaw the extent to which it would eventually be addressed. I had yet to recognize and internalize a subtle, prerequisite truth: the answer to the prayer does not always look like the answer to the prayer.
Meanwhile, I learned to wait.
Years passed. Glimpses of ‘the battle’ proved it to be more than a vague, theoretical conflict as visions of the relentless struggle between the forces of good and evil not only confirmed the reality of an invisible war but revealed, in part, its purpose: to take and hold the most precious territory in the universe—the human soul!
As a young man I prayed, “Lord, show me the battle.” For three decades, images wove themselves together in my mind. One thread at a time, visions emerged and converged until, like scenes tied together in a tapestry, they told a story.
For three decades, I did not fully understand what I was seeing nor did I fully understand why I was seeing them.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then I hope to let one example of how you have helped me stand for many and to show you exactly why I thank God for you almost daily.
A few weeks ago I “saw” the armor of God fitted on the innermost being of a man. There were things written on the armor, especially on the shield of faith. Symbols that seemed alive flowed in both directions along the rim of the shield. At times, they converged to form distinct words and/or phrases across the face of the shield. When that happened, light pulsed. The light not only quenched the fiery darts of the enemy, but it accomplished a number of other very cool and very Scriptural things. I don’t mean to tease, but I won’t go into detail here except to focus on the bindings that held the armor in place. There were words moving along each strap of each piece of armor. The symbols were unfamiliar to me (I am not a linguist) but their meaning was clear. On each binding was written “The Fear of the LORD!”
Key point: THE FEAR OF THE LORD, I BELIEVE, IS WHAT BINDS THE ARMOR OF GOD TO US!
I knew immediately that I was to ask God to show me what The Fear of the LORD really means. I’ve understood for most of my life that it had to mean something more than merely “respect” or “awe” or even plain old “fear.” And when I saw it on those bindings, I knew He wanted to reveal it as much as I wanted to understand it.
I waited for the answer for about eight weeks. Then I opened your column on September 26th and found “yirat ha-Shem” jumping off the page! (Please forgive me if I’m butchering Hebrew.)
Here is what I have gleaned so far: Fearing God is directly related to understanding our purpose. It is, perhaps, the beginning of the wisdom of understanding that purpose. We fell from order into chaos. Through Christ, we are being restored from chaos to order. Our purpose, as stewards of the gifts and callings of God and of the power of His Holy Spirit is to stand with authority in the chaos (“the gap,” if you will) in order for His kingdom to come and His will to be done ON EARTH as it is in Heaven! We are members of a holy community and bear responsibility for one another and are responsible to The LORD Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth, to fulfill His purpose! We are stewards, also, of our relationships and have at our collective disposal all of the resources needed to do what our dear Lord has called us to do. To fail in that call–to refuse to understand and accept it–is to grieve the Spirit and to settle for being less than human.
I get why Paul stood before the Corinthians in fear and trembling. It’s silly to think that, after all he’d been through, he would be afraid of men. No! By his own confession, he came to them not in the wisdom or traditions of men but in the power of the Holy Spirit! He felt the weight of the sacred trust given to him by God, and it made him tremble!
Skip, I probably didn’t say all that exactly right, but I know you know better than I what I mean.
For thirty plus years I’ve been “staring” at pieces to a puzzle that I couldn’t quite fit together. I needed your help… I needed you! Thank you, thank you, thank you for acting responsibly for me!
Shalom,
~Tim from Bend, Oregon
P.S. I read your (quite impressive) list of credentials. I think you should add one more to the mix: “Puzzle Meister.”
Thanks for the kind words. I am just as confused as the next guy, and probably a lot more broken, but it’s nice to know that you are helped by my struggles. If you want to write directly to me – skipmoen@mac.com
Hey Tim,
Thanks for your post. I’m originally from the NW and have friends in Bend, but am now living in Orlando, FL. I’m tracking a lot with your vision. God is revealing the same thoughts to me these days about what it means to fear the Lord. I, too, believe that the fear of the Lord is what binds the armor of God to us as you say. I’m coming to realize just how much of a fear driven man I am. I carry within me a profound sense of worthlessness and fear of failure, abandonment and rejection that have shaped a significant part of how I relate to myself, others and God. When I live out of these fears, my life seems to have no power and I withdraw into my cave of seclusion and self-protection. However, when I choose to fear God and trust Him and obey Him, stepping out in strength and courage to act (1 Chronicles 28:20), I discover that I truly have been given a spirit not of fear, but of power, love and self-control. The armor I have been given seems to finally have power when I choose to trust my God and live by His way. I serve in full-time ministry and do a lot of the “right” things, but not when it comes to my soul. I act like a believing child of God when it comes to my career, but I have functioned as an atheist, terrified of exposure, when it comes to my soul. As I am learning to fear God and not the world and being wounded more I am, like Mephibosheth, picking myself up off the floor with the help of God and others and choosing to eat at the King’s table. My soul has been crippled by the world and the enemy, but my Father is in the process of restoring the years the locusts have eaten, filling me with the life of His son and giving me a vision for a future of life and adventure. Could it actually be true that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom?? In understanding the evil within me I’m able to turn away and put action towards trusting and obeying the Lord, strapping on His armor by placing my fear upon Him. Job 28:28 and Psalms 111:10
Thanks for writing today, Tim.
Thanks Tim and Brett for being open, honest and authentic. Brett, I too can relate to the feelings of “worthlessness and fear of failure, abandonment and rejection” you described and pray that I may have the courage to take courage that Yeshua commands and Skip writes about. I liked your summation Tim: “Fearing God is directly related to understanding our purpose. It is, perhaps, the beginning of the wisdom of understanding that purpose. We fell from order into chaos. Through Christ, we are being restored from chaos to order. Our purpose, as stewards of the gifts and callings of God and of the power of His Holy Spirit is to stand with authority in the chaos (“the gap,” if you will) in order for His kingdom to come and His will to be done ON EARTH as it is in Heaven! We are members of a holy community and bear responsibility for one another and are responsible to The LORD Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth, to fulfill His purpose! We are stewards, also, of our relationships and have at our collective disposal all of the resources needed to do what our dear Lord has called us to do. To fail in that call–to refuse to understand and accept it–is to grieve the Spirit and to settle for being less than human.” Well said. May YHWH bless you both with that courage and the purpose He purchased for us. Shalom, Michael
Another command. Strange how we do not like being told what to do, even by God, unless it suits us. But if this command is linked to Yeshua’s overcoming the world, then it might also have something to do with our own overcoming “the world” so that we might usher in God’s kingdom of righteousness as he taught us to pray, “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”
Amen!
“And I never, ever stop expecting God’s faithfulness to show itself.”
Hi Skip,
I’m with you 100% until we get to faith where my question is what consolation is there in God’s faith?
For example, I can trust that God is giving me whatever I deserve or need and act courageously
And can see that He has faith that I will do the best I can, which is not always very good
But separating me from my children when they need a father is very painful and destructive
And I’m probably a lot better off than most people on this planet
And grateful for what I’ve got
As I read your words this morning, my heart broke for you. I was
making breakfast and praying for you when I remembered my own experience. When I was young I was separated from my father and put in a hospital for years. I was also separated from him emotionally by a mom with emotional problems. This drove my father to a deep relationship with God. He did everything for Him. He did his carpentry work for Him, played hymns on the accordion for Himself, helped people for Him, etc. My life has many miracles and I know it’s from God through my father’s faith, obedience and prayers.
Be strong! Live for Him. If you’re still alive, your story isn’t over yet! A
father’s prayers and sorrows, mixed with faith, are not wasted.
Above: my typing program put in ‘Himself’ where it should have been ‘Him’.
LOIS, thanks for your honest openess above, ___”this drove my father to a deep relationship with God. He did everything for Him. He did his carpentry work for HIM, played hymns of the accordion for Him, helped people for Him., My life has many miracles and I know it’s from God through my father’s faith, obedience and prayers.”
—- Lois, this is truly awesome, and I too understand much of this in my own life with total different circumstances.—— ” seek first the kingdom of God & His rigthteousness—” in everything, work, worship, pleasure. How we brush over the main things in God’s Word, and spend our time and energies debating the most minute unsolvable intellectual things– that are not in any way pertinent to our real needs.
You did not give any one human the praise of him or her being the one to work all this out, BUT stated, ___” I KNOW IT’S FROM GOD THROUGH my father’s faith, obedience and prayers.”— We must give THANKS, PRAISE TO God through Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit with real thanksgiving!——-
RE: Your last sentences on being alive;—— I read this in one of several Daily Devotions that I read:, this is from Charles Spurgeon— Sept.30, ” LIFE IS A PRECIOUS THING, AND IN ITS HUMBLEST FORM IT IS SUPERIOR TO DEATH.”—-
My husband and I are 83 and 79, and are experiencing old age health symptons and needs, ( I am three wks. today recovering from major surgery,–so when I read this I stated to myself, I will write that down and repeat it to everyone where it would be appropriate to state!—so here it is–SO TRUE— thanks again, LaVaye Billings( married 60 years to the same man, and NO, I do not believe marriages are made in heaven, they are made on earth by following God’s commandments for us to follow on earth! there are No short cuts!
Thanks. Just what I needed this morning. I started a new job and I feel a bit ‘in over my head’. My ol’ monicer was:
“Fake it til you make it.”, but I like “Take Courage!” much more.
My post above is a reply for Michael. Sorry, should have said that.
Skip,
The sweet blessing of shalom on you and yours.
It is in the midst of fiery battles and tribulations (when the heat is on) that we need a word from our King and Lord who has overcome the world. He is faithful! “Take courage!”