ONE FEAR alone is GOOD: The Fear of God. Read Job 42:4-6, Isaiah 6:4-5 and Luke 5:6-8. Understand that all three men believed in God and ordered their lives by his Word. Yet, when drawn NEAR to the PERSON of God, each shrank in fear, the closer drawn the greater his fear. Which means that only the righteous, the saved, the rescued in humanity, KNOW the FEAR of God in a positive way.
I forget the lady who said it, and the Nazi prison camp inspiring her fear, BUT...while she never stopped being afraid there, since liberation she never again knew fear. A negative loss of fear. I talked to a minister new to Southern California. The church building had been erected in a less than desirable location. Yet, when asked if he was ever afraid, he responded, "I lived in Chicago before coming here. No place is dangerous after Chicago." Another negative loss of fear. But the Fear of God is GOOD by always having a POSITIVE impact. Consider: when Gabriel appeared to Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, he was "gripped with fear". And Gabriel said, "You don't have to be fearful: God has answered your prayer for a son" Luke 1:13. Consider: Mary was greatly troubled when hearing Gabriel's greeting. But she didn't have to be troubled—she would conceive Jesus Luke 1:29-31. Consider: the shepherds were terrified when Gabriel appeared to them. Without cause, since the Savior was born. Consider: when the emotionally-wrecked women entered the open tomb and saw "two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning," they collapsed in alarm. To be assured: don't be alarmed; Jesus is ALIVE Mark 16:6; Luke 24:4. See the difference? God Himself calms us with PROMISES, not THREATS, with ASSURANCES, not WARNINGS, with EMPOWERMENT, not IMPOVERISHMENT.
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