We can fear one of two objects: God or Life. If we choose the Fear of God, we escape the Fear of Life. Since SO MANY don't have the Fear of God, they find themselves buffeted and driven by whatever societal fear exists—COVID-19 and its variants, an example. Remember, Covid will be finished with us when God is finished with Covid.
God seeks to promote every fear of him SINCE his Presence in life eliminates every dread derived from our corrupt, fallen, dying, unsaved society. Indeed, fearing God with the reverence he deserves eliminates or severely lessens the anxieties afflicting so many in daily life. So here's the end of the matter. We have an:
Energizing a:
Therefore...we:
For he who is with us is infinitely greater than anyone against us. And he will never allow us to be less than the overcomers he makes us. Keep up your courage, Christians. He who called us in Christ will maintain us in Christ with the same almighty GRACE with which he called and COMMISSIONED us.
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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. The Greek word phobos, used nearly 160 times in the New Testament, translates as either afraid or fear. The difference in the two is instructive.
No problem exists when we occasionally admit "I'm afraid". We're simply being honest with ourselves. Problems suddenly bushwhack us or prove bigger than expected. We need to understand Psalm 56:3-4 in that context. King David admitted to being afraid when threatened with loss of control of the situation and being unable to resolve it. He in turn TRUSTED GOD. As a result of trusting God he found himself no longer afraid. (We may find the New Testament explanation of that promise in Philippians 4:6-7. When we commit daily life to God, remembering to THANK HIM, he stands guard over our lives like military sentinels over sleeping troops. Such peace defies explanation, but not Christian experience). Being afraid, then, is a manageable condition because it drives us to God, away from the problem. And in his presence we find his peace. FEAR, however is a different word describing a deeper response than AFRAID. FEAR is a state of mind—a mental and emotional attitude—that develops AFRAID into a habit of defeat and despair, leading to a lifestyle of negative thinking. We question or doubt God; we dread life; we believe we're defeated before we start—so why start? (The medieval way of thinking.) However...ONE FEAR is the exception. That FEAR liberates, empowers and encourages anyone possessing it. It's obvious that the Bible seeks only to direct, not to eliminate, fear. "Fear God," scripture everywhere counsels. "Yes, I tell you, fear him!" Jesus taught in Luke 12:5. In Colossians 3:22 and I Peter 2:17, the apostles Paul and Peter affirmed the Master's teaching. That creates a respect for God that motivates us to use, not hide, the gifts he's given Matthew 25:25. It emboldens us to persevering faithfulness, even when we fear the discipleship load and opposition from unbelievers.
Jesus counseled against fear, worry and tears...and always with a reason:
Against every fear, God's assurance. Against all human anxieties, God's peace. Against our tears, God's removal of all that cause them. With such encouragement, why would we be afraid except for short periods? And how could we EVER develop a FEAR pattern of life and its circumstances? For example, when his people feared God, it exempted them from other fears.
All of these are a few of more examples of God at work in the lives of his people when they fear him enough to render them fearless, whatever the challenge faced. The Greek word phobos translates into English as either fear or afraid. It appears at least 158 times in the New Testament:
For example, when we experience danger.
For example, when we have selfish motives.
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