Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

I said to you, “I am the LORD your God. You shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.” But you have not listened to my voice.’ ”
Judges 6:10 (emphasis added)

Fear is a two-edged sword, which is why it is used in the English translation to mean two totally different things. They are — in fact — not different … without Jesus. Fear can be anxious concern. An unpleasant thing. But fear can also mean awe and reverence. When we are angry, that is the flesh ramping itself up to fight off that which we fear. When we run away, that is the flesh trying to escape that which we fear. When anxiety takes over the flesh and we freeze, that is the flesh trying to hide from that which we fear. When we comply with our aggressor/abuser or try to keep a volatile thing happy, calm, and copacetic, that is the flesh trying to fawn its way into not causing the thing we fear to occur (it is NOT EVER consent. It is cowering because we can do nothing else). It’s a focus on unideal situations and circumstances, placing them in the forefront of who we are and filtering our thoughts, words, and actions through it to keep the bad from hurting us. On the other side of that coin is purposeful respect and obeisance.

Fearing the Lord means that we acknowledge Him for what He is. We appreciate His character. We are in reverent awe of Him and His holiness. We believe in and trust Him because we recognise His inherent superiority. We recognise His anger at sin. We recognise that His judgment accompanies His anger. In order not to be under that judgment, we move away from sin — the object of His ire — and turn to walk in His ways. We position the Lord in the forefront of our minds and who we are, worshipping Him who is worthy. Filtering our thoughts, words, and actions through Him to keep ourselves in a place where we can enjoy His freedom and blessings.

That’s why the two completely opposite things are translated with the same word (or one of the reasons). Whatever is in that pole position. That foremost place in our brain where all the filters are. Whatever is there, that’s what we worship. That is what gets most of our energy, words, thoughts, and feelings. Consciously or unconsciously, that is what we are putting our energy into. That is what we are altaring with. That is our whole world focus. That is what we are living our lives by. And it doesn’t matter if you believe me or think differently. It won’t change anything. The foremost position of your mind cannot remain empty. It is the foundation of our personality, mind, and emotions. It is soil from which we grow. What is there quickly becomes who we are.

The Israelites had the promised land — or what pieces of it they had been willing to clear out. They had the place of blessing to inhabit. But they choose to reject that. To live with unholiness around them — much like how we choose to develop our coping mechanisms. They chose not to rid themselves of the unholy because it seemed too hard, or what they had was too good, or maybe that it was so much better than what their parents had so why not stop while they are ahead? Of course, letting the unholy remain let it spread. Any disease left unchecked spreads. They started turning to the idols with intentful respect. With respect and obeisance. They put those idols at the forefront of their minds. They let the idols drive their existence. They ignored the voice of the Lord and went with the choice of their flesh.

But look what it says. “You have not listened to my voice.” That means God didn’t stop speaking. They had turned away. They were ignoring Him. They were actively participating in the conscious worship of idols and gods who could do no real things. But He did not leave them. He did not stop speaking to them. He did not stop listening to them. He knew exactly where they were, what they were doing, and He still loved on them. Because Love is what He is, not just what He does. And in that love a way was made. A way for them to redeem themselves, A way to gain victory over the idols. A way to gain freedom from the oppression of their enemies. A way He had been talking to them about all that time. He didn’t stop. God never stops. He wants to save us more than we ever want saving (2 Peter 3:9).

They use the word ‘fear’ when discussing worship for one simple reason. Regardless of the pure love the Father has for us, if we face Him without Jesus we would die. His utter and total righteousness would evaporate our sinful flesh. When we look at Him without the filter of Jesus we get hit with His Majesty and Glory and we get scared. Who wouldn’t? He hates sin. Completely. If it is inside us because we aren’t redeemed, we WOULD feel the intensity of that hate. BUT Jesus died to kill off that hate. To pay the price. All humans can be covered by the Blood. The Father — toward humanity — no longer has hate toward sin or anger toward us. As far as humanity is concerned, that has been dealt with. The Father sees us through the Jesus filter. If we want to see Him through the filter and then come to Him in worship, we need to be saved. If we don’t have that choice made. If we aren’t broken before the cross and abiding in Jesus as He abides in us, we can’t get there. We can’t enter into all that He has for us. All He holds out by Grace through Faith. If we go through and in Jesus, we get to experience reverential awe. If we appear before Him without having accepted Jesus’ payment, going through and in Jesus, then we will feel the fear of His judgment which toward sin is terrible and mighty (Hebrews 10:31).

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). It is an acknowledgement that His ways are above ours (Isaiah 55:8-9) because He is the source of truth (John 14:6). If we want wisdom, we need to go to the one who has it to get it. We can’t get there without praise: “Shout for joy to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness. Come before his presence with singing. Know that the LORD, he is God. It is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good. His loving kindness endures forever, his faithfulness to all generations” (Psalm 100). That is as far from afraid as you can get. To have true reverential awe is to remember that without Jesus, we’d be justifiably terrified (Revelation 1:17). It is to see Him as He is, through Jesus (John 6:45-51). It is to offer up our praise, worship, and obedience because He is worth it, deserves it, and we can’t help it when we truly love Him (Hebrews 13:15 and James 5:13).

The Israelites were in rebellion, but God loved them. He never left them and He had a plan (Gideon, see Judges 6-8). We are in the same boat. We were in rebellion. In ignorance of Him. He had a plan: Jesus. Jesus has come. He came when we were sinful, ungrateful, and rejecting. He died and paid our price. He was resurrected to life to offer us a choice: accept His payment and come into God’s arms or reject His payment and stay in darkness. Darkness is going to be banished. If you’ve chosen to be in it, you’ll be banished too. He doesn’t want that. He loves you. He is speaking to you. He’ll never stop. Choose to take a step of reverent awe. Love Him back. Take His hand. Accept His gift. Make a choice. Choose life. Choose love. Choose Jesus. Choose Him today.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Ephesians 2:1-6

Here we have the expression of ultimate mercy and love. We were made. We fell, were treasonous, and refused to follow the Lord who made us. We created other gods to worship. We rejected the idea that there is a moral standard to adhere to. We embraced sickness, deciding to nurture coping with it instead of getting rid of it. We followed our feelings. We were as far from the Lord and His love as we could possibly be. Jesus volunteered to pay the price of our sin. The Father sent Him to earth to die for us. We were sinning. We weren’t following Him. We were rebelling. That’s when He saved us. Not when we had started to come to church. Not when we had gotten our act together. Not when we had stopped doing, thinking, and feeling all the things that got us away from Him. No. He came and died for us when we didn’t know who He was. When we were enjoying our sin. When we were actively mocking Him. Before we did anything, before we even could, He died for us and was raised again to life. So He could offer us Grace to be able to choose Him. To be able to change our path from hell to heaven. So we could come to the Father and worship Him. That’s love. Not requiring a series of tasks, thoughts, ideas, and behaviours to earn it. Doing everything that needs doing and offering it free of charge. He loves you so much He doesn’t require you stop anything in order to accept His gift — but by accepting you’ll come to want to stop the bad in your behaviour. That’s love. That’s Grace. Unconditional. You can’t earn it. You don’t deserve it. But He offers it anyway and because of that. He wants to make sure you can get it. He knows it will change you. He opens the door and encourages you to walk through. He loves you. He doesn’t want you to be apart from Him. Not now, not tomorrow, and certainly not for eternity. He loves you. Take His hand today. Walk through the door. It’ll be great.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.