Throughout the Bible, every time an angel of the Lord showed up great fear would fall upon the person(s) that the angel was revealing themselves to, however, the angel would always greet them by saying, "Fear not!" This is proving to us that we are not even supposed to fear the very angels of God...his own messengers...his "get the job done men." It is evident that they are very frightening to look upon, or the people would not be so afraid, and the angel would not have to show up saying, "fear not!" However, the righteous reverent fear of God does not belong to them, and they are well aware of this...it belongs to God. If we are commanded by heavenly angels not to fear them, then this just validates even more that we are not to fear satan or the demons because they also are angels the same as heavenly angels, but rather they are fallen angels. If I asked you, "Who is the opposite of God?" What would you say?... Would you say, "satan?" Many times without even thinking clearly, that is exactly what we would say. satan wants to be like God & this is clear by reading the five "I wills" in Isaiah14:12-15. However, satan could not even be the opposite of God because being an opposite would suggest that he was equivalent to God in power & authority just on the opposite scale. He's not! satan, or lucifer at the time that he was in heaven, was simply an angel that served God like the heavenly angels that still do. He is an opposite of the heavenly angels because he is an angel, a fallen angel. He is not all-knowing or all-powerful, and cannot be all places at once; only the one true Almighty God, Jehovah, can. Look at this scripture with me, "How art thou fallen from heaven, O lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down from the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart,...
1. I will ascend into heaven,
2. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God,
3. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north,
4. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
5. I will be like the most High....
...Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."
Can you see clearly just how satan thought that he could become like God? He is still doing it today; his attitude has not changed. He desires that you fear him rather than fearing the only one worthy to receive that kind of honor. Now, the fear of God is a good fear. Even when people are afraid of the heavenly angels, it is not a fear that brings harm to them, but rather a reassurance and produces an obedience and a drawing closer to God. The spirit of fear is simply a demon, another fallen angel, that brings torment, and a drawing away from the things of God. Many will even describe having the attitude of not pressing into God because of being afraid of the devil & what he will do to them when they press in & obey God. Has this ever happened to you? It has to me. I had to have one on one training not to fear the devil and plenty of refreshment courses. Where the fear of God brings you closer into blessing and obedience, the spirit of fear will pressure you to be disobedient many times without even recognizing it, and rob you of that blessing. Now, if God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind, what do you think that you will have if you fear the things of life, people, the devil,etc...?
First, you will be powerless. The word power here in 2 Tim.1:7 is "Dunamis." It means-force, miraculous power, power, mighty work, strength, miracle, might, ability, abundance, meaning, mightily, worker of miracles, violence. To the degree that we fear God is to the degree that we walk in power. To the degree that we fear men or the devil or life, etc...is to the degree that we walk in the lack of power. Honestly, do you think that we would have seen Peter walk on water if he had said or thought..."I don't think I can do it."... "It's not humanly possible, therefore, why set myself up to fail?"..."Nobody else is getting out of the boat, & they will think I'm foolish if I do!"..."I don't want to look like a failure in front of people when it doesn't happen or I sink."... "I don't want people to think that I want to be the center of attention." Peter just trusted Jesus! Peter feared Him enough to step out, and he never failed whatsoever until he looked at the storm and feared it more than Jesus. Peter never failed stepping out and walking on the water. Never! It really happened,... but he sank because of his sudden lack of trust in Jesus. What took that power to walk on water from him? His attention was abruptly divided through fear...the enemy used a spirit of fear, and the dunamis power left. He became fearful, and it was not the fear of God. The fear of God is dunamis, a power that produces effects where the spirit of fear robs you of this kind of miracle producing power.
Secondly, Fear will rob you of love. There are different types of love spoken of in the Bible. This is Agape love spoken of here. Agape is the way that God loves. It shows affection, it gives and gives without conditions or the expectation of something given back. It is the very love that God displayed to us when He allowed His only son to be tortured and crucified so that we could live for an eternity with Him in heaven. It is a deep, and constant love shown to one regardless of the circumstances. When we walk in fear, we will not walk in this unconditional type of love towards people, but we will rather love if the circumstances are right. God says that perfect love casteth out all fear. If you cannot show unconditional love to someone when they hurt you or when you don't like their ways...there is a spirit of fear involved. You see, the opposite of love in this scripture is not hate...it is...conditions! If you are giving your attention to a spirit of fear instead of fearing God, you will give love if the conditions are right to give it. We have to constantly give that spirit the left foot of fellowship out of our lives! It will hold us back if we embrace it.
Last of all, you will be tormented in your mind. The word sound mind, which is sophronismos, also means discipline and self-control. When a spirit of fear is involved, our mind can seriously run away with us whatever the situation is. The enemy will make you believe something that is not... using lies, deception, and confusion. Your mind will create situations that do not even exist. He will make worry about how people view you. He will pressure your mind to take the smallest of happenings and dwell on them until... in your mind...you take that situation and make it different and much bigger than what it really is. For example, you could feel a small lump, and immediately be convinced that its cancer. The devil can tell you that you are going to die or be debilitated & you agonize over it believing that you will be. He can tell you that your spouse is gonna leave you, and you start treating that spouse bad and accusing them of it. Someone close to you can make a decision that affects you that you don't agree with, and you immediately take it personal. You can even hear your name being spoken in a crowd & quickly think that someone is talking about you, when they could be praising you for something. The Bible says that the devil is a liar, and the father of lies. In order to torment you, he lies to you. In this scripture, in Timothy, it is reminding us to discipline our minds, train it to think according to the Word of God and what it says concerning every matter in life. If we fear death...What does the Word say about it? If we think someone is angry at us...what does the Word say and how does it tell you to handle it? etc...etc... We have to discipline every reaction to every circumstance by the Word of God; It is the ultimate authority concerning ever situation of life. If we receive the spirit of fear, we will live a life of torment in our mind, confusion, and an attitude of defeat. Our mind will not be disciplined to press through the lies of the enemy, and we will believe them. Twelve spies were sent out the scope out the promised land. Ten came back saying that it could never happen because there were giants in the land. Their minds were not disciplined because they were not fearing God, but man and the circumstances that their own mind created. They saw themselves failing if they even tried, because it looked to great for them to accomplish. It was too big for them, but it wasn't to big for God! Only two who had disciplined their minds to trust God even though the circumstances looked different. They were just foolish enough to say, we need to take em' out cuz the grapes are soooo big!... surely this is the place that God spoke of! This should teach us to always remember to not follow the majority...fear of God will not be found in the majority... of even Christians. Peter was the only one who stepped out of the boat while eleven chose to stay in the safety of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment