| CHRISTIAN FIRESIDE OCTOBER ARTICLE FEAR NOT "Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful" John 4:27b "for they saw Him, and were troubled, and immediately He spoke with them and said to them,"Take courage, I am (He), be not afraid." Mark 6:50 Fear not - when you reead the verses where Jesus says words like this do you think:" Easy for You to say, Jesus. You're God Incarnate (Made flesh). How can You relate to my fears? My fears for the future? fears for my loved ones saftey and health? My fears of rejection...loss of love...of being alone...Can You, Jesus- true man and true God, understand any of my fears?" True man...did Jesus even experience fear? Is fear, in itself, a sin? Yet how can it be if Jesus felt fear when He is sinless? " Why are you so fearful? O you of little faith." Matthew 8:26 Is fear a sing of lack of faith? "..perfect love casts out fear..." 1 John 4:18 Fear? Asign of incomplete love? " For you did not recieve the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have recieved the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"" Romans 8:15 Here in is the crux of it! Not to fall back into the slavery to fear but to cry out to God, our Father. But how do we stop from falling into fear? Stop becoming slaves to fear?Think about it. Does fear dominate our lives and our actions? How can Jesus help us? As a human Jesus was tempted: "for this reason He was made like His brothers in every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, that He might turn aside God's wrath, taking away the sins of the people. Because He, Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted." Hebrews 2:17 & 18 So it is not feeling fear that is sinful or shows lack of faith, but what we do next, after experiencing the fear. What did our Lord, Jesus do when He felt fear? In the moments before His impending arrest? When He was on the cross dying? In the Garden of Gethsemmane: "When He arrived at the place, He said to them,"Pray that you may no enter into temptation." And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet no My will, but Yours be done." Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, stregthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow, and said to them, "Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation."" Luke 22: 40 - 46 Jesus prayed. He did not deny His fear but asked for God's will. He was in so much agony because of the conflict in Him, that His sweat was like blood falling! That is torment. Is not torment real fear? Yet the result was that despite the fear, Jesus did God's will. Then after six hours on the croos - the last three of those hours in darkness - Jesus cries out: "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?" Matthew 27:46 The cataclysm of all His suffering; when the weight of all the world's sin was upon Him...when He felt abondoned and alone by His Father...what did Jesus do? He gave up His Spirit to God. "And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, "FATHER, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT." Having said this, He breathed His last." Luke 23:46 We are to give up our fears to God; Your will, not mine. We are to trust in God's love for us. It is God's love , perfected and completed in us, that casts out fear. " whoever may confess that Jesus is the son of God, God in him doth remain, and he in God; and we --we have known and believed the love, that God hath in us; God is love, and he who is remaining in the love, inGod he doth remain, and God in him. In this made perfect hath been the love with us, that boldness we may have in the day of the judgement, because even as He is, we -- we also are in this world; fear is not in the love, but the perfect love doth cast out the fear, because the fear hath punishment, and he who is fearing hath not been made perfect in love; we-- we love Him, because He--He first loved us;" 1 John 4: 15 -19 It does not say that we will reach full completion, full perfection of God's love in us in this life, on this earth. We have not reached full santification because we are still in the flesh of our old sinfull nature. Yet we are being transformed. " God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that He won't stop before it is complete on the day the day that Christ Jesus returns." Philippians 1: 6 Jesus does understand our fears. He is able to help us through them. Help us not to becaome a slave to fear because we are His. God's love is in us and is being completed in us. He will cast out the fear when we trust in His love for us. by Sharon Rantala |
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