The Spirit of Fear

[VictoryinJesus]

Proverbs 9:10 says: [10] The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

Fear leads to repentance and death of self. 2 Timothy 1:7-9 says those found in Christ, those born from above, have not been given a spirit of fear.

[7] For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. [8] Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; [9] Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,


1 John 4:15-18 KJV
[15] Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. [16] And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. [17] Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. [18] There is no fear in love; but perfect love (The Spirit of Christ) casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Fear hath torment:
Revelation 18:10 KJV
[10] Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.


Zechariah 6:15 KJV
[15] And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord , and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.

Ephesians 2:13-19 KJV
[13] But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Those standing far off are made near by the blood of Christ.
Where the blood marks the post, the Passover, there has been a new Spirit given. Not a Spirit of fear and torment... Like Babylon which is absent the Spirit of God.
We have boldness to come before God. Where the Spirit is there is freedom. Love, joy, peace, happiness. Not love, joy, peace, and happiness as the world seeks, but of Spirit. Life abundantly in Christ. Righteousness. He that is perfect has come...it is Christ and salvation. Forgiveness. Atonement. The Spirit of life rather than the Spirit of fear which is death.

Romans 8:1-4 KJV
[1] There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (not a Spirit of fear but a Spirit of wisdom and peace and love...perfect love) Those that remain in torment and fear as Babylon is not "made perfect in love"

[2] For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. [3] For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: [4] That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

[14] For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us ; [15] Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; [16] And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: [17] And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. [18] For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. [19] Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

 

[Helen]

I must admit..once again...I am not in the rank and file of those who believe that we must fear God. Not the 'fear kind of fear' anyway.
I spent too many years in my early Christian life being afraid of God like I was taught in church...God sitting 'up there' just waiting to to bring down His big stick whenever we stepped out of line.
It took me too many years to change my mind=repent of those thoughts about Him.

I now live in the verses you quoted - "For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us ; Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, Even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. "

I finally saw the heart of God back in 1988...I saw the covenant of Peace made through Jesus Christ. I saw the Gospel of Peace that was given to Paul..
I then had a vision...an open eye vision... My husband was out with the dog, he came back, looked at me and said- " what happened, you look all sparkly..and different?"
I told him what I saw...and how the Lord showed me in vision...from Eph 6
14 "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."

Before I used to wonder why God said to often.. be not afraid only believe.
Fear not, fear not, fear not...so many times...yet we are all told we are to fear God. As a child my own father had power over me that I did not have...but I did not 'fear' him.
We are not schizophrenics ...trying to love God and trying to trust God...while all the time the legalists tell us we must fear God.
Do I fear God...no. I respected the power and authority that my father had over me...but I did not fear him...I knew he loved me..and I love being his child.
Just so with Father God. I fought too hard to get out from under that lie about who and what God is....that happened in the lie in The Garden....I will never go back under it again.

Whoops, I got a bit rambling here, I find long posts boring...sorry ;)

 

[mjrhealth]

How can one approach a father whom they are afraid of, How can one fear, a loving God, there is no fear in love. I have no fear of God, He is quiet approachable.

 

[amadeus]

How can one approach a father whom they are afraid of, How can one fear, a loving God, there is no fear in love. I have no fear of God, He is quiet approachable.

The ones who need to really fear Him are the ones who don't really know Him at although they have sometimes convinced themselves that they do.

 

[pia]

The ones who need to really fear Him are the ones who don't really know Him at although they have sometimes convinced themselves that they do.

I think people need to fear ending up somewhere where He ISN'T, so to reject Him and turn their backs to Him, is going somewhere He cannot follow them, as He cannot reject Himself..

 

[Invisibilis]

The only thing in us that has fear is our ego. It fears the truth of itself as being invalid. That is why it always seeks validation. The ego was created by the mind to make sense of itself. Reason being is that the brain has no nerve ends of its own and therefore it (mind) cannot sense it self. Normally, a child about two years of age starts identifying itself with stories of who they are. They start using words such as "I" and "me".

However, the mind knows that ego (self-esteem) is just a fabricated story and not really valid. But the mind does not want to lose its identity by its truth. So it fears anything that will threaten its false validity, or self-esteem. As soon as it senses a loss of validity it will focus on ways to regain validity. Usually it does this by "look at me", "I know better", etc.

What I am saying is, that ALL our fears come from the ego. That is why pride is the number one killer of the Spirit. That is why it is important to remain humble and meek (exposed and vulnerable) so to be okay about feeling fearful of our own truth of invalidity. Where there is humiliation, humility, or humbleness there is truth, and the truth will set you free.

They say the truth hurts, but what hurts is the ego squirming as its validity drops. True humility is ego-deflation at depth. The deeper we go the more fears we have to face. That is why not many are willing to really become vulnerable and expose themselves (secrets and all sins). Repentance of all sins requires faith.

Truth is the only reality, and our old nature, our false-self, is totally deluded in self-fear and self-deception. Our new nature, us in Christ and Christ in us, is based on truth and love, not deception and fear.

To fear God is to fear losing our false-identity, false-validity, leaving what little truth there is, if any, in us.

 

[tabletalk]

The only thing in us that has fear is our ego. It fears the truth of itself as being invalid. That is why it always seeks validation. The ego was created by the mind to make sense of itself. Reason being is that the brain has no nerve ends of its own and therefore it (mind) cannot sense it self. Normally, a child about two years of age starts identifying itself with stories of who they are. They start using words such as "I" and "me".

However, the mind knows that ego (self-esteem) is just a fabricated story and not really valid. But the mind does not want to lose its identity by its truth. So it fears anything that will threaten its false validity, or self-esteem. As soon as it senses a loss of validity it will focus on ways to regain validity. Usually it does this by "look at me", "I know better", etc.

What I am saying is, that ALL our fears come from the ego. That is why pride is the number one killer of the Spirit. That is why it is important to remain humble and meek (exposed and vulnerable) so to be okay about feeling fearful of our own truth of invalidity. Where there is humiliation, humility, or humbleness there is truth, and the truth will set you free.

They say the truth hurts, but what hurts is the ego squirming as its validity drops. True humility is ego-deflation at depth. The deeper we go the more fears we have to face. That is why not many are willing to really become vulnerable and expose themselves (secrets and all sins). Repentance of all sins requires faith.

Truth is the only reality, and our old nature, our false-self, is totally deluded in self-fear and self-deception. Our new nature, us in Christ and Christ in us, is based on truth and love, not deception and fear.

To fear God is to fear losing our false-identity, false-validity, leaving what little truth there is, if any, in us.

This is an example of the fear of God:
From Genesis 22:
11. But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”

So he said, “Here I am.”

12. And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

 

[Invisibilis]

This is an example of the fear of God:
From Genesis 22:
11. But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
So he said, “Here I am.”
12. And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

Yes, a good example.

Abraham was a man who obeyed God regardless of self, regardless of his ego wants and needs. He was a man of absolute faith that God has His reasons and they are always True. He relied on God. Disobedience would mean the loss of that reliance, of his well-being. He feared losing that.

We fear God, because it means our ego will have to let go of its-will for God's will. We have to abandon the wants and needs of our ego. In other words, to invalidate self (humbled and meek like Abraham). However, there really is nothing to fear, because God's will is perfect in Everything. To doubt, to be lacking in faith or belief, invites fear of losing everything for nothing. When we do let go (unreserved faith) to let God, our doubtlessness accepts Everything, our faith allows Everything, our belief becomes Everything.

We have to let go of everything (self) for Everything (God).

IMHO, Abraham faced his fears, by faith and doubtless belief in God, to overcome them.

 

[101G]

GINOLJC, not saying that anyone is right or wrong, but consider this. to understand heavenly things, we first must understand earthly things. our fathers in the flesh. we love them right, but ye we at the same time feared them also because if we did something wrong we knew that he could punish us, right. that's because we are "CHILDREN". but understand this, the same father we feared, is the same father who we get in his arms and play and fall asleep, yes, in those same arms that could put a switch on our backsides. see, there is two types of fears, as there are several types of Love. the fear one have for the school bully is not the same fear one have for their Loving father in the flesh. just as the Love, (speaking from a male point of view), one have for his mother is not the same as with his wife in this type of Love, ok. or this love he might have for his lady friend, (if not married), the opposite is the same with a female and her father or a male friend.

now Spiritually speaking, there is a fear when we're children, (the unknown), and as well with God even when we're adults. scripture, Matthew 10:28 "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell". now that's the only fear we have of God, (and that's not the school bully fear either, real fear, reality). but God, as our fathers in the flesh will chastise us. Hebrews 12:4 "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. (we need to read that verse again). Hebrews 12:7 "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

 

[Invisibilis]

Hebrews 12:11-14 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 12. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13. "Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

My flesh father was an very abusive alcoholic. I suffer a physical disability because of it, and as I get older my arthritis stems from it. God the Father's chastising, in comparison, is Loving and Truthful. Though some may call it tough-love. What considers it tough is just our ego.

In Hebrews 12:11 what is painful is our ego being deflated, humbled, stilled, embarrassment, guilt, and any other forms of ego-fear. God does not hand us a snake when we ask for a fish (Luke 11:11).

 

[101G]

My flesh father was an very abusive alcoholic. I suffer a physical disability because of it, and as I get older my arthritis stems from it. God the Father's chastising, in comparison, is Loving and Truthful. Though some may call it tough-love. What considers it tough is just our ego.

sorry to hear that. yes some flesh father are abusive by way of the alcohol, and or other substance. but not all fathers are like that. which I will correct. but most flesh fathers are not which I was basing my example on. so correction made, thanks.

peace in Christ.