Fear

FEAR

Genesis 9:2-5 1 “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. 2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. 3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. 4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. 5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man.”

“Am I my brothers keeper?” rings in the ear of one attentive to these verses from God. God had not needed brothers to shield life in the brother or fellow citizens of this world until Cain slew Able. Then we began to fear death and each other. Cain feared for his safety as he was being expelled from civilized; members of society. That fear generated hate, distrust, selfishness, greed and many other characteristics which led to the total corruption of the human race. God washed the planet clean with a mighty flood. However he saved a remnant in the family of Noah. He assured them that they had authority over the beasts and was their brothers keeper. “Required” as used in the verse above eludes to responsible. We are the keepers of our fellow earth inhabitants and are required to protect their life.

We Christians often fear. We may not be afraid but fear dwells in our heart; fearing things that most likely never shall be realized. All things are possible in our lives but the Word from God is for everything to fear humans. Always, at His appearing or the appearing of His representatives, the statement “fear not, or be not afraid” is given. God, we are to fear with a Godly fear. (Romans 8:1-39) “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”  (Romans 8:15) “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”

If we fear, we lack faith. David stood before Goliath without fear; confident in God’s powerful protection. The Hebrew children, Daniel, and martyrs all face torment, torture and death, yet without fear. I am certain between the jaws of a huge bear a trembling knowledge of eminent death from sever pain overshadowed them. It did not hide the great mercy of God and if we walk a proper fearless life, we will meet them in our promised home land called “Glory Land.” In Psalms we read: Psalms 23:4 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” Luke 1:74 “That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,

Jesus overcame the fear of death in victory over death and hell. He thus gave a promise that death held no fear for believers who live according to the fruit of the Holy Spirit (also gifts of God).Galatians Chapter 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

God’s gifts to us. Therein, if kept, lies the counter of fear. Jesus left us a promise of peace of mind. A fearing mind has no peace. John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” We have a God whose breath blows stronger than the mighty voice, sword or army of any enemy that might come against us. We have been endowed with power, not as worship or show is concerned but to quince fear and elevate the Spirit. Luke 10:19 “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”

Boldness of spirit is a pleasant savor to God. Relying upon him, especially when facing temptation of fears is a work of good. It pleases God. Know God, know peace. Amen. 03-16-2020 BLL