Post by Rose

We need to pay attention to this issue as children of God. Many definitions have different ideologies on the topic of fear. Still, to understand the subject of fear, it is necessary to go back to God’s Word because men can not intellectually approve of God’s strategies. It takes the Spirit to reveal His mind; it is part of what makes Him the Ancient of Days. His utterance must define everything we need to know.

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2 Spiritual Types of Fear

1. Fear of God – this is more commonly used to describe a sense of reverence and surrender to God. It is an act of worship not because we were taken by force, but His love compelled us to make reverence to Him. We shall discuss this in detail.
2. Fear that comes from the devil – the devil’s deception makes us feel imperfect and afraid.

The meaning of the Fear of God

In the N.Testament, this fear is described using the Greek Word φόβoς (Phobos, “fear/horror”). According to Robert B. Strimple, “there is a convergence of awe, reverence, devotion, honor, worship, confidence, appreciation, love, and, yes, fear.” 

“His mercy is forever to those who fear him,” Mary exclaims in the Magnificat (Luke 1:50). 

Jesus describes the judge in the Parable of the Unjust Judge (Luke 18:1-8) as one who “neither feared God nor cared for man.”

“The fear of God does not simply being afraid of God because we know that God is our Father who loves and forgives us always,” says Pope Francis. It is no servile fear but rather a joyful awareness of God’s grandeur and a grateful realization that only in him do our hearts find true worship.

The Fear of God for the unbeliever is the terror of God’s judgment and eternal death, which is eternal separation from God (Luke 12:5; Hebrews 10:31). 

The Fear of God is something very different for a believer. The Fear of a Christian is reverence for God. 

“Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakeable kingdom, let us be thankful, and thus worship God acceptably with reverence and awe because our ‘God is a devouring fire,'” says Hebrews 12:28-29. 

For Christians, the Fear of God entails a sense of reverence and awe, which is the driving force behind our surrender to the Universe’s Creator.

4 Benefits Of The Fear Of God

1 – AWE CAN BE GENERATED BY THE FEAR OF THE LORD.

Fearing the Lord entails being in awe of His holiness, expressing entire reverence for Him, and honoring Him as the God of tremendous glory, majesty, purity, and power. Because of God’s enormous strength, the Israelites “trembled” in dread when He revealed Himself to them at Mount Sinai by “thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast” (Ex 19:16). They even pleaded with Moses to deliver God’s message to them so they wouldn’t have to face God (Ex 20:18-19; Dt 5:22-27). When the psalmist considers God as Creator, he exclaims, “Let all the world dread the Lord; let all the people fear the Lord.”

2-FAITH CAN BE PRODUCED BY THE FEAR OF THE LORD.

Believers who have a true fear of the Lord put their confidence and trust in Him alone for salvation. For example, after seeing how God decimated the Egyptian army that pursued them after crossing the Red Sea on dry land, the Israelites “feared the Lord and put their trust in Him.” Trust in the Lord–He is their help and shield,” the psalmist tells everyone who fears the Lord (Ps 115:11). In other words, fearing God promotes faith, hope, and trust in Him, all of which are important when we seek God’s mercy, forgiveness, and spiritual redemption (Lk 1:50; cf. Ps 103:11; 130:4). (Ps 85:9). Fearing God in this context refers to being moved to faith.

3- WE LEARN TO BE OBEDIENT.

To begin, if we sincerely fear the Lord, we will obey His commands, live in accordance with His Word, and refuse to sin. One of the reasons God instilled terror in the Israelites at Mount Sinai was so that they would learn to avoid and reject sin while following God’s commandments (Ex 20:20). Moses frequently linked fearing God to serving and obeying Him in his farewell message to the Israelites (e.g., Dt 5:29; 6:2, 24; 8:6; 10:12; 13:4; 17:19; 31:12).

According to the psalmist, Fearing God is the same as delighting in His precepts (Ps 112:1) and abiding by His laws (Ps 119:63).

“By the fear of the Lord, a man avoids evil,” Solomon preached (Pr 16:6; cf. 8:13).

4-IN SANCTIFICATION, WE GROW

The Fear of the Lord, is like implementing the truth of God’s Word, has a sanctifying (i.e., purifying, separating from sin, spiritually growing) influence on God’s people (Jn 17:17). It compels us to despise sin and abstain from wickedness (Pr 3:7; 8:13; 16:6). It makes us think twice before we say anything (Pr 10:19; Ecc 5:2, 6-7). It keeps our consciences and moral sensitivities to what is right from deteriorating. The Fear of the Lord has an inexhaustible spiritual cleansing, purifying, and restoring influence (Ps 19:9).

WE PRAY WITH ALL OF OUR HEART the Lord, which is holy and reverent, encourages God’s people to worship Him with their entire being. Those who sincerely fear God will sing praises to Him.

Fear that comes as a result of Devil’s Deceptions

This kind of fear is the enemy of our faith, and it comes from the devil. It is a blatant contradiction to the Bible. “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind,” says the Bible (2 Timothy 1:7). When we’re afraid to do things we know we should, we should pause and think about this Scripture. It provides us with power and courage when we meditate on it.

To sabotage our faith, Satan employs fear as a weapon. He wants us to mistrust and question all God tells us. He can pull us away from trusting God if he can get us to the point of unbelief. God, on the other hand, is the exact embodiment of love; when we’re in Him, we’re protected from harm.

Fear is not only an emotion caused by the belief that something or someone poses a threat to us. We can all remember this destructive emotion at some time, and we’re familiar with how it affects our ability to do what needs to be done. Fear in any area is never okay, especially if it keeps us from fulfilling God’s mission for us. However, trusting His Word to us in this area strengthens us to overcome it and keep moving forward.

We can’t have the peace of mind God desires while we’re in a circumstance and feel the chilly grip of terror in the pit of our stomachs. Lack in any area, especially lack of peace, is not God’s will. Jesus came into the world so that we could find peace in Him. “Peace is unto you; my peace I give you: not as the world gives, but as I give to you.” Do not let your heart be worried, and do not be terrified” (John 14:27).

  What are the causes of fear?

1. Fear of your past failure:

Mnemophobia is the fear of recalling past experiences or memory loss in mental illnesses such as Alzheimer’s. Like most other phobias, this can be traced back to terrible events in the past. Sufferers prefer to avoid discussing their experiences with others and may even abandon friends (current or former).

Even though the past is something that should be forgotten, many people let it define them.

They become unhappy, deceitful, selfish, and greedy, and they blame it on their past or persons in their past, stating things like, “I am this way because of how that person abused me or what so, so, and so did to me.”

God wants us to understand that the past no longer has control over us and that we can let it go because we have been renewed by his love and redemptive grace.

Antidote: Isaiah 43:18 -19 (NIV) says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!….”

2 Fear as a result of ignorance

Ignorance can be a lack of knowledge or comprehension. People who are ignorant are either unaware or uninformed. We are sometimes uninformed because we are unaware that we need to learn something or have chosen not to learn something important. “My people are ruined due to a lack of knowledge,” the Lord says in Hosea 4:6. I reject you because you have rejected knowledge.” 

Sinful ignorance is the deliberate rejection of information that God desires for us, while inadvertent ignorance of earthly things is unavoidable. 

Ignorance leads to fear, which can affect our daily living and the best way to deal with this is to stay with the true Word.

Antidote: Psalm 119:130 (KJV), “The entrance of thy Word giveth light; it giveth understanding to the simple.”

3 Fear as a result of the opinion of other people

Another thing that leads to fear is the fear of what other people think, but if we sustain an understanding of the fact that God cares for us.

God’s own Word, the Bible, demonstrates God’s deep concern for His entire creation, particularly for each of us as individuals. He cares for us and has a plan for our lives, will never abandon us, and longs for us to spend eternity with Him! Here are several verses about God’s feelings toward us in difficult times or even when going through life’s mundane situations.

Antidotes:

“For I know the thoughts I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV)

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:29-31

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn mong many brethern.” Romans 8:28-29.

8 Dangers Of Fear

# 1 Fear drives us to minimize God’s size and exalt man’s stature and viewpoint.

#2 – We guide people in the wrong direction because we are afraid.

#3 – When we are afraid, we remain silent when we should speak up. (This is because we are often obsessed with what others think of us; see Galatians 1:10)

#4 – Fear makes us passive when facing a problem that the Lord has brought to our attention. As Edmund Burke famously observed, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

#5 – Fear leads us to seek consensus rather than listening to God’s voice.

#6 – We avoid engaging the broken, the wounded, the misfits, and the abandoned because we are afraid that things will get ugly if we include them in our lives and allow them into our homes. It’s a good thing Jesus didn’t have that mentality. If He had, I would have been in big trouble!

#7 – Fear drives us to resist change because we are more concerned with maintaining our comfort than conforming to Christ’s image.

#8 – Fear motivates us to try to control things and take control of situations rather than trusting God and others. (Control freaks are terrified when they lose control.)

HOW TO OVERCOME FEAR IN GOD’S WAY: 

PRAY

“Don’t think about anything; instead, pray for everything,” the Bible says. Tell God what you’re looking for, and thank Him for everything He’s done for you.” (Philippians 4:6, NLT). 

We are taught not just not to worry or fear, but also what to do instead of worrying: pray.

Prayer is more than a recitation of requests on a daily basis. It’s a chance to communicate to our Father about our concerns and surrender them to His care. The following passage says,

“Then you will experience God’s serenity, which is beyond our comprehension.” As you live in Christ Jesus, His peace will guard your hearts and minds” (Philippians 4:7, NLT).

STUDY THE WORD

The secret of our daily living is in the Word of God. We can be assured of life in the Word. Many read the Word and get tired after a verse or two; it is because we have not received the revelation of the Word.

The Bible is more than just a collection of dusty words. It is not man’s philosophy or ideals. It’s alive and well, and it’s a force to be reckoned with. It’s concise and astute, getting right to the heart of the subject and revealing the truth. Nothing escapes His notice as he sees everything. To Him, everything is as an open book. He sees and understands everything, right down to our thoughts and hearts.

Believe The Word.

Many people Do not know how to believe in the Word of God. The Bible says faith cometh by hearing the Word of God. Every time the Word is opened unto us, it formes a substance; this substance is the assurance of the answers to your prayer. Believe it, and it will really bless you.

Dealing with Legal Issues

Satan doesn’t have any right into your Life except we allow him. Sometimes, we may not be aware. In this kind of situation, necessary steps must be taken in order to see the result of our prayer. Allow the Holy Spirit to direct you and guide your heart to discern the kind of prayer you need to pray.

Build Your Relationship With God.

The more we love God and reverence Him, the lesser we fear any other thing. When we know God intimately; it will cure us of many things.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7.