Fear

You shall have no other Gods before Me
Exodus 20:3

Have you ever feared something or someone, the future, an outcome, sickness, authority, bullies, your peers, peoples opinions, heights, crowds, poverty, government, Satan, death, loneliness and so on. The list is endless there are so many things that we can fear. Someone said that fear is a great motivator, politicians manipulate fear in order to get people to vote for them, promising that they will be the hero that will make it all go away. Anyone that would like to have you under their control will use fear and even those things that have no intention in controlling you, will control you because you fear it. The Bible Specially Jesus Christ, repeated the words "Fear Not" just about 120 times, the issue of Fear springs up in the bible over 500 times. God is interested in setting you FREE from the power and the spirit of Fear. Fear is a debilitating spirit, it cripples you, it paralyzes you and it doesn't allow you to be yourself. You become a slave of Fear, Fear becomes your God and your Master. The first commandment says; "You shall have no other gods before Me", in order for anyone to please God concerning this particular commandment, that person must be set free from the spirit of Fear in order to be set free from the stronghold of the strongman (Satan) and serve the Lord your God.

You Serve That Which You Fear

The bible gives us many examples of Fear and the consequences of it. Let's give Fear another name, let's call it Goliath. Yes that's right, the story of David and Goliath which we have all heard in one way or another, specially in children's Sunday school class, is a good story to understand the crippling power of Fear. When the Philistines confronted the armies of Israel lead by King Saul, they brought their god with them, yes Goliath was their god. For 40 days the armies of Israel who served the only true God had fallen prey of Fear. The king was looking for one man among his army that would have the courage and trust in the God of Israel to go and fight the god of the Philistines. But no one was found. If you remember the story when David was to be anointed by the prophet Samuel, you would know that seven other brothers of David came before the prophet and for everyone that presented themselves before the prophet, the prophet wrongly judged them to be the chosen one of God. Repeatedly God told Samuel: "you judge by the outer appearance, but I judge the heart". And there they were all of David's brothers were part of the army and they were also stricken by Fear, paralyzed and serving the god of the Philistines. Yes! you serve that which you Fear. For 40 days the god of the Philistines was in control of the armies of the God of Israel. Goliath was boasting, laughing and just enjoying the moment as he bullied an entire army, that is totally paralyzed by the Fear of Him. It is in this scenario that David arrives. David is very young, he is not yet allowed to join the armies of Israel like his brothers, he is not trained in the art of war, and yet there was one thing that separated David from his brothers and the rest of the army, it wasn't just his youth or his lack of expertise, David had NO FEAR! David could not believe what he sees and hear, how can this mundane man bully the armies of God? It was totally incomprehensible to David.

Opposite to what many believe, during those days the army that owned the newest technology in weapons of war, were the Philistines, yes they had the swords and the armor. The armies of Israel did not have such fighting gear and weapons with the exception of the King. So when David gave notice that he was willing to face the giant god, the King called him to offer David his sword and armor. This proposition had a double purpose, first it was the only protective armor that the israelites had and it would be proper to protect David, but the second reason was more important to Saul after all and that was that to the unsuspecting eye, if David would have used the King's armor and sword, both armies would have thought that it was Saul that came out to face the giant. That was important to Saul as the King, because although he was stricken and paralyzed by Fear just like his army, he also wanted to look as the hero that saved the day in front his army and his people. Yet God had other plans. David wasn't looking for personal glory like Saul, David was looking to glorify God and make sure that the name of God and His name alone would be feared in the land. Yes, we ought to fear God and only God. You shall not have other gods before Me. Exodus 20;3

When David Met The Dwarf

To David Goliath was no giant at all, not in the sense of bigger and badder or someone that had to be feared of much less served. David was able to see what others couldn't see, David saw that the true giant was God and that in comparison, Goliath the god of the Philistines was very small and insignificant, a dwarf with a big ego. David studied the situation and realized that the very strength of Goliath was his weakness, his ego and his boasting was his weakness, his display of great strength was his weakness. David couldn't be restrained by an armor and a heavy sword if he was going to face Goliath. The Bible tells us what heavy equipment Goliath was carrying and it made him slow, which gave David and advantage over Goliath. David ran faster and by the Spirit of the Lord Of Hosts, he brought down the Giant with one stone and decapitated the Giant with his own sword. That day David killed two gigantic egos, Goliath and Saul. And exalted the only name that ought to be exalted, the name of the Lord.

FEAR, Satan's Preferred Weapon

With the example above and so many biblical examples as well as contemporary examples of valor where men and women of all ages would not allow fear to paralyzed and make them bow before other gods, you would think that Satan would give it up already. But No, he would not give up his weapon of preference, because it works. He even tried it with Jesus when he tempted him in the wilderness. He knew the fear that the Lord was going to confront, the fear of the wrath of God that He Jesus had to endure was so much that the Bible tells us that he was sweating drops of blood while praying in Gethsemane, for the wrath of God against all the sins of the world was going to be manifested in the life of Jesus the Lord, causing Him death. Satan knew this and knew that fear is a great motivator, so he offered Jesus a way out. He offered all the kingdom of this world to Jesus, yes Satan is the prince of this world and he owns the world and its system. The offer had a condition attached to it, Jesus had to bow and worship Satan. You serve that which you fear. Satan wanted to trick Jesus, spare him his fear of the wrath of God and bring Jesus to his side. But Jesus fear God and boldly told Satan, NO! I will only worship God.  

You Must Fear God. That's all.

As you read this you may be under the spell of a fear of some sort. That fear may as well represent your giant and if the fear that you are experiencing is not the fear of the Lord, then rest assured that it is the spirit of fear and Satan is directly involved. Satan's desire is to cripple and paralyze you completely so you will serve your fear and not the God that created the heavens and the earth. The scriptures says that God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.(2Timothy 1:7) God is not the source of your fear. There is a healthy fear and that is the Fear Of The Lord. The Fear Of The Lord is the beginning of Wisdom. God desires to set you free, to empower you and give you a sound mind. Fear God! that's all.

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind,

​Pastor Edwin