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FEAR NOT: Focus on your Future, NOT your Past

(part of picture from NPR)

“And Samuel said unto the people, FEAR NOT: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart” ~ 1 Samuel 12:20

FEAR NOT: Focus on your Future, NOT your Past

The people had sinned yet again. Now they had failed to put their trust in God, rather they wanted a king so that they could be like the pagan nations in their region. Aware of their sin they were worried God would punish them.

Yet God’s word to them through His servant Samuel, was FEAR NOT. Instead of focusing on the people’s sin. God focused on their future “…yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart”.

Paul echoes this sentiment in the letter to the Philippian church

“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” ~ Philippians 3:13-14

The lesson to us is this: don’t dwell on the failure of the past. God doesn’t and neither should we. Rather, we must keep our focus on the righteousness of the future. Does, the past matter? Absolutely, it does. Errors of the past can have a long-lasting effect on our lives. BUT the future matters much more. God is concerned more about where we are going than where we are from. We can never UNDO the wrongs of yesterday, BUT we can get things right for tomorrow.

FEAR NOT, God wants to help us get it right from now onwards.
FEAR NOT, focus on God, He will guide us.
FEAR NOT, God will wash our (confessed) sins away and lead us to a better day.
FEAR NOT, let us hold on to our future and let go of our past.

This post is a part of a series on several of the “FEAR NOT” sayings in the Bible.

FEAR NOT: “Seeing” God is a Blessing: Get to Know Him

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“And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, ‘Alas, O Lord God! for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face.’
And the Lord said unto him, ‘Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.'” ~ Judges 6:22-23

FEAR NOT: “Seeing” God is a Blessing: Get to Know Him

Gideon saw an angel of The Lord and thought he would die because as a result.

This was a wrong concept that seemed to have developed over the years, likely influenced by pagan traditions of the Caananite peoples/nations or simply due to a lack of understanding.

First of all, no one accidentally stumbles upon God or His messenger. If one were to see the face of God it could only happen if God intended it. Likewise, if one were to see the face of God’s messenger, an “angel of the LORD”, it too could only happen if God intended it. Second, seeing God or an “angel of the LORD” was not a curse; it was a Blessing.

We see both these principles at work when Moses ASKED God (i.e., Moses sought a blessing) for permission to see Him. And God CHOSE (i.e., it was intentional, not accidental) to reveal Himself partially to Moses (Exodus 33:12-23). Indeed, God did not give Moses a full view, because His Holiness was too great. But the point is that it was a blessed experience, NOT a curse.

Like Gideon, many of our fears concerning God arise from misconceptions due to cultural influences and/or a lack of knowledge of God’s WORD.

For example, a common misunderstanding is that we are guardians of our salvation: that if we “slip up” we risk losing our salvation. However, The WORD makes it clear that Jesus is the guardian of our salvation (John 17:12) and it is God who ensures our progress to spiritual maturity (Philippians 1:6). Those who are truly saved have a new heart (2 Corinthians 5:17) and a new purpose that is supplied by God Himself.

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” ~ Philippians 2:13

Two more examples of common misconceptions are that God is “only” a judge and, at the other end of the spectrum, that God is “only” love (i.e., a ‘good-hearted’, benevolent ‘grandfather’). Both of these concepts, by themselves, are false. God is not one or the other, God loves us and is willing to die for us (John 3:16-17, 15:13-14) AND God will judge those who refuse to submit to Him (Revelation 20:12-15).

The point is that misconceptions, misunderstandings, hinder us; making it difficult for us to hear from God. They make it hard to understand what God is doing in our lives because they project the wrong image of God’s character.

But there is good news: Gideon’s fear arose from not knowing who God was, but God was not going to punish him for His mistake, for his lack of understanding: as our text says, “FEAR NOT, thou shalt not die”. Rather, God was going to give Gideon the opportunity to lead His people out of bondage/oppression. Despite Gideon’s weakness God was going to bring victory to the Hebrews through him.

That’s the key: despite our weaknesses, God is still willing to employ us in His Kingdom, if we will let Him. God doesn’t wait for perfection: God will use even the little faith we have to work great things through us (Matthew 17:20), will you let Him work in you?

FEAR NOT, God intends to work triumphantly through ALL Believers. FEAR NOT, God will meet us where we are. FEAR NOT, God Himself will grow us into mature, fruit-bearing saints. The only question is: will you, will I, will we let Him?

This post is a part of a series on several of the “FEAR NOT” sayings in the Bible.

FEAR NOT: Our God is (infinitely) Bigger

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“And I said unto you, ‘I am the LORD your God; FEAR NOT the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell’: but ye have not obeyed my voice.” ~ Judges 6:10

FEAR NOT: Our God is (infinitely) Bigger

God had instructed the Hebrews not to be afraid of the gods of the Amorites. This instruction challenged the Hebrews: to obey God meant that they must respect His Word over that of the Amorites. In effect, they were being challenged to decide which god was greater. Should they listen to Jehovah? Or, should they listen to the Amorites and their gods?

We face the same challenge in our lives everyday: If our God, Jehovah, is our Healer, why do we fear illness/disease? If Jehovah is our provider, why do we fear poverty? If Jehovah is our shield, why do we fear our enemies?

Is there an illness/disease that God cannot cure? Will God run out of supplies to take care of us? Is there an enemy too big for God to defeat?

Like the Hebrews, our ongoing problem is that we doubt God’s love for us and we mistake battles for defeats: Our courage melts away in the heat of the battle: we forget the victory is already won.

The Hebrews had won great battles, God had given them the land. But, instead of growing in faithfulness, they grew in fearfulness. So eventually they thought the very enemies that Jehovah had defeated for them somehow had a greater god than their God, Jehovah.

Whatever trial is facing you now, remember how far God has carried you: remember how many battles you have won, by His enabling power: by His grace. Let us not shrink back in the heat of the battle. If Jehovah IS God, then there is nothing that can defeat you. Yes, trials will come, and battles must be fought. But FEAR NOT your God is Victorious, live in His victory. Amen!

“But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” ~ Hebrews 10:39

This post is a part of a series on several of the “FEAR NOT” sayings in the Bible.

FEAR NOT: We are Tested so We can Testify

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‎”And Joshua said unto them, ‘FEAR NOT, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.'” ~ Joshua 10:25

FEAR NOT: We Tested so we can Testify

Throughout his life, Joshua had experienced God’s constant faithfulness: Joshua knew there was nothing to fear when walking in the will of The LORD. Joshua was, therefore, now able to confidently tell the people to FEAR NOT.

Similarly, as we experience God’s faithfulness in our own lives, it is right for us to pass this on to others: to declare unto all the tender mercies of God: to make known His faithfulness and love.

When we have experienced it ourselves, we can say with authority that God WILL walk with us through the fire and the flood (Isaiah 43:1-3). We can confidently testify of God’s faithfulness on the battlefield, when we have been in the battle ourselves. We can proclaim God’s faithfulness in the storms of life, when we have been through those storms leaning on Him.

Faith must be authenticated by trials: faith must be tested: faith must be validated.

If the people asked Joshua “How do you know God will be with us?” Joshua could answer: “Because God was with me: God sustained me in the battle. He lifted me up when I was weak. He led the way. He made my steps sure. I know God is faithful because even when I failed, God did not fail.”

If we have experienced God’s faithfulness in our lives, let us tell others. Let us spread the news that God is faithful: Let us, like Joshua, publicly declare to our brothers and sisters in Christ: FEAR NOT, God will fight for His people!

“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” ~ 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

This post is a part of a series on several of the “FEAR NOT” sayings in the Bible.

FEAR NOT: Shun Sin Instead

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“And the LORD said unto Joshua, FEAR NOT, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land” ~ Joshua 8:1

FEAR NOT: Let’s Shun Sin Instead

The Hebrew nation had just suffered a resounding defeat at the hands of the small city of Ai, because of Achan’s sin (Joshua 7). Having rooted out that sin, God now encourages Joshua to do battle with Ai again. This time Joshua would be victorious.

Sometimes we also suffer defeats in our lives because of our sins. And the message for us is the same: GET RID OF THE SIN!!!

Once we stop harboring hidden, un-confessed sin in our lives we will suffer defeat, because God is not with us. But, when we stop deluding ourselves and instead confess our sin(s) to God, God will forgive us; He will walk with us, and we will triumph in The LORD!

FEAR NOT, if the sin is gone,
The battles will be won!
FEAR NOT, put the sin away
And experience triumph today!

This post is a part of a series on several of the “FEAR NOT” sayings in the Bible.

FEAR NOT: The LORD goes Before Us, The LORD is With Us, The LORD will not Leave Us

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‎”And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: FEAR NOT, neither be dismayed.” ~ Deuteronomy 31:8

FEAR NOT: The LORD goes Before Us, The LORD is With Us, The LORD will not Leave Us

In this verse we see three reasons to “FEAR NOT”, namely

The LORD goes before us
The LORD is with us
THE LORD will not leave us

FEAR NOT, the Lord goes before us! If God goes ahead of us, it means the battle is already won. Who/What can stand before God? Who/What can resist God’s infinite power? When The LORD goes before us, He leaves a Trail of Triumph for us to walk in: as long as we follow Him, as long as we walk in the paths He has laid out, we cannot fail.

FEAR NOT, The Lord is with/beside us! As He promises in Isaiah 43:1-3, when we go through the fire He will be there. The battle is won, the victory is sure but we still have a fight to finish. And The LORD assures us that He will be right by our side: While we serve Him, we don’t go into any fight alone. When the doctor brings bad news, you are not alone, The LORD is right there. When your company announces cutbacks, and you lose your job… you are not alone. When you were attacked, violated… you were not alone. The world we live in is evil and decaying. And just like anyone else believer’s are ravaged by world-wrought-wickedness, but the difference is, BELIEVERS are NOT alone… God is right by our side: close, ready to give support to reach out and comfort, to reach out and strengthen. FEAR NOT, God is right by your side.

FEAR NOT, The LORD will never forsake us, He will never leave us alone! When the battle gets tough He will be there, He won’t flinch… because He has already won the victory for us. BUT, even more than that. We can’t “make” Him go. We often have the misguided notion that our sins/weaknesses will force God to abandon us. That is not true. Even when Peter denied Jesus, three times, The LORD never forsook Peter. instead, after the resurrection Jesus took the time to restore Peter: to encourage him and reassure Him (John 21:15-19). Just like Peter, we will make BIG mistakes, “whoppers”, BUT The LORD will never give up on us, He won’t forsake us. When we fall down, The LORD does not kick us. The LORD will not abandon the wounded believer on the battlefield of life. FEAR NOT, The LORD will never forsake you!

This post is a part of a series on several of the “FEAR NOT” sayings in the Bible.

FEAR NOT: Overcome Obstacles with Obedience

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“Be strong and of a good courage, FEAR NOT, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” ~ Deuteronomy 31:6

FEAR NOT: Overcome Obstacles with Obedience

If we are walking with God, what can harm us? …… Nothing!

Is there an obstacle we can’t overcome with God holding our hands? …… No!

Can someone else snatch us away from God’s side? …… No!

Our fear is often that God will lead us down path’s we do not want to travel. We fear that God will challenge us in ways we don’t want to be challenged.

The task that God gave the Israelites was to conquer the people of Canaan. Two purposes of this this task were that, in performing them, they would learn to be obedient to Him and to trust Him to fight their battles for them. God had already assured their victory, but only through obedience could they claim/gain that victory.

Similarly, soldiers go through vigorous training, before they go into battle, to teach them to respond instantly to orders on the battlefield. Even in the secular world, obedience is key to victory.

likewise, God allows us to face tests and challenges so that we will learn to rely on Him and to be instantly obedient to His every command on the battlefield of life. God won’t leave us alone when the going gets tough, but we must walk in obedience to be victorious.

FEAR NOT… just be obedient instead.

“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” ~ Romans 6:16

This post is a part of a series on several of the “FEAR NOT” sayings in the Bible.

FEAR NOT: Believers, God is for Us!

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“And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, FEAR NOT, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them” ~ Deuteronomy 20:3

FEAR NOT: Believers, God is for Us!

As Believers face battles, obstacles, difficulties, and challenges in life. We must take courage that God IS on our side, that God is for us (Psalm 56:9b). God wants us to succeed: He wants us to be victorious.

To be clear, the victory God seeks for us is not as the world defines it. Victory in the Kingdom of God, is defeating satan and self (i.e., the flesh, Galatians 5:24). Jesus was victorious through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. Likewise, since we find our victory in Jesus, we will be victorious when we die to sin and live in the power of God’s enabling grace.

FEAR NOT, God is at work in us to give us the grace we need to TRIUMPH. In the words of a favorite song:

We will triumph in the Lord
We will triumph like never before
For greater is He who makes me overcome
We will walk in the power of His might
We will shine forth His glorious light
For greater is He who makes me overcome

FEAR NOT!

This post is a part of a series on several of the “FEAR NOT” sayings in the Bible.

FEAR NOT: There is a Way out of the Wilderness

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‎”Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; FEAR NOT, neither be discouraged.” ~ Deuteronomy 1:21

FEAR NOT: There is a Way out of the Wilderness

After forty years wandering in the wilderness, the Hebrews were about to enter the Promised Land. And God, through Moses, encouraged them to FEAR NOT and to not be discouraged. Canaan had giants living there, and many of the main cities were fortified. From a human standpoint, it must have seemed quite daunting to attempt to conquer such a place.

Likewise, God has a plan for the life of every Believer (Ephesians 2:10). Part of that plan is for us to move from wandering in the wilderness of carnality and spiritual immaturity. God wants us to take hold of the life He has planned for us: He wants us to live life abundant: full of His grace and mercy; shining forth His Light to guide sinners safely to Him. But to do that we have to face and conquer the giants and tear down the fortresses in our lives.

We need to defeat the giant of laziness, the fortress of selfishness, the ogre of pornography, the metropolis of materialism, the goblin of gossip, the arena of anger, bastion of sexual immorality, the monster of compromise and more… so much more.

If we don’t, if we refuse to fight the giants that stand between us and the place, the person, God wants us to be then we will live in the “wilderness” for the rest of our lives.

But there is GOOD NEWS!!! We won’t have to fight the battle alone, We won’t have to rely in our own (feeble, and ineffectual) strength. God Himself will fight for us. When the Hebrews went into their first battle (against Jericho, Joshua 6). God Himself tore down the walls of Jericho. All they had to do was follow God’s instructions and shout praises to Him when they were told to.

Let us learn from them, let us be obedient to God as He leads us, and let us shout praises to His Name: let us honor Him with every aspect of our lives. He will tear down the strongholds in our lives when we do.

FEAR NOT God will fight for us, till the very end and through Him we will have the victory (Philippians 1:6) FEAR NOT!!!

This post is a part of a series on several of the “FEAR NOT” sayings in the Bible.

FEAR NOT: God is Working on Us

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“And Moses said unto the people, FEAR NOT: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.” ~ Exodus 20:20

FEAR NOT: God is Working on Us

The Hebrews had been waiting on Moses while he was receiving God’s laws on Mt. Sinai. While they waited they were awestruck by the thundering and lightning, trumpeting and smoke coming from the mountain (v. 19). It is at this point that God (through Moses) commanded His people to FEAR NOT, because He was going to prove them and the result of the ‘proving’ would be that they would “fear” Him.

Some key concepts from our text are:

Focus on The Spiritual not the Spectacle
Focus on Your Identity not Your Image
Focus on Fellowship not on ‘Fire-Insurance’

(1) Their fear was misdirected. The focus of their fear was the spectacle (lightening, thunder, etc.) surrounding God’s ‘visit’ to Mt. Sinai to have a meeting with Moses. In effect God told them that there was nothing to fear in the spectacle, their attention was on the wrong thing: lightning and thunder wasn’t anything to worry about.

Many years later, Jesus would echo this sentiment when he rebuked to people for their focus on His miracles over his message (Matthew 12:39; John 12:18, 37).

God wanted them to “fear” Him, not the spectacle. God wanted them to recognize Him as a Holy God, whom they needed to know individually so that they could walk in obedience to Him (Micah 6:6-8). The people wanted Moses to be their ‘go-between’ because this God they heard about was scary. But God wanted them to get to know Him for themselves. The really fearful/scary thing was not knowing who God really was.

That is, also, what our focus must be: not that we are afraid of God’s awesome power, but that we are afraid of going through life without knowing Him. Those who are just afraid of God’s punishing power, are usually quite comfortable having a go-between: ” Let the pastor tell us about God, we just want enough salvation for ‘fire insurance’.”

Do not worry about “lightning and thunder” and other spectacles. Do not allow anyone get between God and you: get to know God in the quiet study of His Word and in the quiet communion of your spirit with His in prayer.

(2) Therefore, God would “prove” them. Because they did not recognize their need to come to God, to know Him, God would “prove” each of them: that is to say, God would test their worth and quality. The intent was to show them who they really were. God wanted them to see themselves as they really were (James 1:23-24) so that they would be motivated to get to know Him.

Likewise, God “proves” us today so that we can see our weaknesses and begin to learn how much we need Him to guide us into truth and transform our sin-sick soul. God allows trials and difficulties to enter our lives so that, in dealing with them, our true nature, our true faith (or lack thereof) will become clear to us. Then we can turn to him like The Disciples did and plead “increase our faith” (Luke 17:5) or like David cry “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10).

God is not concerned with the image we project to those around us: God wants to reveal our true identity, so that we can see our need to be transformed from who we were and conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29, 12:2).

(3) God wants “His fear” before our faces so that we won’t sin. It is God’s intent that we have relationship with Him. To this point in their journey, the Hebrews’ relationship with God consisted of complaining when things didn’t go as they wanted. Largely, they had little concept of who God was and little interest in fellowship with Him. They had followed Moses out of bondage in Egypt primarily because it was a way to escape oppression from the Egyptians. God was not part of their day-to-day lives except in the way He imposed Himself on them: telling them when and where to go.

The Hebrews feared what God could do, but they didn’t reverence Him. They followed God for fear of consequences, rather that out of reverence for His Holiness, respect for His wisdom or regard for His love.

Very often we find ourselves doing likewise. Many believers only follow God for “fire insurance”: fearing the punishment of Hell. But that is not enough, God wants us to respond to Him out of reverence: recognizing that He is Holy and Sovereign: Creator of the universe and worthy to be praised. God wants us to rely on His wisdom, rather than our own, because we realize our inadequacy cannot replace His perfect adequacy. God wants us to relish in His love for us as the Father who would sacrifice His only begotten Son, just so that we could be born again and restored as sons through the atoning Blood of Jesus.

We hold with low esteem those who we fear for what bad things they can do to us, because that is a form of forced slavery. God does not come to us as a slave-master, ready to punish us spectacularly when we go wrong. God comes to us as Father and we fear Him in the same way a little child looks up to his/her father: as a source of inexhaustible strength, all-encompassing knowledge, unfailing love and, yes, sure, swift and righteous judgment.

It is this kind of relationship that keeps us from sin. Despite their fear of what God could do to them. The Hebrews still sinned against Him. While Moses was still on Mt. Sinai, while the cloud of the Lord’s presence still hung low on the mountain, while the lightning flashed, the thunder rumble, the smoke billowed and the trumpets blared: the people, turned their back on the God the ‘feared’ and made idols which they worshiped with a mass orgy (Exodus 32).

Fear of consequences does not produce love or even obedience. It is ONLY an enduring, reverential, and respectful love relationship with God that will keep us from sin. When we reverence God’s Holiness, when we respect His way, when we have a genuine relationship with Him we will find it increasingly uncomfortable to disobey Him, we will avoid sin.

FEAR NOT, God is going to prove us; FEAR NOT, He will show us who we really are. FEAR NOT, if we commit/recommit ourselves to Him we will walk in His perfect will. FEAR NOT, God is working on us; He is not finished with us yet.

This post is a part of a series on several of the “FEAR NOT” sayings in the Bible.