75 days of Fear (not)

We have finished 75 days of learning about fear (not)! If you want to look at a list with all the verses in order that the verses have appeared, please click here! If you want verses in canonical order (from Genesis to Revelation), click here!

Thanks for journeying with me through this!

Focusing on God for perspective in Fear

December 31

Is 51:6-9 - Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed. “Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear not the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings. For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; but my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation to all generations.”

These verses which begin taking place in the tribulation setting the stage for a renewed earth during the Millennium should give us amazing confidence in the place of fear. Since we know the future, we can remain fearless in the present. Salvation is forever for those who know righteousness in Christ, for those whose heart has been reborn to know and understand and delight in the words of God. When this supernatural work has occurred in a life of sinful person, what are we to fear?

2 Sa 7:22-24 - “How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? You have established your people Israel as your very own forever, and you, O Lord, have become their God.

Though this verse does not have the words fear in it, we get the picture of what true fear looks like. Fear involves recognizing the character of who God truly is: great, Sovereign, Lord, unique, loving, and eternal. Fear not because you have been chosen by God to be with Him forever. Fear Him only and you will never need to fear anything on earth!

A fear that leads to humility

Is 44:6-8 - Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen. Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.”

Why are we not to fear? The Lord, the King, the Redeemer, the first, the last, the only God who knows what is to come and what will happen has told us, “Fear not!” There is no Rock like our Rock. There is nothing as sure as God. As we remember our God in the midst of fear, we gain perspective that virtually replaces our fear from that on earth to the fear of our God in Heaven. We have heard it from Him. We are not to fear.

Ps 55:19 - God will give ear and humble them, he who is enthroned from of old, Selah because they do not change and do not fear God.

The promise is that we will be humbled if we do not change and do not fear God. We should be changed by the fear of God. It should change how we see our future, interact with people and deal with situations. It is prideful to fear because when you fear you are relying on yourself. God gives us none other than himself as the solution for all life’s problems and worries. And as we humble ourselves in the fear of God, he will exalt us as James 4:10 promises, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

A fear out of love

Dec 29, 2007

Is 44:2-5 - Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you: Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen.

We are commanded to fear not because the God who made us, formed us and chosen us will help us. It really is that simple. IF we remember our creator and sustainer and our Lord, we will not need to fear. There is nothing greater than our God who reigns in holiness and goodness. The name Jeshurun is a poetical name for the Israelites which means “upright or straight.” It is a name like when Simon became Peter or Jacob became Israel. God calls his people a name which expresses his intimacy and love for them and gives them a way to see this fear they feel. Our mighty and intimate God says, “Fear Not!”

2 Sa 23:2-4 - “The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me; his word was on my tongue. The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me: ‘When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.’

When someone rules in fear of God, the world is righted. The result of living the name Jeshurun is light and brightness. I love this verse.

fear and glory

Dece 28, 2007

Is 43:5-7 - Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

The beginning and end form an incredible truth that we should mediate on deeply… Fear not for I am with you…because I created you for my glory, whom I formed and made. Because we were created by an almighty God who was created for God’s glory alone, we can rest in absolute peace that nothing will hinder God in doing what we were created to do.

Nu 25:11 - “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites; for he was as zealous as I am for my honor among them, so that in my zeal I did not put an end to them.

I so love the description of Phineas that I would name my child after him, if it weren’t such an unusual name. What a epigraph. Do we have the same zeal for God’s glory? The anger of God was turned away from the sin of the Israelities because one man zealously feared the glory of God. These two verses form an incredible truth for which we need to take to heart. Fear keeps a man from bringing man glory, while fearing God brings Him glory. Fear gives a great glory to whatever is that has more power than God. Fearing God gives all power to God and thus brings him glory.

It's a wonder we fear

Dec 27, 2007

Is 43:1-3 - But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.

These verses so paint a picture of why we should not fear, I fear it is hard to improve on them. But, I do want to make an observation, which is that it isn’t if we got through waters or through rivers or walk through fire, it is when. We all walk through these fires in life and when we do, we are to fear not, because our sovereign and powerful God who looking back has created us, redeemed us and called us by name. As we look forward we also realize that he will be with us, that He is our savior. God is behind and before us and beside us.

2 Sa 7:22-24 - “How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? You have established your people Israel as your very own forever, and you, O Lord, have become their God.

There is no one like our God. The wonders he has done should lead us to fear Him and Him only. He has proved himself over and over again. He redeems us, performs great and awesome wonders, and he has established us as his own, forever… There is no one to fear!’

Hearts enlarged

December 26, 2007

Is 41:14 - Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

The Israelites are commanded to not fear because God is the one who helps them. The term “worm” is how they are referred to by other nations in that they are despised, weak people. But, God assures them that despite what the others think, that God is the Lord, the one who redeems them, the Holy One. The words that are in this passage are significant. The Lord is sovereign. Nothing can happen apart from his control. Redeemer means to buy back. Holy One means that nothing evil comes from Him. So putting them together, we understand that we don’t have to fear because the Lord that is in control is both good and intimately merciful. The more we understand our Lord, the stronger we will live.

1 Sa 12:24 - But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.

As in the previous passage, this too emphasizes the importance of knowing God’s character as a basis for fearing and serving Him. If we don’t know Him or don’t consider the great things He has done for us, than our hearts will grow smaller and our perspective of problems will grow bigger. It is when we consider the great things He has done and the great God that He is that our hearts are able to deal with situations in perspective because we fear our God!