I was reminded of a favorite passage of scripture that deals with my fear of man: Luke 12:4-5
I say to you, my friends, do not be afriad of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!
This might seem a strange passage to find comforting. Here's what I'm thinking-
1. Man truly has no ultimate power over me. I must live to please God alone.
2. God is loving, but He is also holy and just. His love and his justice are two sides of the same coin and in my mind, encompass His whole character. Further on in the verses, in 6 and 7 Jesus tells me that I am more valuable to Him than sparrows. See, justice and love?
3. Judgement is real and it should be our motivation to evangelize the lost and to pray that God would save those who don't know Him as Lord and Savior.
4. While God is like my Daddy, there is also a necessary reverence I must feel toward him, an AWE.
Just some stuff I've been thinking about...
Labels: growing in my faith
Some wonderful nuggets of Truth here. This is a good encouragement to "fear" only God. Blessings, e-Mom
Susannah said...
November 11, 2007 at 12:17 PM
I agree with most of your points and especially am heartened by #1 - nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ.
But being motivated to evangelize because of judgment...there comes a time in my concern for the lost and working to see them hear and understand and accept the Gospel that fleshly speaking, I tire of them and could care less because of misunderstanding, abuse, rejection, etc. What I need to motivate me is to have the same love and mercy God has for them. So instead of fear of the judgment day I pray I would see the lost with the eyes of the Lord.
Barb said...
November 12, 2007 at 7:03 AM