Fear

Whom shall I fear?

When he went outside, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile towards him and to cross-examine him about many things, lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say. Meanwhile, when the crowd gathered in thousands, so that they trampled on one another, he began to speak first to his disciples, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops. ‘I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. ‘And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend your selves or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.’ - Luke 11:53-12:12

Jesus tells his disciples they should not fear those who could kill them.  Instead, they should fear those who could cast their souls into hell.

We should not fear what men could do to us.  Instead, should we fear God?

If God  is the only one who could toss us into hell, we probably should fear Him.  At least we should not want to anger Him or cause Him to abandon us.

But God is forgiving and loving, so we should be fine, so long as we turn to Him, right?

We can keep no secrets form God.  Everything we do and everything about us is known and will be revealed at some point.  So, it is best to acknowledge God as our salvation and live in truth.

So, if we have something to hide, we may fear being exposed, but if we live in truth, nothing can be revealed about us to harm us.  People can say bad things about us, but we will know the truth.

And the Holy Spirit will give us the words we need to defend ourselves.

What better defense than that?

The message here is to avoid the false teachings of those who wish to lead us astray, and be honest with ourselves about who we are and what we do.

Then all will be well in this life and the life after.

More to come...