Be Afraid part 1
I thought about writing a whole book about this subject called, "Be Afraid!" But, while I'm using that as an ironic title, it is actually how a lot of people seem to see God. I was even watching a TV show the other day and a (former) pastor in the show said he prefered the "Old Testament scary God." And that bothers me. A lot. Because, as I've kind of been trying to show lately, that God doesn't even really exist. That was man's perception of God, but that's not who He really is. And it's only through the Holy Spirit that we can understand who He really is. God is love. And love doesn't need to be scary. I say "doesn't need to be" because if you've ever wanted to tell someone that you love them, you've probaby experienced some degree of fear. Or nerves. Butterflies in your stomach. But I think that kind of fear is more a fear of rejection than a fear of being punished by an angry God. And neither one can hold a candle to true, sacrificial, agape love. "Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love" (1 John 4:18 NLT). There is no fear in love. When you know you're connected to the source, you don't have to be afraid to give it away. It doesn't matter how other people respond to it. You're not trying to get anything. You're simply sharing what you've got. Receiving and releasing. And as far as being scared of an angry God... look at this OLD TESTAMENT verse that I hear all the time: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction" (Proverbs 1:7). Now look at what the word, "fear," means: It is number 3374 in Strong's Hebrew Concordance and it means, "morally reverence." The Bible wasn't trying to scare us straight. It wasn't telling us to be afraid of God. Because how could THAT be the beginning of knowledge? Knowing God means knowing love. And, again, there is no fear in love. I think sometimes we're more afraid of succeeding than failing, because change of either kind moves us out of our comfort zone. But I KNOW that in order to get the fruit you have to go out on a limb. The fruit of the Spirit is love. And it's on the limbs of the Tree of Life. By the way... WE are the limbs, or the branches. It's already within us. We simply have to know it and believe it. And fear--reverence--of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. That's where it starts. We see Him--as He truly is--and we are in awe of Him. We see something... not something too good to be true, but something so good it must be true... and we forget about anything and everything else. Let me say it this way: When you come to the source you'll stop looking for love in all the wrong places. When you begin to understand that God IS love you'll have no choice but to revere Him. Sometimes I tell people I'm a pastor. And they give me that look. You know, the, "Oh jeeze. Another religious nutjob" look. So then I tell them that God is love. And I'm obsessed with LOVE. And that makes this whole thing a lot less scary. Because no matter what you think about "God" everybody wants love. It's why we were created--to be loved and to love each other. Love is what it's all about. And it's really NOT scary. In fact, it EXPELLS are fear. So you absolutely, positively do NOT need to be afraid!