Spirituality

Fear is an interesting emotion, depending on what and where it comes from. Halloween is meant to be harmless but we flock to haunted houses and spooky places as if to dare ourselves of this feeling to evolve. Even though society has this so called holiday wrapped up, as Christians we really need to examine it further for the message it is sending.

Is all this really make believe? Witches are for real, warlocks are for real, fortune tellers are for real, psychics are for real, all these things that call spirits out from the under world are for real and we shouldn't take lightly of them. Everything they do and believe in open doors for demonic spirits to come forth. It seems to me, we already have enough of that as it is. We are told specifically in God's Word not to seek them out, not even in fun!

"Turn not to those (mediums) who have familiar spirits, or to wizards, do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God." Leviticus 19:31 (Amplified)

Why would God mention them if He didn't think they were not wicked? He actually says that anyone who seeks after them will be defiled. He knows of their craftiness and how this kind of involvement can be detrimental to a person's soul unless they are aware of the truth, which is His Son who gave up His life to free us from demons, powers and principalities. With out the Truth, we will never enter the Kingdom of God. God also tells us that without faith we can not please Him and anything not done in faith is a sin. Right here in Lev. 19:31, He's telling us that this does not please Him. We are treading on thin ice when we know this fact and make light of it for any reason.

God gave us specific instructions to counter attack these powers of the underworld. He wouldn't have told us unless it were so. By being involved in any kind of medium is to cause harm to oneself. Laugh if you want to...now, but unless you see the seriousness of it, you won't be laughing later.

"Put on God's whole armor (the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies), that you may be able successfully to stand up against (all) the strategies and deceits of the devil." Eph.6:11 (Amplified)

This verse describes God's armor as heavy metal such as a soldier going to battle would wear. He supplies it. He gives us the best because He knows how deadly these attacks can be. He wants us to be able to stand up against all strategies and deciets of the devil. Satan is for real, his tactics are just as real. We need to get a hold of this fact. You might be asking why should we do this, what good will come of it? In the next verse we are told this:

"For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood (contending only with physical opponents) but against the despotisms, against the powers, against (the master spirits who are) the world rulers of the present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere." Eph. 6:12 (Amplified)

In other words, we aren't just playing around here with people we can actually see. We are up against opponents who are quite powerful in the supernatural sphere. When Satan was cast out of heaven, he had quite some pull behind him because he convinced 1/3 of heaven's angels to come with him, that's an awful lot of demonic powers that we are up against. These are "master spirits" in the present darkness. And you thought all this was just make believe! Does this scare you?

The Greek word for fear is phobeo, it's where our word phobia comes from. When we say we have a phobia, it's not a good thing. Phobeo means to frighten, to be alarmed, to revere and have exceeding reverence.

"The Lord is my Light and my Salvation~whom shall I fear or dread? The Lord is the Refuge and Stronghold of my life~of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1 (Amplified)

The word fear in this verse is a Hebrew word - yare. It's pronounced yaw-ray'. This kind of fear means to revere, be had in reverence.

What God is telling us is that He wants us to know the wiles and ways of the devil who is searching around for souls to steal, but when we accept Christ as our Savior, we can come to God and take refuge in Him. He will save our souls from eternal destruction. God doesn't want us to be afraid of Him in the sense that He frightens us like many Halloween monsters do. No, God is so full of love and compassion that He wants us to be in reverential awe of Him. We love Him, but yet we know He told us all this truth ahead of time for our own good and if we don't take heed, then our fear of Him is real because His punishments are real. This is a fact for everyone, not just for those who believe in Him.

"As a father loves and pities his children, so the Lord loves and pities those who fear Him (with reverence, worship, and awe)." Psalm 102:13 (Amplified)

God loves those who fear (revere) Him and He takes pity on those who fear Him by granting them His grace in times of trouble. He knows His children and calls them all by name, do you hear Him calling yours? Aren't you happy that He does? If not, it's never too late to have His love and pity.

So, in all reality, what good is it to go around getting scared over things that He promises can't hurt us if we know Him? Phobias are real and people spend alot of time and money trying to get rid of them. They aren't any fun and God wants to free us from this kind of fear.

But there is one thing we should be afraid of and it's a statement made by Christ Himself when He said:

"I tell you, My friends, do not dread and be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have nothing more that they can do. But, I will warn you whom you should fear: fear Him Who, after killing, has power to hurl into hell (Gehenna); yes, I say to you, fear Him!" Luke 12:4-5 (Amplified)

That is one statement that we should sit up and take notice of. Christ was not telling us to be afraid of God because He's got a bad temper. No, He is capable of casting those who do not repent into hell for eternity. You may ask, how can God do that if He loves everyone? The answer is simple, how could He not do that when He sacrificed His Son for us? The only thing He requires from us is our redemtion. God has to judge the just and the unjust. Which one do you prefer to be in when the time comes for you to stand before Him?

Once you are saved, you don't ever have to be afraid needlessly of what any man can do to you. Your eternal life is what matters most.

I don't think we should give Satan any more credit in making us needlessly afraid at this time of year, or any other. He takes great pleasure in our fears, phobias. But, as for me, I refuse to let him bother me. My only fear is of God and it feels good to reverentialy fear Him.

If you don't know Christ on a personal level, cry out to God and He will draw you in. Once you know that He has your attention, confess with your mouth and mean it from your heart that His Son Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior over your life and that He died and rose again on the third day and redeemed you as His own child. Tell Him you are a sinner and that you have sinned but you would like to submit to Him so that He can renew you and give you life ever lasting.

After that, continue to draw close to Him through His Word and fellowship with others who can help you grow and mature in the Word. You will never again have to be afraid of anything or anyone, your life was bought with a price and not even all the demons in hell can take it back!

If Jesus lives within us, fear need not overwhelm us.

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