August 29, 2018
We “love” because the Spirit of God is within us – God is love. The Bible tells us that “God is love” in 1 John 4:16, and 4:18 tells us that “there is no fear in love…”
How then are we to love God while we also fear God and keep His commandments (Deut. 6:2; 8:6; 13:4), work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), and fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in Hell, as Jesus COMMANDED (Luke 12:5)?
We can both love and fear because there are different types of fear. The fear that is not “in love” is the fear that doubts God’s love, that is suspicious of God: it is the type of fear that drives one to NOT OBEY, or hold back from obeying because of “fear.” Remember the man who did nothing with his talent, out of fear and accusation against the Master, who ended up with nothing but judgment (Matthew 25:25; read the whole parable: vv. 14-30).
We can love someone (like a wife, child, a friend), while we also fear that something bad may happen to them. That “fear” does not take away our love for them. So, at the same time we love, we can fear in certain ways.
Because I love my wife passionately, I have feared for her safety at times: we’ve been in many life-threatening situations over the years. Again, this type of fear arises BECAUSE I love her so much. I was there when a man put a pistol to her head (in Columbia, South America), demanding all our money.
Some day there will be no fear. We all hope and pray that we can reach that Heavenly plateau where we can find rest from terror. I’m not overestimating the struggles of life or trying to say we live in fear most of the time; however, fear is very much part of earthly life.
Man’s inspiration overshadowed by God’s inspiration is a force to be acknowledged. One sage once said, “We who are facing a world of unleashed savagery must for our own life’s sake plunge into the immortal living Presence … into that healing freedom from the world … There, guarded by courage and humility, is the Christ, and going to that place of holiness and light is all that is asked of you.”
Love JESUS!!
- Gen. Jim, POW