Fear is Sin that Denies God’s Power and glory
As I read Lorraine Ezell’s Coffee Break devotion this morning, it reminded me of a Seeds Of Faith post I wrote almost two years ago about David’s victory over Goliath, and how he went out to meet him instead of shrinking back from him in fear as everyone else had. But when I went back to read Righteous Anger and a Godly Cause, I was a little surprised to see that the post was actually about how we need to experience a lot more righteous anger than we do as we stand for the restoration of our marriages and families. But since that’s a good message and it was what I felt the Lord brought to my mind, I decided to share it again today anyway.
Then, as I started writing this, the Lord gave me a totally new understanding of the instructions we’re all so familiar with in Ephesians 4:26-27 (NKJV), which says “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Yet, we might not be so familiar with the last part about NOT giving place to the devil! And even though there are many ways anger can cause us to sin and we can “give place to the devil,” there’s no doubt that one of the easiest, and perhaps the most common, is what we do when we allow fear of any kind to wipe out the faith we need to speak to the mountains of separation and divorce we now face…AND FULLY EXPECT THEM TO OBEY US AND MOVE! ANYTHING we DO contrary to the counsel and instructions given in the Word of God is sin, and being controlled and hindered by fear is obvious disobedience and a lack of faith; not to mention a terrible failure to praise and glorify the Lord by denying others the opportunity to see His faithfulness, power and glory manifested in our lives and situations simply because we trust and obey Him. And most anger outside of “righteous anger” (about something that also offends and angers God) is often rooted in fear; fear of rejection; fear of being mistreated; fear of being abandoned; fear of being taken for granted; fear of being taken advantage of; fear of pain; fear of disappointment; fear of failure; fear of making a mistake; fear of not doing the right thing; fear of offending someone…and the list obviously goes on and on.
Even though I know it sound like a broken record; I always feel compelled to remind the FAM Fellowship members each time we see another marriage restored, that it is by no means just a coincidence that those who have been the most faithful to actively participate in the ministry by consistently posting praises for the Lord’s glory, and supporting and encouraging others by responding to their prayer request and praise testimonies, also tend to be the same ones being blessed with a mighty move of God’s hand in their lives and situations; including the restoration of their marriages! And that’s largely because they TRULY understand that our stand for marriage restoration is NOT about us and that God’s purpose for EVERYTHING HE CALLS US TO DO is for the ULTIMATE praise, honor and glory of Jesus Christ; which means that we have NO reason to fear anything because there is NO praise, honor or glory for Jesus Christ in marital separation and divorce, particularly when God states so clearly and unequivocally that He HATES divorce and that HE will uphold the covenant of our marriages when we are faithful.
So the next time you’re angry and tempted to sin by giving way to (and acting out of) fear, thereby giving the devil the opening he’s stalking around like a roaring lion waiting for…so he can devour you, your spouse, your marriage, your family and your testimony for the praise, honor and glory of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 5:7-8); I hope and pray that you will remember and speak out loud some of the following passages of scripture:
Psalm 46:1-3 – God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah
Isaiah 41:10 – So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:13 – For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
Isaiah 51:6-8 – Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail. “Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law in your hearts: Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults. For the moth will eat them up like a garment; the worm will devour them like wool. But my righteousness will last forever, my salvation through all generations.”
Jeremiah 17:7-8 – “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
1 Peter 3:6 – like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
1 Peter 3:14 – But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.”
2 Timothy 1:7(NKJV) – For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
And in those times when we really need encouragement and to be reminded that there’s absolutely NO REASON TO FEAR when we put our faith and confidence in the love, power and faithfulness of Almighty God, we can read Psalm 91, because we will indeed be blessed and encouraged when we overcome our fear and allow God’s glory to shine in and through us!
“And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. ” Philippians 1:28
Another translation says not to be intimidated by your enemy. When we face the enemy we have a choice to make, we can either face him/it like the armies of Israel faced Goliath- with fear and trembling.
“When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid. And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. ” (1 Samuel 17:11, 24)
Or we can face him like David did- with faith and confidence in the Lord.
“And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. ” (verses 32, 45, 46)
Is the enemy intimidating you today? Is he making you fearful? Is he “putting you on the run”? Is he stealing from you? Well, don’t run from him! Run to the “roar” instead of away from it. Run out to meet the giant, don’t wait for him to come to you. Don’t flee from the furnace, face it. Stand strong, don’t run like a coward. Your enemy has already been defeated– Jesus Christ defeated him at Calvary!!! He has already triumphed over him. He has already destroyed his works. He has already given you the victory. In all things you have been made more than a conqueror through Christ. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. All things work together for your good. No weapon the enemy can devise will prosper against you.
Today make the choice to stand- stand having on the full armor, dig your heels in, don’t be moved, don’t backup, don’t let him “see you sweat”. He needs to be the one “sweating”. He needs to be the one who is afraid of and intimidated by you…by the Christ in you!!
Have a great day. Do not fear the enemy, run to him, not from him.
Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell, and available online and sent by email free of charge for the asking from About the Master’s Business Ministry, Inc.
So please feel free to call Lorraine at (601) 833-5278 or E-mail her at mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net
And you can visit her on the web at MastersBusiness.org.
Hi All! It never ceases to amaze me that I can be here in South Africa and you are there in the United States and yet the Holy Spirit can speak to me and you about exactly the same thing!
The other night, I went to bed feeling VERY angry and I could not sleep no matter what I tried. I had had a conversation with my sister-in-law and although it left me feeling slightly encouraged, the injustice of some of the things she said just made me mad! My mind was racing with fear, trepidation, anger etc. You’ve all been there I am sure. Well God laid the scripture about “not letting the sun go down on your anger” on my heart. So I got up and prayed and guess what? I slept. Then this morning as I was praying in the car on my way to work, the Lord impressed upon me Psalm 91. I must say that I love the version from the Message Bible. (I hope its not too long!)
1-13You who sit down in the High God’s presence, spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow,
Say this: “God, you’re my refuge.
I trust in you and I’m safe!”
That’s right—he rescues you from hidden traps,
shields you from deadly hazards.
His huge outstretched arms protect you—
under them you’re perfectly safe;
his arms fend off all harm.
Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night,
not flying arrows in the day,
Not disease that prowls through the darkness,
not disaster that erupts at high noon.
Even though others succumb all around,
drop like flies right and left,
no harm will even graze you.
You’ll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance,
watch the wicked turn into corpses.
Yes, because God’s your refuge,
the High God your very own home,
Evil can’t get close to you,
harm can’t get through the door.
He ordered his angels
to guard you wherever you go.
If you stumble, they’ll catch you;
their job is to keep you from falling.
You’ll walk unharmed among lions and snakes,
and kick young lions and serpents from the path.
14-16 “If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,” says God,
“I’ll get you out of any trouble.
I’ll give you the best of care
if you’ll only get to know and trust me.
Call me and I’ll answer, be at your side in bad times;
I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party.
I’ll give you a long life,
give you a long drink of salvation!”
Thank you, Jeni, for sharing this version. I love it!!!!
This is an awesome post! I gave in to fear tonight and I immediately started turning to GOD to try and sooth my anger. And after reading this post, I realize that I should not have given in, in the first place or made recognition of the fear. Sometimes when the devil bombards us with thoughts and tries to get us to give in and revert to our old ways, we have to stand on these versus alone.